Peg Loom Weaving

I was given a lovely peg-loom a wee while back and have only recently had a go at some weaving.

After a bit of practice, I found myself enjoying the soothing motion of weaving and the satisfying colour combinations. I think the biggest appeals of this craft are its simplicity and tremendous scope for creative possibilities.

As a newbie to peg-loom weaving, I have yet to explore these possibilities but for now, I'm quite happy with my small woolen mat.

Vintage Rose

Even more papercraft! This was made with newspaper, a brown envelope and distress ink (with the help of a mug).

Distress carnation Birthday card ~ newspaper and ink

 

Inspired by layersofink.blogspot.co.uk

This carnation is made by snipping fine frills into a strip of blue card and newspaper and tightly coiling these with a slotted needle/quilling tool.
The aged effect was created using distress ink. The backing paper was spritzed with water to let some of the inks run.

Recycled fabric coasters ~ paper-piecing

I was lucky enough to find a second-hand copy of Jayne Emerson's book 'The Impatient Patchworker' in Hay-on-Wye last summer. My favourite idea in this book of quick and simple projects was the handsewn hexagon coaster - a good way of using up leftover bits of fabric that aren't much good for anything else.

I enjoyed recycling some old clothes (pictured, right) taking advantage of the lovely prints. It turns out that this is one of those 'addictive' craft techniques and you soon find yourself looking for more combinations of patterns and colours. The great thing about recycling scraps is that each piece is unique.

The coasters are pieced together by hand using paper templates and backed with felt. Here's one in progress and one in action....coasting??

Daisy Mother's Day card : mixed crochet and papercraft

Today I wondered what would happen if I tried to crochet something using a piece of card in place of the central chain - this is what happened when I tried it!

Here is the step-by-step guide.
You will need:
2mm crochet hook
Anchor pearl cotton
card in cream, yellow and green
Bostik Sticki-pen (repositionable and dries clear)

The base of the card is A5

1. Cut a disc of yellow card 2cm in diameter and mark 12 evenly spaced dots.

2. Push a needle through to create holes

3. With pen marks facing away from you, follow this crochet pattern (British abbreviations):

(Insert hook, pull loop through hole, ch2)
4. repeat 11 times.
5. Scr into each ch space - 12 times
6. Ch7 into every scr
7. (See photo) You should be left with 12 loops that will become the petals. It will look a bit messy, but keep going!
8. Scr 10 into each ch space. Cut end and pull behind work - glue in place on the back of the card centre.

9. Cut a thin strip of yellow card, less than 5mm in width.

Use the length of an A4 sheet. Roll this tightly, release the spiral a little, and glue end carefully in place to create the circle that fits into the centre of the daisy.
10. Glue in place. 

11. Now cut a thin strip of green card, using the width of the A4 page. Roll this tightly, then taking the outer-most layer, squeeze a point and release ths spiral slightly to create the leaf-shape.
12. Cut a rectangle the same width as the card base and snip grass blades into it. Glue the strip of blades in place.
13. Cut a thin stem and tiny branch for the leaf from green card. Glue all in place.