So many crafts, so little time...

I have done a few more crafts since my last post, but they are more of the same, so I thought I would lump them all together in the same post, just so I can have them out there.

First off, was the Zombie cross stitch I made for my hubby.  This was the first one where I actually made the pattern myself.  I did get some inspiration online, but the zombie was made from scratch.  I was really proud of how it turned out and my hubby has taken it to work and put it on his desk. 

The second cross stitch I made was for myself.  It has "Han shot First" with a picture of a blaster.  This one was another pattern that I had made, but took pretty much all of the inspiration from one I found online.  I still need to buy a frame for it since it will require a 4X5 frame and I didn't have one in my stash.

Last but not least is the dice bag that I am crocheting for my hubby.  It is not quite finished yet as I still need to make the drawstrings, and I am also going to add a felt Ork insignia on it.  I took my inspiration from this pattern, but didn't feel the need to make it so big.  I settled on 20 stitches to start and crocheted "in the round" so that the total circumference was 40 stitches around.  I did 20 rows before starting the eyelets and then did three more rows on top of that.  It holds all of my hubby's "Waggghhhh" dice perfectly!  In total it only took me a couple of hours to make over a couple of days.  I just had to remember to count my stitches after each row (just in case) and to mark down how many rows I have done (I am always forgetting).  Stitch markers help greatly, but I am unwilling to shell out the money for some, so I used a bobby pin instead.  Worked like a charm!

Cross Stitching FTW!

This weekend I decided to get back into cross stitching.  I can't quite remember when I first started, but I know it has been a couple of years since I did one.  I had always gotten a kit that included everything and then would go from there.  This time I wanted to do some projects that didn't involve those kits.  So I looked online and found a pattern that I liked and I even made a couple as well using Excel.  This way I knew the project would interest me and I wouldn't start it only to leave it in the back of a closet somewhere, never to be completed.

The weekend started with a trip to Michaels.  Since I wasn't using a kit, I would need to buy everything that would be required.  I grabbed all the colours of floss I needed, Size 22 tapestry needles (round end), a 6" hoop and 14 count aida fabric.  I chose the 14 count, as that is what I am most familiar with and the 22 needles are what is recommended for that count.  With purchases in hand, I was ready to begin.

It actually took me quite awhile to get going.  Not being familiar with cross stitching without a kit, I was a bit nervous that I would screw it up.  I decided to go with an actual pattern that I had found rather than one I had made just to ease the transition.  I nervously cut my fabric to be around 8X10 since that is roughly how large the pattern was.  I left a few inches on all sides just in case.  I wasn't exactly sure how big it was going to be in the end.  I then folded my fabric into quarters and marked the center.  Once that was done, I taped all the edges to prevent fraying.  I used scotch tape on three sides, and then since I ran out, packing tape on the fourth side.  As it turns out the packing tape worked the best.  The scotch tape was recommended online, but I found it wasn't sticky enough and didn't really hold onto the fabric well.  The Internet also recommended that I iron my fabric first, but since I was using a hoop, I decided that ironing really wasn't necessary since it would get hoop lines in it anyway.  After this I found center on my pattern and I was ready to go.

It took me a bit to get back into the actual stitching, but after a couple of rows I started to get the hang of it again.  I started off doing every stitch, just so I could recall what I was doing.  Then I moved into doing half stitch rows; going back over the row to complete the stitches.  This method seems to be faster, but that could very well be an illusion.

I chose a simple pattern, so was done by Sunday evening.  I ironed the fabric flat and framed it just using a dollar store frame, and trimming a bit of the excess fabric on all sides.  All in all, I am very happy with the results, and I am looking forward to more complicated cross stitches in the future.  I am also glad that I picked it back up so easily.  I guess it is just one of those skills you never really forget.

Yet another IPhone case!

The other day one of our friends gave me a Warmachine figure that he had bought and decided not to use.  Since it was for my faction, he said I could have it so that it wouldn't go to waste.  I wanted to give him money for it (the thing cost about 10.00) but he said no.  I felt bad because I hate not paying people back for their kindness.

When I made my hubby his Hulk themed IPhone case, our friend expressed interest in a Captain America one.  I decided that this would be the perfect way to pay him back, so I got an IPhone case and went to work!

I am really happy with the way this one turned out!  I feel I am getting better with each one I complete.  I learn something new every time and they keep getting neater and easier to do!  Needless to say our friend was very happy with his new case!

Hulk IPhone case

Last night I finally bit the bullet and created my hubby's IPhone case.  I used the exact same technique as I used for mine, but having previous experience, I was actually able to improve on some things.  I didn't leave so much excess in the corners and his phone fits better in the case then mine does!

All in all I am pretty happy with the results and a little jealous too!

Steam Punk House Number Time!

We have been living in our house for just over a year now, and we bought numbers to go on the front at the very begining.  Yet, they never seemed to make it actually onto the house!  I think it was becuase I wasn't very satisfied with them.  They were pretty, but there was a lot of room on the plate and that made it look...well...naked!  Finally last month I had a plan.  I wanted to steam punk our numbers!

So at the begining of last month I ordered some small watch type gears on Ebay.  Then I waited.  They had to come from Florida, so I waited and continued to wait.  Finally last week they arrived and I had a project to do for Sunday!

Basically, I took our exisiting numbers and then placed the gears in a diagonal pattern across them.  This filled up some of the empty space, but did not fill it up so much that a) it looked too cluttered and b) you can still read the numbers.  Once I was happy with it, I started to glue the gears down.  Initially I figured I would hot glue them all, but I started off with the first one and the glue dried so quickly I couldn't place them in time!  So I settled for super glue.  It dried quickly as well, but I could still place them as I wanted.  Although some of them did "fall" where I didn't want them.  Once that happened, they were there for good.  So I just worked around those ones and varried my design as I went.

All in all I am happy with the results.  Not sure why this picture is sideways, but it won't rotate for me!  You get the idea though.  It is very simple, subtle and it's exactly what I wanted.  It wasn't too difficult either, but it did consume more time than anticipated.  I also had a casulty of a super glue finger print on my brand new nails!  Luckily that stuff dries clear!

Iphone case make over!

Last night I was bored and I needed something to do.  We had hung some pictures, but ran out of frames and hooks.  We also tried to do a project that we had started on the weekend, but I hadn't bought the right things to start it, so we were out of luck there.

I was sitting on the couch and was peeling the edges off my iPhone case that had started to come loose.  I had had the idea to cover it with comic pages awhile ago, and we had some left over from our picture craft, so I thought that it may be a good project to do in an evening.

I set about finding the right panels that I would want on my case.  This is easier said then done.  I needed to find pictures that I liked, but also that would fit!  After figuring out what I wanted and where I wanted them to go, I went to work mod podging them on.  I cut the panels as I went along so that they fit where I wanted and with what picture I wanted visible.  After all the panels were on and the whole case was covered, I cut out the hole in the case for the camera and smoothed the rough edges back onto the inside of the case.  This was actually quite easy as the comic paper was very thin.  I then coated both sides with two layers of Mod Podge.

It was at this point that I decided I wanted a smoother glossy finish for my case, so I used the Mod Podge Gloss sealer and coated both sides of the case as well.

All in all I am extremely happy with the results.  I love my case and so does my hubby, who wants me to make him one too!

Repurposing an old picture

It was the long weekend this weekend and due to other plans and general chores, I hadn't had time to do anything particularly crafty.  Don't get me wrong, I did a bit of crocheting, but as much as I love it it doesn't soothe the crafting beast that lurks within me.  I was getting the shakes for the need to make something!

I had had a project in mind for some while now.  We had gotten a wood transfer painting of some fruit for our wedding 8 years ago and had only put it up in one of our many homes.  It was something that had to be in a kitchen or dining room and every place we have had, has had little to no space for something like that.  So it was always relegated to storage and moved from place to place. 

Last year at the Calgary Comic Expo, we got a bunch of prints signed by various artists/authors.  These too were regulated to storage with plans to frame them one day.  This is when the idea dawned on me.  I could paint the wood black and use my trusty Mod Podge to "frame" one of the prints myself!  I had also seen some things on Pinterest using old comic book pages to add a geeky flair to different items.  I thought this would be perfect for this project, providing more of a frame, rather than just the basic black.  I was discussing this with my hubby when he reminded me that he has a whole box of damaged comic books we could use!  We then decided this would be a perfect project to do together that afternoon.

We started out with spray painting the picture black.  This was easy since it was mostly black to begin with.  We just needed to cover the black and white picture part.  While this was drying we went to work finding which comic books we would be OK destroying.  After Mike gave his final approval on the pile we had made, we went to work cutting the panels.  I used my handy dandy paper cutter and Mike went to work with the scissors.

Once we had a good sized stack of panels, I grabbed the now dry painting and went to work Mod podging the panels down.  We tried to keep our favourite panels on the edges where we knew we would see them, and used various different angles and overlapped some of them to give us the look we were going for.  We then let them dry.  After that I added a single coat of Mod Podge to make sure everything was sealed down onto the wood.

Now, I had already decided which print I wanted to use a long time ago.  So I grabbed it and with Mike's help we Mod Podged it down onto the comic pages.  We used a weight to try and keep it as flat as possible and allowed it to dry.

Using the same technique I used for our wedding song lyrics, I then coated the comic pages and the print 3 times.  Making sure to allow drying time in between each coat.  There were quite a lot of bubbles underneath everything, but again taking from my experience, I knew most of these would work themselves out.  To help it along we waited for the last coat to dry and weighted the entire thing down again and left it over night.

All in all I am happy with our results, and we have a lot more comic panels, so I am already thinking up new projects to use them with!

How I begun to learn to Crochet

A little while ago I decided I wanted to learn how to crochet.  My mom knew how, so I figured that was a good starting point.  Mom had already tried to teach me to knit back in the day, but I had no patience for it.  I thought that now I am a bit older, maybe I could try crocheting and stick with it.

We started out the lesson by learning how to cast on and make a single chain.  The yarn we were using wasn't ideal, but it was good for practising.  After a couple of attempts and a bit of swearing, I had gotten my chain done.  Hooray!  Then my mom dropped a bombshell.  Now I had to learn how to single crochet!  "What do you mean", I thought, "this chain wasn't it?  I hadn't even started?"  Impatience started to set in, but my determination won out.  I would learn. 

Mom showed me how and then how to turn my work and make a row.  Then she handed the reigns to me.  I struggled at first.  It didn't help that my nails were way too long and didn't give me the tension that I needed.  But I persevered and managed a crude couple of rows.  I was then sent on my way home to practice.

And practice I did.  I had two little balls of yarn and I crocheted until they were both gone.  Then I would take them all out and start again.

After I was feeling comfortable with the single crochet, I decided it was time I try to make something.  I had a ball of yarn from my wreath project and figured I may as well use it for this.  I settled on a simple dish rag.  Something that I can use and that won't make me tear out my hair in frustration.  I started off and worked away.  It was at this point that I realized why it is important to keep track of your rows.  I really had no idea how many I had done, and after all the issues I had trying to figure out how to count stitches, rows weren't any easier for me.

I looked at it and decided I had done enough...maybe.  I finished off the row and checked out what I had done.  For a first attempt I thought it wasn't too shabby.  Sure it wasn't exactly square and the rows were a bit wonky from different tensions, but I think I had the basic principles down.  Plus now I was able to look at it as a whole.  Learning a stitch is fine, but why the stitch is the way it is, and why it goes where it goes is way more important to me.  I need to wrap my head around it and look at the big picture, it is how I learn.  I had figured it out now and it made sense!

It was time for something else.  I decided this time on a pot holder.  Now I know it is basically a dishrag with a loop, but I wanted something that I could perfect my skills on and this was it.  I started out strong and kept my tension this time.  I also started counting rows!  I couldn't keep it all in my head as I was watching Top Gear (or my British granny time as I like to call it) while I was crocheting, so I ended up with the piece of paper and pen method.  Hey, it worked!

I came away with a perfect square!  Woot!  I am so proud of it!  Now all I need is a yarn needle so I can get rid of those icky tails.

All in all I am pretty happy with my progress.  I sat back and thought about it and realized that up until a couple of years ago, if I hadn't gotten it right away I would have given up.  I wouldn't have bothered with all the practicing.  Things usually come pretty easy to me, and in the past if they didn't I wouldn't even bother with them.  Why waste my time?  I didn't get crochet right away, but I am glad I have persevered.  I am enjoying it immensely and I can't wait to move on.  I feel that I have grown as a person in my patience and determination to see things through.  I like that!

Everything that involves cream cheese is good!

I had seen this recipe on Pinterest and I couldn't resist.  Those that know me know that I have a weakness for anything with cookie dough in it!  So when I found a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip recipe I knew I had to try it!  Plus it involved cream cheese, so it was a win-win. 

I didn't put in as much icing sugar as it called for since I didn't want it to be too sweet (see my cupcake post regarding the frosting) and I also used dark chocolate semi sweet chips.  Be sure to whip the sugar in very thoroughly; you don't want sugar crystals in your dip!  I may want to increase the brown sugar a bit next time, just to give it more of a cookie taste. 

It turned out fantastic!  I was so happy with the results and my hubby was too.  It tasted almost exactly like cookie dough!  I served it with Honey Teddy Grahams.  I also have a recipe for a Brownie Batter Dip that I may want to try....

It's nerd craft time!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been making 8 bit video game coasters for my Brother in Law's birthday present.  They consist of Perler beads, cork backing and a lot of patience.  The first one took me two hours, but I have gotten that down to about 45 minutes to an hour now.  It all depends on how complicated the pattern is.

What I started out with was a pattern I made in Excel.  I decided I wanted my coasters to be 20 beads by 20 beads.  This creates about an average sized coaster and consists of a total of 400 beads.  I then looked through google images for what I wanted to recreate.  Once I had the image I would count how many lines I would need vertically and horizontally so that it would fit in my 20X20 square.  Then came the counting.  I would count where each "pixel" should be on my pattern and place it there with the correct colour.  I would work with vertical lines, so it was interesting to see the image slowly coming together.  After the main image was done I added the background.

Once I had my pattern I would set about following it to create the coasters.  I would use a toothpick to scoop up the correct amount of beads and used it to place them on the layout.  This was very effective and I was happy I didn't have to shell out the cash for Perler's own grabbing tools.  After all the beads were placed, I then followed the directions to fuse the beads.  Now, I like the look of the un-fused beads, so I decided that I would only fuse the back and leave the front.  This is contrary to the instructions, but I figured with the added cork support, they shouldn't break apart.

I was unsure at first how I was going to put the cork backing onto the coasters, but I had inadvertently bought a roll that was self adhesive, so that problem fixed itself.  If I hadn't bought the self adhesive kind, I was probably going to try either Mod Podge or Hot glue.  You don't have to put the cork on the back, but since the beads have holes in them it would make them kind of useless as coasters.

I used the coasters themselves to mark out where I needed to cut the cork and I used an exacto knife to do the actual cutting.  The cork was quite thin and it worked out perfectly.

All in all I am pretty happy with the outcome and I know my Brother in Law is going to love them.  They actually turned out so well, (and I also have about 27 other patterns) that I am going to do a set for my Brother for his birthday as well!

My Thursday night....

Since I am on this crafty kick, I decided I may as well start making gifts for birthdays etc.  It would save me money and I would fulfill my crafting urges.  While cruising around Pinterest, I saw a bunch of yarn wrapped wreaths.  They looked simple enough and around my level, so I kept it in mind.  While discussing all the birthday gifts we needed with my hubby, we came to his Mom, whose birthday was at the beginning of March.  I remembered that she always has a wreath on her door whenever we visit.  I proposed this idea to Mike and he agreed it would be a great gift.  So it was decided.

I headed out to Michaels and bought everything I needed.  This included a 14" green Styrofoam wreath, multicoloured yarn, ribbon and a single silk flower bunch.  The most expensive part was the flowers, but since I am still not willing to try making my own, I went with the store bought variety.  In total for everything it came to just around 20.00 dollars.

I started out by making a knot at the end of the yarn and pinning it to the wreath on the side that I wanted to be the back.  I actually didn't have any pins, but I found that a very small nail will do the trick as well.  Then I started wrapping the wreath with the yarn.  I made sure to keep the strands very tight together and occasionally had to push them with my nails just to make sure there were no gaps.  A few gaps did happen, but since I went with a green Styrofoam wreath instead of a white and a greenish yarn, you can't really tell.  This was the relatively simple part, but very time consuming.  Make sure you have a movie or some good TV in the background.  For me to cover the 14" wreath, it took 2 hours.  Once the wreath was completely wrapped I cut the yarn off and used my glue gun to seal the end.  Don't worry about the glue glob as you can cover it up.

Next came the embellishments.  I clipped the two stems of flowers off the bunch I had bought and positioned them the way I liked on the wreath.  I then took the hot glue gun and added a dollop of glue on the base of the stems and roughly around the middle and pressed them onto the wreath.  The glue gun was very stringy, but I found if I wiped it right next to where I was gluing (so that it would be concealed) it eliminated that problem.  I then took some of the leaves from the stem and arranged them to cover up where I had the two flowers meeting.  Once again I hot glue gunned all this together.  Once it was all done, I realized it was missing something on the leaves.  it just looked naked.  So I took some of the ribbon I would be using for the hanger and created a bow and hot glue gunned that to where I wanted.  It came out looking great!

After all this was done, it was time for the ribbon hanger.  This was actually the toughest part of the project and I still think it hangs a little wonky, but after looking at some online I saw that some of those hanged wonky too.  So I didn't feel too bad about it!  I took a long piece of the ribbon and placed it where I wanted on the wreath over the glue spot from the yarn.  I glued the back of it to the wreath and left the front open.  Once it dried it was obvious that wasn't going to work.  So I ended up gluing the ribbon all the way around the wreath.  It seems like it will stay, but as I said, it is a bit off center so may hang a little off as well.

All in all I am really happy with the results.  I loved the yarn I chose since the colours changed with no effort from me!

Something a bit more...

For my next project I chose something a bit more ambitious.  It was something I had never tried before, but  feeling bolstered by my first success I was eager to try something more challenging.  I wanted to create art out of our wedding song lyrics.  This seemed perfect since our 8th anniversary was coming up and I wanted to give my hubby something we both could enjoy.

So armed with the knowledge from This Humble Home, I set about making this new project a reality.  First of all I decided since I was going to do this as a gift for my hubby, I was going to splurge for the canvas.  It is a bit more pricey, but I found a good deal at Michaels for a four pack of 6X6 stretched canvases.  I got 3 packs, which leaves me three left over for future use.  I already have them ear marked, so it was a good investment.  Since I just started crafting I also grabbed a bottle of Gloss Mod Podge, Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer and a package of 65 Lbs Card Stock.  For everything I bought at Michaels, it cost around 80.00 dollars and then I picked up Black Acrylic paint and sponge brushes at the dollar store for around 2.00 bucks.

 I started off by taking my nine canvases and painting the sides black.  I did this the night before I started the project since I wanted them to dry really well before doing anything fancy.  I ended up using two coats of paint per canvas, since after the first coat dried, it was a little streaky.  I should mention that I should have also painted a black border on top of the canvases as well at this point.  I didn't and ended up doing it the next day and waiting for the two coats on that to dry as well.  Not fun watching paint dry when you are chomping at the bit to start the next step!

The next thing I had to do was create the written lyrics.  As per the instructions on the blog I needed Adobe Illustrator.  Since I didn't have this program and I didn't want to shell out any more cash, I downloaded the free 30 day trial version.  As long as I completed the project within the 30 days, I would be fine.  I created nine 6X6 art boards in a row and created a large text window over the boards.  I then cut and pasted the lyrics of our wedding song onto the art boards using 3 different fonts to separate each line of the song.  I had to use the whole song plus a few lines over again, but the effect looked great and once they are up you won't be able to tell.  When all was said and done I had created 5 lines of lyrics per art board.  With Illustrator when you print the art boards and it will separate them automatically.

The blog suggested using 110 Lbs card stock, but I found the 65 Lbs ones worked fine.  I printed them off and used a scrap booking paper trimmer to cut them to shape.  This I had bought a long time ago when I thought scrap booking may be my thing...it wasn't and this had been collecting dust ever since.  I was glad to have it for this project though!  I shudder when I think of cutting all nine boards out by hand!  The first attempt at cutting failed, as I cut the lyrics out to be perfect 6X6.  Each canvas was slightly different in their measurements and weren't very accurate.  So after the first failing, I decided to mark the card stock using the actual canvases and used that to cut out the lyrics.  This worked out very well and I only had to reprint that first art board!  I also numbered the back of each lyric page and canvas while I was cutting.  Since each one was unique, if anything got moved around I would know which page went with which canvas.

Now came the tricky bit.  This was the part I had never done before.  I cracked open the jar of Mod Podge and went to work with a sponge brush.  I painted a thin coating of the Mod Podge on the canvas and carefully matched up the lyric sheet.  I then pressed down and tried to get as many air bubbles as possible.  As per the blog I was following, Mod Podge does get tacky very quickly and you have to work quickly as well.  I found this to be accurate, and I also found that air bubbles do happen no matter what, but mine appear to have vanished as everything set. 

I let the Mod Podge dry for about 15 minutes and then I went about sealing the sheets.  The instructions I was following never used a sealer, but some people who had tried this project mentioned smudging occurring with the printed sheets.  Since I wasn't sure what would happen on mine, I figured I would play it safe and use the sealer.  I sprayed each sheet (now on the canvas) with the Mod Podge Acrylic sealer and let them dry for 15 minutes as per the packaging.  Be forewarned, this stuff smells!  Make sure you are outside, or in a well ventilated garage.  I wouldn't want to do this in my house, but if you open all the windows it should be fine.

The next step was the most time consuming.  A lot of waiting, but if you have stuff to do around the house this is a good time to get at it!  I proceeded to coat the sheets with 3 thin layers of Mod Podge

I did make a bit of a mistake, but it actually turned into something nice!  While using the Mod Podge, I wasn't exactly neat and a bit of it got onto the sides of the canvas.  This left little spots of gloss on an otherwise matte finish.  So when I was applying the last coat of Mod Podge to the sheets, I coated the sides as well!  It gave the sides and nice glossy sheen to them and made everything look a bit more uniform.  Bonus was it also covered up my mistake!  Win-Win!

I was really happy with how this project turned out, and my hubby was thrilled with his gift.  I finished it off with some picture hangers I got at the dollar store, so now all that is left to do is hang them!  And I know just where too....

How this all began...

This whole kick started with an innocent post by my cousin on Facebook.  She posted a neat idea for organization from a website called Pinterest.  After a couple of days, I decided that I wanted to see what this website was all about.  So I looked it up online and found a Internet based pin board for ideas and interests.  I figured that this may be something that I could use for making my life a bit more organized.  So I emailed for an invitation and when it came I signed right up! 

At first I basically was searching the boards all over the place.  Never really staying on one for too long.  Then I hit the DIY & Crafts board.  Well I was hooked.  All the little things that I wanted to buy for around the house could be made!  And all the tutorials made it look like I could do it...and easily!  Now, usually my crafts never turn out the way I want.  This is due largely to lack of patience on my side.  Not waiting for things to dry fully, or not reading directions are a couple of examples.  So I had pretty much given up on the idea of being crafty.  But, since those days I had changed, largely due to Warhammer 40K.  I had started painting the tiny models and due to my OCD I needed them to be prefect.  This usually led to me spending on average 3 hours per model.  If that doesn't teach you patience I don't know what will!  I then decided to choose a simple project to test the waters.  I will discuss that in my next post.

I do have another blog I share with my hubby, but since it is mostly nerd based, I figured I would start another blog separately from ours to show my domestic side.  This doesn't mean I won't link to that one when my crafts take a nerdy turn!