Day 30 Bead necklace

Yet another WIP... too little time available today!

Day 29 Polymer Clay

I’ve been meaning to work some polymer clay for quite some time. It is not perfectly easy but the more you work with it and practice, the easier it gets. There are sites to help you out, which show step-by-step guides to obtain specific figures. There are also many books to provide inspiration and help.
I managed to buy Fimo polymer clay locally, but there are other makes mainly Sculpey (by Polyform) and Cernit. Look at the links at the end of this blog for more info.
These farm animals are really cute and I got the idea from http://www.sculpey.com/projects/friendly-farm-characters

Apart from the polymer clay you’ll need the sculpturing tools, a knife and paper. The paper is needed to work the clay on, since you can stain furniture. Clean hands between different colours as when you knead the clay, some gets on your hand and transfers to the next colour you work with.


You can adjust the clay as you need before baking, but once the figure is baked you cannot alter the shape or look of your project.
Fimo colours can be blended with each other to form a new colour, like yellow & blue gives you green. It is somewhat time consuming so it might be practical to buy the correct colour right away – it all depends on the amount you need.

I still need to make these figures nicer before baking, so this project might be considered WIP.



Happy claying!

Links:
http://fimo.com/creative_tips_for_FIMO.Staedtler
http://www.sculpey.com/
http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/cernit/
http://www.cforiginals.net/

Day 28 Courgette (Marrow) Cake

This is rather interesting. Yesyerday I prepared & cooked some filled Courgettes (the round ones) and reserved the inner white pulp for this cake. The cake is really moist and tasty, you would never imagine having courgettes in it. I don't know if it contributes to the 5-a-day of fruit and veg, but to make you feel less guilty for eating cake, let's say it does!

I got the recipe from http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8114/marrow-cake.aspx

Ingredients
3 eggs beaten
400g caster sugar (I used 350g and I guess even 300g would have been enough)
250ml vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
375g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
225g grated marrow (used about 300g, chopped roughly)

Method
Preheat oven to 170C or Gas mark 3. Grease two 1lb loaf tins, or one 20x30 cm baking dish. An ungreased silicon dish works just as fine.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs until fluffy with an electric mixer. Beat in the sugar, oil and vanilla. Gradually mix in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold in the marrow, do not mix it with the beater. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Bake for 45 minutes (mine needed 55), until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Enjoy with a nice cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate... yummy!

Day 27 Easy envelope

Sometimes you need an envelope and can't find the right size. There are templates to design your own envelopes. There are also some useful tools on the internet and one such site is Canon Creative Park, which I mentioned earlier. I downloaded and printed the patterned envelope from:
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/3206/10052/downloads/e-flower0022_s09a4p.pdf

Apart from the pattern you will need:
Scissors
Glue
Double-sided tape or photo stickers
... and a pen and stamp to send!


Cut out along the lines and fold over the dotted lines. Spread some glue on the glue tabs where shown and stick the sides together.


On the printout, there are some circle icons you can cut out and use them to close the envelope. I applied a photo sticker to attach to the envelope. It matches the design on the envelope and looks pretty!



Take care and have a lovely weekend x

Day 26 Iris Folding Clover

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all :-)



Iris folding is something I only tried since starting this project. It is very easy to do, especially if you have the pattern! I decided to do the clover through inspiration of St.Patrick's Day.

As before you'll need patterned paper, scissors, card for background, craft knife, pencil and ruler. You will also need a hologram paper for the iris piece. I put a nice shiny sequin with a bead in the centre for iris.



The work doesn't look astonishing from the back but once you turn the card over, you're in for a surprise!



For more info go to http://kermesse365.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-21-iris-folding-teddy-bear.html

Have a lovely day x

Day 25 Cross Stitch Sailing Boat Ready!

Finally, the cross stitch piece is finished. It has been defined with backstitch - as per pattern after all - and you can see what difference it makes. Who could have imagined that a yellow splodge would turn into a star?


Also, I'm adding a picture I found on to show how the cross stitch is worked.



Take care and if you have any questions, I hope I can help you x

Day 24 Cross Stitch Sailing Boat

I have not been able to finish the cross-stitch piece I started yesterday, too busy doing chores and caring for Gabriel, but still managed to do some stitching. You can see the difference between the left and the right side in the photo. The right side is complete with cross stitches while the left side has only half stitches ready. The half stitches are used for tapestry. I started doing tapestry before cross-stitch and I like them both. Cross stitch tends to look more dainty (can't find a better word!).


I'm not a professional cross-stitcher, but there are some points and tips for the work to be tidy:

• if possible keep the same tension in stitching throughout;
• stitches have to face the same way, all this way / or \;
• cross stitches are worked in double strands while backstitch in single strand - always follow instructions on pattern;
• clean hands and working area is highly recommended;
• if you need to cut or trim threads, preferably use embroidery scissors;
• if stitching from left to right, start the stitch from the lower box;
• if stitching from right to left, start the stitch from the upper side;
• this will give tidier work and in the long run save you thread.

Hope that this has been of help, and I will try to show you the finished piece tomorrow.

Good night :-)