Collage Inspiration!

I've been inspired!

 I went to Yarndale last month, as you know, and met an amazing woman who produces fabulous collages. so when I got home I started searching online to find lots of different styles of collage.... and discovered so much that I was a bit overwhelmed.

 a few days later I joined Jani Franck's 'The Bubbling Well' which is an online space for 'creative beings'.... (you will see the link to the right of this blog). reading Jani's inspirational words and watching her short videos I became more focused and started to really think about the work I could produce. so I made my first collage.....

first I drew out the picture of a cove scene from a recent visit to Wales..... and then I searched for pieces of fabric and paper to construct the scene.  I crocheted piece to represent the large grey rocks.....

and I found some lovely fabric to represent the beautiful pebbles on the beach. 

the pretty primary-coloured boats were represented with pieces of felt

I placed crochet, felt, fabric, ribbon and part of a map on my piece of paper....... and it all started to come together!

but the little felt boats seemed to clutter the picture up too much so they were abandoned..... it was a shame really as they were a very striking part of my original visit to the cove. 

I stuck each element in place with a tiny bit of glue and then used various stitching to attach the fabrics and papers to the backing.  (please note that I am no needlewoman lol)

a page from an old book about the sea formed my coastal path, and ribbons for the sea and sand.  the flowers on the beautiful hillside were a piece of old lace.  I used part of an old map to represent the wider countryside to the side of the cottage, which actually wasn't on the beach, but about half a mile away 

when all the hand stitching had been done I machine sewed it all round...... and then glued it onto a canvas.

Ta Dah!!!

finished and mounted on a canvas

I've just finished a second one but can't show it yet as it is a gift for someone.... but I'll show it when she lets me know that it has arrived safely.

until next time.... blessings, Willow xXx

Yarndale

I'm still trying to catch up ...... so I'm still blogging about what I did in September.

we are now on Saturday 28th September......

oh it was a brilliant weekend!

some wonderful people in Skipton had organised an amazing festival at the Skipton Auction Market, in Yorkshire, England, featuring all things yarn-like.  there were different types of yarn to buy and lots of crafts and demonstrations.

here is the poster advertising the event

M and I planned to arrive at mid-day on the Saturday as I had arranged to meet up with two lovely ladies that I met online and have been talking to for a couple of years.  but traffic was terrible as we got within a mile or so from the venue.  

tempers were frayed as M is a typical man and doesn't like waiting in traffic..... but we finally got parked up and walked to the entrance and were greeted with an amazing sight of loads of bunting wrapped around trees.

bunting on a tree near the entrance

bunting in the entrance hall

 this was the sight in the main entrance hall...... with bunting made by people from 30 different countries..... miles of it!!!

bunting with list of countries that participated

the knitted picnic

it looked like we had arrived just in time for cake!   :-)

knitted sweeties

..... and there were plenty of sweeties too.

bunting everywhere

house bunting made by Lucy from Attic24

this house bunting was fun at the Knit and Natter where I met my friends

Alpaca

I even met, and made friends, with an Alpaca :-))

Lucy Attic24 cosy corner

it was great to meet and chat to Lucy from Attic24 as she has been such an inspiration to me (you will find her blog to the right of this under 'My Blog List').  unfortunately it was so crowded around Lucy that I couldn't get a great photo of her section but she has put some on her blog..... so nip across there and have a look.

I want to thank M for taking me and all the organisers for putting on the festival....

a very successful event!  and a great weekend


more adventures soon
blessings, Willow x

Crochet in Blocks

I've decided to do a blanket for my double bed.... as a cover for daytime.  but even the sizes I've done before become so heavy.  the biggest one was 40 inches by 60 inches which is only a 'throw' size.  I decided to do the blanket in blocks.... but I have no idea how to do them. so I've got a lovely book from my local library (remembering what I've learned in Rhonda Byrne's book The Magic I'm saying thank you to my local library.... thank you thank you thank you for providing this service) .....

it is totally gorgeous!

shows you how to do edgings.....

..... but I might have to learn how to read those diagrams to do some of the more complecated ones lol.

but just LOOK at these blocks........... in all their scrummy gorgeousness

with instructions :-)

I've got another project that needs finishing first............. but then I'm going to have a go at some of these.  there are even pages where it shows how you could put them together and what colours work well together.

Simples!

I hope :-))

with blessings, Willow xXx

Big & Small Crochet Ta Dah!

just a short post today to show you my two new Ta Dah items! 

first is a little crocheted bag to put crossways over my body to put my keys in when I go out walking.  it is 6 inches square (15cm to you youngsters) which is big enough to carry my mobile phone in too.... and a chap stick for protection from those biting icey winds that are to come eventually.  it has a wooden bead as a button fastener to make it easier to fasten and unfasten without looking :-)

the second is a blanket or throw.

it measures 40 inches by 60 inches (101cm by 152cm) so I'm struggling to find somewhere to spread it out so you can see the whole thing.  but for now... here is part of it

and a close-up of the edging



is done in the old fashioned Granny pattern that people usually do the Granny squares in.  it is the biggest blanket I've done and took about 36 hours to complete, which is less than the Ripple pattern blankets I've done.  it was far easier when sewing up the ends because it is done with one yarn in a random type colour.  usually the Ripple blankets take hours to sew up all the ends.  the yarn used for the main body was King Cole's Melody double knitting in Shade 958

then I finished off the edges going all round the outside with a Granny stitch on the first round in an unusual brown colour, then a single crochet on the next two rounds in orange and then blue to pick out the colours in the main part of the blanket.... and finished off the edging in one round of single crochet in purple and then a round making a little picot-type edging, also in purple.  hope you like it :-)

I decided to edge my ripple blanket too as it makes it so neat...

.... and the colours reminds me of a sunset on a blue ocean with the blue going to yellow, orange and red.  or is it just me? 

well.... that enough showing off my crochet work.  I love doing it and feel so proud of myself.... but I hope the ego isn't getting the better of me.  I'm sure the Universe will slap me down if I step over the mark LOL

with blessings, Willow xXx

Rippling Kitty

As you already know ... I bought an old campervan in May and called her Kitty.  She was 19 years old last month..... so she is an old lady.  But she still has plenty of life left in her, which was demonstrated by the fact that the day after I bought her we went on a 500 mile round trip!

Since I purchased her we have done 1000 miles together.  Not bad for two old girls LOL.

Kitty has an elevating roof which makes it the best of both as when driving the roof is down so less drag (so less fuel used) and just push the roof up when parked so that I can stand up inside throughout her length (except the cab area).

Kitty has a 4-burner gas hob, a sink and drainer, a large fridge, and room for 4 people with seat belts while travelling. 

But I prefer to have the seats set out so that I have a small sofa to sit on and this leaves the single seat and the passenger seat (which swivels round) for inside seating in the camper.

Even with my crocheted blooming flower cushions on, this seat looks drab, especially with the crazy curtains that were in Kitty when I bought her.

I decided she needed brightening up before very much longer.  I've done a bit to the outside as you saw in my last campervan post, but the inside definately needed something on the upholstery.  I don't possess a sewing machine so I decided to crochet some loveliness.

..... and here she is!  My very first ripple blanket finished in May this year in readiness for buying a camper. Thanks to Lucy at Attic 24 and her amazing blog containing really interesting stuff and brilliant patterns.  You might notice my blooming flower cushions are from Lucy's blog too :-)

The blanket has been made from leftover acrylic yarn from other projects plus some specially bought yarns in lovely bright colours.  It took a long time to crochet as I was a bit foolish and didn't do a smaller project while I learned the pattern.... so I ended up pulling it out a few times when I realised that the pattern had gone wrong (after sometimes crocheting for over an hour).  Lucy did warn anyone crocheting the ripple to try it out on a smaller swatch..... but I thought I was clever lol.

I'm over half-way through a cover for the single seat in bright ripply loveliness to 'match' the sofa.  I'll be sure to blog with pictures when I'm finished it.

More campervan adventures soon.

with blessings, Willow xXx



Rippling loveliness

Just a tiny little blog today :-)

But I just can't contain myself..............

I am sooooo enjoying doing this ripple pattern :-))

have a good weekend of crochet, or walking, or eating, or sleeping.  whatever you are doing do it with love.

blessings, Willow x



The Hookers Have Arrived!

Well, they've arrived!  I found the lovely soft crochet hooks I've been looking for...... on Ebay.  And yesterday they arrived with the postman :-)

Here they are photographed with Goldie (last week's new hook) .....................

The New Kids On The Block!

Lovely to work with!

Gorgeous lilacs and purple.  This is going to be a mini blooming flower cushion for a Tibetan singing bowl to sit on.

Below is my Chakra -coloured blooming flower cushion all pinned up and waiting to dry out.

Looks pretty with my new pins doesn't it?  Makes it look all jewelled.

Happy Sunday to everyone.  Many blessings, Willow x

Yorkshire in Bloom

It's been over a week since I blogged and now I don't know where to start with my update!  I'm still not allowed to run around and exercise so I'm spending a lot of time doing crochet work and reading.  Having said that, I think this blog might have a flower theme.

With doing so much crochet work I decided to try to find those lovely soft hooks, but found Goldie instead.
Don't get me wrong .. she is lovely and easy to crochet with.... but wasn't the type I was looking for really.  All the same she is really beautiful.

I have to make a lot of daisies for a project I'm doing.... and Goldie is making it so much easier to crochet the fiddly bits :-)

After being let down by an Ebayer with regards to my 12" cushion pads I had to resort to 16" pad for my friend G's birthday Blooming Flower cushion...............

.......... but this meant that I had another 6 hours of crochet work to make the cover big enough.  I'm really pleased with the finished cushion.

As it is G's birthday this week we thought we would leave the men behind and have a lovely girly day out.  So.... after a visit to the post office to post off some gloves and a cushion I had made, we set off.  Oh didn't I tell you?  I sold a blooming flower cushion and a pair of fingerless gloves this week!  My first ever sales..... whooo hoo!!!  Note to self ~ "stop giving all your creations away ~ except when it is for a birthday present lol".

Anyway..... we went off to Junction 32..... a shopping centre a few miles away for some retail therapy.  I didn't buy any clothes or shoes or indeed a handbag.  I bought some light bulbs some spoons and a wheat bag. (I think I cheated a bit with the flower reference there LOL)
.

At the shopping centre I spotted a magical crocus display.

Gorgeous aren't they?

On closer inspection I saw the most amazing beauty.  The petals unfolded to reveal a magnificent secret inside. 

After shopping we had a lovely lunch of sea bass, green beans, black olives, courgettes and baby new potatoes at Bella Italia.......... yummy!  And as we were going to the cinema we got the two main courses for the price of one!!!  It's a great deal :-))

What movie did we see?  The new Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock film called Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  Brilliant!! Thomas Horn plays the amazing Oskar Schell.... a 9 year old boy whose father is killed on 9/11... when he finds a key a year later he thinks that his father has left him a puzzle to solve.... what does the key fit?  I loved the film so much I have ordered the book by Jonathan Safran Foer and can't wait to start it.

So.... here is what am I reading at the moment.  

As you can see.... there is nothing 'light'..... so the novel will be good.

Notice that the books are all blue.  Significance?  No idea.  Just noted that they were blue lol.

When we got home from the cinema, there, in front of my house, was a beautiful crescent moon to greet us.

Hope you all have a great weekend and the sun shines on you.

With blessings, always, Willow x

Singing

Now that I've finished four Blooming Flower Cushions, and have got one cushion cover made without a pad to go inside coz I haven't received my delivery of more cushion pads, I thought I would make a smaller version to sit a Tibetan Singing Bowl on.  I've got some toy stuffing left over from when I made the amigurumi dolls so I just stuffed it with that.

A friend suggested the chakra colours for a cushion.  So here it is!!

... and here is what it looks like without the singing bowl...

So..... while I'm waiting for the cushion pads do I ..............

a) make more 12" cushions? 
b) make singing bowl cushions?  
.... or c) find another project to do?

Decisions, decisions!!!

Blessings, Willow x

Do they work?

I haven't quite yet finished Blooming Flower Cushion No.3.... I've still got the sewing up to do.  But I am already thinking about the new colours for cushion No.4

As Spring is around the corner I thought I would try to do some spring colours.  So I've chosen white, cream, yellow, orange and green.

I've done the back side of the cushion to see how it works.

Here is a close-up.  Unfortunately the white and cream rounds all look like white :-(

What do you think????? 

Be honest... please.

with blessings, Willow x

Got the bug .....for creating!

As you can see from the title.... I have got the bug!  ..... for creating. 

For creating the lovely Blooming Flower Cushion.

Here is No.3..... almost finished.....

.... there is a lot more blue in it than in cushion No.2.... but it is almost the same colours.... although the centre is yellows and oranges (mainly).

Below is the back side of the cushion (and the wrong side) .... and shows off the mainly blue outer with the bright centre colours.

I now need to buy some more cushion pads as I initially only bought 3.  I got them off Ebay.... but the Ebay shop I bought them from apparently doesn't exist any more.  So I am trying to source some more 12" cushions.  So far I have had no luck.... other than some duck down ones which cost the earth lol.  I am waiting for a reply from a supplier who doesn't actually do 12" ones but I've asked if it is possible to make 12" or 14" if I buy multiples.

Hopefully I can get hold of them..... otherwise it is duck down at a price!!!

Or........

I could make them myself.  Oh well.... that could be another blog ;-)

with blessings, Willow x

Blooming Gorgeous Ta Dah!!!

OMG!  I am soooo pleased with myself.  At last I finished my Blooming Flower Cushion as designed by the lovely Lucy at http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2011/07/blooming-flower-cushion-ta-dah.html  thank you sooooo much Lucy.... you are truely a magician.

I did one last year but gave it away as a Samhain (Halloween) present in a type of 'secret Santa' organised by the members of the Stonewylde forum.  I almost shed a tear as I handed it over to a friend to take it to the post office for me, as I had just had my gallbladder operation and was unable to drive there myself.

Stonewylde is a creation by Kit Berry, and is a hidden community in Dorset where time has almost stood still.  Kit has written 4 books in the series so far and book 5 will be published some time later this year.  You can visit the online forum at http://stonewylde.net/

I loved doing the last blooming flower cushion ..... and picked the colours for the person I was crocheting it for.  But this time I was making it for me :-)   While I had been recovering from my operation a friend went to the craft shop and bought some blue yarn for an amigurumi doll I was making.... but she brought back the wrong blue ... so off she went again (at her insistance) to get more blue.  But again the blue wasn't the right blue.  Eventually I ended up with a lot of shades of blue...... so the colours in my cushion reflect the fact that I had a lot of blue. Even so, I think it all works well with the pinks and purple hues.

What do you think?

Below is the reverse side of the cushion.....

...... and here, below is detail of the buttons reclaimed from a binned cardigan, and little silver 'Made With Love' heart I got from a lovely shop on Ebay..... 'Sarahlovescraft'.  (the buttons are so that the crocheted cover can be taken off the pad and washed......... perhaps the buttons should have been on the reverse side where they wouldn't show...... I may move them).

 By the way, I haven't pressed this one because I like the way the petals fold in :-)

Let me know what you think of my Ta Dah!

Love and Blessings, Willow x