cherishables

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Secrets Revealed

I received a reminder today (thanks, Patty!) that I haven't yet posted about the Christmas secret. I had a few this year. We'll start with the gift for my sister.

Pattern inspired by one created by Uneek Handbags.

I wanted to make her a purse she could carry every day, but was still suitable for work. I decided on the houndstooth pattern, but in a different style and color. I made more of a bucket-style in brown and white, instead of black and white. The inside is lined in cotton with pockets and it closes with a magnetic snap. I think she likes it.

Next, is the purse I made my Mom. First I made the Midnight Sun hat (in Onyx) found on the Lion Brand website. I made it in Onyx, like the trim on the purse. When it was done, I had a lot of the Onyx Fun Fur leftover and decided she needed a purse too.

This purse is my own design.

Last Christmas I made my Mom purple fingerless gloves trimmed in this fun fur. This year I decided to use more royal purple yarn to make a medium sized bucket bag, trimmed in Onyx Fun Fur. To get this type of ruffle, do a couple of rows of single crochet in the same number of stitches as the bag, then switch to 3 single crochet in each of the stitches. Do this until you have the ruffle you want and/or you run out of fun fur (but be sure to finish the row.) When the bag is felted, the fun fur will not felt. Instead it will create this fun ruffle. Be sure to use a large hook (I believe I used an 'N' for this ruffle) as it makes working with this material much easier. My Mom now has a hat, purse and fingerless gloves that all match!

Last, but certainly not least, is the secret project from the previous post.

Pattern created & sold by the wonderful people at Knot Sew Cute.

An Irish fisherman's sweater-inspired pillow for my Mother-in-Law. I l-o-v-e, LOVE, this pattern. The cable was a little tricky, but once I ripped it out a few times, I got it going in the right direction. It was made with Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in natural and stuffed with a 16" pillow. Here's the back:

Look at those yummy wooden buttons! I'm very pleased with how this pattern came out and I highly recommend the pattern. In fact, all the patterns from Knot Sew Cute are wonderful and I recommend you look them up on Etsy.

I gave lots of other handmade gifts. Some of these you may have seen on previous posts. Here's a run-down of the rest of the secrets:

Yellow trim tote for my Sister-in-Law.

Felted basketweave purse in currant for my eldest niece.

Sporty orange and brown striped purse for my middle niece.

Philadelphia Eagles team colors purse for my nephew's girlfriend who loves the Eagles (just like me!)

Philadelphia Flyers colors purse for my youngest niece who likes black.

Orange Bobble Bag for my Aunt who loves orange even more than me!

I also made a bunch of striped earflap hats for the men in the family but for some reason forgot to take a picture. Oh well. They came out great & the guys seemed to like them.

So there it is, the big Christmas reveal. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I've Got a Secret

Christmas secrets, that is. To be fair, at this time of year, we probably all have lots & lots of secrets. There are hundreds in this house alone.

I've been crafting up a storm. Lots of people are getting hand-crafted goodies for Christmas this year. I don't want to ruin any surprises, but I so want to show this one project. It came out so good and I'm so very proud of it. I'm not showing the whole thing. I'm not saying who it's for. I'm not even going to tell you what it is. Just a peek.

That's it! Well, maybe one more.

After the holidays, I'll post a picture of the project and tell you where you can get it, if you would like to try it yourself. It's so worth it!

So, what crafty secrets are you keeping this Christmas?

Thursday, December 1, 2011

A rose by any other name...

Flower pins! Just for fun, I made a bunch of these last year. I was practicing crochet-in-the-round and this seemed like a fun project. I can make them pretty quickly, so I made tons. Probably 50 or so pins. On a lark, I brought them to the craft fair. They sold like hot cakes! So I did what any smart person would do. I made more!

I have a whole crop of new flower pins listed in my Etsy shop. All kinds of colors -- some found in nature, some found in my imagination only. These pins are great on a purse, jacket or hat. A unique a fun gift, they're inexpensive enough to keep a few on hand for drop-in guests. They make terrific teacher or Secret Santa gifts. I'm not sure I'll have the time to make more this holiday season, so order early before they're gone!

Lalia Flower pattern designed & sold by mamachee.etsy.com

Sunday, November 27, 2011

The Golden Snitch

A few days ago, one of the craft blogs I follow posted a tutorial on making a Golden Snitch ornament. The tutorial was posted last year on Tiny Apartment Crafts. I decided to give it a try.

5 messed up ornaments later, this one isn't so bad:

Here's a picture of the original as a comparison:

My wings are a different shape and I used glitter paint instead of glitter. I also forgot to buy gold paint to cover the glue spots. All easily mended as I want to try one with glitter.

I also used a Sharpie paint pen to draw on the design. The worked well for me because I'm no artist so I can't paint freehand. I think, however, the next one I make I'll paint over my paint pen markings as I like how the gold paint is darker than the ball, which gives more definition -- like the actual Golden Snitch.

This craft definitely takes time. There are lots of steps & they all need dry time in between. It's a great project to work on while you're doing other things. However, when it's time to glue on the wings, stop what you're doing & give yourself lots of time. You need to hold the wing in place for a while (I held mine at least 10 minutes) before the glue really starts to dry & you can leave it to cure.

Don't let any of this stop you from trying this craft. It's really a lot of fun and the end result is terrific. In a day or so you can have your own Golden Snitch on your Christmas Tree! It would also be a fab gift for the Harry Potter fan in your family. Just be sure to package it very carefully, as it is very fragile.

Let the Christmas crafting begin!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Traditional with a twist

I'm not one to buy the latest trend. Before I started making my own purses, each season I would struggle to find a purse I like. A couple of years ago metallics and studs were in style. I searched for weeks before I found a purse I wanted to carry.

So, when I came upon a pattern to make a houndstooth purse, I jumped on it. It's the ultimate in traditional style.

Pattern by rakjpatterns.etsy.com

This pattern was very easy to work up. While it is a traditional pattern, the purse has a nice modern shape. The author suggests using an old belt to make the buckle, but I couldn't find one so I made a strap out of black wool and felted a buckled on to it. I really like how it came out. Very reminiscent of a belt strap. I finished this purse with a long, black, strap. It can be worn short, as shown, or unstrapped & lengthened.

When I get some time, I'm going to make this in other colors. Brown & cream is a definite. I'm also thinking about resurrecting some of those preppy color combos from my youth.

Color suggestions anyone?

Santa's Formalwear

I've been having a lot of fun with the Santa purse pattern I purchased from Etsy. Though my purses have a bit of a different shape, more of a cinched in waist, I absolutely love this pattern!

After making two red purses and getting such great feedback, I decided to make one in another color. I thought an off-white color would give it an old-world Santa feel. Take a look!

Santa wears white! After Labor Day! <gasp>

Now that its done, I'm thinking more like Santa out on the town. Tuxedo-stylin' Santa! This is what Santa would wear, if he was Bing Crosby.

I love it! I don't think I'm selling it. Instead, I think I'll carry it every day....beginning December 1st.