Baby toy

Like always, it’s been a while since the last update, which doesn’t mean that I have been quiet. I’m always doing or thinking of a new project, when I’m not, I remind myself how good I feel when I do have one or I’m making one. It doesn’t matter how much time I’ve got, as long as I choose the right project for the amount of time I’d like to spend on doing it (without getting frustrated or too anxious, just the right balance).

This time was a request from a friend who was heavily pregnant and wanted a toy for her baby: an amigurumi octopus!

It was quite easy and I liked the way it came out. The biggest challenge was to make the eyes and the little star in the head (also a mouth that didn’t turn out good so I gave up). I still have a long way to go practicing eyes, little ‘accesories’ and mouths when the crochet pattern is quite ‘open’. In any case, I liked the idea, loved that she actually requested it, and her now 5 months old baby likes it!

Captain’s armband

It’s been a long long time since the last update, but that does not mean I have not done anything all these months.

I have been ‘playing’ (is more of an attempt on my side) football with my working colleagues for a good couple of months now. From the beginning, we had a designated team captain but it was only when her birthday came up a few weeks ago that this idea popped into my head, an armband like a proper football team!

I made the letter with crochet, following this video and it was way easier than expected! I only struggled a bit with at the end as the sides of the letter were too close. I followed the advice for adjusting the shape by securing it to a towel and spraying some water and letting it dry, but it did not really seem to work. Perhaps you have to do that and once dried sew it straight away.

I also thought of adding the name of our team. I thought of embroidery (although I am not really fan of it) but wasn’t sure about how it would work with the elastic so I dropped it. Perhaps I could add it on the opposite side of the velcro, but then it needs more thinking. I quite like it like that and I hope the captain likes it too! ^^

PS. I love my new accessories, they make everything look cute ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

-DIY- Canvas quote

When I saw this quote a particular friend came to my mind. What a perfect opportunity to give it to him as a gift! He has a “personal quote” rather similar so I liked the idea but I could have chosen his quote as well (actually I thought of this afterwards, hehe).

A couple of months ago a new Poundworld opened nearby and when on an exploring mission, I was surprised by the wide range of objects at such a low price! (sometimes below or over a pound). I got a nice thin canvas and 12 acrylic paints for only £2!

At the beginning I wanted to try with proper calligraphy, but then I realised not only my calligraphy skills were so good, nor my ability of using a brush and acrylic paint, so I decided to draw it and then paint it. If I have had more time, I would have mixed the colours and have a nice gradient transition. There will always be another chance to try 😉

Crayon fun!

Finally after seeing many different projects with this trendy technique, I had the chance to make my very own!

As my project included a quote rather than an image, I’ve decided to mix the colours instead of doing a rainbow rain as the majority of the pictures I’ve found have.

First break the crayons in little pieces that you are going to “spread” all over the canvas. Crayons are wax, so you don’t need to cover every single space, when it melts it will expand. I have placed them around 4-5 cm apart from each other. But it will depend of the number of crayons and the size of the canvas. I was also aware that putting the crayons too close would potentially led to “over” mixing the colours and end up with an odd tone, so I preferred to be more in control of that.

Once you’ve decided where you are going to place the crayons, you should use hot glue to fix them to the canvas. Otherwise when the hair drier is on, they will fly away. Try to use only a tiny bit, enough to fix them but not too much that will add extra (unwanted) texture. I’ve followed this tutorial to guide me, though is a different project. I didn’t use any sponges as I did not want to mix the colours that much.

Once everything is ready, turn the hair drier on and focus it in a section at a time. It will take a while to melt (depending on it’s power) but once it’s ready, it’ll be almost like water and you can play and direct the flow of the colour as you please.

It is important to bear in mind that is better to let it cool and change it afterwards if not convinced, that over mixing the colours in one go. You can always reheat and keep on working on how you spread the colours. That gave me some peace of mind as not to rush 🙂

Once you’ve covered the whole canvas, let it dry! it wont take long.

In this project, I wanted to write a quote with acrylic paint. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a problem to paint on top of wax. I’m not particularly good at painting nor handling a brush and I’m quite perfectionist, so it took me some time to draw the letters first and then colour them carefully. At the end the letters could have been slightly bigger, but well, I was afraid I would ran out of space.

To highlight the letters (as I didn’t have white paint) I’ve used correction fluid and a toothpick to draw the lines. It was easier to handle it as paint, I thought it was going to dry in the middle of it.

Et voilà! you have a lovely colourful canvas with a quote that you like. I’ve lost the pictures of the final version (sharing the camera, my bad) but I crossed out the “with” so it reads “Be someone that makes you happy” ^_^ 15726069_10154957159861812_1865314051_o

Making the t-shirt yarn

I must say that I have never tried to do it myself (which is something not common as I love to try everything and make everything, but sometimes you just have to give in and enjoy that someone else has already done it for you), but I think it’s worth giving it a try.

If you click the image it will take you to the blog where there is a video that explains it.

Hope you find it useful! ^^

Original t-shirt yarn flip flops

This is the original image where I took the t shirt yarn flip flops idea.

At the beginning it seems easy, in the middle a bit tricky and at the end it’s just about understanding how the thing goes and it becomes easy again 🙂

I will stick to my plan of using it as a sole for the yarn slippers. I might go to HobbyCraft this week to get some nice yarn. If anybody knows a nice shop in London where to buy yarn in store at good prices, please let me know. HobbyCrafts is good, but going there is a travel adventure :/ .

T-shirt yarn flip flops

I found this on pinterest and I found it quite interesting. I was originally looking for a sole for a knitted slippers, so I thought to give it a go.

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It was quite easy to do it, once you get the trick and got it right. I was quite amused in the process, but you have to be patient. For me it was a trial, so I put middle effort on it.

It is really comfy, but if you want them for flip flops you have to give them a more hard structure, wire maybe? But as in my case I was looking for a sole for a slippers project, it might work. I have to work out how to saw the wool yarn in the t shirt yarn… that will be a challenge. So let’s give it a go!^^