Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012

Somehow a whole year has passed -  Lots of Craftyness happened  recording it became the issue. My 2012 resolution will then be to do more posting in 2013... let's see how that goes.

My Christmas Craft came with inspiration from justcraftyenough she has a template and instructions. Here is my family of Santa Gnomes there was a few more but they've gone and found themselves new homes already.

A CHRISTMAS PRAYER
by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and the worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate and open the door of love
all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children,
and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful
thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake, Amen!"

Have a Crafty week!

XXX

Balloon Artistry

BalloonSculpting

This is an art form I have never tried. It didn't occur to me until this weekend after watching someone doing it with such passion that it is indeed an artform.

 People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon sculptures are called Twisters, Balloon Benders or  Balloon Artists.

Have a crafty week
xXx

Inspiration

This weekend I attended the Craft and Quilt Fair here in our fair City. http://www.craftfair.com.au/   I anticipated this event for weeks now as I've really enjoyed previous years.  I have to say they didn't disappoint.  The Quilts are outstanding and all the exhibitors were helpful and super friendly.  I hope they all do extremely well financially as I'm sure the commitment on their side to be here are huge.
As I walked around and enjoyed the stimulus overload the bits that stood out for me (and possibly only because it is my interests) was the wonderful Linen Quilts and specially the Japanese influences.  I remember lots of Owl designs.  I definitely stopped at every wool stand I loved what Teresa Dair from "dairing" in Victoria is doing she showed us how to knit using our arms as needles (think about that one for a while) I suppose you had to be there. Her website is super http://www.dairing.com/ they sell online and they stock the Habu Textiles range (Japanese again).  http://www.habutextiles.com/

The other Fabrics that I enjoyed was from Sakizome momen. Sakizome means "yarn dyed" and momen means "cotton", so the yarn is dyed before weaving  these traditional fabrics.
This gorgeous quilt is by Be Be Bold ( http://www.bebebold.com/ ) from the woven precut fabrics.

and last but not least I'm inspired to try the traditional  Sashiko method. According to Wikipedia:

Sashiko (刺し子^?, literally "little stabs") is a form of decorative reinforcement stitching (or functional embroidery) from Japan. Traditionally used to reinforce points of wear, or to repair worn places or tears with patches, this running stitch technique is often used for purely decorative purposes in quilting and embroidery. The white cotton thread on the traditional indigo blue cloth gives sashiko its distinctive appearance, though decorative items sometimes use red thread.
Many Sashiko patterns were derived from Chinese designs, but just as many were developed by the Japanese themselves. The artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) published the book New Forms for Design in 1824, and these designs have inspired many Sashiko patterns.

Equipped with loads of new ideas floating around in my head I can't wait to get busy.

Have a Crafty Week.
xTx