12 Days of Christmas

I've been missing from blog posts for nearly a month, but even though the gift opening for the Byhand Artists 12 Days of Christmas is long past I want to show you some of the cuff bracelets that I made for my Day 9 gifts. I showed the wrapped packages is my last post and so now here are the gifts that were inside.This is a selection of some of the cuff bracelets that I stitched up from fabric samples, hand knit pieces and fabric binding. Some have beading and rubber stamped pieces stitched on.
This group shows some more of the cuff bracelets including one that has a needle felted heart and beads.Close-up of one of the bracelets with a fabric mesh and buttons added.
This one is a fabric sample with a knit lace edging and flower added to the front along with some fun beads.
And the rubber stamped back, all rubber stamps from Quietfire Design.

Creative Escape Journal Page Aug 31

Creative Escape Journal Page Aug 31
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This page in my Creative Escape Journal evolved this morning with inspiration from a link on the MmarioKknits Yahoo group. One of the members posted about this Erika Knight baby hat pattern which has a lovely edging on the bottom that the member is using for other projects. I saw the flower and edging and thought it just had to be done in my journal. This is done on one of the coffee dyed watercolour pages. I converted an old black and white photo to sepia and layered it over a kraft and dark brown cardstock. The lace flower and edging are knitted with 2.25 mm needles and a light brown cotton thread. I used some of the same thread to sew the edging to the edge of the page and to sew a button to the centre of the flower. The words are rubber stamped with a clear alphabet set and Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Greeting Card-Baby

Greeting Card-Baby
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Here is the Saturday card project from Cherish The Thought. I started with a Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss the background layer then rubber stamped the edging, little bird and "Special Delivery" postal cancellation. The vintage carriage is stamped on cream cardstock cut with a scalloped circle Nestabilities Die. The background layer is edged with Memento Rich Cocoa ink. The lace and a ribbon is added with double sided tape and the cream piece is glued on with foam dots. Now came the frame for the carriage, this was done with 2 Nestabillities dies, the scalloped circle and the inverted scallop circle. We first placed the inverted scallop circle on a magnetic sheet, then lined up the points of the scallop circle with the points of the inverted scallop die. This was cut with the Big Shot and I got this cute little bubble frame which was edged with the Memento ink then glued to the cream circle.

Queen of Heart Journal Page

Queen of Heart Journal Page
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Judy, one of the byhandartists members proposed a challenge to do a project on the theme of Queen of Hearts so I did a page in my journal. I used fired brick Distress Ink to colour the page, found a vintage Queen of Hearts playing card image on-line, and inked the edges with Memento rich cocoa ink. I ran the image through the Xyron and added Sugar Beads. The frame is the piece left from the Watercolour Card I did a couple of weeks ago. The words "Queen of" and "heart" are Quietfire Design stamps rubber stamped with Blazing Red StazOn ink on thick cardstock, cut and attached with double sided tape. The lace along the bottom of the page is a piece of edging I knit from red no. 10 cotton and 2.25mm needles.

Vintage Christmas 2

Vintage Christmas 2
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This my interpretation of the Vintage Christmas Card I made at Cherish The Thought. The background is burgundy cardstock run through the textile Cuttlebug embossing folder and white pigment ink rubbed over the high points. 2.5 inch lace is added near the bottom of the background. I used an old family photo printed in sepia and edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I don't have the snowflake die, so I rubber stamped the snowflake on white cardstock with Vintage Photo ink and embossed with pearl white translucent embossing powder, the cut out the shape. This was also rubbed with vintage photo ink and a rhinestone added to the centre. The Quietfire Design quote is stamped on cream cardstock with Vintage Photo distress ink and the edges are rubbed with the same ink, and burgundy ribbon is tied around the piece. The snowflake and quote are mounted with foam tape.

Vintage Christmas Card

Vintage Christmas Card
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This is today's card project at Cherish The Thought. We used a cream coloured card blank, a red and grey patterned paper and lace. The image and "Seasons Greetings" are stamped on cream cardstock and the snowflake is a Sissex die cut with a rhinestone for some bling.

"Tea" Fat Book Page

I recently finished my contribution to a collaberative book project with members of the Vancouver ATC Group on the theme of tea. For my pages I used tea dyed Distress ink on the paper, then glued images from paper napkins with matt medium. I added a bit of rubber stamping and a small piece of knit lace. There is also a few beads glued to the Lavender napkin image. I made an extra copy just in case so I was able to use it to tip into my assorted paper Zutter Journal. The holes were pre-punched so I wove some ribbon and used brads to hold the page to a cardstock tab in my journal.


This is the back of the page with more rubber stamping and an old coupon from coffee and tea products. The page forms a pocket for a "tea bag" tag with the other "T" technique used.
You can see this journal in my Flickr Photos.

Geometric Faroese Shawl Knit-Along

This is another shawl knit-along I am working on with a Yahoo group which is moderated by Agnes Argan. It is her design for the Geometric Faroese Shawl and she posts another part of the pattern at somewhat regular intervals. I am quite far behind right now as 5 clues have been posted and I have just gotten started on clue 2, but I am progressing at a steady pace. I am using a dark green fingering weight yarn with 3.25 mm. needles. I think the pattern is quite lovely so far and I am enjoying knitting this shawl. This style of shawl is one of my favourites as it is so easy to wear.

Holiday Mystery Shawl Knit-Along

Holiday Mystery Shawl Knit-Along
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I am participating in a shawl knit- along on Holiday Mystery Gifts Knit Along Yahoo group. Instead of a shawl I decided to to a tablecloth in bedspread cotton no. 10 in ecru on 3.00mm needles. This is clues one and 2 finished. The designer posts several pattern choices with each clue and I chose to start with Birds Eye, then knit Inverted Aran Wheatears and finished up clue 2 with Fircone. I have started clue three knitting Candlelight pattern. This will take me a few days and I will have another photo then.

Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Way back in another lifetime, or last year my friend Linda T asked me to make something for her guardian angel. I was very slow getting this done and by February of 2008 I was about half done the beaded stole I chose to knit, then disaster hit and I slipped on ice and fractured my wrist. Of course this put all knitting on hold for awhile and when I was finally able to hold knitting needles and knit again a new disaster reared it’s ugly head, I had redesigned the stitch pattern to fit the small format of the stole and to add beads. Well of course I had not written my pattern down, so I had to rip back to see what I was doing and write my pattern down. So now I could finish the stole which is knit in gold cotton thread about the weight of bedspread cotton and has multi-coloured beads added in. So now, when Linda had probably given up all hope of ever seeing her guardian angel again, and before any risk of her getting lost in the sea of moving boxes, I mailed it back to her in August. There was a little purse which had small blessing cards and so my blessing to Linda was “Live life with a peaceful mind”.

Christening Dress

So here I am with more historical projects. This Christening dress is sewn from handkerchief linen and the neckline and sleeves are trimmed with a crochet lace edging. The centre panel is assorted crochet samples and motifs in white and ecru cotton. Most of the lace was in my stash and I decided this was a good place to use them. The lace on the bottom is filet crochet and I am pretty sure that I designed and charted it. The crochet roses were created for this dress and buttons were collected from family, including one from a wedding dress. I created this dress for a family member a few years ago.

Stocking

Stocking
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I haven't had much time for creating lately but while I was cleaning I came across some photos of past projects, so I'm sharing a bit of my history today. This PNE second place winning stocking is a lace sampler knit with worsted weight yarn with a cotton lace edging added below the ribbing. Burgandy and white flowers and ribbons trim the back. This was made for a niece and there was a bit of a panic when I went to pick up my entries and it was missing. It was soon found with a group entry and all ended well.