An egg-cellent impression

Hello peeps!

First, a warm welcome to my blog's new follower!  I'm so very glad to have you along on my crafting adventures!

I hope everyone has been well!  Things have been busy around these parts.  We had some company from out of town and my husband had the opportunity to play in a hockey tournament with ex-NHL players which filled up most of last weekend.  But it is now back to business as usual, so I finally have a project to share.

This is a little Easter decoration I made using Magnolia mini stamps.  The first time I saw these, I just knew they would make the cutest little Easter eggs.  I wasn't sure if I would actually be able to stamp the images on eggs, but a couple dozen eggs later... (well not quite, but almost :o) )  I am nothing if not persistent and this technique does take practice.  You should be able to spare yourself at least a dozen of those eggs by following the tips at the end of this post.

Some details:

The basket was recycled.  It started out a pale straw colour which I was not fond of, so I painted it white with acrylic paint cut with a bit of water.  The cloth is recycled scrap cloth from old curtains.

Stamps - Magnolia mini chickens, mini Hello Tilda and mini Tilda with eggs in her apron all stamped with black Stazon and coloured with watercolour pencils.

Dies/punches - Magnolia Doohickey for leaves and Cheery Lynn Designs for butterflies, Martha Stewart edge punch for handle

Other embellishments - flowers are from Magnolia and Pretty Petals, pearl pins, flat back pearls, Distress stain in picket fence used on butterflies and leaves, and I think that is all.

I would like to enter this decoration in the following challenges:

Magnolia-licious - photo inspiration
Magnolia Down Under - Easter
Simon Says Stamp - Use your favorite tools (I have many, but on this I used my favorite edge punch and my favorite dies and big kick, and paint brushes - which are probably my favorite tool of all)
Cupcake Craft Challenge - sewing box (use something you would find in a sewing box - I have used pins and fabric scraps)
Deep Ocean Challenge - masking or use more than one stamp
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - spring or Easter
Craft Us Crazy - Anything but a card/altered item
Top Tip Tuesday - Easter and/or Animals - my tip is for stamping on eggs:

Start with clean, full, room temperature eggs.  It is very important that the eggs are at room temperature because the slightest bit of condensation will completely ruin your image.  The next trick is to use unmounted stamps - just the rubber.  You need to be able to mould the stamp to the egg.  Foam and wood will prevent you from being able to do so.  The final trick is to use small/narrow stamps.  The wider the stamp, the more difficult it is to get the full image on the egg.

To stamp, ink up your rubber and place it in your hand, gently cupping it in your palm like so:

Then roll the egg, starting from the bottom of the image and working your way up to the top.  As you do so, make sure that the sides of the stamp also contact the egg by squeezing your fingers in to gently cup the egg. 

Practice, practice, practice!  It is difficult, but worth the effort!  Once you have your image stamped, you can drain the eggs by piercing a small whole at the top and bottom of the egg.  I used a large syringe to drain mine.

That's all for now.  Thanks for popping by and thank you if you've taken the time to leave me a comment.  I love reading them and it gives me the chance to stop by your blog too.

Have a great Easter!

Hugs,

Dawn

Crochet Heart Doily Pattern

Hello Bloggers,

As promised, here is the pattern for my crochet heart doily.  Enjoy!  However, please link to this post instead of reposting or republishing this pattern.  Thank you!

Sample was crocheted using a 1.15mm hook and South Maid Cotton.

ch = chain
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
sl st = slip stitch
st = stitch
sp = space
sh = shell (2dc ch2 2dc)

ch 6, sl st in first st to form a ring
row 1:  ch 3, dc in ring, ch1, dc in ring, ch 1, 2dc in ring, ch4 turn
row 2:  2dc in first ch1 sp, ch2, 2dc in same sp, ch1, 2dc in next space, ch2, 2dc in same sp, ch4 turn
row 3:  sh in first ch2 sp, sh in next sp, sh in next sp, ch4 turn
row 4:  sh in first ch2 sp, ch 1, sh in next sp, ch1, sh in next sp, ch4 turn
row 5: sh in first sh sp, ch2, sh in next sh sp, ch2, sh in last sh sp, ch4 turn
row 6:  same as last row except replace the 2 ch2 with ch3
row 7: same as previous except replace the 2 ch3 with ch4
row 8:  same as previous row except replace the 2 ch4 with ch5
row 9:  sh in first sh sp, ch2, dc in ch5 sp, ch2, dc in same sp, ch2, 2dc in next sh sp, ch2, dc in same sp, ch2, 2dc in same sp, ch2, dc in next ch5 sp, ch2, dc in same sp, sh in last sh sp, ch4 turn
row 10:  sh in first sh sp, ch1, skip next ch2 sp, dc in following ch2 sp, ch1, dc in same sp, ch1, dc in same sp, ch1, skip next ch2 sp, sh in following sp, sh in next sp, ch1, skip next ch2 sp, dc in next  ch2 sp, ch1, dc in same sp, ch1, dc in same sp, ch1, sh in last sh sp, ch4 turn
row 11:  sh in first sh sp, ch1, sc in 2nd ch1 sp, ch3, sc in next ch1 sp, ch1, sh in 2nd sp from hook, ch4 turn (this should take you to the half way point of the previous row)
row 12:  sh in first sh sp, sc in ch3 sp, sh in last sh sp, ch4 turn
row 13:  sc in first sh sp, ch1, dc in sc, ch1, sc in last sh sp, sl st in next two st's to take you right next to the edge of the scallop from the previous row, ch5 turn
row 14:  sc in 2nd sp, ch4, sl st in 1st sc of last row, tie off

You should now have a heart with only 1 'hump'.  To make the other hump:

make a slip knot around your hook and tie in with a sl st in the 1st dc of the last full row on outside edge of the heart, ch4
repeat rows 11-14

You should now have a heart with a scalloped border.  You can add an extra border around the outside to increase the size of the heart and make it a bit more ornate.  Here is the border I added to the sample:

make a slip knot around hook and join in between the 2 shells in the 'valley' at the top of the heart with a sc, ch3, sc in next sp, ch3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, sc in same sp, ch1, in next sp (2dc, ch4, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, ch1, 2dc in same sp) repeat for each ch5 and ch4 sp to the tip at the base of the heart and in last dc right before the ch6 ring that started your heart, 3dc in ch6 ring, ch4, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, ch1, 3dc in same ring, in next ch4 sp (2dc, ch4, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, ch1 2dc in same sp) repeat in all ch 4/5 sp's as in previous half stopping with one sp left, ch1, sc in last sp, ch3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, sc in same sp, ch 3, sl st in the sc that began the border, tie off.  There should be 10 picots on each side plus one at the base.

Tuck in ends and starch to stiffen if desired.

Enjoy your doily!

Hugs,

Dawn

Hang in there and a crochet heart doily

Hello peeps!

Before I get to my post, I would like to welcome my blog's new follower.  I'm so happy you decided to click the magic little follow button and hope you will find reason to stop in from time to time!

I hope everyone had a truly fantastic weekend!  I spent mine at a crop for the cure, which was very relaxing and I got to catch up a teeny bit on my scrapbooking (if such a thing exists), not to mention I didn't have to do any cooking or cleaning!  Does it get any better than that?

I have a birthday card to share today.  This one is for my mom, who has a distaste for her birthday, but she loves cats just as much as I do, so I thought this would be perfect:

I just love this stamp!  So full of possibilities...

Some info on my card:

Paper - Basic Grey DP from the Olivia collection, Bazzill card and 300g hot pressed water colour paper

Image - Penny Black coloured with Distress Inks (frayed burlap, antique linen, victorian velvet, spun sugar, stormy sky, tumbled glass, black soot and tattered rose)

Cuts - Magnolia Doohickey leaves, Cheery Lynn small exotic butterflies (cut on pink and swiped with picket fence distress stain to tone them down and give them a white washed look),  the shape for the image was created in SCAL2 using a rectangle and ovals

Other - sheer cloth, pretty petals flowers, mini clothes pins (which started out bright pink, so I painted them white with acrylic paint), hemp twine, American Crafts pink lace, computer generated sentiment and a crocheted heart doily. 

The doily on this card is my second attempt at designing a heart doily.  I now understand why patterns for heart doilies are impossible to find.  Luckily it is tucked in behind the image, hiding the fact that it is way too long.  However, I am nothing if not stubborn and persistent, so I tried again and came up with a shorter version:

It is not without flaws - most notably at the base where it just isn't even from one side to the other, though  a good starching would probably hide most of that (this one has not been starched).  If you are interested, I'll be adding my pattern at the end of this post within the next 24 hrs, so check back later.  I expect it will take a little while to type up all that code.  As I am not 100% happy with it, I will probably attempt designing another completely different pattern, but probably not until next year once I forget how frustrating the design process is :).

I've added the pattern to my blog in a new post available here.

This card was inspired by insanity and the following challenges:

Basic Grey Challenges - Mother's Day or Girlie - you choose
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Let's Play Bingo (I did flowers, lace and twine)
Totally Papercrafts - Humour (ok, so it's not ROTFL or even lol, but it might be good for a teeny smile)
The Sketchy Challenges - love this sketch; this is my second entry
Cute Card Thursday - where anything goes

Hope everyone has a great week!  Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment!  I do love reading them and I love the chance to visit you too.

Hugs,

Dawn

Mother to be

Hello Peeps!

First, I would love to welcome my blog's new follower!  So glad to have you!  I hope everyone is having a great weekend and is finding plenty of time for crafting and making creative stuff! 

I have a card to share today that I made for a new mother to be.  Baby isn't due until summer, but I was very inspired by so many challenges to make this one that I didn't want to wait!  The rainbow and green challenges are just perfect for a baby card, especially when you don't know if it will be a boy or a girl.

Supplies:

Paper - Bazzill card, 300g hot pressed watercolour paper, Graphic 45 DP from the Little Darlings collection - these papers are so beautiful!

Stamps - Magnolia 'Mother to be Tilda' - an absolute delight to colour and I just love how she has swollen feet!  Stampin' Up 'Elizabeth' and sentiment is from the 'Teddy and Train' set

Ink - Image was stamped with black Stazon, coloured with Distress inks (frayed burlap, antique linen, peeled paint, black soot, walnut stain, tattered rose and bundled sage).  Sentiment and flourish were stamped with walnut stain.  Flowers were coloured with scattered straw, tattered rose and victorian velvet; butterflies were coloured with broken china and black soot.

Tools - Cheery Lynn Designs small exotic butterflies, Magnolia rose leaf doohickey, Cricut elegant edges cartridge for scalloped oval

Other - Pretty Petals flowers, cloth is the same recycled cloth I have been using - used to be curtains a long time ago, so I won't be running out of it anytime soon :o), Little Yellow Bicycle doily, champagne coloured pearls.

This card was inspired by the following challenges:

The Sketchy Challenges - for the gorgeous sketch, which I flipped
Deep Ocean Challenge - butterflies
Magnolia-licious - colour challenge (photo inspiration)
Simon Says Stamp - green
Magnolia Down Under - old treasures (use something recycled - I used the cloth from my old curtains)
Just Magnolia - green
Crazy 4 Challenges - green

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!  I love reading them and visiting you back!  Have a great week!

Hugs,

Dawn

A little late for February

Hello bloggers,

Hope everyone is having a great week!  I have finally finished the February page for my mother's House Mouse calendar and what a learning experience it was!  If you haven't already learned the hard way, let me tell you all about Timber brown Stazon ink.  It doesn't really stay on very well.  After colouring my image with Distress inks (which it does stay on for) I decided the little lantern needed to look like glass.  So I applied Glossy Accents over it and to my complete horror, the brown ink bled!  I almost cried! 

I didn't want to waste the image and the time it took to colour it, so I restamped the lantern onto another sheet and recoloured it so I could piece it back together.  This time I applied Goosebumps thinking that it might be more compatible as it is the same brand.  It wasn't.  So, I stamped it again, this time with black and recoloured and used glossy accents.  For some reason, the brown ink bleeds but the black does not.  So, don't look too closely at the lantern as it is darker than the rest of the image and pieced together which just bothers me.  Of course, I say that in vain as everyone is now examining the lantern with a magnifier. 

Supplies:

Want 2 Scrap chipboard base
Papers - Bazzill card, Basic Grey DP inked with vintage photo DI
Image - House Mouse Tickle Phil stamped on 300g hot pressed watercolour paper with Timber brown Stazon and coloured with Distress inks (bundled sage,black soot, scattered straw, pumice stone, rusty hinge, walnut stain, antique linen, vintage photo, tattered rose, frayed burlap and barn door)
Tools - Martha Stewart edge punch
Other - feathers, seam binding ribbon dyed with tattered rose, glossy accents, burlap, calendar was computer generated and slides in the pocket so it can be changed each year.

I'd like to enter this calendar page in the Totally Papercrafts Challenge - my favourite things (I have so many!  Some of my favourites are House Mouse, ribbon and colouring with Distress inks) and I'm also linking up to the Make it Monday linky party.

Thanks for stopping in and for taking the time to leave a comment!  I love reading them and it gives me the chance to visit you to!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Hugs,

Dawn