Tricia's Circular Card

The most recent challenge on one of my design teams was to make something that was neither a square nor a rectangle, and I decided to make a circular card. I've used stamps for the central section, and die cut some doily layers using a celtic knotwork die set, and finished with some tiny die cut flowers.

Shilpa's Painting

Shilpa said, 'Painting done. I used what ever I had at home that is water, acrylic and oil paints.'

Adrienne's Decoupage

Adrienne said, 'Beginner decoupage. I practiced on a soup can and the past 2 days I painted and decorated the little wooden box.'

The Latest of Nadi's Colouring Calendar

Nadi said, 'I finished my 4th one, same as the other with felt tips.'

Adrienne's Shell Frame

Adrienne said, 'The large shell I did a while ago and the photo frame was this week. The shells were too big for this frame and the decorating on both wasn't the best but you have to start somewhere. It's all a good learning experience.'

Tricia's First Blanket

Well, not my first blanket, but the first from the load of yarn I got from Marriners a couple of weeks ago.

And this is the blanket:

It's approximately 24in square, and I'll do another the same to make a pair before thinking about what else to do!

For information, the pattern and tutorial for this type of blanket came from a blog called Attic 24. She has lots of crochet blanket patterns there and uses photos to show how to crochet the pattern. I find that much easier than videos that always race on while you're trying to work out what you've just seen!

https://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html
and there's more detail here:
https://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/ripple-blanket-know-how.html

Tricia's 'Happy' Card

My most recent design team challenge was to make a card (or something else) with a single word sentiment repeated multiple times. I'll admit I struggled with that, but discovered three stamps with the word, 'Happy' in my collection and went from there. The background was made using Brushos (powdered ink), and some mica-based powders, and the flower was coloured with Brushos too. There's a sentiment inside which says, 'Happy Birthday', so it makes a little more sense.

Nadi's Coloured Flowers

Nadi finished another beautiful colouring page.

Tricia's Face Masks

Considering what's been happening in other countries, I suspect it's only a matter of time before we either have to wear face masks when outside, or at least before it's considered very bad manners not to wear one. I know that medical opinion is that they don't protect us very much, but there is some suggestion that wearing one protects other people if you happen to have the virus and don't yet realise it. And, given the lack of disposable masks available for those who really need them, I thought I'd see if there were suggestion on making your own!

I found one blog entry which is fairly easy to follow (although I gave up trying to measure my way through how to do the pleats and just did them by eye.) The link is: https://buttoncounter.com/2018/01/14/facemask-a-picture-tutorial/

The owner of the blog uses them to counter pollen during peak allergy season, and there's no suggestion that they're virus-proof, but they should slow down the movement of water droplets which are thought to be the main transmission method between people.

Of course, I don't have a sewing machine, so I hand stitched everything but here's what I came up with.

The top mask was my first prototype, and I started it before I found the tutorial I linked above. It's just a single layer, and probably not very effective, even given the limitations of the mask. The others use the tutorial - the white one is mainly made from a very old flanelette sheet, while the others are made from pieces of polyester cotton I got for a completely different purpose! I have made some using ear elastic as in the tutorial, but my husband didn't like the idea of that, so I've also made some that will need to be tied. The cord for those is actually elastic that came out of my mum's sewing box. The elasticity is completely gone, but for the purpose, it works!

I actually used the white one when I went for my walk this morning. It does make it harder to breathe and it gets quite wet too, but that's my experience from when I've had to wear one while volunteering in hospital. The biggest issue is that it caused my glasses to completely steam up!

Beryl's Elephant (and Puffin Friends)

Beryl said, 'Here is my latest addition Purple elephant with two puffins he is making friends with.'

More of Nadi's Colouring

Nadi said, 'I did another page of my Colour In Calendar with Fibre Tip Pens. This time I limited my Colours to six.'

Tricia's Stamped Easter Card

 I used some stamps known as 'Tapestry Stamps' for the background. They're very small and mounted on tall pegs, rather than traditional stamp mounts. That makes it easy to change the orientation. I stamped the main sentiment first, then masked over it before doing the background and added some brushed on ink too.