Back to reality

I'm back in the land of internet connection after a 6 day trip into the wilderness. Aka 'reality'. I've decided I don't especially like reality any more and to be honest I could live a little longer without internet if it meant I could spend more time in the beautiful places that I have now been exposed to!

On a crafty note, I did manage to make these cute finger puppets before I left for my trip. I'm hoping to make a whole set of Canadian animals...maybe a bear, an eagle, and a moose too. 

I arrived home to two lovely parcels with crafting goodness inside; one from my mum with some felt and stuffing and the other was a needle felting kit which I had ordered from DandelionFibreStudio - it's a killer whale! I can't wait to give needle felting a go.

Ok, so you want to see some pictures from my latest trip!? I'm afraid, although we saw some fantastic wildlife (including the killer whales really close) my wildlife photography skills are somewhat lacking. I have lots of nice scenery shots though...

I hope these aren't to upsetting for those in the UK who are having a wet summer so far! The weather is gorgeous here at the moment and I am genuinely sorry that it isn't the same back home. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer regardless!

Back in business!

So I finally managed to get to the local town for supplies! By local, I mean it actually involves catching a ferry on the other side of the island which has not proven easy given that the only form of transport that I have are my own two feet. I was prepared to brave the 4 hour round trip on foot, however luckily pity was taken on me and I was offered a lift there. Luck struck again when I ran into someone I knew in the ferry line up on the way back to the island.

I was less lucky in my search for craft supplies; but did not quite fail completely as I found a selection of felt in a dollar store. Later when I got home and was excited to start making...I realised I had no stuffing! However a little improvisation goes a long way and I have now made the two lovely dolphins pictured below. Although I have my own dolphin pattern back home in the UK, I had been meaning to try out this much better one from the blog Nuno Life and this gave me the chance to do so, having not been in the mood to make a whole new pattern!

A quick update also on my adventures - I was out on a kayak trip for 5 days last week and it was fantastic! One of the highlights was seeing a mother bear and her cubs, although unfortunately my camera was already tucked back away in its dry bag when the cubs appeared! There was beautiful wildlife and scenery and the weather was perfect. I can't wait to go on a trip again!

Welcome to Beautiful British Columbia

So I have been in Canada a little over a week now, although it feels like I have been here much longer as so much has been happening!

Of course I must apologise that this and possibly a number of future posts will be more about my experiences here than my crafting, as it seems silly to create a separate blog when I have this one already. However, I will add some of my older items into each post just to keep a craft theme, and I do have a small kit of essential sewing items and I'm hoping to get my hands on some felt or materials soon, so watch this space!

One of my main reasons for coming to this part of the world is to experience its' natural beauty and wildlife and so far I have not been disappointed! On my first morning I was treated to a spectacular sighting of a pod of killer whales travelling by the island - I couldn't have asked for a better welcome to the country. They were fairly close, but I will never forgive myself for not picking up that pair of binoculars as I raced out of the house! However my camera did make it:

Following on from these, I have also seen a humpback whale, a river otter, a black bear, seals, a sea lion, and bald eagles. And as if this wasn't enough, a pod of white sided dolphins swam right past as we were kayaking on Thursday morning.

So having looked at my past projects, there aren't too many that I can link in with this very easily, however as I have seen a couple of seals (they are pretty common here) this seems like the most appropriate item I can share!

As it may be becoming obvious now, I have a huge passion for marine life, in particular marine mammals. Seals are no exception! They have such great personalities.

One for the road

Being due to leave the country for four months in just a few hours, I'm finding it hard to string enough thoughts together to write a blog post, so I'll keep this one short!

There is a village fete this weekend, and although I won't be here, my mum is going to be selling a few bits and she asked if I had any items in stock that I would want to sell. I have a few felt animals, and although most are originals that I wouldn't sell I managed to find a horse, some dolphins and some key rings made a while ago.

On top of this, in the past few days I have needed a bit of a release from packing and worrying about my trip so I set up a bit of a hair clip production line in my spare time! They won't sell for much, but I have enjoyed making them and it has kept my mind and my fingers busy.

Friends and fond farewells

It has been a little while since my last post, for which I apologise. With my trip to Canada imminent, and counting down my last few days as work, my life is turning upside down in a very big and scary way and between the terrified tears and excited highs I haven't had a lot of time for crafting!

Still, I could not let one of my closest friend's birthday go amiss. She may live in Toronto, but thanks to the modern wonder of the internet and instant messaging, I actually talk to her (well type to her actually) more than any of my friends here in the UK. I am extremely excited to be visiting her at the end of my trip to Canada - I cannot wait!

Despite her insisting that I need not send a present (that my visit later in the year would suffice), I really couldn't stop my fingers reaching for the needle and thread...and with the help of some inspiration from Mika Art Blog, I produced a fridge magnet, brooch and keyring in the shape of a Boston Terrier. This cute breed holds a very special place in my friend's heart.

Keyring

Brooch

Fridge magnet

I did have a little trouble getting the eyes right...I'm terrible at eyes and most of my creations don't have them for exactly this reason. The eyes give character, and I find if so difficult to capture this. I left the brooch eye-less as I thought it was a bit more wearable that way (abstract, perhaps).

I did not write this post until after the parcel had arrived for obvious reasons, and I know now that my gifts have been well received. So during this time, when I am saying a sad goodbye to my workplace and the friends I have made there, I can at least look forward to my adventures in Canada and towards the end of them, the chance to spend time with one of my oldest and most cherished friends.

Tutorial: Mini flower hairclip

As promised, here is the tutorial for the mini hairclip featured in my previous post. It is my very first tutorial, and I hope that it is easy and fun to follow! Please comment below if you have any questions.

You will need:

Pattern pieces (see Step 1)

Three colours of felt (your choice of colours)

A small button

A metal hair clip

Needle and thread

Step 1

Save the pattern image below to your computer by right clicking on it and selecting 'save as'. Print the pattern - I recommend that the largest flower is about 3.5cm across.

Step 2

Using the pattern pieces, cut one flower in each colour.

Step 3

Secure your threat in the middle of the largest flower piece (for info on how to do this, see here).  This should be on the topside, which is the side facing up when the piece is complete. 

Step 4

Place the hair clip on the bottom side of the largest flower, ensuring that the slots are central. This central placement of the slots in the clip is important, as it needs to allow for the button to be sewn on through them in the next step. Secure the clip in place with a few stitches.

After a few stitches, your hairpiece will look something like this on the bottom and top:

Step 5

Position the two other flower pieces on top of the largest one. I like to do this so that the petals are offset, but this is personal preference.

These are then secured in place by sewing the button on top, with the thread being passed through the slots of the hairclip. Sew through the button holes several times, as this will safely hold the whole hairpiece together.

Step 6

Finally, pass the thread through to the topside of the largest flower and fasten off with a couple of backstitches. Ensure that these stitches are hidden below the petals of the flower above to give a neat finish.

The finished piece:

A stab in the dark...

I do the majority of my crafting in the evening - probably a side effect of having a daytime job of course - and tonight is no exception. I just wanted something simple and fairly quick, as I am in need of some early nights, so I decided to go with an idea which has been in my head since I made my first hair clip (see Button Bonanza). I think mini hair clips like this are the perfect accessory for young girls - I just wish I could pull it off myself because it is so cute!

However there is an obvious downside to evening crafting, which the the lack of daylight. This makes it difficult to do just about everything from cutting out and sewing and especially photographing. I am so eager to share my work with the world that I cannot wait until daylight appears! As if to rub in my poor photographic efforts this article was at the top of my reading list tonight with some handy hints on where I'm going wrong.

Anyway, look out for a tutorial on these mini clips, coming soon I promise - when I have daylight in which to photograph the production process...