Rainbow Baby Blanket

I've been working on this project for a few months and finally finished it a couple of days ago for my lovely friend who's expecting a baby on the 5th Feb.  I was originally making two of these as I found out I was pregnant myself back in September.  My plan was to make one for myself and then one for my friend but sadly, I miscarried.  It took me a few weeks before I felt able to pick up my project again and continue without feeling teary and upset.

These granny square blankets are so easy to make and are perfect for the beginner.  They only use Triple Crochet and Chain Stitch, so there's not a huge amount to learn.  It's amazing how quickly they grow but then eventually you do get to a point where it takes an age just to finish one side! I'm not the fastest crocheter in the world.

I decided on a rainbow theme as the sex of the baby had not been confirmed and cream or beige just gets a little boring.  I'd made a few granny squares before in various patterns but this was the first blanket.  I'm a bit annoyed at how the squares came out twisted but I've seen a solution for this since finishing.  Apparently, if you turn your work over after each round (ie. working on right side, wrong side, right side, wrong side etc) this solves the problem.  Needless to say I shall be trying this next time.  I did decide to block the blanket when I'd finished and this went some way to helping the twisted look and at least made the side line up nicely.

My Basic Concept (UK terms)
DK Yarn
4mm Hook
The blanket follows a basic Granny Square pattern (You can find these anywhere on the internet but try - Little Tin Bird , Girly Bunches - Granny Square Part 1 Video).  I decided that I would like tighter stitches so only chained 1 stitch between each cluster of triples.  The corners were also completed in the same way using one chain but with - 3 tc, 1 ch, 3 tc into the same stitch.  I did 6 rounds of rainbow colours, changing colour after each round and then 5 rounds of white.  This I repeated twice more before completing the blanket with a final round of red.

To finish the blanket I used a slightly different round, this time I used 2 tc, 2 ch, 2 tc in each stitch to create a scalloped effect (or double V edging as it's actually called).  For the full pattern see here - Bunnymummy-jacquie.blogspot.com.au

My friend thinks she'll have her new arrival any day so looks like I finished it just in time!

Thanks for stopping by! x

Some 'old' posts for you

Hi all

Just to let my old and new followers know that I've now imported all my old posts from Tales from a Mother, Musician and Multi-tasker over to here as I now intend to use only the one blog for everything!  So those of you who don't know me too well, have a browse through my old posts.

You'll notice I now also have some additional pages which include Crafty Blogs and Sites I love and a couple of pages dedicated to my other great love....making music!  If you have a craft site you'd like me to add, please just get in touch and I'll head over and have a look.

Thanks for stopping by! x

Packing and crochet projects

After my rather cynical last post of 2013 I did actually have a lovely peaceful Christmas. No rushing around and lots of family time with games and films galore. But I'm quite pleased to say goodbye to certain aspects of 2013, so bring on a new year!

2014 so far has seen us packing a few boxes in prep for our move. We don't have a completion date as yet but we're hoping for end of Jan/start of Feb. Unfortunately this means I've had to pack up my craft room for the time being. Lack of creativity is driving me insane so I've picked up my crochet again to do a little hooky! After being inspired by some of the lovely items on Pinterest and Instagram I decided to have a go at making a yarn wrapped wreath. 

I bought a small polystyrene heart from Hobbycraft and wrapped it with a mint green yarn from my stash. I then made a variety of small crocheted flowers using various online tutorials in pink, white and purple adding a button to the centre of each one. I pinned them individually onto the wreath and then completed by tying a hanging ribbon.  I'm quite pleased with the result but I didn't realise how large the flowers were on the wreath until I started to the pin them on.  In hindsight I would use a smaller hook next time for a wreath of this size.

Since my miscarriage in November I've not been able to pick up my crochet as my last project was a large granny square blanket that was intended for our baby. I've decided to carry on with this now and give as a gift to my friend who's expecting in a months time. It's coming on nicely and I reckon maybe 8 more rounds and it will be finished. Pictures to follow!

I've been out and bought a lovely stash of cotton yarns in super bright colours. I'd like to make a flower garland and maybe some bunting for our new house, so time for some experimentation I think.

Thanks for stopping by! X

The 1st Twinkle Twit FB Giveaway

As my Twinkle Twit Facebook page has started to grow over recent weeks, I decided to set a target of 100 'likers' or followers.  Today I finally reached my goal and so my 1st Facebook Giveaway has begun!

(Following FB rules) my giveaway is being run by a 3rd party app which will choose the winner at random for me one week from today.  All you have to do is like my Twinkle Twit page, click the button on my page and answer a quick question about what Christmas items you'd like to see in my Etsy store.

One lucky winner will receive a lovely crochet heart made by myself. The heart is padded, scented with coconut oil and embellished with a crochet flower and leaves.

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning, please visit my FB page at www.facebook.com/twinkletwit and then click on the giveaway tab at the top.  No time to waste, competition ends in 7 days!!

Thanks for stopping by! x

A new world of craft

Well guys and girls, it's been a while!

Things have been hectic over the last few months but I thought it was time to resurrect the Twinkle Twit blog and tell you what's been happening.

Up till the end of 2012 my main craft love was all things papercraft - card making in particular with a little scrapbooking thrown in for good measure, however 2013 has seen me take on a whole array of new craft projects.

It all started earlier in the year when I was put on anti-depressants by the doctor.  Yes, I'm not afraid to admit it.  I was suffering terribly with anxiety and panic and got to a point where I couldn't socialise or even visit friends.  When I began the new meds they really knocked me for six.  The side effects were horrendous and these went on for many weeks.  During this time it was difficult to commit to anything but on the odd occasions when I felt better I wanted to do things that would occupy my mind.  My first project was to be an Easter tree.  I took a slow walk with Mom to the local playing fields and chopped off a few willow branches to start work on my project.

After this I began experimenting with wooden plaques.  My bro is an expert in the carpentry department so he cut me some various blanks and I spent time playing around with them to find the best materials and supplies to use.  The plaques became popular and many of my friends were asking if they were for sale so I decided to open up my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/twinkletwitcrafts and also list items on my Facebook and Instagram feeds.

I've also been learning to crochet and I have to admit, I think I now have an addiction!!  I never really got into knitting although both Mom and Nan were avid knitters, but I love the fact that with crochet it's not all about cardi's and scarves!  You can start a little project such as a brooch or hanging item and have it finished in a few hours.  I'm by no means a expert and not very quick but I love the things I've made so far using lots of fabulous resources on the internet. We're really lucky to have a fabulous wool shop in Halesowen called Withit Witch I popped in this morning as I've decided to make a little something for Mom to hang in her hallway.

I saw a sign recently that said creativity is not a hobby, it's a way of life, I really think that's true.  My mind is constantly in craft mode, if I see an idea or project then I have to give it a go, or spend time thinking about how I could do it differently.  The crafter's mind never stops!  I have to say, I have trouble getting to sleep some nights (oh dear, now I really do sound like I have problems).

I'm so pleased that I decided to stray from papercraft, as although I still love it and try to make cards for all my friends and relations, I've found this whole new world of crafting that means things never get stale or boring.

I have a couple of crochet projects on the go at the moment so piccies coming soon!!

Craft Room Door Hanger

A while ago, after seeing an idea in a magazine somewhere I asked my 'handy' brother if he would be able to  cut some blank door hangers for me.  After some debate as to what material to use we decided to try first with some thin MDF.  He cut me a few blanks, most of which have been sitting in my craft room ever since, waiting for me to find the time to do something with them! However, a couple of months ago I decided to play around with one of them and here is the result.......

What you will need:

• Mod Podge
• Co-ordinating Backing Paper/s
• Ink pad
• Ribbon
• Flowers / Letters and embellishments

I started by covering the door hanger on both sides using paper from my stash (I think it is My Minds Eye) and Mod Podge.  To do this I laid the door hanger onto the reverse side of my chosen paper, drew around the edge then cut out. I coated the door hanger with Mod Podge and then carefully lined up the paper and smoothed down.  (I don't have a brayer but this would be helpful for smoothing).  Once the paper was dry I then trimmed around the edge with a craft knife and lightly sanded the edges.

Once I'd finished adding paper embellishments I then inked the edges of the hanger.  I coated the whole hanger with a mixture of water and Mod Podge (about half and half) to help protect the finished article.  I added ribbon along the edge where my two papers joined, added Papermania letters and decorated with mulberry flowers from my stash to finish.

Thanks for stopping by! x

Magic of Oz - A few creations

For those of you who don't follow my craft blog, I thought I'd just post a few pictures of my recent addiction.  I'm absolutely loving the 'Magic of Oz' papercraft collection from Graphic 45 and have made several cards recently for family and friends using their stamps, die cuts and papers.  I'm sure there'll be many more to follow :)



You can find more details on how I made the cards over at my sister site 'Twinkle Twit Crafts'.

'A cut above the rest......'

One of my lovely friends from choir recently moved into new business premises so I thought I'd make her a 'Good Luck' card for the occasion.  As she's a hairdresser I thought this lovely stamp from C.C. Designs was just the job.

The pink star paper I used was from Dovecraft and other papers were freebies from Cardmaking and Papercraft.  I've coloured the stamp using Promarkers and used a pink pearl for 'Hairdresser Honey's' hair slide.  I've used Nestabilities Scalloped circles and I created the quirky sentiment using the PC.

Sorry this picture of the stamp is a little blurred, but hopefully you get the idea.

I'm entering this creation in the following challenges:

Totally Gorjuss - #138 Sweet & Simple

Thanks for stopping by! x

'Ozian' friends

For my friend's birthday back in March I decided to give my favourite 'Magic of Oz' selection another airing.  This was a very simple card where I went for darker colours to match the Scarecrow and Tin Man and stamped a sentiment onto one of the matching chip boards.  I've used brown Mulberry paper to mat the Oz postcard which was torn along the edges.

Thanks for stopping by! x

Happy 9th Anniversary

Last month saw mine and lovely Hubby's 9th wedding anniversary.  I decided to make a card with something that had a meaning to both of us so went with a selection of the lyrics from 'our song' - Oh, Baby I by Eternal.

I used a torn effect on the verse and had a go (for the first time!) with my Tim Holtz distress ink and blending tool.  I was really pleased with the result :).

The heart was from my stash but I think was originally purchased from Hobbycraft.  The letters were from a local hardware store.  The green card was from The Range and is by Papermania and I believe the spotty paper was from a selection of My Mind Eye bought from Ebay.

Thanks for stopping by! x

The Magic of Oz - Happy Birthday Niece

Last year I saw these wonderful papers and chip boards in one of my craft magazines and couldn't wait to get my hands on them.  At first I thought them a little expensive but the quality of the material is just superb.  I've made several cards with them already but here's the first attempt I made for my Niece as she just adores The Wizard of Oz.

The range is called 'The Magic of Oz' and is from Graphic 45.  There are 8x8 and 12x12 papers, 2 different sets of chip boards and 3 sets of cling stamps in the range.  I settled for the 8x8 pad in the end, managed to find both sets of chip boards on Ebay and bought cling set '2' which included this lovely Dorothy stamp, Toto, the yellow brick road, 'There's No Place Like Home', ruby slippers and a Munchkin character.

I've used Promarkers to colour Dorothy and Toto and embellished the ruby slippers with red glitter glue.  The flower, velvet brad  and blue gingham ribbon are from my stash and the chip board is from the Oz collection.  I've used a Martha Stewart punch along the bottom edges of the Kraft card and the Graphic45 papers.  I printed the sentiment using the PC.

Thanks for stopping by! x

A late start to 2012......Get Well Dad

Oh my.....it's been a while!
Card making and all things crafty have taken a back seat unfortunately since Christmas due to work commitments, but none the less I thought it was time to at least post.... something.  Although, I've not had the time to sit and craft for endless hours, I've been making the odd creation here and there for family and friends so here goes......my first post of 2012!

Dad was admitted to hospital earlier in the year for a heart valve replacement and this is the card I made him.  Being an avid ornithologist (or bird-watcher to the rest of us) I thought it was very appropriate.

The paper and card was from a random selection purchased on Ebay a while back.  The digi-stamp was from Meljen Designs and is called Garden Bird House.  I coloured this using Promarkers and then added a decoupage effect by creating a second layer for the birds, bird house roof and two of the flowers.  The ribbon and buttons were from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by! x

A Halloween Pumpkin Treats idea

Halloween Pumpkin Treats!

Take a look back at my blog post from last October for a great trick or treat creation!  I have to admit I've been a little busy this year and due to the fact that both DD and DS are getting older and growing out of the whole Halloween thing we've not been quite so organised!  Never the less, 'A' will be off out tonight with her friend and I'm making a last minute dash now in a futile attempt to find a pumpkin.  Mother of the year I am ;)

Bulk Christmas cards - Choir of Angels

For a 'certain' group that I belong to, I thought it would be nice to make them each a handmade Christmas card this year.  As there are 23 of them all together I needed to come up with a fairly simple layout for each card so as to not be too time consuming (I do have a life outside crafting and a business to run...*shock*!  :)).

I chose a lovely and very appropriate digi stamp from 'Little Musings' which was just £1.50 for both a coloured and an outlined image.  It's the stamp colouring that's actually taking the most time but I much prefer the overall hand finished looked rather than the pre-coloured.

I've used red card stock from my stash and run this through my Cuttlebug to get the dotty effect.  The musical paper is from Dovecraft's Jolly Christmas.  I've coloured the stamp with Promarkers, inked the edges of my image with red ink and finished off the Angel's wings with glitter.  The sentiment is from my Daisy & Dandelion collection (which I'm making great use of!) and the button and bakers twine are from my stash.

All in all I've made 5 of these so far and am hoping to make a batch of 5 each weekend.....that's the plan anyway :).

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

ABC Christmas Challenge - 'U' is for Unused Stash (Dotty Embossing Folder)
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Seeing Spots
Jingle Belles - A Carolling We Will Go (Here We Come A-Wassailing)
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Christmas Songs (Here We Come A-Wassailing)

Thanks for stopping by! x

Christmas Humphrey - Make a wish

I'm just loving the Humphrey decoupage sheets that I bought the other day by Crafters Companion.  This is my second creation and I decided to have a change from the usual red and green and instead match up the colours in the decoupage.

I've used lightweight card from my stash and the blue swirly paper is downloadable from Shabby Princess.  This is from the 'Holiday Magic' collection.  I've used my Martha Stewart scallop punch and the ribbon and stars were also from my stash.  I thought the sentiment was a lovely match to the picture and this is from my Daisy & Dandelion collection.  The decoupage image has been finished with varnish.

Thanks for stopping by! x

My Mind's Eye Christmas freebies

Well, another beautiful day today in the Midlands.  It's hard to believe with all the lovely weather that Christmas is just around the corner.  Went for a super dog walk this morning which Arnold just loved as we were with his best bud Arthur the Airedale Terrier :).   

I received some lovely free papers and chipboards with my October edition of Cardmaking & Papercraft so I thought I'd give them a try.

The free goodies are by My Mind's Eye and I've used lace, ribbon and gems from my stash (although the lace doesn't show up very well on the photo).  The sentiment is a rubber stamp from Daisy and Dandelion and I've coloured this with promarkers.

Thanks for stopping by! x

A butterfly sympathy card

My brother asked me to create a sympathy card for him to send to a friend so I decided on a blue and ivory theme using butterflies.  I ordered some pearlescent card from Ebay and a new embossing folder and decided I would use a die-cut butterfly to finish off the design.  Unfortunately, although dispatched some time ago my Marianne butterfly die has not arrived and I think it's looking less and less likely that it ever will :(.  Due to this I've used a mirrored butterfly instead that I bought a while ago from a sale at Hobbycraft.

The embossing folder is 'Garden Flowers' by Crafts Too and I've used my Nellie Snellen die to cut the circle.  the flowers, ribbon and pearls were from my stash and I've printed the sentiment using a grayscale shade.  I'm quite pleased with how the overall card came out and I think it's definitely a design I could use for other occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays etc.

Thanks for stopping by! x

My First Tilda Stamp

 I took my DD to the local craft shop, MSA Crafts last week as a treat for doing well settling into High School.  Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! (Although I did buy a fair amount of stuff too ;) ).  I can't believe I've never visited before and I can't wait to go back again as they had a really good selection.  We bought another pile of Promarkers, rubber stamps, decoupage sheets, card blanks and I was really chuffed to see they had a massive collection of Marianne dies.

I've seen a lot of Tilda stamps around on various blogs and magazines and I just love these cute stamps. So I decided whilst out 'treating my DD' that I would also treat myself to one of these :).  The Magnolia 'Tilda Wants a Hug' stamp grabbed my eye but it wasn't till I got home that I realised it's actually a Christmas Stamp as she has holly in her hair! Oh well, I shall enjoy using it for this years Christmas cards.

I've used Dovecraft backing papers and my newly bought Marianne swirl die.  The paper edges have been torn and inked with Dovecraft Forest Green ink and the stamp coloured with promarkers and finished with a little red glitter glue.  The sentiment is from Daisy & Dandelion with Mulberry flowers from 'Flowers4Crafts10' on Ebay.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

CES Challenge Blog - #56 Totally Gorjuss/Pretty Girls

Thanks for stopping by! x

Welcome to Twinkle Twit

Well hello to one and all!

I have been blogging regularly over at 'Tales from a Mother, Musician and Multi-tasker' for nearly 12 months but I decided it was time to start a second blog.  This was due to the fact that firstly I wanted to give 'Blogger' a trial run and secondly because my crafty creations were starting to take over a blog that started out as a story of my day to day life.  Although, I've no doubt I will still be posting some of my work over at 'Tales from a MMM' the majority of my card making and scrap booking will now be displayed here.

Thanks for dropping by and please visit again soon!

Friends Forever

A new card with a 'Friendship' theme today.  The lovely stamp is from Sliekje Digi Stamps and the papers are from Pink Petticoats 'Wild Blossoms' collection.   The die-cut is one of Nellie Snellen's Multi-frames and a Martha Stewart punch has been used for the edges of the pink card.  The little gingham butterfly was from a selection at Hobbycraft.  I have also used a pink star Gelly Roll pen to make the illusion of stitching along each paper panel.

I've tried to keep my promarker colours in line with the 'Wild Blossom' colours (although I am now awaiting new shades as getting a little bored with using the same colours time and time again lol).

[caption id="attachment_1095" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Friends Forever"][/caption]

 I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Passions for Promarkers - #116 'Patchwork'

Stamps R Us - 'Friendship'

2 Sisters Challenge Blog - #55 Friends

My Time to Craft - #156 Just Between Friends

For Fun Challenges - Kids at play

Cardmakin Mama's Blogspot - Digital

Cupcake Craft Challenges - #158 Patchwork Quilt