Upcycled Dolloar Store Gnome

 

 

 While at the dollar tree a couple of days ago I saw this Gnome.. okay it was more like I saw these pink sequins .. 

 

I haven't found any flat sequins locally .. I order online but when I see them on dollar store items that look like they would be easy to remove I get one or two.. 

I really like the cute Gnomes that have been popped up everywhere the last couple of years.. so hesitated taking one apart

 at first...

 I mean it's cute at first glance..

 

 

on closer inspection glue was leaking out on back, seams were off 

 

the feet were just flat flaps of fabric.. it was weighted down with something heavy with soft stuffing above it.. 

 

at $1.25 for the 14 inch toy .. or crafting supplies ..

I decided to get one and use some of the items to make a new gnome..

 

turned out to be a fair amount of usable stuffing and sequins.. the fabric is beat up and has been glued so some isn't usable.. 

 

and a good sized bag of rocks.... I have never come across rocks inside a toy before so it surprised me a bit lol.. those I added to the yard.. 

I used the pom pom nose, the braids, and a little less than half the stuffing.. along with some scrap yarn to make my new little gnome

 

I still have a fair amount to use up, I am planning on gifting her to my mom for Valentines day.. going to add a heart .. 

 

Sewing Clips and shopping bag

Awhile back I got a couple of reusable shopping bags from JoAnn's fabric store.. I love the size, definitely sturdy.

 I've used it to store fabric or yarn, when I'm not taking it with me. 

I noticed the bottom corner was coming undone after unloading one of my current projects and supplies .. 

 without much thought I grabbed some of my sewing clips to hold in place while I hand sew it.. 

as I was doing this the thought crossed my mind how much harder this would have been "pre-clip" days .. did't want to add more holes then necessary with pins.. 

and how many times recently I have grabbed them in projects in upcoming posts..

      

 after applying glue and placing the backing on bead embroidery and applique work

 

holding a crochet seam closed for sizing 

 

I was on the fence with them.. at craft stores they can really add up cost wise.. wasn't sure if the ones on Amazon would be worth it quality wise...

 I decided to go with Amazon this time.. have been very happy with them and highly recommend them. 

As for the bag,  the material holding the seams on the bottom, looks like it will give out before the rest of the bag.. at that point I plan on replacing  with another material

have been more than happy with this purchase as well, that they are repairable ... after constant use for more than a year...  is a definite plus in my book 

 also highly recommend   

Beads and sequins

I have several Raven images I want to do in beads, sequins, fabric and thread.. much larger than this one, 

this guy is my trial piece.. playing with the sequins placement..

 I went with single cup sequins along the chest switching to double cup sequins, smaller one inside the larger, with a much tighter, staggered layout.. find the wing with bugle beads highlighted it with strung rhinestones in black, plus a row of black bicone crystals..

Added a row of hematite beads for the shoulder, used size 11 seed beads to fill in the rest, placed randomly, fairly thick for texture..

the beak is thick embroidery floss the kind used for friendship bracelets, in satin stitch.. 

I stitched it on fairly thick black felt.. 

Will be adding a layer between the backing as I used a trimmed safety eye. I wasn't 100% thrilled with the feet but for a first attempt it will do. He's going to end up as applique more than likely on a tarot bag.. 

Got some bullion wire, I really like the detail that is possible with it.. never having used it before I started with just adding a border around the doggie.. 

Used uneven seed beads in sizes 11 and 6 added a few different sizes of acrylic pearls for highlights

The gnome is done in size 8 and 11 seed beads very thick for the beard double layered in many places.. will add a border around him I'm thinking of trying sequins

I like using up as much space as I can on the embroidery hoop so I added a crescent moon on the side along with a fun mushroom, I did a little bit more detail work with the bullion wire on the mushroom starting to get the hang of it will definitely be adding it to future projects

Easy scarf?

 

Awhile back I was gifted a couple skeins of Lion Brand Homespun Tartan stripe

 one skein was untouched the other had a couple of yards rewrapped around the outside of it...

I have always liked the soft, thick, richly colored yarn, was definitely happy to have more

I had used it many times before. while knitting 

I now see why so many crocheters grow frustrated ..

after trying to make what should have been a super simple scarf.. 

I wanted a scarf with nice a drape, a bit thicker than knit 

I like the look and feel of half double crochet ( American terms ) scarfs . plus the mindlessness of making them is a nice stress reliever.. 

I knew a larger hook was called for as a larger needle works up so much easier . didn't think I would end up with P 11.50mm though lol

Started with a K hook, after awhile gave up, too hard to see the stitches.. they just blended in to the point I couldn't easily tell if I was going through the top loops or not having to feel out every stitch.. not exactly mindless work ..

tried L next easier to see the stitches.. but after a bit it was clear the drape wasn't what I wanted.. frogged again.. 

I considered going with a different yarn but the colors are perfect .. the shot of the skeins is without any natural light.. the other two were taken in full sunlight.. either way beautiful 

Finally I ended up going with the P hook.. I own one but have never actually made a project with it before.. 

I love the end result the drape is relaxed not too thick but will be cozy warm and I finally got my easy scarf, and it worked up faster than expected.. sweet 

255 yards of bulky ( 6 ) yarn

Hook size P 11.50mm

Gage isn't essential to this project however five stitches equals 3.5" by four rows equals 3"

My finished scarf is 8 inches wide and 82 inches long

Written in American terms

Ch= chain

Hdc= half double crochet 

1) Ch 16, hdc into second ch from hook, hdc 14, ch 1 turn

2) Hdc 15, ch 1 turn 

Repeat row 2 until desired length is reached, fasten off, weave in ends 

Super easy .. when you get the hook size right lol 

Uneven beads

 

I like using different types of beads for different looks.. uneven beads can add so much interest and texture..  especially when mixed with uniform beads and findings

I had some stretchy bracelets i had ordered online, I used to give to kids when they came up to our table.. only had a few left so I put them aside thinking some day I would use the in another project.. they definitely fit into the uneven category

 

 

 decided to throw some beads that were gifted to me with a bunch of crafting supplies.. as they too fit into the uneven category

Asked son to draw me something similar to some of the craft doggies I had been seeing on Pinterest.. all done in the same style shape but different crafting techniques.. no clue who came up with it first.. this was his take on it..

 He's so cute, but way bigger than I was looking for.. had to scan the image, because he used off white paper I had to clean the image up then resize it.. I didn't want it to be too much like the others out there so my take is a bit different from even the drawing 

I drew a cookie cutter style moose.. also inspired somewhat by online pins, to work on the hoop along side of it.. Pinterest is seriously an endless supply of inspiration and learning. 

also added a funky star to use up more of the empty space .. wanted one that was not even.. more rustic .. a fun piece .. with my drawing skills this was definitely possible lol 

I added some strung rhinestones as well as acrylic sew on rhinestones and a few other odds and ends.. 

Still need to add backing of some sort.. haven't decided on or not they're going to be brooches or applique work yet.. 

with the moose and star I used the uneven beads in groups of three, in random placement couching to pull them into nooks and cranny's along the way.. leaving some a bit raised up for more texture.. I used markers to add color to the pellon giving the clearer beads more depth..

With the doggie I ended up just using the uneven beads as the outline and nose

Brooch Grinch

I'm playing with beads again .. sort of... in between filling orders for a long tail talking caps, after crocheting for 10 to 14 hours a day, making brooches is just the break I need.. 

I've seen so many fun and beautiful ones on Pinterest, I just couldn't stop with the fabric ones I made around Halloween.

I'm definitely a fan of the Grinch so I decided to make me one.. 

The beading material is pellon 70 interfacing..

I drew the outline and facial features right on the interfacing using a pencil.

From there I did the outline of the hat, brim, pom pom and around the face with size 11 seed beads.. the eyes are also seed beads.. I wasn't completely thrilled with the coloring of the eyebrows so I added some black permanent marker on the dark green beads.. If I make another one I will change up the bead color of the eyebrows and nose but for a first try using my drawing skills, it came out better than I expected LOL

For the hat I use scraps of four ply yarn that I separated  down to two, so I could get it threaded on my embroidery needle and just satin stitched it down.. before stitching coloring the background with permanent red marker for more even look..

 

the white poofy part is made using brushed out yarn that is glued down with a bit of craft tacky glue.. 

I just took scraps of white yarn and used a cat hair brush I got from the dollar store to brush out the yarn until it was a poofy cotton candy like texture..

The "fur" is actually scrubby yarn by Red  Heart.. at first I was planning on using some spring green scraps I had from making a one of the stocking caps, when I glanced over and saw the scrubby yarn sitting out waiting for a different project.. it just seemed too perfect not to try

I stitched it down in place using nymo beading thread.. then trimmed it up some for a cleaner look.. definitely like the way it turned out. 

After stitching on the pin fixture and gluing felt on the back with a fair amount of mod podge to both seal and stiffen. I added size 11 black seed beads around the edge..

 I will update with more photos as time allows in the meantime I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season

Multimedia brooches

A few more of the pins I have been working on recently 

Started out by creating a sheet of fabric from scraps stitched onto a light weight interfacing

sewn on to denim... brushed out black yarn was lightly layered on topped with tulie netting covering... a cut sequin and metallic embroidery floss for the buckle and band, added a trim of beads after adding the felt backing and pin finding.. 

 The witch's boot was made using the same sheet of fabric made from scraps... denim, felt, beads and pin finding

The haunted Mansion started out with the same base fabrics, I added more embroidery to this one making a full moon, bats, windows, door .. added brushed yarn for a hazy night look, plus a bit of green for foliage.. also covered with tulie

The pumpkin is mixed colors of brushed out yarn to give it more depth.. trimmed  with gold cording, highlighted with an autumn palette of beads.

A couple of freeform ghosts  

This one's eyes can turn

Been wanting to do a few of these..

Alcohol ink cardstock displays

The homemade alcohol inks worked out great sprayed on with small clear bottles from the dollar store.

  Son carved some stamps from erasers.. also from the dollar store.. as well as the razor knife set he used LOL 

Hung the cardstock outside sprayed them with multiple colors, try it within a couple of minutes used the eraser stamps randomly over them...

 cut them in quarters, used a hole punch top center to hang from.. used a leather punch to make the holes for the back of the pins so they sat flush.

So much easier to display.. here I have them sitting on my phone stand.. yep from the dollar store lol 

 These pins had been waiting for awhile to have the machine touches put on them, after creating the pattern and doing the brick beading work I moved on to the next without deciding how I wanted to finish them off.. 

The last two are from freeform bead work over crochet bases.. 

All in all very happy with the results of the homemade alcohol ink. 

Alcohol ink progress

 I added to a couple of the colors.. a pack of markers from the dollar tree.. so definitely not high end .. 

Had two colors i didn't already start so they got added to colors already in the works.. 

Added the orange to the yellow .. as it was pretty weak looking.. 

Purple went in to the brown..  

This is less than a full day later..

Tried a couple of colors out on some plastic beads.. the bottom beads are what I started with.. 

The center is the original color in this photo.. I am very happy with the results so far.. 

Homemade alcohol ink

Giving alcohol ink a try ... Saw a few posts about using it to spruce up buttons and beads.. 

Went to buy some but they didn't have the colors I was wanting.. 

After checking on YouTube and realizing it was doable at home..  

Old marker innards and isopropyl alcohol 91% in glass jars

 Only been a few minutes... 

Looking pretty good so far .. 

Going to let them set overnight..