Showing posts with label alphabet blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alphabet blog. Show all posts

ALPHABET BLOG CHALLENGE: L is for Lace, ribbon, fabric!

Today i am writing about ideas to use up one's craft scraps. I have the week off work for the holiday period, and we are sorting the house out, that includes my study of art and cra supplies! While sorting stuff out i noticed a huge box full of tiny scraps of ribbon, lace, and bits of fabric. Just about to throw the lot away, i had a thought, why not use these scraps!!

Firstly i did a stock take of what i had, from the mess in the box, i divided it firstly into colours, then subdivided them into type. The colours were mainly red, black, green, and purple and after the sorting I realised there was quite a lot of usable lace and ribbon there.

What did i make?

(I will post pix another time)

ROSE HAIRCLIP With some scraps of red velvet ribbon i fashioned a fabric rose, i attached some green satin fabric, cut into leaves, to its base, and adorned it with black lace. I then hot glued the rose i had made onto a hair clip!

LAVENDER SACHETS I had scraps of fabric netting, i cut them into neat circles, added some scoops of dried lavender, and gathered the edges up, and tied the lot up with lace and ribbon! Shoved in the drawers of my dressing table they look decorative, smell lovelyl keeping the contents of the drawers fresh, and keep insects at bay!!

HAIR BOWS with matching lace and ribbon i formed bows, sewed them so they didnt undo, and then attached them to snag free hair ties.

LACEY SOCKS i sewed lace edging to brighten up some of my socks, and added little ribbon bows to the lace!

Ok i could rave on and on here, but the point is, before you throw stuff away have a look at it, work out what is there, and use it! Use, reusue, upcycle and recycle!!!

What do you do with your crafting scraps? I'd love to hear your ideas! Please feel free to add your comments and share your ideas!

 

ALPHABET BLOG CHALLENGE: K is for Kalaidescope of colours! Lime Crime Cosmetics

Another of my alphabet challenge blog posts, up to the letter K. K s for Kalaidescope colours, swirling into a chaos of glitter and gloss! What cosmetic company provides an amazing kalaidescope of colurs in their pallette? Lime Crime!

Lime Crime is both Vegan and cruelty free, is affordably priced , all products feature beautiful colours and are imaginatively packaged.

The latest of the Lime Crime brush on liquid lipsticks is their new Velvetines range. Available in two beautiful colours Red Velvet and Suedeberry. The Red Velvet appears to be the most popular shade of the two, with it selling out fast from both the Lime Crime site and resellers! The gorgeous soft matte texture of the Velvetines range and the vibrant pigmentation, make these lipsticks beautiful to use and they look beautiful on!

Lime Crime also produces bullet style lipsticks and gorgeous lip gloss! The lipgloss is called Carousel, the packaging is sublime, and the product is smooth, pigmented in beautiful colours, and protects your lips. Team the glosses up with the Lime Crime lipsticks for extra colour!

Another favourite of mine from Lime Crime is there eye liner range, a recent purchase I have made is the gorgeous metallic eyeliners called Rhyme and Reason. Rhyme is a beautiful true gold pigment, it glides on smoothly with a small brush in the cap for ease of precision and has great staying power. Reason is like molten silver, both these metallics look great teamed up with Quill, which is Lime Crime's shiny black eye liner!

In addition to eyeliner, Lime Crime also produces beautiful eye shadow palettes, available in the imaginatively named, Alchemy, Aquataenia, Chna Doll, and Pallete D'Antoinette. Packaged in sleek delightfully decorative containers, the eye shadows may be used both wet and dry. For extra colour stay power, team them up with a primer, also available from Lime Crime. Use the eye shadow primer on your lids first, then apply your eyeshadow; I prefer to use the primer, dus lightly with translucent poweder, then dmp eyeshadow, followed up with a light brush of the eye shadow in its dry form.

Lime Crime is availble online from:

http://www.limecrimemakeup.com/

http://www.beserk.com.au/

http://shopemeraldcity.com/





 

ALPHABET BLOG CHALLENGE: I. I is for Icarus

Still on my alphabet blog, and up to I.

Today I am waffling on about the Greek myth of Icarus, the son of Daedulus a master craftsman who according to the myths designed and created the labyrinth for King Minos.

Batlings, you may be wondering why I chose to blog about Icarus. Firstly I needed something starting with the letter I for my alphabet blog challenge, and secondly, this myth intrigues me.

To refresh your memories, Daedulus, a fictionional precursor to say Leonardo Da Vinci maybe, is always making stuff. Over active imagination perhaps, but he was always tinkering. One day he started experimenting with how to make people fly. He constructed some human sized wings and glued feathers on his wing frame with wax. Icarus wants to do a test flight, so his dad gives in to his pleas and helps him on with the wings. Daedulus finds a spot for Icarus to try out the flying device, but cautions him to stick to the plan and just fly in the area they had already sussed out as the safest place to try ut these wings.

Icarus, overcome with ambition and eagerness over his first flight, ignored the instuctions o his father, and instead of flying in the predetermined path, he flew up and up towards the sun. So here we hav a guy with manmade wings strapped to his back and arms, and feathers stuck on with...wax.... yes.... wax. So batlings, what is wrong with this picture, wax....the sun... hmmmmm

So say the feathers were glued on with bees wax, which melts at around 45 degrees celcius, and say the average temperature of the surface of the sun is oooooh around 5400-6000 degrees celcius.... (lets not get to how hot it is at the core, lets face it batlings, he would never have got there), what say you as what would have happened to this waxy glue????

OK.. here we have young ambitious eager to show he is a star Icarus, plunging to the earth subsequent to all his feathers melting off in the massive inferno of the sun.... and... splash... he falls into the icy depths of the sea, where he meets his ultimate salty sea water end.

I don't know about you my dear batlings, but this Icarus tragedy reminds me of Lady Macbeth... ok she was neither Greek nor a wearer of feathers, but may i remind you that her ambition led also to her untimely demise? Not to mention how she encouraged her husband to also leap ahead with ill thought out overly ambitious plans.

Macbeth: I have no spur, To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, And falls on th'other. . . .

i have read some moralising theorists rant about the myth of Icarus being about the lesson you must always heed the advice of your elders.... not all the advice of our elders is necessarily correct... so im not going with this idea. To me the ill fated flight of Icarus to me points out the folly of not sticking to the plan making a decision without a proper risk assessment, and allowing the effects of over ambition to rule one's actions.

Nothing worng with having ambition, but take heed my dear batlings, and do not use bees wax as glue if you are going to fly near the sun.









 

Alphabet challenge: crochet

Blog post brought to you by the letter C as part of my Alphabet blog challenge.



My Mother taught me how to crochet when i was about four years old, i remember making massive metres of chain out of yarn! As i got the hang of the whole crochet thing i started making clothes for my toys and granny squares for cushion covers. I enjoy crocheting and recently made myself a scarf, fingerless gloves, and matching beret out of dark sage green yarn. I don't usually bother with patterns and tend to make things up as i go along, or just use the pattern as a guide.

As well as making my own crochet pieces i like seeing the crochet made by others. There is an amazing textile artist on Etsy, ScarletRabbit, who makes the most delicate elegant fantastic crochet accessories, and i have become a fan of her work, having the honour of owning several of her fingerless gloves and wristlets, many which i have custom ordered.

Ruth, from the etsy store ScarletRabbit, is extremely talented and artistic, as well as crocheting, she draws in pen and ink, and also makes beautiful jewellery.

The fingerless gloves I have purchased from ScarletRabbit are delicate fine crochet created with 100% cotton yarn. The designs are unique, and the crochet is perfect; the lacey crochet design makes these fingerless gloves an absolute delight to see and to wear. I also have a delicate lace crochet and ribbon choker that i bought from ScarletRabbit!

My most recent purchase from ScarletRabbit was a custom order of a pair of purple fingerless gloves and a pair of emerald green. Absolutely beautifully made, they are gorgeous and so comfortable to wear! (see picture of them above)

If you appreciate elegant unique hand made crochet, please visit ScarletRabbit !













Alphabet Challenge: Beads Online

Today's blog post alphabet challenge is brought to you by the letter B....

I enjoy making jewellery, which means i need to find places to buy supplies like, chain, cameos, pendant bases, and beads.

Beads Online

There are a few stores i buy jewellery supplies from, but my favourite is the internet store Beads Online, and i am a frequent customer. Beads Online is a family owned and operated business based in Queensland, Australia, originally selling beads on ebay they ventured forth to creating their own website through which to sell their wares.

They offer flat rate postage to Australian addresses and free shipping to Australian addresses when the order is over $200, also posting to overseas addresses at rates according to parcel weight, dimensions and destination, anyone can shop at Beads Online!

Payment options for Australian customers are direct bank deposit, money orders or paypal, while paypal is the payment accepted for international orders.

Why i am a frequent customer

Beads Online has a huge variety of beads and findings and altered art images, the inventory refreshes regularly and i always find something new on offer there to inspire me. The prices are Fair and affordable, and there is a sale section where i have found many a beading bargain! Their turn around is fast, last week i placed an order, paid for the express post option, and recieved my order the next afternoon!

Beads Online is an Aladdin's cave of amazing supplies for jewellery making, with bargain prices, excellent customer service and The orders are all packaged well in bubble wrap and tissue paper and are always a treat to open.

 

Alphabet Blog Challenge: A is for.....

Quick recap, my next 26 blog posts will feature something starting with ... whatever letter of the aphabet im up to... See my intro post here for more information. Feel free to join me in this alphabet blog challenge!!

Alchemy

I like the sound of that word, it conjures up thoughts of dark dingy rooms in castles, full of potions and scientific tubes and beakers and other scientific or magical paraphenalia. Swirling symbols and velvet curtains on the walls and covering the windows, and large leather bound gilt edged tomes balanced precariously on tables and jewel encrusted chairs.

Enchantments and potions, precious metals and acid, books about earth, fire, wind, water ....

Earth, fire, wind, water: the elements that formed the base of the Alchemists world. More than wanting to transform base metals into gold, alchemists were the forerunners of the chemistry we know today. Historically alchemy was a sacred path of learning incorporating, mysticism, science, philosophy, and the constant path to unravelling the mysteries of the world.

The word Alchemy is thought to derive from the Ancient Greek word khymeia, with 'al' the definite article from Ancient Arabic. Al kymeia ~ alchemy... Get it???

Ancient Alchemists produced findings and invented laboratory items and procedures that are still in use today albeit in modern form.

Further Reading

 

Alphabet Blog Challenge: introduction

Dear Batlings,

I throw down the metaphoric gothic gauntlet and challenge you to an alphabet blog!!! Who is in?

The rules:

  1. Each blog post must star a letter of the alphabet
  2. There are to be twenty six consecutive blog posts, each with the next letter featured, in alphabetical order
  3. Blogs may be daily, weekly, hourly, whatever, as long as each successive blog features the next letter of the alphabet.
  4. If you want to play along, feel free to post a link to your alphabet blog posts in the comments threads of my blog!
  5. Example: blog 1: apples (a post about apples). Blog 2: burgers (a post about burgers) and so on till the end of the alphabet!!
Whether anyone wants to join me or not, i will be doing the alphabet challenge!!

Please stay tuned, and feel free to comment!

Links to the alphabet blog posts:

A

B

C

D