My personal blog, crafts, sewing, crochet, knitting, drawing, digital art, costume…
I’ve reopened my Etsy shop The Badge Cave!
I’ve got lots of 25mm pin badges available as well as customisable badges. I will make your your badge designs for you ❤️
I stopped my shop while I was doing my degree but I’m back and will be uploading new designs soon.
It’s been a while! It’s a great project for when we’re away in the caravan. It’s been 5 years since I started this project in lockdown and it’s still toddling along.
Like I’ve said before, I don’t mind how long it takes, it’s more about the process than the end result.
I’ve still got quite a few chunks of cut hexis ready to prep.
This is what I’ve sewn together so far…
I’m not sure if I want to continue this pattern or to make it more random and less calico plain hexis. Not sure yet… we’ll see!
When I get my physical copy of my new crafty journal, I’m looking forward to putting my EPP project into it! It’ll definitely help me come up with some more design and layout ideas for my EPP quilt ❤️🐝
I’ve designed a crafting journal and launched it today on Amazon KDP!
My Crafty Journal available now on Amazon!
My Crafty Journal: The best place to organise all your creative projects | Plan | Create | Reflect
Overview
A comprehensive journal for tracking and managing creative projects across various mediums
Journal Features
1. Ultimate To-Do List – Space to brain dump creative ideas
2. Craft 365 Tracker – Yearly creativity tracking
3. Project Planner
Sections for: Project details, Materials needed, Inspiration sketch, Notes
4. Project Reflection prompts for: Emotional assessment, Learning experiences, Future improvements
5. Additional Tracking Tools: Moodboard, Stash Tracker, Stash Wish List, WIP (Work in Progress) Log, Makes Gallery, Mind Map, Sketch Pages
6. Planning Sections: Future Log, Monthly Planner, Time-blocking
Key Points
A versatile creative journal designed to support artists and crafters in organising, tracking, and reflecting on their projects across multiple mediums.
My Crafty Journal: The best place to organise all your creative projects | Plan | Create | Reflect
Thank you 🙏
I’ve been using bullet journaling to organise my brain since around 2016, so nearly 10years now! But I’ve always loved having some sort of physical diary, planner or tracker so I can keep tabs on everything going on.
There’s something about the physical act of hand writing an event or appointment in a journal or diary that cements it into my brain and prevents it getting lost in all the other mental coming and going’s.
I’ve tried to use digital planners a few times and even made my own but I don’t get the same sense of “setting it“ into my brain.
This year I’ve been able to prioritise making again. Partly due to ill health meaning I’ve had to take some time off work, but also because I’ve been using it as a form of therapy and recovery.
Making things is a proven way to improve your mental health.
With all my new crafting, has come many ideas for new makes. So much so that my tiny little brain can’t keep track of them all. I started looking for ideas on tracking creative projects. Everything I saw online didn’t really cover what I wanted though.
So, I decided to make my own. Originally I thought maybe I could make a printable version and put it on Etsy etc but then I learnt about kindle direct publishing…
My Crafty Journal available now on Amazon!
My Crafty Journal: The best place to organise all your creative projects | Plan | Create | Reflect
Recently I learnt how to make pysanky eggs with my amazing pal ❤️ Its a batik or wax resist method of decorating eggs.
It’s a traditional Ukrainian craft that my friend learnt when she spent time there as a student studying.
According to the website pysanky.info …
Ukrainians have been decorating eggs, creating these miniature jewels, for countless generations. There is a ritualistic element involved, magical thinking, a calling out to the gods and goddesses for health, fertility, love, and wealth. There is a yearning for eternity, for the sun and stars, for whatever gods that may be.
If you’d like more info about pysanka I definitely recommend you look at Pysanky.info where there is so much info about the history and the craft today! It’s so interesting.
This is part of my first ever attempt at it! I really enjoyed it, it becomes meditative as you do it.
Using blown out eggs, the decoration process involves using the stylus tool, kistka, pictured in the foreground, scraping some beeswax into the top of the cone and gently heating it over the candle until the beeswax melts enough to produce an even thin stream of wax. Once you’ve completed part of your design you then dip the egg into dyes.
From what I understand, the dyes are vinegar based so partly etch into the egg, the wax resists the dye and once dried you repeat the process with different colours working from light to dark. Each layer will add to your design in various colours of dye!
Once you’ve completed your design, carefully hold the egg near the candle until the wax starts to melt (but being careful not to get the egg too hot and cause it to crack) and wipe off to remove the excess wax, what remains adds a sheen and protection to the egg.
My design is by no means a work of traditional pysanka, it’s me just having a go and spending time with my lovely friend having chats and basically giving each other therapy through crafts and chats!
100% recommend giving it a go, it’s an incredible craft and actual pysanka artists make incredible intricate designs ❤️ Definitely recommend having a look!
**”Pysanka” is the singular form; “pysanky” is plural – I’ve probably got it wrong throughout…
…a sewing machine baby that is 🪡
OMG he’s so snazzy.
It’s so amazing. I’ve only had a little play so far, but very exciting potential. I just need to figure out how to get my designs onto it, not just the preloaded designs.
There’s a program called Inkscape with an embroidery design extension called stitchscape. It’s a free open source vector graphics design editor. I have experience using photoshop, coral painter and most recently, procreate but this has been a steep learning curve. Many tutorial videos will be watched!
First attempt not bad at all!
There will be more machine embroidery 🧵 exciting!
My little model wearing her cute red polka dot red dress I made and a crochet cardigan. She loved doing twirls and showing off in her little outfit.
I do have another blog post about the little red dress so I hope to post that soon!
Rhymes and Reasons for Every Season
If I sits, I knits
The heart and science of birth
Maker of Things 
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