Pretty Papers + Famous Swans

Did you do anything crafty this weekend?

I spent lots of time sorting through my craft supplies as part of my ongoing effort to tidy, declutter and generally organise my studio (I'm making progress, but slowly!)

I also did some nice relaxing paper crafting...

All these decorative papers were cover gifts with issues of docrafts Creativity magazine. I've designed several projects for the magazine over the past couple of years and have always been very impressed with their cover gifts.

The docrafts team have featured my free felt swan brooch tutorial in this month's issue (#67) and they kindly sent me a copy of the magazine - thanks guys!

 

There were three cover gifts included: a roll of craft tape, some little paper notes for making cards and tags, and a paper pack from their new Geometric Neon range.

I loved the neon designs so much (those little metallic details! omg!) I knew I had to schedule some time to craft with them asap.

(The other paper packs are from the Owl Folk and Simply Floral ranges.)

I spent several happy hours cutting and sticking these pretty papers, while while catching up with episodes of shows like Gotham, Supernatural and the X-Files. A highly enjoyable way to spend some time!

A Felt Reindeer + Fabric Hydrangeas

I love working on projects for magazines but my favourite part is definitely the bit where I get to spill the beans about what I've been making!

Today I get to show you what I made for this month's issues of Creativity and Mollie Makes... 

For issue 64 of docrafts Creativity magazine, I turned a plain grey jumper into a Christmas jumper with a felt applique reindeer design:

The antlers have little jingle bells attached and the reindeer's nose and tail are fluffy pompoms. So much fun!

Can't find docrafts Creativity Magazine in your local newsagent? You can subscribe here or buy individual issues here.

Then for the new issue of Mollie Makes, I made some faux hydrangeas from fabric:

It takes a while to cut out and put together all those petals, but it's totally worth it.

You'll find the template and step by step instructions to make your own hydrangeas in issue 60 of Mollie Makes, which is out now in the UK and available from newsagents, supermarkets or online. The digital edition is available to download from Zinio, Google Play or Apple Newsstand.

Felt Christmas Baubles for Creativity Magazine

In the current issue of docrafts Creativity magazine you'll find some fun festive felt baubles designed by me...

I love Christmas crafting, and felt ornaments are one of my very favourite things to make. They're quick to sew and offer so many crafty possibilities!

I designed a set of eight Christmas decorations for issue 63 of Creativity. There are four Christmas characters to stitch: an angel, a reindeer, a snowman, and father Christmas. Then there's a jingle bell, a button heart, a stripey stocking and a sparkly star.

Can't find docrafts Creativity Magazine in your local newsagent? You can subscribe here or buy individual issues here.

P.S. Look what I made for next month's issue of Creativity: a reindeer jumper! So much fun.

Tutorial: Sew Lots of Fun Felt Fruit

Excellent news: another of the projects I designed for docrafts Creativity magazine is now available on their website. Hurrah!

Click here to view the tutorial for making lots of felt fruit. There are patterns for sewing apples, pears, orange slices, strawberries, kiwis and watermelon slices. 

You'll need to sign up to the docrafts site to download the templates but it's free to join and they have lots of other free projects available, plus a fantastic collection of printable papers.

All the fruit I stitched was made with Craft Planet felt, from the docrafts range. They have the perfect green and brown for making kiwi fruit!

Tutorial: Make a Stitched Heart Keepsake Card

One of the tutorials I worked on for docrafts Creativity magazine is now available on their website - hurrah!

Click here to view the free tutorial for making this pretty embroidered card:

The card uses products from the Folk Floral range (so pretty!) including this lovely heart stamp:

Have you ever tried embroidering a design on card?

It's an interesting change from stitching on fabric and much easier than you might think!

Felt Fruit! Felt Ice Lollies! Felt Houses!

The current issue of docrafts Creativity magazine (#61) includes two felt-y projects designed by me...

There's a whole assortment of felt fruit...

 

 ... and phone cases decorated with felt ice lollies / ice creams!

 

I was chuffed to see they both made the magazine's contents page...

 

... and I was delighted to see the fruit popping up in promos for this month's issue on the docrafts Facebook page and the docrafts homepage.

These two projects were both fun to work on but the felt fruit was an especially enjoyable challenge. Making 3D shapes from flat pieces of felt can be tricky! And when you're making felt versions of real things that actually exist in the real world, the shapes have to be just right.

 

Unexpectedly, the kiwi fruit turned out to be trickiest to get right (I was totally expecting it to be the pear). One prototype was too round. One was too long. Then the third was just right. Phew! I did a highly embarrasing victory dance round the house when I'd finished that pattern.

After all that, I think the kiwi ended up being my favourite :)

Luckily for you, you don't need to faff about making prototypes and muttering curses under your breath when the shapes turn out all wonky... as all the pattern pieces are included in the back of the magazine.

Can't find docrafts Creativity Magazine in your local newsagent? You can subscribe here or buy individual issues here.


While we're chatting about magazines, the fun felt houses tutorial I designed for Creativity #58 is now available online here.  There are step by step instructions for making the houses, plus some helpful stitching guides provided by the nice folks at docrafts. You'll need to sign up to the site to download the templates, but it's free to join.

Also, is it too early to whisper the word "Christmas"? If you think it is, look away now!

The felt Christmas stocking tutorial I designed for Tuts+ got a lovely mention in the Bustle & Sew 2015 Christmas collection - a digital magazine jam-packed with festive goodness. "More than just a collection of patterns, there’s lots more to discover between the covers of this year’s Christmas special which runs to an enormouse 85 pages in total!  There are nine lovely Bustle & Sew patterns (all those featured on the cover), recipes and articles too – so there’s plenty to enjoy in between planning your Christmas stitching."

You can read more info about the Christmas collection, and flick through a preview of it here. You can find my free Christmas stocking tutorial here. 

Festival Chic & Folk Florals: Projects for docrafts Creativity Magazine

Thanks for the comments on my last post - and all your feedback about the bigger photos :)

Almost everyone who commented here & on social media voted for the larger pics, so I'll be switching to the bigger size from here on and (slowly) resizing the photos in some of my popular posts, too. It's funny how just a few days of looking at the new size photos has made the old ones seem teeny tiny!

Today's pics? They're of a couple of projects I made for docrafts Creativity magazine - last month's issue (June, #59) and the current issue (July, #60).

My project for June made it onto the cover! Yay!

 

I stitched a festival-inspired bag, with supplies from docrafts' Denim Blue range.

I especially love these mini tassels: so cute!

For this month's issue I used this gorgeous stamp from docrafts' new Folk Floral range...

 

... to make an embroidered heart which the docrafts team then used to create a fabulous card:

 

The finished card is super pretty!

I love collaborative projects like this - it's always so exciting seeing how the final piece has turned out.

Can't find docrafts Creativity Magazine in your local newsagent? You can subscribe here or buy individual issues here.

Getting Creative with Buttons, Felt & Mini Pompoms

This week has been a bit of a quiet one. I had lots of fun stuff planned, and lots of work and blogging projects to get ticked off my To Do list... then I came down with the bug that's been doing the rounds in our house! Ugh.

So instead of Getting Stuff Done I've mostly been putting Getting Some Rest... which does not make for super-interesting blog posts! :)

I'm on the mend now (hurrah) but still a bit wobbly and taking things easy. While I'm slowly catching up with my emails, etc, here's a peek at something I made earlier this spring: a couple of projects for docrafts Creativity magazine (#58).

If you look closely, you can spot them on the cover...

 ... it's always thrilling when an editor selects your project(s) for the cover, even if it's just the teeniest of photos. It's also quite hard to resist saying "I made that!!" to total strangers browsing the magazine section when you're in the newsagent.

My projects in this issue?

A cushion decorated with felt and pretty fabric-covered buttons:

 

And a whole village of felt houses:

The houses were an absolute delight to sew - especially adding the mini pompoms.

I kinda want to decorate everything with mini pompoms now, they are so cute and cheerful!

 

 

Can't find docrafts Creativity Magazine in your local newsagent? You can subscribe here or buy individual issues here.

Tea and Felt Biscuits

On the way back from the Post Office the other day I picked up a copy of the current issue of Creativity magazine, which includes a tea-and-biscuits themed project designed by me:

Bigger than an ordinary coaster, this colourful mug mat has plenty of room for your mug of tea (or coffee) and your biscuits of choice.

The mat is made from canvas and felt, and decorated with pretty woven ribbons and fun felt biscuits. The biccies were especially fun to sew! Of course, I had to eat lots of biscuits while working on this project - purely for research purposes, you understand :)

I'm looking forward to flicking through the rest of the mag during a teabreak... and deciding what to make with this month's cute cover gifts. Hmm...

Can't find docrafts Creativity Magazine in your local newsagent? You can subscribe here or buy individual issues here.

Spring Flowers for docrafts Creativity Magazine

The latest issue of docrafts Creativity Magazine (#55) is out now!

Can you spot the project I made for this issue?

 

Here I am on the contributors page...

... and here's the project I created for this issue: a felt flower headband and belt.

The flowers were made from die-cut felt shapes and other crafty supplies from the docrafts range - you can cut out loads of pieces so quickly with a die-cutting machine and then have lots of fun embellishing each flower!

You'll find all the instructions for making each flower and constructing the belt and headband in issue #55. If you don't fancy making a belt or headband you could use the flowers to make brooches or hairclips, or to add some prettiness to cushions or a clutch purse.

Can't find docrafts Creativity Magazine in your local newsagent? You can subscribe here or buy individual issues here.