It's oh so quiet

So, I've been unusually quiet recently.  I worked up a lot of motivation and set up Facebook pages, e-mails, Etsy, Pinterest boards and ofcourse this blog to showcase my work (mostly trial and error) and generally just get involved in more crafting.

Not long after my last blog I got a job offer and at the beginning of December moved from Cardiff to Llandrindod Wells in Mid-Wales.  The last 2 months have seen me moving everything into a new house, having to deal with the stresses of the bank and solictors for a mortgage, starting a new job and getting used to living with the boyfriend for the first time (eek!).  Needless to say the first couple of weeks seen me asleep on the sofa everynight by 9pm.

Now mortgage is settled, mostly know what I'm doing in my new job and the house is in some sort of order, by this I mean it's all unpacked.

That is until you get to my craft room.  Unfortunately this became a sort of dumping ground as it wasn't classed as a priority at the time.  Now I'm itching to get back in there! 

This weekend will  be the first time there is room to move in there so while the weather is a bit wet outside I will be sorting it out.

I am also looking into building my own website, not something I am very experienced at so that will be a learning curve for me.  I have a very nice graphic artist friend who has said he'll do my website graphics so at least it'll look pretty even if it's poop.

I'm trying to push for more awareness/support for my social media pages so please come and give me a like/follow or pass onto friends.

Facebook: facebook.com/lisaslovelyloot
Twitter: @lisaslovelyloot

Etch-a-Sketch iPhone Case

I noticed I had an excessive amount of felt in my fabric box so had a look through my Pinterest 'Things to make' board and remembered I pinned this Phone Cases.  How hard could these be to make??

I decided on the Etch-a-Sketch one (not that the blog title gives it away).  But first thing is first I needed to work out how to do a blanket stitch (the stitch that that holds the two main pieces of felt together, for those who are as useless as me at knowing their stitches).  Again, thanks to the awesome Pinterest site I know I had already pinned a tutorial on how to do it but did improvise a little on the starting/finishing stitch.  Blanket Stitch Tutorial

So I had a little practise (was easier than I thought) and worked out some measurements so the case fitted me iPhone 4s

I then got together everything I needed as knowing my luck I would be missing something vitally important.

 

 

I started by cutting out the main 3 parts I needed, the front, back and 'screen'.  When it came to cutting out the hole in which the grey felt would be placed I just did some guess work and hoped for the best.

 

 

         

 

I then did my pattern on the grey fabric, this was just done on my sewing machine using black cotton and a regular stitch/tension.  I considered making a proper drawing of something but knew I'd spend hours getting it right so in true Etch-a-Sketch fashion just did random lines (that's what everyone does right?)

 

 

 

Still using my sewing machine I stitched together the grey and red fabric.  Again this was a regular straight stitch and tension but just more care and attention was paid as I knew this stitch would be on show.  I tried to keep as close to the edge as I could.  On the back I trimmed down the grey fabric just decrease the risk of it getting caught or pulled around when the case was in use.

 

 

 

I then hand stitched two small white buttons to the corners using white embroidery thread and just knotted the ends at the back to secure.

 

 

 





So this is mostly done now.  Now came the bit I was most worried about....the blanket stitch that I had practised for all of 5 minutes.  Now I said it was easy (and it was) but when I actually had to use on my work I wasn't feeling so confident!  Once I got going I started thinking 'what was I worried about?' and then I came to the corner and thought 'this is what I was worried about!'.  I quickly referred back to the tutorial and was away again and was pretty impressed with my corner stitching.  The only thing about the tutorial was that how to finish up the stitching, well I couldn't understand it anyway so just had to knot the end as neatly as I could and hide it inside!

 

So....this is the finished article

 

 

 

 

 

No tips for this tutorial as it was quite easy to make and working with felt is really simple!  I have loads of ideas of different cases to make as I have tons of felt left to use in loads of colours.  But for now I'll use this one for myself as class it as my practise case.

 

On to the next project....

The Wedding Present

This one will be a short creative blog (phew!).  I took influence from a picture I seen on Pinterest but can't for the life of me find it again therefore I shall claim this as my own! mwhaha

I recently got invited to a wedding reception.  Unfortunately I couldn't attend but my boyfriend was going so wanted to send a present with him.

The happy couple got married 06/08/13 in New York (lucky buggers!).  So I bought a photoframe and printed off some pictures to represent their wedding day.

Fingers crossed it makes it to them in one piece.  It is being delivered by my postman boyfriend....is that good or bad?

Comic Book Shoes

So I gave you a quick peek at the comic book shoes in my first blog.  I have now finished them! Quite pleased with my first attempt at them and and learnt a lot of stuff along the way if I decide to make any in the future.

This is my first project of many where I am going to take you through what I did, how I did it and what I learnt along the way.  I am basically just teaching myself these things and telling you about it!

So I am completely obsessed with Pinterest at the moment and spend sooo much time browsing it while I watch TV, sitting on the bus, just before I go to bed!

Like all girls I do have a love for shoes but not an unhealthy love for shoes! However, when I came across the below shoes on Pinterest and from reading the blog I thought 'that sounds easy!'.  I didn't really follow their tutorial and just took the basic idea and taught myself.

So...here is what I did and added some tips that made it a little easier for me along the way.

What you will need:

Shoes
Comic/magazine of your choice
Mod Podge
Scissors (large and small)
Paint brush

About the equipment:

Shoes
Even though I don't wear a lot of heels I thought it would give a bigger wow factor than flats.  I advise not using canvas/fabric shoes but you can give it a go if that's all you have.

Comic
There are so many to choose from! For my first go (and due to my budget) I went to The Works and there was quite a few comic (the bigger kind) for about £3.99 so you could easily pick a couple of these up.  If not local markets or eBay are a good place to go.  It doesn't really have to be superhero comics, you can put anything you want, even the cheap women's magazines or childrens cartoons

Mod Podge
This was the first time I used or even heard of Mod Podge (that's how much of a newbie I was to crafting!) but it's great as a glue and a sealant without having to buy two different kinds.  I would strongly recommend buying the clear gloss as if you buy 'Shimmer' or 'Gold' they can dull down the colours of the comics and completely spoil all your good work!  You will see from the picture I got shimmer but only used this for gluing and bought the clear to put on top.
Mod Podge can easily be found for under £10 for a big pot on Amazon.

Paint Brush + Scissors
I just bought some childrens paint brush for 99p from The Works, nothing fancy.  Scissors I had a normal pair to cut out the pages from the magazine and some small nail scissors or the fiddley bits.

Tip: Don't expect to get this done in one night, be prepared for a good few hours work!

Firstly I went through the comic and cut out images I liked (keeping them quite big to start).  I then spent the next 10 minutes looking at the cut outs and then the shoes then the cut outs.  I then spent another 10 minutes picking up cut outs and holding them against the shoes.  Then this happened.....

The first piece was on!! I then spend another hour placing bits onto the shoe. I decided not to do the heel due to scuffing (and a little bit of laziness).  You could cover the hell with Mod Podge and cover it with glitter but I'm not a massive glitter fan so left it black.

Tip: Try not to use large images

Due to all the curves the shoes have try to cut out large images as they don't tend to curve very well.  If there is a large image you like you might need to cut it into smaller pieces and place it back together on the shoe.


I started these while having a night in with the girls so film watching and chatting did distract me from getting that much done.  First night results...

Tip: Cover large sections and then layer on top

My first section (above pic) was done by pasting the images I wanted and cutting them to fit in.  Problems with this was it was very fiddly to do and meant cutting very tiny pieces at time.  Also it meant the images didn't seem to blend very well.  See below picture

So I tried a new approach from putting bigger images on and then cutting out smaller bit (such as the speech bubbles/narratives or small pictures/faces) and then layering them on top over the edges or corners where the different images meet.

Tip: Pick your favourite images for the front

When you get to show off your shoes the first bit people are going to see is the toes! I decided to pick quite large image(s) as a focal point.  As I was working my way around to the front I pasted my picture on and then worked around it.

Tip: Use your nails as a ruler!

Shoes have a lot of funny angles and sometimes I'd end up cutting away too much of the image or not enough.  The way I tackled this problem was to lay the image on the shoe (over hanging to the end of the shoe) and then run your nail along the curve of the shoe.  By the curve I mean the tops of the shoe or around the sole.  You will then have a dent in the paper which you can cut away.  It might need neatening up but it's a very good start to getting the right shape.

Once your shoes are completely covered with comics just add a couple of thin layers of clear Mod Podge to seal it up! 

These are my main tips to hopefully make it easier for you if you decide to give it a go.  From then on just have fun putting your own touches to it.  So these are how mine turned out...

Now I need to find another theme for my next pair...maybe 80's cartoons or lego. Need to go image hunting!

If you found my blog useful or you just liked it please leave me a nice comment.  Might urge me to crack on with my next project sooner.

Lisa x

Crafting Bible

Well, as not to let my blog die a horrible death after the first blog I thought I'd throw in a cheeky little post in between projects.

As I mentioned in my first blog I was working on decoupaging some heels with comic books.  Now this project is taking a lot longer than I thought it would! I think the fact I've been so busy the thought of then sitting down and cutting out tiny bits of comic books doesn't always excite me.  However, I am itching to get them done so I can show them off so need to pull my fingers out.

Last weekend I was visiting Llandrindod Wells and thought 'I'll take my shoes with me to work on while the other half is in work'.  Well, someone forgot to pick up the bag! So while sitting twiddling my thumbs I decided to be a little creative....more like planning to be creative.

I have had a lovely book that has all handmade paper in for years, waiting for nice idea on how to use it to come along.  I excepted some really nice keepsake idea might never make it to the forefront of my mind so I'd make it into my craft bible.

So here is the book (ooohhh)...

I then decided to go through my craft magazines, that I've recently started throwing into my trolley when i go shopping, and cut out the projects I want to try myself.  A lot of these magazine have crafts such as knitting or card making that I'm not really into it so needed to put all the projects I liked it on place.  So here is one necklace project I wanted to try, it involves putting maps in resin on a pendant.  I also started writing ideas around the pictures of other things I could put it

As I am new to the likes of blogging, selling and going to events I found tips which I also stuck in there and can build up when I find more

As well as cutting and sticking stuff I started to pencil down some ideas I had for projects.  I have built up a massive 'Things to make' board on Pinterest but I also had a lot of ideas rolling around in my head.  So I started making up pages with sketches, examples, samples and notes on things I want to make so when i do get around to it I got everything in one place.

So now it's just a case of adding to it when I like :)

In terms of other projects, I have soooooo many do it and with money not great at the moment I have advertised on Free cycle for some items I need.  Hopefully get some of them soon so can crack on with small projects.

I promise comic book shoes will be here soon!!

Lisa x

That awkward first blog

So I've decided to get into this blogging business.  It is going to be revolved around crafts so those who have found it from me linking it on Facebook or Twitter and have no interest let me stop you here and say bye bye, but let me tell you there will be pictures if you don't fancy reading my drivel.

For anyone reading who doesn't know me here are the basics....

Name: Lisa
Age: 28
Location: Cardiff but hoping to move to Llandrindod Wells, Mid-Wales in the near future
Job: Administrator for a recycling company
Crafting interests: Sewing, jewellery, home decor (but hoping to try the odd different design and craft)

Working full time and living with my parents I can't throw myself into crafting as much as I'd like but I'm going to give it a go!

My long-term goals are to have a website set up selling things I have made and try to be as active as I can be in the crafting scene in my local area and online. I mainly have made jewellery but want to do lots of experimenting.  Here is some of my work so far...

I have two current projects on the go.  One is making a large shoulder bag, quite a basic design but I haven't made a bag for years so teaching myself again.  The second is decoupaging some heels with comic books.  I thought it would be easy enough to do but there's a lot to learn from sticking comic books onto shoes!

Here is a sneak look at them but will add them to another blog as soon as they're done.

So until I get my arse in gear and get them finished please follow me on twitter @lisaslovelyloot and I got a page of Facebook.  Looking to get these updated ASAP!

I won't ramble on the first post....well done for getting through it if you got this far!

Lisa x