my creative space: crochet and screen print

I have finally got my creative mojo back... it's been a while! I had been plodding along for ages just doing bits and pieces here and there... not feeling particularly inspired! I was getting a little worried there for a bit, wondering if it was ever come back! YAY...It's back!

There is nothing like a little birthday to get one inspired! It was a little friends birthday last week, and I made a very cute little crochet super soft, fluffy bunny scarf! Our little friend LOVED it! I secretly want a grown up version for me! :)

:: cute little bunny scarf - pom pom tail and fluffy ears

I also designed a new "flower bunch" screen printed top for our little birthday friend! I am so happy with how it turned out! I love making special things for our little friends... too much fun! :)

:: flower bunch - screen printed

I thought I would share a bit of my process for the flower bunch screen print...
I do lots of doodles and scribbles to come up with ideas but mostly the ideas come to me in the middle of the night... does that happen to you too!!! In this case it was a middle of the night idea which also used the base design from my "bold flower" design which I created for handprinted: a fabric swap a while ago.

:: "bold flower" screen print for handprinted: a fabric swap

I then worked on the design in Adobe Illustrator, which can take a while... I love mucking around in Illustrator! Once I am happy with the design, I print it out in grey scale.

I place the grey scale printed image page on top of stencil paper and then cut through the two pieces of paper to create the stencils, a separate stencil for each colour in the design.

Once I have my stencils... I set up the screen printing board and use masking tape secure the garments to it.  To make sure everything is goes where it is suppose to, I use the original cut out printed to line up all the colours and to register it.

Then I mix up my fabric paints and screen print each colour.

I wanted to add a bit more texture to the flower dots of this screen print, so I used a stamp that I made and a  POSCA pen- slate grey which can be used on fabric (and many other surfaces).

Once I have ironed the design to fix the fabric paint on to the garment it's all done! I love this new little design :)

It's quite a long process which can take a few days, which I love because I can do little bits here and there in my busy day :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: dinosaur amigurumi

My little man is completely crazy about dinosaurs at the moment... I mean totally obsessed!! And when I saw this dinosaur crochet pattern on Amigurumi Patterns, I just couldn't help myself!

:: crochet dinosaur

I used the pattern as a guide. I used 8ply wool, used a 4.0 mm crochet hook and made a slightly bigger dinosaur! I also added the spikes on the back, I'm not sure if he's historically correct or there is an actual dinosaur that looks like that but it doesn't matter because my little man just loves his new dinosaur... ROAR :)

:: a bit of dinosaur love

I'm really enjoying learning about all the different dinosaurs! My gosh I can't believe that there were so many different and weird looking ones with names I can't possibly pronounce! Looks like I'm getting a second education through my little man :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

**happy new year**

Wow... what a year it's been and it has gone so fast too, which doesn't surprise when I look back at what I have been up to! Phew.. I have been busy :)
It's been a big learning year for me... here are some of my favourite highlights of my creative year:

There was a lot of knitting and crocheting going on...

:: knitting and crochet

I did a lot of learning new things and relearning some old skills

:: watercolour and drawing course

There was quite a lot of screen printing and making things going on!

:: screen printing and making things

I really enjoyed learning how to use my new camera... I'm still learning :)

I am really happy with all that I have achieved this year and I'm really looking forward to next years creative adventures :)

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!

See you next year!

Cheers
Lamina xxx

my creative space: crochet cushion no. 2

Whoops... I nearly forgot to do "my creative space" post today!!! Last night my little fingers got a bit fidgety and needed something to occupy them, so I started working on crochet cushion no. 2, to go with my chevron cushion I made the other week! I really love spots so I am attempting do a spotty-ish crochet cushion with charcoal grey and cream wool!

:: spotty-ish crochet cushion

I'm not sure if it is going to work out exactly as I have it pictured in my head... but it's looking good so far... fingers crossed it does work out :)


Day 27 of blogtoberfest 2011 - blog everyday for October... only a few days left!!!

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: cushion + banana bread

I've been busy... I have managed to finish my chevron crochet cushion which I am really really happy with - my mothers group friends really loved it too ...thanks guys xxx What do you guys think?

:: crochet chevron cushion

:: tested and approved by my little man!

I also made my very first banana bread for my mothers group today... recipe from here! I change it slightly because of my lactose allergy - exchanging milk for soy milk and butter for dairy free margarine.  I seriously can't believe I have never made one before... it was so yummy and everyone loved it! I was a bit worried making something for the first time but luckily it worked out beautifully....phew!! :)

:: my little helper and taster

:: he just can't wait until everyone gets here... yum!

I am also joining in on onegirl - handprinted: a fabric swap! This is so up my ally... woo hoo!! You only have until tomorrow - Friday 21st October 2011- to join up if you are interested :)



Day 20 of blogtoberfest 2011 - blog everyday for October

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: cushion + sausage dog

I was really inspired by Christina Lowry Designs' gorgeous ripple baby blanket she has been crocheting. I have been dying to try the ripple crochet for ages, and thought I would make a cushion! Our couches desperately need some nice cushions! I looked up some videos on YouTube and found this one by Mikey (he totally loves crochet!!) really helpful and easy to follow!

:: ripple crochet

I think it's going to look great... much to the disgust of my Mr... he's not too keen on crochet! I think he thinks I'm going to go crazy and start crochet everything in the house! There are some crazy crocheting people out there... ha ha ha!

What do you think? Am I bit crazy, is it going to look ok or is it going to be totally daggy/unsightly?

:: nearly finished...

I also finished my little sausage dog, he's so cute! He was looking a bit strange as I was putting him together but looked gorgeous once all his little bits were sewn on :)

::  sewing his bits on

:: a sweet little sausage dog :)

Day 6 of blogtoberfest 2011

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: sausage dog crochet

Not a lot going on around here really... I'm still trying to get my creative spark back! I think it's slowly coming back from it's holiday!! I've been a little creative this week... I found this really cute crochet pooch book at the local library... Ami Ami dogs, there are so many pooches to choose from! (Here is a little review)

It's a great little book with really easy to follow patterns and instructions! I'm making a cute little sausage dog! There are crocheted doggy body bits everywhere at the moment! I am really enjoying making him!

I'm hoping my little sausage dog will end up looking a bit like these cute little guys :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: crochet and knitting

I have finished my dearest grandma's scarf, just in time for her birthday next week... phew! I'm so happy with how it turned out, she is going to love it! I love the colour and I'm so glad that is added the cream stripe so now it didn't look too plain!

My scarf is coming along slowly and is looking pretty good!  I have been knitting this while I watch my little 2 yr old eat his breakfast and lunch, which can take quite a while.. great for knitting! I'm getting much better at continental knitting and slowly getting faster! I am so glad I persevered, it is much quicker! Hopefully, I will get this scarf finished before winter is over! :)

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: grandma's scarf

Oh dear... grandma's scarf had to be re-done, I found using a size 4.0mm crochet needle was making the crochet really tight and a bit stiff... not soft and snugly like I had imagined! So I tried a size 7.0mm crochet needle but that didn't work, it ended up being way too loose! I'm now using a size 5.5mm crochet needle and I'm really happy with how the crochet looks and feels! If I had loads more the wool I would have done something else with the old crochet but I needed that wool for grandma's scarf no. 2! So I had to unravel it **boo hoo boo hoo** all that hard work rolled up into 2 balls of wool within minutes... arghhhh...oh well!!

old tight scarf  and new & snugly scarf

1 ball unravelled and new scarf

2 balls unravelled and new scarf

It just amazes me how much wool goes into crocheting a scarf...I can't believe that was two balls of wool in that bit of scarf... amazing!! I know this is a bit sad/daggy but I timed how long it took me to crochet 1 line.. 5 mins (going fast) - I counted how many rows I have already done from the center back of the scarf  - 45 rows, which means it has taken me approx 3 hours and 45min (probably more) so I am now starting the other side - 45 rows and 3 hours an 45 mins to go... woo hoo!

ps. I'm loving every minute making something lovely for my grandma :)

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: crochet

I have started crocheting a scarf for my dearest grandma's birthday next month. Her favourite colour is green so I'm using the lovely teal green wool she sent me last year. She told me that she has never been able to crochet but always wanted to! She is left handed it was all a bit confusing for her! So I thought rather than knit, I would crochet a scarf :)  I got off to a rocky start... after three attempts, I finally got it right! 1st attempt - not sure what went wrong... I just couldn't follow the pattern and it ended up a big crochet mess! 2nd attempt - I found a new pattern no. 90608 from Lion Barn Yarn. I had to change the width as I wasn't happy with it but I made it way too wide! 3rd attempt - I made it too narrow! 4th attempt - I finally got it right Yay!! With all these attempts I could have had half a scarf by now! I'm really please with how it is going now.. Yay!!

3rd attempt - Hooray!!
- please excuse the toddler scribbles on the coffee table :)

I have quite a lot of dc/double crocheting to do!

M adding his creative touch to my crochet pattern :)

There are loads more crafty, creative people over at our creative space...