Crafts or hobbies?
 

Just wondering if there are any other cross stitchers or crocheters on the forum here?
Also I do a lot of ordering from Mary Maxim in Ontario and was wondering if there are any companies around there that have good quality merchandise?
Any crafty people here? :)

I do counted cross stitch daily. With 2 teenage daughters and a 6 year old son, it is the only thing I can do to keep me sane!

:D oh boy am i crafty :D :D . well sort of, i dont do cross stich but make quilts by hand. i am useless at cross stitch. i am also an avid and excitable stamp collector (woohooo oh am i exciting).
but currently trying to make my self a job (no work here), my sister and i are making silver and gold jewelery for market, that is the limit of my craftiness. oh and i do make freaky looking teddie bears for charlie, some look evil though (not good at eyes) and the kids wont go near them..lol :D
oh and tried crochet, oh boy, not good, better knitter. :D

You can make your own patterns ya know

I embroider things that I sketch myself, it turns out great and more personal then those ready to make crossx patterns

However, I'll give you a handly little cheap way of getting some neat patterns

Find pics on the net that you love or your own and print them out on iron on paper (you may have to use your printer settings to 'mirror image') or when you iron it on the material it will be backwards

Iron it onto the material and fill in the areas with your stitchwork

:D

I used to crochet a lot, and have afghans, scarves, mitts and baby clothes piled up to prove it! :D

I dont' have that much time now, but just about any crochet pattern you can think of, you can find on the net.

I enjoy counted cross stitch sometimes. I've made a couple memory quilts for co-workers who have retired. I quit doing that though because the majority of the other co-workers don't sew or embroider and I'd end up doing most of the squares for them. My main hobby is stained glass. I've been doing that for 26-27 years. Best part about doing glass is that all the excitement comes at the end of the project when you can actually hold the piece up to see the colors and light all working together. :rolleyes: I also enjoy ceramics but don't have the skill to make what I like. I volunteer in the ceramics lab at the college mixing up all the colored slips and glazes. Also have baked and decorated many a wedding cake. My last one was for my older brother last September. It was a disaster that turned out great! I had made both a formal wedding cake and a informal groom's cake. On the 6hr drive up to Yreka, the base of the wedding cake slid and was severely damaged. :eek: What a horrible trip emotionally! My brother operates a Cat Bulldozer for a living, cutting in roads, cable, etc. in the mountains. For the groom's cake, I had made a chocolate mountain with a small bulldozer for the top with a caricature of the bride and groom. I just placed the bulldozer at the base of the damage and everyone thought it was on purpose and loved it! :D The groom was driving the Cat and the bride was over the hood because it was the 1st day of deer season! I'll add a photo when I get home this evening.

Right now I'm working on a cross stitch picture of my kids! :)
I wish i would have known how to print it out myself and do it but I might have to try that in the future. Thanks for that bit of info Luba!
LavenderRott your house sounds like mine except 1 preteen (girl), 1 teen and a just turned 7 year old. :rolleyes: Yes that keeps mt sanity intact as well :D
Lucky did you crochet doilies as well?
My 11 year old daughter knows how to do both crocheting and cross stitching. :) Its nice seeing that being passed on.
Glasslass you sound busy! ;) Mel you should put some pictures on here of your jewellry and Luba I've never ironed on a pattern. Is it difficult figuring out which colors to use or where to put them? I'm so used to having a pattern beside me. :rolleyes:

I tried crocheting doilies, but just didn't have the patience for it! :D

My favorite things to crochet are afghans and baby clothes.

Not difficult at all for the colours Chany. I usually just eyeball things and create what I want to anyway, take a risk and don't follow instructions lmao!

My artistic side does all the crochet/knit stuff as well, then there is watercolour paints, ahh the folkart stuff of the early 90's lol thats gone by the wayside.

I sew so so so it's nice to make your own stuff!

My thing is I make so much of anything/everything that I get into these creative spurts and go for weeks at a time...and then give it away as presents.

My most recent fav is trendy crochet'd caps, bikinis, tops and shawls they are really fantastic and easy to make.

I rarely use a pattern, so many times I start over and over again but its all part of the creation process.

Summer is here and the tool shed is where I create now unless I feel like writing or painting or pic taking blah blah blah

i wish i had a digi camera or scanner (one day), i love my jewelery, we are making it for markets, looovely earings. :D :p many a time my mum has tried to teach me to crochet, but i am left handed and my entire family right including my grandmother, so they gave up a looong time ago. i need to find a lefty to help me :rolleyes: .
i can give you all patterns for really freaky evil looking teddies if you like, i cant offer much but it is something :p (some of them even charlie does not like) hey, i really do try :D :D

Evil Teddies
come now Mel u gotta explain that one girl!

i used to cross stitch when i was younger... had gotten so patterns from my mom.

now I simply dont make the time... but it's a nice hobby :)

Well,in the winter I crochet and ALL my friends have an Anita-Afghan :D
Have tons of kitty-blankies,made some for HS..
Summer time is 100% outdoor-time,caring for my plants ,grass,hedges,birds etc....Happy Times :D
I like to paint,stain anything that needs it,it's a constant project...

I go through crafty spurts too....right now I'm into scrapbooking. I have done cross stitch but hardly find the time anymore. I have a half finished elephant one for my living room wall!!! :o I also do toll painting, water colours (well I try) and have tried my hand at a few other things too. Seems that there aren't enough hours in the day!! Soon it will be summer, so I will have more time!! :D :D I'm learning gardening as I go.....still not sure what is weeds and what are flowers/plants...LOL I didn't plant the garden here so wasn't sure what they planted, so am waiting to see what comes up. I guess if I knew what each plant was, I'd have a better idea what the weeds were!! :o

These are the glass panels I made for my living room and front door. The photos of the bulldozer wedding cake is too large. I guess I'll have to try Irfanview.com. My file is already in jpg format, does the program compress the file or do you just crop it? I don't know if I can crop it enough. :confused:

hey glassy they are just stunning, very good work, you are a clever boffin arent you. i am no way near that talented. do you sell them or is it just for you?? that cake sounds like a real save, i make childrens birthday cakes for friends and family, i have made every one from minni and mickey mouse to giant pigs and train lines with trains. i did cake decorating classes with my mum when i was a teen, but that was marzipan and that formal stuff so that is not my cup of tea. the best kids cake book i have found is the Australian Womans Weekly kids birthday book, but it is aussie so i wouldnt know if it can be found elsewhere, but it is a really old book from the 70's with a series to today, really clever designs, i am making a fairy castle for my friends 40th birthday party soon.
evil teddies, well charlie loves teddies and dollies, she is really gentle with them and gets cranky if anyone touches her toys (especially her police dolly that is knitted, and if she does not have her own she will find the nearest kid and steal theres). every now and again a dog will come to visit and destroy a few (really p's charlie off) or they get old. so i try to make soft teddies for her, i dont have patterns just make up as i go, well they all look a little freaky and some plain evil, its the eyes i tell ya (and the weird shape heads, they have no mouths, oh and sometimes they dont get all their limbs either), see i try and sew them by hand and it never works. i just end up with weird shapes on the face, my neice and nephew dont touch them and charlie doesnt like some of them. i would like to see her do better though. i really do try. she often carries her dollies inside and leaves them in a heap. she is such a girly dog sometimes, it is really cute :D

Thanks! I don't sell them because then I would have to make what the customer wants, instead of what I want to work on. I've mainly just done stuff for self, relatives, and friends. Same for the cakes. Actually, I'm not real fond of doing the big cakes, but it's something I'm able to do and I usually offer it as my wedding gift. This was my older brother's 3rd wedding (no kids) and I told him he better make it work cause he's not getting another one! :p

Sorry, I didn't realize these would come out so big! :eek:

Den-Den loves stuffed toys. Unfortunately, he also likes to kill them and start eating the stuffing. I don't let him have them unless I'm right there. Sometimes he'll play with them a long time before he starts checking out the insides.

Mel...I HAVE that Australian womans weekly birthday book!! I used to teach preschool daycamps and used it all the time for my theme weeks...it is the best!! (wonders where it is now?!?!?!)

Glassy - WOW!! Those stained glass pieces are BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I've always wanted to try that, but not brave enough!! That and pottery!! :o Your cake is absolutely wonderful too!! How appropriate eh?? Thats awesome!!

My sister in law to be is going to be making my wedding cake - cheesecake for sure, just not sure how to decorate it..any ideas??? We both like camping, Tim fishes, I love animals..... hmmmmmm, will have to give it some thought!!! :D

Glasslass,those panels are beautiful!!!and the cakes!!!
I actually have everything for making stained glass,grinder,lead,the thingy that melts the lead(forgot what it's called)different colour glass etc...
Hubby and I was going to try,my son took a course and made me some small pieces and I think I know how to do it on a VERY small scale.
Nothing like what you have mastered...Oh and I'll be a distant relative of yours,I would be so happy for a piece of stained glass for a present :D

Very nice stuff ladies!

It's great to be creative isn't it :D

omg! :eek: :eek: :eek:


excellent work, ladies, simply excellent!!!

Can someone please point me in the right direction as to where to go on the net to find free patterns for Strawberry Shortcake patterns of any kind? I knit, do cross stitch and woodworking. I want to get into the galss stick ons but the supplies are hard to find around here.

Beautiful work ladies; the stained glass is gorgeous!!!

Oh thank you everybody! It's so nice to be appreciated!!! :D
Catt, if you notice the glass top on the wedding cake, it was a stag and doe. I made oak leaves and acorns out of sugargum paste. The area where my brother lives is in the mountains; lots of oaks. It looks nice in their display case at home now without looking like a typical wedding cake top. What type of wedding are you planning? My brother's was a fall theme. They rented the reception hall and did everything themselves. He built a large portable BarBQ and cooks meat at a lot of group functions. For their wedding, my younger brother did the meat (7 20lb prime-ribs), I made the cakes, and my new sister-in-law's sister prepared the salads. It was great and didn't cost the $k's they say weddings average now.

Wow!!! :eek: :eek: I don't know what I did but I guess I sure did it. Sorry! I'm learning this stuff.
I went into [url]www.google.com[/url] and typed in "strawberry shortcake patterns" and all kinds of stuff came up.

While my mother overwhelmed my brothers and I with knitting, crocheting, needlepoint and all the rest, I will admit I skimmed over most of this thread until I came to the picture of heaven. That BBQ picture halted me in my tracks. So hungry. So, so hungry! Nice pic.

A friend of mine started making sock monkeys for people about a year ago. They look really cute and she started to customize them for people for gifts. The one I got for xmas last year from her has a little black toque and an anchor tattoo on its arm to make it look like a longshorman. A different one had a skeleton sewn or whatever on the body just because it looked funny. Another one has a cowboy hat sewn onto it's head. Very nice and she was getting at least 30 bucks a pop for these guys.

a clever gal can make a wedding really cheap with the right ideas. apparently the average price these days for a wedding is $10000-$15000 and that is considered cheap. i just did my entire wedding for $4000 including everything. i made my own bonbonerie- computer printed bookmarks on pretty paper with poem laminated, and sugured almonds that i found from a lovely turkish lady at discount. used computer and nice paper for invitations and RSVPs, did own flowers, brought from flower farm at a huge discount to normal prices, and just did them up and borrowed lots of different vases. had it in the bush and in mother in laws backyard. and went to a local bakery for the cake, not a wedding shop, made a huge $300 difference. oh and for food, had finger food in a cocktail party style, saved heaps. it can be done, and who wants a traditional wedding anyway, make it your special event your way. and every one has said it was the best wedding thery ever went to, very welcoming and family orientated.
catt- they have a new one out that is just great, many modern themes ect.$AU14 price. have you got the old one with the train on it, made that train once, never again i tell you.
Bill- oh he is hungry, can we send him some food, maybe all the left over cakes??? might be stale but will taste good. :D bob will like it im sure.
i think the best cake i ever made was the mars bar cheese cake (hate cheese cake so never tasted it yuck), nice cheese cake with chunks of marsbar in it layered with chocolate and toffee sauce, the sauce runs down sides when cut, boy it looked exactly like the picture, dont care about taste as long as it looks like pic i am very happy. :D

We're going pretty simple....have rented a building that is all cedar with a big copper fireplace, gazebo and lagoon outside (but its in April so will be married inside)...our colours are black and white. They will cater and bartend so that is taken care of!! We have a budget of $9000 so that should be ok. I am doing my own flowers (Calla Lillies) and my own invitations, etc. I got my dress already - not a typical white fru-fru lacey thing....$300!! :D Sis in law will make the cake, brother is taking the photos, cousin's hubby will do video..... having small bamboo shoots as party favors/centerpieces so I will sew the little bags they go in....all we need is some simple decorations (we're thinking balloons) and a cake decoration idea and we're set....for the most part!! :eek:

I have to pass on what my cousin's daughter did for their wedding favors. They burned CD's with their favorite music (which was played all during their wedding) and used a software program to make really neat labels. Every guest received a CD and it seemed so personal. I don't think it cost them more than .50 ea. and a little time. She let her husband do it and he appreciated being able to be involved with the preparations. I love garden weddings! They are always so beautiful!

I bet you hubby and I had the cheapest wedding possible,we had two of our best friends as witnesses and a preacher.Afterwards we went to a bar,had 3 bottles of champagne(the lady I am,I prefer beer anyday :D )and a big bowl of Chili.Total cost of wedding about $200!!!
We are celebrating our 40th anniversary in December :D