snowflakes made of straw?

I've had half an idea going round in my head for the last week or so about how I could add some christmas decorations to our kitchen/dining room. This is what I came up with, I found these lovely super-light straw snowflakes in Heals at the weekend and they are just perfect for what I had in mind. There are 36, to each of which I attached some sparkly thread (a present from my sister last christmas!) and then hung them all from our skylight. I was too impatient to wait for better photos and the light was already going when I took these but you get the idea. I love the colour of the straw, it goes perfectly with the kitchen and they even move in the air so it looks like it could be snowing! I know I put these up quite early, but once I had bought them I couldn't wait!
: )

seeing stars

We or rather I, have been having a slow weekend so far, as everything takes longer to do when you only have one useful arm! We did manage some christmas shopping yesterday which was quite successful, and Stuart has done lots of wallpapering with only a tiny amount of useless 'help' from me. But I have been managing to list some more soft stars so I am getting some things done, just not as quickly as usual!
: )

ouch

I’m feeling a little bit sorry for myself and very sore today, after managing to fall over last night while I was out running.

The three of us ended up spending most of the evening in Accident and Emergency, and I came home with three stitches. I don’t quite know how I managed it or what I tripped over, but I certainly went flying and probably made a few passing motorists laugh anyway!

I have managed to badly graze my hand, bash my shoulder and thigh, and lost a big chunk out of my elbow, which is where I now have the stitches. Don’t read the rest of this sentence if you are squeamish – (I’m pretty sure I could see my bone).

I had already run over three miles but then had to run another mile to get back to the car and Holly at her dancing lesson, I ended up having to ask in a shop for some tissue as there was quite a lot of blood. Nice!

So today I have been frustrated by having to use my computer mouse with the wrong hand, and only really having one arm. Isn’t exercise supposed to be good for you??
: )

dotty - with kisses!

Do you remember the quilt I made for Holly over the summer? Well I finally managed to finish making her new covers for the pillows she has on her bed using some of the left over fabric. I kept them quite plain and simple so that they didn't look too busy all together, and the two smaller ones are simple envelope covers hand sewn out of one piece of fabric.


The largest cushion cover did get a bit of special treatment, I quilted the front with 'kisses' in some of the white spots, which ties in with how the quilt itself was quilted. They are quite small, can you see them?



Anyway, these three have had the seal of approval and now reside happily on her bed, all ready for lounging!
: )

Tutorial: how to create your own designs on fabric at home

For the new picciolo 2009 soft Christmas decorations I created my own snowflake design rather than use an existing fabric. This meant that I got exactly the effect I wanted and can be sure that my picciolo decorations are unique and can’t be found anywhere else.

This is how I did it:

1. First, I drew my rough design onto A4 paper, then scanned it into photoshop (you could use any drawing programme). I then redrew my design with the elements on different layers.


2. Using layers makes it easy to change the colours. For my design, I have a couple of layers of white snowflakes over the background layer, then I changed the colour of the background to give me a wider variety of options. You could of course just use your original drawing. At this point I also added another layer to show the outline of the shape I use for my decorations.


3. Now print your design using an inkjet printer onto tshirt transfer paper. As there is white in my design I used the paper meant for dark fabric.

4. Then, once you have your printed transfer, the fun starts! (Follow the instructions that come with your transfer paper as they all vary slightly.) I cut out my shapes first and then ironed them onto felt to create the sides for my decorations, but you could use your whole piece or any sections of it and use different types of fabric as your base.


5. Experiment!
: )

3 sides, 5 sides

So here they are, this years picciolo christmas decorations! There are six coordinating colours to choose from, and two styles, 3-sided or 5-sided, all of which can be mixed and matched.

They are made from soft felt and have been embellished on each side with an original snowflake design which I created and added to the felt. They have a hanging loop in a complimentary colour and are lightly stuffed.

And the best thing? **For one week only** if you buy any two of these you can choose a third one free!

Check them out here: 3-sided 5-sided

: )

*update* I've had an enquiry about how I created the snowflake design which embellishes the felt on each side, watch out for a tutorial tomorrow!

hours

It seems to have taken me hours this weekend to finally get these into my shop, I'll be back tomorrow to tell you a bit more about them.
: )