Crochet project - a simple tea cosy

Hi there

I thought I'd share this little tea cosy with you, as I was so pleased with how it turned out.

I found a free pattern for the stag's head on Pinterest, and thought it would be a really cute silhouette for a tea cosy. I had to modify the original pattern a bit to get the right size, then I made a double crochet close granny square in the contrast colour which was about an inch smaller than the tea pot I wanted to use the cover with, then I added a treble crochet border around the granny square so that I could thread through a tie, and crocheted together the edges, leaving holes at each edge for the teapot spout and handle.

I added about 3 rows of treble crochet v stitching to make a fancy top, made a cord from the two colours of yarn, with tassles at the end, then finally stitched on the little deer head as an embellishment. Very simple, but easy to do, and quite inexpensive as it used less than one ball of each yarn.

 Might try a few more with different colours - there's some Christmas presents sorted, and it's not even the end of September yet!!! Thanks for visiting, Susan x

Shaped Card - Clarity Challenge 31 (September 2015)

I've not had much time to do any crafting this month, as we're still busy, busy, busy in the guest house! However, I've been having a little play with some of my stamps using just one or two colours, and have really liked the results, so this circular card was inspired by my play.

I wanted to create a modern twist on an anniversary card for a young couple, so stuck with red and white as the main colours, with a black mat to create some contrast. As I didn't have any large circular dies, I used a plate as a template for the card shape, a bowl for the black mat, and a saucer for the smaller white card circle, which I then chopped into 3 sections to help disguise any wobbly cutting out with my scissors!

In the top right section I started by brushing some Adirondack Red Pepper ink through a piece of sequin waste using Clarity brushes to give a subtle starry background. Then I stamped the Clarity Live, Laugh, Love stamp in the same ink, and quickly embossed it using Clear Detail Embossing powder and set it using a heat gun. In the bottom right section I stamped the Clarity Wire Heart using the same inkpad, and then overstamped with the young couple from the Wee Folk set, and again quickly embossed the images using Clear Detail Embossing powder. Then I created a faux red mat for that section using a Ruby Promarker.

In the larger section I randomly stamped the Clarity Small Daisy stamp in the Red Pepper ink, then using a daisy embossing folder, I added a bit of texture by running it through my Cuttlebug machine. Then I mounted all 3 pieces onto the black mat, and mounted that onto the round card.

Throwing caution to the wind, and abandoning my usual "less is more" approach completely, I die cut some leaves and seed heads from red and white card, and stuck them to the centre part of the card. Then I added a small bow of white tulle, a double bow of red twine, and a small red flower gem just to cover the knot.

It was fun to do, and a bit of a change from my normal style - love entering these challenges as they really make you step out of your comfort zone and try something a bit different! Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'd love to read any comments you might have, Susan x