Cat Proof Jewlery Box

This post seems very on theme at the moment   (re ZB's post Holder Of Jewels) I also have been in need of a jewelry containment - prior to this all my necklaces, earrings etc were in ornamental bowls on my bedside table but the arrival of Miss Bobby Socks Kitten Face has put and end to that as they seem to be her favourite midnight snack!

Beginning with an already made IKEA box($10.00)
I selected a walnut stain and proceeded to slap it on - the longer you wait before cleaning it off with a cloth the darker it gets - I did this almost immediate creating a light stain.

Next apply painters tape to form your desired shapes. I believe masking tape would do the trick too.
Note: I took a photo of the box and spent a bit of time in Photoshop trying out different patterns before deciding on this triangle one.

I applied two coats before carefully peeling off the tape. 

Lets see Bobby try and get in there now!

Holder Of Jewels

Dear reader, it was a long and difficult process but I have succeeded in MAKING A JEWELLERY HOLDER.

Here are the steps I followed (not necessarily the steps I would recommend):

1. Get old corkboard and paint frame black.
2. Change mind and spray paint gold. Also spray paint ugly multicoloured push pins at the same time.
3. Paste pretty wrapping paper to corkboard. Watch it wrinkle with dismay.
4. Rip pretty wrapping paper off before it dries. Brood, mutter, make alternative plans, etc.
5. Take gorgeous new patterned pillowcase on a shopping trip so you can match the colour to fabric. Choose an appropriate fabric - in my case, teal hessian. Also buy ribbon (cream seemed good to me).
6. Cut hessian to size then pin to corkboard - no need to glue!
7. Cut and pin ribbon on as well (you can't really see but I have a vertical ribbon as well, that's what the flowers are pinned to).
8. Arrange jewellery and pin on.
9. Realise it doesn't look right and rearrange all the jewellery.
10. Find some more jewellery you forgot and rearrange again.
11. DONE.

Jewellery holder has not yet been attached to the wall as I cannot decide where to put it. PERFECTIONISM I HATE YOU.

Kindle cover

Lovely crafternoon session at  +morgana bailey's house with +Zilla Bailey joining on Skype. I made a case for my new Kindle Paperwhite and I am thrilled with it. Thanks Morgana for your help.

Morgana, remember to add to your resume 'can explain complex sewing problems via Skype using pieces of paper'.

baby jumper

Far too many of my friends are getting married and having babies at the moment so this may be the first of many little baby things I knit. 

The cotton is left over from my grandmothers vast collection

Working in the two colours created many a tangle but it is a lovely soft cotton to work with. 

All finished now - just waiting to find out if the "it" is a boy or a girl then I'll add some gender specific buttons to the top right shoulder.

Interactive Mandala

My lovely friend Sarah-The-Yoga-Teacher-Hammond is turning 23 this thursday.
Seeing as poverty is the mother of invention for me, here is what I made her...

I thought drawing the mandalas was going to be time consuming and a bit dull, but it was oddly therapeutic.

Painting with watercolours made me revert back to early high school art classes; when I though anything painted with watercolours was automatically 'modern art'

 Now for the fun part! I used a starched felt for the body and split pins to hold it all together, split pins by the way are my new favourite thing that was ever invented ever.

I put the middle split pin though the canvas and Voila! Interactive Mandala:

Bad Art #1

So for a while I went to this art group and one time we did a guided meditation as the basis for generating art. We had to take an elevator to each of our chakras and when we got out of the elevator describe the landscape we saw and the animal we met. 

I wanted to jump out of my own head I was so bored. To survive I scribbled down every stupid thought that came into my head. Fortunately the teacher didn't stop me. 

The result reminded me of something The Mighty Boosh might come up on an off-night.  

These were destined for a huge cardboard totem pole, but I dropped out of the class before we got to that bit.

Heart Shakra - Macaw. Is this even what they look like? 

Crown Shakra - Joe the horse in hay bale landscape.

Marlin the white cat. I think he is a Mad-Men inspired yet 70's lounge room. I don't know which chakra this is.

Solar Plexus chakra. Wolfie the wolf in mountainous landscape, possible entirely salt.

Throat chakra - Orpheus the bear in another barren hot landscape

Base chakra. Foxy the fox (oh god my names are genius!) in a casino landscape, possibly Nevada?

Pelvic chakra. Neil the eel in a biosphere greenhouse thing. 

At the end of the meditation our teacher asked what came up for us.  

"I'd like to tweet Just realised meditation is a form of torture," I said. 

Fortunately, they laughed. But I was serious.

 

Operation Couch Make Over.

So we have one of those twenty something kinda-of-have-a-real-job futon couches and while I don't find it super comfortable its what we have. For a while I have been thinking making it a proper cover would do wonders for its self esteem.

Up until recently it has looked like this (below) with an old donna cover draped over it.

 Sad. Neglected.

So then came the planing and the maths (shudder)
    
Then the making...

    and now it looks like this.   All credit goes to my sister for the actual sewing and happening to have the perfect fabric lying around. Still to come are some super cute animal cushions from etsy and maybe some mexican style cushions too!