handmade christmas project # 6

i am in love with this project and even though it is not meant to be done yet, i just had to finish it! you will need scrap yarn and either a crochet needle or knitting gear. we are making an advent crochetted or knitted garland! wohoo!

the idea is to make one piece of the garland each day in december until christmas. see it as an adult version of a advent calender if you will. if you are not a familiar with crochetting or knitting, here are some helpful links:

Learn how to chrochet

beginner crochet

learn to knit

video series, how to knit



i used the very basic crochetmethod to make 24 (in sweden christmas is celebrated on the 24th) "squares" and simply attached them together to make the acctual garland.

garlands are really big right now atleast according to alot of sites around the internet. i would love to have made a heart shaped one, but this year i went with squares.



i just found this one by rachel denbow :)very cute, right.
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i also made a version of garland using fingerknitting and one that was really meant to be a cute scarf...



have fun!

wow...

...eh i think i might have one to many projects going on...

handmade christmas project # 5

todays project is all about making stockings. i made mine out of black felt that i traced with a simple patterned that i drew. i did a edge stitch around the edges and then i did some cross stitched monograms that i glued to the acctual stocking. my scanner didn´t want to work with me so i don´t have the cross stitch pattern right now, but i am sure that there are resources online for that.






i didn´t want to go crazy decorating the stockings so i kept it really simple. you can obviously do go crazy :)
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here is the pattern for this cutie :)

i have loved this stocking idea for the last year!

and you can use granny squares...



a bunch of christmas stockings

new layouts!

the story: my daughter and the horse she helps take care of :)



the story: we love to hold hands :)



the story: i am so loving my life at 30!



the story: our sadie girl is such a sweetie :)



the story: i was inspired my the site scrapping the music and their Challenge #19--It's Good to be Us by Bucky Covington.





the story: i was blog hopping and came across marnies post over at write.click.scrapbook. she introduced herself through a list called i am not. so, i did one too :)



the story: my daughter left me this note in my notebook. it says: mom has a big heart ♥ how can your heart not melt?



the story: a silly one about my addiction to coke :)

:::weekend edition:::

man i am having such a good weekend! our daughter is out for the weekend and we are alone. that means alot of sleeping in, lounging and doing whatever we feel like, ah! and the sun was even out for a minute :)



i did alot of crafting! (while listening to a Peter James book Dead simple it is sooo good!) i got so inspired when i found this blog yesterday! this woman is a sewing wizard! i made a few bags inspired by her. (i haven´t taken photos yet).



i did take a long walk today with the dogs in the forest. it was lovely.



i also added a few things to our wall :) i am so loving how it is coming together!



the cats apperently also thought that lounging was a good idea for the weekend.



and now i am going to see the greys episode that i missed last week and soon my dd is coming home and dinner is cooking :) and tomorrow i will be back with layouts galore!

handmade # 4

i have tried for days now to upload a movie on this project, but i give up. i´ll give you the photo version instead!

it´s a door decoration and you will need to get

some pine branches (if you pick them yourself, make sure that it is ok with the forest owner!)

pinecones

metal wire

a metal wire cutter

ribbon

i guess the photos speak for themselves since this is a really easy project. you basically just gather a bunch of branches together at the "stems" and decorate them with pinecones and ribbon and like i did with my dried red berries garland.

if you have any questions please let me know!

handmade gift # 3

here is a super easy and very handy gift you can make for anyone really. i made these little note books for a cuple of people on my giftlist. i went to the creative common search site to find free images i could use for this project. i love the keep calm and carry on products so i went with that. i printed them in the size i wanted (about 6x4") and then cut paper for the inside. one of the books is bound with book rings and the other one i used my ring binding device. oh, and the front image is protected and made more sturdy with a laminte surface.



you can easily use a photo or other image for the front ofcourse or even make themed books. as everyone needs some scribble paper sometime this is an easy gift to give!

i am still here, just been super busy with life in general. but i am here just being a little bit quiet. i have a few project posts lined up for the weekend and i am so happy to share those with you.

in the meantime look to the left and vist my 2 tumblr blogs for some eye candy and why not post your christmas wishlist on your blog like i have done over there on the left also.

:)

my layout

here is the layout i did using the journaling from this post!

handmade gift # 2

i am a big fan of guerilla art and i seem to always want to leave stuff behind when i don´t have it at hand with me. So i made a litte guerilla art kit to go. as i post it here it can also be lovely as a gift!






it is basically a fabric pouch i made with 2 different fabrics and like 4 seems :) and a button to close it. i wrote a few short notes on paperstrips that i tucked in the pouch, i have chalk and a whiteboard pen and a made some smileyfaces and stuff on round stickers. i really don´t want to do something illegal so all my guerilla art is easily removed.

as a little gift for you i made a pdf. file with some small notes that you are welcome to use for your own guerilla art :) just go here to download it :)
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i bought keri smiths book but now i am selling it here. so if you are interested i am taking an order for the book and postage for 10 us dollars to be payed to my paypal account. if you are interested please email me at: lisa.mrs@gmail.com

and here are a few other links to other guerilla art sites:

guerilla art pictures

bookcrossing

my favorite hulagirl did some guerilla art too

handmade gift # 1

ingredients:

a filefolder
cards made of plain white cardstock
stickers

makes a folder full of lettercards and letterpapers for my letter writing daughter.













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and here are some handmade letter writing stuff you can buy over the internet:

mini letter set

letter set

chirp letter set

a sick girl home after taking the flu shot...

my daily web stops

as a list lover i am including a list of websites/blogs that i visit daily. i usually sit infront of my laptop when i eat my breakfast (!) and then i go on my viritual morning walk :)

gmail.com (i have used gmail for a cuple of years now and find it being very helpful and good as an email account but also chat and reader.

bloglines.com (my helper in catching up on my blogs. i keep adding more and more!)

facebook.com (it is always fun to see what has happened since last!)

flickr.com (one of my fave places online!)

my blog (to see if there are any new comments and other activity)

by now, my breafast break is over and i usually need to rush to work, but i do have more stops...like:

once wed
tumblr
ohdeedoh
craftig
how about orange
...

(this post is also my take at shimelles third prompt from the class blogging for scrapbookers)

i joined Shimelles online class: blogging for scrapbookers and it all started on monday. shimelle has already sent out 2 prompts via email. the class essentially is making blogging and scrapbooking more hand in hand of what i have understood. i have a few issues with that since i scrapbook in swedish and blog in english...not a problem really, i can easily translate the blogposts so that i can use that journaling on a scrapbook page. during these weeks that the class is forthgoing i hope that i can write longer and more posts with some kind of depth in them :)
i also signed up with Jessica Sprauge´s free Holiday in hands online class. although i am not going to be able to follow every prompt or idea in either of the classes, i am thrilled to be able to get tips and trick from 2 lovely ladies :)

goodbye october/hello november

i made a little movie with photos from my october :)

october 2009 from Lisa Ottosson on Vimeo.