March 9, 2012
by wink
18 lovely comments

my scrappy book of awesomeness

Hello everyone!

I have this yellow vintage suitcase in my living room that I use to store and display all my magazines.

Now I only ever buy/read two magazines: Mollie Makes, which I get delivered from the UK, and Flow, which is a Dutch magazine quite similar to Mollie Makes; it’s super crafty and all about things like mindfulness and taking time to do what you like. It often comes with ‘freebies’ such as little notebooks, coloring pages, window stickers and what not. It’s really awesome; if it was in English I’d totally recommend it to you!

Anyway, I’ve been reading these mags for a while now, and the pile is really starting to build up in my suitcase.

Now combine that fact with these two links that I found the other day (via Pinterest I believe, I can’t remember):

I was SO inspired after seeing all those wonderfully creatively made journals! I really want to take this course, but my birthday isn’t till May, and I can’t wait that long ;)

So here’s what I did. I went through the ENTIRE stack of magazines, and cut out everything that I like, so; images, headlines, words, entire pages, stickers etc; just anything that inspired me and I wanted to keep for later. I ended up with a pretty big stack of papers; happy wink! :)

Next I took a big folder that used to be for my mortgage papers (I keep those somewhere else now) that I had lying around, and also gathered some different sorts of fabric from my stash, buttons, ribbons, zippers, lace – all things I already had in my stash.
I measured the folder and made a paper version of a cover, to see if I had gotten the measurements right. I did, so I cut the same shape out of very sturdy, pink fabric. And then… I just let my mind go wild! What followed was a 3-day insanely creative process of picking out images and embellishing them with buttons & ribbons, and sewing everything together on the fabric to create the most awesome scrappy book EVUR!



Ladies I present to thee: my scrappy book of awesomeness! :) This will be my go-to place for inspiration, a place for me to wind down after a long day, a place to be myself and be surrounded by things that I love.


A collage of all the images I used on the cover, embellished with buttons, ribbons, felt and lace. All sewn on my machine with different stitches & colors.

Inspirational quote on the spine.

Stickers on the inside of the spine.

Great image on the inside to conceal the fabric flaps. The ribbon is a bookmark that I won in a giveaway; it fits perfectly in my scrappy book!

On the inside is a pouch where I can store papers.

I used the leftover ribbons to make one big ribbon; I sewed it to the back and can now be used to tie the book. The one with the houses on it came with an issue of Mollie Makes.

The entire inside of the book.

The outside.

Because this was such a creative process I didn’t take pictures of the process. However, I am thinking about making a small version of this book, like a scrappy cover for a Moleskin notebook. Would you like to see a tutorial on that? Let me know in the comments! :)

I had the best time ever making this. I am currently filling it with scraps of paper sewn together. On some of them I put some lined paper so they double as journal papers. Because sometimes you just have to write about stuff :)

The thing I like best about my scrappy journal is that it’s 100% recycled! I made it with things I already had, I didn’t buy a single item for this. I think if we all look around our crafty spaces we can find incredibly inspiring things, just waiting for us to do something with them! :)

Well I’m off to go pack for tomorrow; I have a fair to attend to! :) My little sister is going to Africa this summer to help out orphans whose parents have died or are suffering from AIDS, and the church is having a fair to raise money for the trip. How awesome is that!

xo,
wink

March 4, 2012
by wink
13 lovely comments

fat bottom bags pt. 2

Hi everyone!

I got the flu last week, a serious case of the flu I might add – it has been a long time since I have felt *that* ill! It took me well over a week to get over it…

But I am all better now, healthy as can be, and I’ve got something to show you! :)

Let’s start with some in progress-pictures that I took with my iPhone and posted on Instagram…



I gotta tell you, the bag really looked finished to me as soon as I sewed on those little puffy flowers! This bag was totally fun to make, even though it starts out as a giant granny. Once you crochet the edges and it starts to look like a proper fat bottom bag, you’re hooked!

So without further ado, I present to thee; my first real FBB!

Pretty enough to be in a fashion magazine, right? ;)

The Stats
Yarn used: acrylic yarn from my LYS
Amount of yarn used: 2 skeins of grey, and about 1/4 to 1/2 a skein for each color ( I used 5 different shades of pink)
Rounds worked: 30 granny rounds, plus 10 rounds of sc’s for the edges
Handles used: leather handles embellished with wooden beads, bought at a craft fair
Time spent: about a full day crocheting the entire thing + flowers ( I spread it across 3 days; 1 for the base, 1 for the edges and 1 for the flowers)Finished size: 40 cms wide, 30 cms high; 75 cms high including handles
Pattern used for the bag: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/29-210-44-striped-bag
Pattern used for the flowers: http://gipsybazar.blogspot.com/2011/08/puffy-daisy-and-free-tutorial.html
Happiness: over the moon! 

I love this bag! I think I’ll make another one just for me, using my fancy Noro yarn (as soon as I find 3 more skeins in the same colorway) and embellish it with lots of scraps of lace, buttons etc – it will be bohemian chic!

If you’re interested in owning this bag, please email me: winkieflash [at] gmail [dot] com. The bag is fully lined.

So as mentioned earlier, I was ill last week, and what’s a person to do when you’ve seen every movie and series out there, and you just finished an awesome crochet piece?
Right.
I taught myself how to knit! :)


What this is? Well, my first knitted pair of wristwarmers!

I have to say, I really dig knitting! It was never for me; it was too slow, too complicated when dropping stitches, and generally just uncool.
Well, I really came back from all that; knitting is heaven! :D And once you get into the rhythm of it,  it really goes quite fast. Knitting still holds lots of secrets for me, but I intend to just keep going and learn all about them. I love knitting :)

xo,
wink

February 22, 2012
by wink
11 lovely comments

family crochet

In my last blogpost I promised you I’d show you a crochet rockstar.

Ladies (and gentlemen), I present to thee; my mom! :)

I knew she was super creative (it’s all in the genes, right?) but I had no idea she was *that* good with a hook and some yarn. Since I started to crochet about two years ago, she picked up her long lost skills again. But unlike me, she didn’t need an adjustment period. She just went *BAM* and started making these amazing garments, from scratch, without a pattern or anything! True rockstar quality people.

Let me ease you into what she makes, starting with a simple shawl. She made this using very cool yarn with lots of colors, giving it a playful and light look.

Pretty groovy, right? :)

And ofcourse, she also made a poncho. We’ve all made that poncho, ammiright? ;) She used lots of different kinds of yarn for this one, using her favorite colors: blue and white.

I really like the tassels she made!

Okay, on to the more serious stuff. My mom used to make clothes for me and my siblings when we were little, so she has a lot of experience with making garments. And that shows in her crochet work!

This bolero was one of the first things she made when she started doing crochet again.

Simple yet stunning. I love this bolero :) (oh and by the way, my mom just got back from two weeks in the Caribbean, so she’s very tanned. It really shows when she’s wearing white!)

Next  up is a shirt, made using granny stripes combined with that cool yarn from the shawl in a different color (blue, ofcourse!). I think she made this with a 2 or 3mm needle.

It’s awesome, right? :)

And last but certainly not least, this vest. She used a different color from the white frilly yarn she used in the bolero, and a tan, slightly glittery cotton for the body.

I love the stitch she used on the body!

Well, there you have it. I have a creative mom! Because crochet is not all she does; she also happens to be an exceptional painter…

Creativity runs in my family; I have lots of creative aunts, uncles and cousins. I plan to write more posts about this topic, showing off their talents! ;)

Do you have amazingly creative family members?

xo,
wink