Christmas Runners ~ Patchwork and Applique

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Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Christmas Runners and Mats, Crafty creations, Creative craft, Creative crafting, Cute and Quirky Crafted Creations, Felt Christmas Creations, Fun with fabrics, GingerBread Runner, Hand applique and quilting, Handmade, Hessian at Christmas, Patchwork and quilting, Poinsettia Runner/Patchwork Mat, Snowman Runner, Unique

”….Just look Cute, Okay ?!” ….”I’m doing my best!!!…. whilst trying to count how many million stitches are going on around us…!”….”Yeah, Me Too!! You know, 36 hours of hand stitching, is….a LOT of cotton!!!!”…..”Hope we get out of here before Christmas??’

After weeks working with traditional red/green and cream colours for my Christmas patchwork creations, I went scurrying through my stash to see what else I could use, before….my next trip to the fabric shop ;-)?! Finding some spotty fabric and enough blue to bind, a bit of hessian thrown in too, seemed just the right combination 🙂 As most of my Christmas table mats have been aimed at adults, I thought it about time I started balancing it, with more young at heart, cute and quirky creations…What better way, than adding some felt applique 😉 Still All completely machine washable and iron able too (Just not the little beads with a hot iron)!

After first drawing some simple designs, I made myself some card templates, then drew round them onto a sheet of Bondaweb, ironed it to the correct coloured felt for each different shaped piece to create my little snowmen, then patiently cut everything out ( The holly leaves were definitely the fiddliest bit ~ but well worth the effort, non the less) Once I had all 56 pieces cut out, and  28 beads set aside, I started assembling a very simple hessian centred panel to which I could blanket stitch all the pieces to (You’ll have noticed, the colours of the snowmen are inspired by the printed spots of the cotton fabric)

….”You know what??” …”What??”… ”She spent so much time straightening us beautifully, then, decided the table cloth wasn’t straight! So straightening IT, caused us to wiggle about lol!!”…”Never mind, folding us over in the wrapper, everything is squared up again!!”…”Hey!”….”What??” ….”Look down there 😉 ……Ginger bread folk!!”

After a little super cute creation…who can stop at one??!……………SO……..

Another 42 pieces of felt, 42 beads, some hessian, spotty print fabric, wadding, backing, binding, and, a shed load of  hand stitching….et voila!!…A cute quirky Gingerbread runner too 🙂

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There were a couple of more items done in the traditional colours, not included before…Mini Runners/Large Table Centre Mats…using up the remnants of the Poinsettia and Bow fabrics

Quite a busy week all in all 😉

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Crazy Patchwork Stockings Lovingly Hand Quilted

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Artistic moment, Artsy, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Christmas Patchwork Stockings, Crazy Patchwork X-Mas Sock, Creative craft, Creative crafting, Fun with fabrics, Handmade, Modern Abstract Stockings, Patchwork, Patchwork and quilting, Quilted Cotton Christmas Stocking, Unique, With Love from Santa stockings

Okay…now we are in September, I don’t feel so guilty about showing off Christmassy things LOL 😉

Recipe:  1)Grab a large selection of Christmas cotton fabric off-cuts,  2) Sew any which way (which, slowly, but surely, WILL drive you crazy!!),  3)Trim to desired stocking shape, 4) Sandwich with cotton wadding and backing and then hand quilt, 5)Repeat for reverse of stocking (Or, as I did, reserve a little sanity by doing a plain one with cross hatched quilting, 6) Add hanging loop between front and back pieces, bind, then hand stitched to finish!

A simple, sanity saving, hand quilted plain cream cotton reverse!

If, by this stage, you don’t feel compelled to take yourself off to the local recovery centre….try it all again LOL ….Take two!!

Okay…three solid days of craziness….I’m off to book myself in…right now ;-D !!!

A Crazy woman should show off her skills…right?? Some, Pretty Crazy Patchwork Creations…

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Artist Crafter and Designer, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Christmas patchwork, Crazy Patchwork Creations, Creative craft, Creative crafting, Fun with fabrics, Handmade, Lovingly Handmade and Quilted Fabric Table sets, Patchwork, Patchwork Place Mats and Coasters, Red Green cotton patchwork, Unique

 

Part Two of a little catch up………………………………………………………………………………. As any Patch Worker knows ~ Scraps Grow…unbelievably so!! Before you know it, you are swamped ….AND, can you throw them away???OMGoodness, NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!                         Here I have a beautiful selection of some of my finest bits turned into useful little items for the table;-) Lovingly handmade fabric coasters and place mat sets at give away prices, ideal for little gifts

Perfectly purple!

Snapped up without a second thought!

Going green is the future…apparently……!                                                                                               To create from scratch would cost a fortune in buying such a selection of fabrics! LOTS of Time and effort to work out these creations ~ but much fun too!

A super set of six…..We all know what these colours represent…..right?! OK, on a whim, I delved into my Christmas fabric selection 😉 Should be a definate NO, NO at this time of the year, I know, BUT, What better time to start, as a lonesome crafter with a little on line shop, to stock up on Christmas creations?? ~ LOL…The height of Summer in the UK! This obviously leads on to more creative X-Mas wonders now, especially if you know me of old,  SO, for catch up post no.3……Cracking on with Christmas Creations….! Watch this space………… ;-D

Sorry To Bore you All with my Busy Week…BUT, I Wish I was Here!!!

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic, Artistic moment, Arty, Button faced bags, Buttons, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Crafty creations, Creative craft, Creative crafting, Fun with fabrics, Handmade, Origami Fabric folded Tote, Original, Original art, Patchwork, Peg bags, Peg Dolls, Style, Totes/Bags, Unique

Continuing my quest to make ever more, even quirkier, unique Peg Bags….My week started here! After considering where I would most like to take my washing in order to get it dry ~ having no electric dryer (living in the dark ages and all that) I considered it would be very cool to set off in my orange short set and matching hat to a remote, very deserted desert Island to watch my whites waft in the wind!! Hand drawn , cut and appliqued novelty Peg Bag ~ check out my Etsy Shop for more quirky items and gift ideas!

On a little roll of creativity, I got, interjected with…an urgent request from a lovely lady in the UK…..Could I make her…..An Origami folded fabric tote in the ‘little owl’ fabric, the same as I had made my little 8 pocket pouches???? But, Of Course!! I even gave her the option of a bespoke lining colour and wadding effect!! No sooner had I had her reply, I was racing off to the fabric store ~ before it closed to buy the requested colour – Duck Egg Blue!!

Received request…Sourced Fabric…Produced the next day….Listed for sale…and sold!…all within two days ~ shipped… and my lovely lady received it the day after ~ what a turn around in under 96 hours!!! My lady was so please I received this little note…….

I absolutely love my new tote and pouch 😊
Thank you it’s very well made and is already in use
It is definitely a talking point
I will remember you in the future for more purchases and recommend you to friends and family
Kind regards…

A wonderful result to make a creative crafter very happy!!!

Whilst on my jolly jaunt to source the Duck Egg Blue, I succumbed to purchase a little ‘Scottie’ Print cotton fabric as well ~ couldn’t resist! SO…

And then…..

Another ‘plumped’ up version…using some more of the Duck Egg Blue cotton fabric for the lining………….

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/280529334/tote-and-mini-cosmetic-pouch-duo-set?ref=shop_home_active_26

If you want a conversation starter…this is a good starter!!

Moving swiftly through the rest of my week…………

I had enough ‘Owl’ fabric left to then combined it with a rich burgundy cotton for the lining for another unique tote creation….check it out……….

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/281068022/owl-fabric-tote-free-shipping-super-cute?ref=shop_home_feat_2

back to where I was eventually in the week….Peg Bags ( with included Peg Doll creations for a lovely unique feature)

…Do you know how difficult it is to fashion Peg Dolls with full length Culottes ??? LOL ~ wish my garden was that tidy btw!!!

 

Another little cutie ~ I hope the little fluffy at the back can keep up!!!?!!!

A change of direction from the previous week’s makes…. having some ‘owl’ fabric left over from the commission and a selection of 8 inch squares hanging around for no apparent reason ~ I combined the two ~ into a simply colourful duo Place Mat Set…

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/294711137/little-owls-patchwork-place-mats-skewed?ref=shop_home_feat_1

…on a ‘skewed’ roll again, rounded my week off 😉

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https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/294299903/set-of-six-coastermug-rugs-pink-and?ref=shop_home_active_3

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https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/280537690/coaster-matsmug-rugs-skewed-squares?ref=shop_home_active_14

Ok!!! I reckon tomorrow is a sewing day off after that week of creativeness 😉 perhaps a little weeding is in order ;-/ ???

‘Poppy duo and Pincushion trio’ – Original 14” x 11” Oil Painting

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Crafty creation, Creative craft, Garden flowers, My garden flowers, Nature, Original art, Original Poppy oil painting, Painting from a photograph, Painting in oils, Photography, Poppies and pincushions, Poppy duo and Pincushion trio, Red poppy art, Still life

‘Poppy duo and pincushion trio’  an Original 14” x 11” Oil painting on canvas panel    
Having spent the last couple of days, moving from room to room around the house in order to ”get straight and tidy’ for the family invasion next week – I finally abandoned my mop and bucket and grabbed my paintbrushes for a rest! This little oil painting has been done with the attempt to soften the background almost as if it’s out of focus allowing the main poppies in the foreground to take their place centre stage. I wanted to try and see if I could imitate, somehow, what photographers do by fading out the background and focusing on the main image. To try and do this I have merely blended blobs of colour without any firm shapes graduating the shades back to give a hopefully somewhat diffused perspective and depth to the foliage. Overall it passed a quiet Saturday afternoon, and, I’m happy with the final look and feel of the little still life scene! I must say, my conservatory window ledge is starting to look very colourful as, the now five canvas boards, are lined up to dry  🙂

A Penchant for Poppies!  – Original 14” x 11” Oil Painting

A bored moment filler!

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Art, Art Creation, Artist and crafter, Artistic imagination, Artistic moment, Arty, Bored moment, Crafty, Creative, Creative craft, Different, Experimental art, Failure or success?, Inks, Mosaic effect collage, Original, Perpetual art, Watercolour paper

face from ripped up painting bits or ‘perpetual art’ as my daughter remarked!

Over the holidays I found myself alone one day and thought I might experiment more with the Inktense pencils. Firstly I sketched out some small, (4” x 3”ish) doodles of imaginary countryside scenes with an ink pen, I decided not to ink over the originals, so I scanned them and scaled them up to A4 and printed them off on watercolour paper to play around. All good for quick experimentation though as I had scaled up so had the width of the lines on the drawings, some were now almost a quarter inch wide, not to be put off I carried on playing with the ink pencils just to get a feel of what they were like for blending and bleeding together. after an hour of so I had four wet soggy landscape scenes, so mainly green, blue and a little brown from trees and stone walls. As I sat with a cup of tea watching the contorting and curling failed experiments, I decided there must be something I could do with them – really I think I was just trying to pass more time until my family returned – having finished my brew time I grabbed my hair dryer and gave them a quick blast. A little more dry and curly than before I started ripping them into little bits. By the time my family returned from their day out I was sat sorting small pieces of coloured papers into piles, armed with my PVA glue, a brush and the cardboard back of the watercolour pad raring to go again. A couple more hours resulted in the piece you see above formed from bits of sky, lush green meadows and trees! – I have no idea who it is meant to be it just happened!

Definitely not my best work, but never wanting to throw anything away, the mosaic effect collage is different and I liked my daughter’s description of it having become a piece of perpetual art! It did also fill a bored moment…or two…..even three or four 🙂

Bleach painting – Mysteries of the forest – Eyes are watching YOU! (No.3)

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Bleach painting original, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Creative Art, Creative craft, Creative imagination, Experimental art, Eyes of the forest, Forest art scene, Gnome, Imaginative art, Lady of the night, light and shade, Original, Original art, Painting with bleach, Smoke trails, Something different, Toadstools, Tree art, Weird and wacky art, Wondrous art

Painting with bleach – Available on My Etsy Shop CARENSCANVASANDCRAFT for a limited time!

Having now got into the swing of the New year I feel the creations queue growing inside me and its definitely time to get on and let them out. Having completed the first A3  sized bleach painting of a forest for Ronnie I carried on and did another for my Etsy shop. Although they are all of a similar scene (from my imagination) each one is also unique and original, it would be impossible whilst using bleach and water to replicate an exact copy and so they are more of a series by that respect.

Painting with bleach is quite exciting and very experimental as you have to wait for it to dry out before knowing the result and whether or not it needs reworking and so the process goes on, painting in reverse, ‘removing’ the picture onto the paper, until I am happy with the effect.

Bleach on this particular black card has produced a green tinged effect to the scene (which hasn’t been picked up very well by my poor photographic efforts with my little Fujifilm camera) which I must admit I quite like now. It turns out to be less harsh and somehow more mysterious than a stark white on black!

 

More bleach paintings coming soon :-)!

”Doorstop Dumpy” Elephant in a flat cap

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3D art, Caren's canvas and craft, Character 'Doorstop Dumpy', Character creation, Craft creation, Creative craft, Definitely different, Designer doorstop, Doorstop Dumpies, Doorstop Dumpy, Doorstop Dumpy Elephant, Elephant doorstop, Fabric doorstop elephant, Original, Original ideas, Patterned elephant doorstop, Stylish designer doorstop, Tartan elephant doorstop, Unique, Unique hand crafted items

”Doorstop Dumpy”
elephant

After coming across some super soft flannel cottons in my local fabric shop I couldn’t resist buying just a little. In fact just about enough to make one of my handmade”Doorstop Dumpies” fortunately I had bought a little of the coordinating red flannel too which was perfect for highlighting the ‘ears’ and ‘feet’ . I set about cutting the pieces from the pattern I had designed and created for this particular ”Doorstop Dumpy” character.  As ever when working with pattern material and all the twists and turns of the character shape pattern pieces I try my best to get everything lined up as near as possible and I think this little chap has turned out just fine. For a little quirkiness I made him a flat cap topped off with an old button and found just the right colour of satin ribbon to give him a little bow tie too. Finished off with some recycled buttons for eyes, he is weighted and ready to go to my upcoming craft fair as another unique hand-crafted creation

Super soft and stylish he’s ready to hold back any door – while sitting smartly on the floor!

”Doorstop Dumpy” — An Elephant

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Canvas and craft, Character 'Doorstop Dumpy', Crazy doorstop, Creative craft, Creative doorstops, Cute, Doorstop Dumpies, Doorstop Dumpy, Elephant doorstop, Flowery fabric elephant, Lace trim and beads, Poem, Poetry, Unique doorstop, Wild imagination

After having ‘An elephant’ visit my site and leave a message for me I was inspired to make another creation in my ”Doorstop Dumpies” range. Taking some vibrant flowery fabric and coordinating  plain pink cotton I set about designing a pattern for my idea. See below for the end result, I have first a small poem in the style of,     ‘An Elephant’ (just not quite as good as his!) 

 ELEPHANT ”DOORSTOP DUMPY”!

‘An Elephant’ spotted a lack of his kind on my site

So, I introduce a hefty creative ”Doorstop Dumpy”

It is the largest doorstop I have in size

I do hope An Elephant has a nice surprise

She’s certainly cute and not at all grumpy

A narrow trunk and huge wafting ears

She can sit and hold back almost any door

With lace and beads adorning her head

Very pretty she looks –It must be said!

Quite a character to have on your floor!!

”Doorstop Dumpy” Elephant

”Doorstop Dumpy” Elephant

”Doorstop Dumpy” Elephant

Bags – Handmade Patchwork and Embroidered – Shopping Bag

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Button flowers, Button ideas, Colourful patchwork bag, Contrasting colours in patchwork, Coordinating colour in patchwork, Cotton patchwork callenge, Creative craft, Creative patchwork, Embroidery, Functional patchwork bag, Handmade patchwork bags, Patchwork desgn ideas, Patchwork Shopping Bag, Recycling Old Buttons, Stylish handmade patchwork

‘Handmade patchwork shopping bag’

Setting myself a challenge, I went shopping for fabric, on a cheer myself up day.  Above are the seven cotton decisions I made (NOT counting the plain cream, which I already had) Careful consideration was put into them all being compatible, but also contrasting. Choosing the colours was only part of the challenge to myself. I wanted to see just how far, and how many functional/decorative items I could make with just half a metre of each fabric. (So far I have made two shopping bags, both different in size and design and two cushion covers both different again of course! But carrying on the button flower theme with them all.) They will be posted another time. There are still some fabric scraps left  which I am sure will reappear again, to be used in future projects!!

The flower button, patchwork and quilted shopping bag above was the first I completed from my set of seven fabrics challenge. After piecing it all together, I embroidered a border in stem stitch all across the centre panel and then hand sewed old buttons to make it look like a colourful flower border. As I had made the bag in one continuous width, there is only one side seam. Inside I gave the bag a multi pocket, including one with zip and added a magnetic clasp to a small over flap to secure, and finally long straps, either to wear diagonally or on the shoulder. Patchwork made stylish, colourful, fun, functional and unique.