”Merlin’s magic musings” – An Original Oil Painting on 14” x 11” canvas panel –

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Crafty creation, Merlin's Magic Musings Oil painting, My garden statue, Oils on canvas Origina, Original art, Original oil painting, Painting from photographs, Still Life Original Art, Unique creations

”Merlin’s magic musings”
– An Original Oil Painting on 14” x 11” canvas panel – Painted from a photograph of my garden statue!
Somehow, within this week, I managed to clean just about every inch of our house and wash anything which wasn’t too big to fit in the washer…in readiness for our family get together planned for tomorrow….as well as…starting and finishing this little oil painting ( I think I did sleep at some point ..??!) 😉 But, feel completely satisfied that both house and picture both got finished in time!!! 😀
Merlin can now sit along with the other drying oil canvasses on my window ledge before finding him a slot too in my Etsy shop 🙂

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Lovingly Handmade Novelty Tote Bag Creations!

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Appliquéd duck design tote bag, Applique, Artist, Artist and crafter, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Cotton patchwork bags, Crafty creations, Creative crafty designs, Cute original creations, Dallying ducks day out tote, Designer patchwork bags, Fun imaginative craft creations, Fun quirky creations, Fun with fabric, Handmade and designed items, Handmade tote bags, Imaginative unique designs, Original, Patchwork landscape scene, Quilted by hand, Quirky, Unique, Unique creations, Unique tote designs

…why not?? If they are popular as framed collages…again, why not make them a mobile piece of art too!? Fun, eye catching, colourful creations, bound to bring attention and definitely a talking point…..and, as always, uniquely one of a kind! Taking patchwork to another level of quirkiness 🙂

New Tote designs for 2015!! Quirky, ever so cute and designed to bring a bit of fun to every day 🙂 whether a crafter, a cleric or a chorister if you’ve no inhibitions, this could be for you! Unique and never to be repeated…I just love to recreate my original ideas into a new context! Practical, pretty, and, in this case, pink! A rich, raspberry coloured cotton fabric lovingly hand crafted into a useful tote bag…imagination has no bounds!!! ;-D

A useful multi-pocket inside with the benefit of a zip fastener to secure valuable items

A colour coordinated internal multi-pocket

A simple, but effective hand quilted diamond pattern over the entirety of the raspberry coloured fabric and to finish off, a magnetic clasp topped with a chunky black button!

In these hard times….mine, is to add a little fun to the world!

Happy Easter to each and ALL! 🙂

‘Flying Goosey’ Quilt Number 2 – proving a point to myself…that I’m not getting slow in my old age (Not that old really) !!!

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Applique, Applique hearts, Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic, Artistic moments, Arty, Bed topper, Black red cream patchwork, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Cotton fabrics, Cotton wadding for a traditional feel, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Creative patchwork and applique, Elegantly designed patchwork quilts, Fun creations, Fun with fabric, Hand quilting, Lap quil, Lovingly handmade patchwork and crafts, Modern patchwork, Original, Original art, Patchwork, Patchwork and applique, Patchwork and quilting, Patchwork quilts, Patchwork throw, Printed cotton materials, Quality handmade items, Quirky, Something from nothing, Stylish quilt, Stylish quilt designs, Traditional quilts with new design, Unique, Unique creations, Warm and cosy quilts

In well under two weeks I have a result! From the humble beginnings of four cotton fabrics which I selected – to a finished little beauty! Lovingly hand crafted and hand quilted with ever so many stitches it could never, ever, EVER fall apart 🙂

My newest creation! Flying Geese and appliquéd hearts lap quilt number 2 actually finished yesterday, but my camera broke down – and here’s me thinking it’s the quilt design that is jinxed !!!  Maybe it’s just me…..!

My four chosen cotton print fabrics….after lots of hunting through mountains of materials at the fabric shop I eventually chose these four to go together. Tasteful, Simple, Rich, Stylish and Elegant! As soon as I had them in my arms all together, I could already see how the new quilt would look in my mind’s eye! The only thing delaying me from starting, was some good old fashioned hand washing of the fabrics to rid them of any excess dyes! No sooner dry and ironed…..let chopping, piecing and quilting begin 😉

I always think it is a good idea to make another ‘Goosey” quilt until I reach 5/31 geese border strips…then I sigh my way through the next 26….knowing, it WILL be worth all the effort – at the same time trying not to think of all the hand quilting to come ;-/ !!!!

A little hand sewn label, to let generations hence, (should it EVER become an Heirloom piece 😉 ) know who and where it was made! A little touch I probably should have already been adding to my lovingly hand-crafted quilts…better late than never though ! As a seller on Etsy I have become aware of just how many vintage quilts there are, and, it’s important to new makers like myself, and a must, to let people/buyers know that they are NEWLY made rather than vintage…..though, I hope and feel my own designs show a contemporary style anyway! As much as I love patch working I do feel sometimes people just add too much (colour/mix of fabric designs/ confusion etc,etc (this is my opinion only-others may feel differently and we should all have our say, I think), I do like some structure to what I design and make, though others may too have other tastes, which is of course absolutely fine too! Whilst I realise in the olden days, Patchwork items were made out of what was available and maybe in short supply, it is now a luxury to go and buy new fabrics to create such items today. Though it is my belief that by buying only small quantities of each fabric I am still forcing myself to create something out of very little – even if it is all new material!

I look out proudly at my latest achievement as it gently blows in the wind after its final wash before going off to my Etsy shop! I do hope it can eventually make someone happy…..and of course warm and cosy! 🙂 I certainly sewed many, many hours during its creation (on average, I reckon I work for 2 pence per hour including material costs!!!!! Minimum wage would make it only available to the Billionaires of the world – I’m not sure they shop on Etsy?!?) and incorporated lots of sweet dreams into it too! – they are include free of course!!!  😉

Little owls patchwork lap quilt – Handmade and hand quilted for my mum’s birthday

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Art, Artistic moment, Arty, Birthday surprise, Caren's canvas and craft, Colourful cotton fabrics, Colourful patchwork lap quilt, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Day quilt, Fun gift ideas, Hand quilted creations, Hand quilted patchwork quilt, Handmade colourful patchwork throw, Handmade patchwork owl quilt, Little owls, My Etsy Shop, Nap quilt, Original, Original creative crafting, Patchwork owl throw, Patchwork owls, Patchwork quilt, Unique, Unique creations

Little owls lap quilt

After scratching my head over what to get my mum for her birthday, I decided I would make her a little day quilt for those afternoon naps she has in her chair, she says she only has then due to boredom – nothing to do with her age of course!

If only, I had thought to do it sooner though, with just over a week until her birthday, I really didn’t know if I would finish it in time???   So, decision made, I set off like the clappers. rummaging for a suitable centre for my simple patchwork squares. Aha! then I remembered, the half yard of little owl fabric! Hmmmmm!…now, where did I put it though…..? I looked at my stack of fabric boxes which are sorted by colour….but the little owls had many colours, so….which colour did I file them under??? (Mental note!- Get another box for things like this!!!) Again, I looked at the boxes stacked two deep floor to ceiling…and sighed…as I started  pulling them down one by one for the search of the little folded piece of fabric! After much box rifling, and rebuilding the stack behind me, I eventually found it….in the purple box!-third to last!! -Aaaargh!!! Now, I had to re-stack them all back again in their rightful place – but, not before collecting coordinating fabrics for the rest of the quilt.

As ever, no pattern involved,  just a matter of a ‘go for it’ approach, which I seem to have with all the quilts I have made so far. After cutting the little owl squares, I got the matching material which coordinated with the different colours on the owls and set about slicing and dicing, then, systematically built the tiny owl squares into larger ones, after connecting the pink border strips, it was ready for hand quilting. The last thing to do was to add the polka dot turquoise binding. “Et voilà !” Finished a day before I needed to be as well! I was pretty please with my eight days work – another unique crafty creation!

And, Yay! My mum loved her surprise Birthday present – I have been informed it has had a nap test too! 🙂

Springtime inspired Handmade patchwork and quilted button flower tote/bag

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Art, Artistic moment, Arty, Button flower border bag, Buttons, Caren's canvas and craft, Colourful springtime tote, Cotton fabrics, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Designer tote, Fabric handmade bag, Handmade and designed patchwork bag, Handmade creations, Multi-pocket feature design, My Etsy Shop, One off designs, Original, Original craftwork, Patchwork quilted tote, Quality hand-crafted items, Springtime, Springtime inspired, Unique creations, Unique ideas

Springtime patchwork bag design available on my Etsy shop for a limited time!

One burst of sunshine was all it took! I was inspired to create something which just shouted Springtime! and here it is.

Based on a similar theme from one of my designs (the last one was Autumn/Harvest colour themed with rich warm colours!) this goes to a new level of fresh, bold and vibrant = Spring!!! Well it does in my book anyway 🙂

The colours I chose for this new little tote, you may have guessed, are based around Springtime bright blue skies, fresh tender foliage, colourful crocuses and delicate cowslips (Primula flowers) in grassy meadows. The fabric Used for the straps/handles just had it all,it was up to me to source the other fabrics to coordinate.

I had a wonderful time rummaging around my favourite fabric shop, making my mum dizzy, as I flitted from stacks of fabric to mountains of material. Eventually, armed with just what I wanted, as I could already see the finished piece in my head, I had small amounts of each one cut by the shop assistant.

Much sorting, measuring , cutting and assembling resulted in two little patchwork panels, both with a plain cream border in the centre. perfect for adding one of my button flower borders. Into my buttons I dove, routing around until I came up with the perfect combination of little buttons. After stem stitching a grass line I added the stems and then buttons., now to hand quilt over the entire two panels. As ever I like to add a little extra to my creative pieces, this one got a coordinating button flower border on the front of the internal multi-pocket too. Things should be just as special on the inside as on the out! Even though most won’t know its there, the new owner will! 🙂

After a final frenzy of assembling the straps and the magnetic clasp flap were all put in place, it really did turn out like I had imagined – Springtime!

Enjoy the rest of the images 🙂

Back of springtime bag design

Springtime bag inside multi-pocket

Inside multipocket springtime bag

 

 

”Doorstop Dumpy” – Pink checked pig – ”Doorstop Dumpies”

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Buttons, Caren's creative canvas and craft, Creative craft ideas, Designer doorstop dumpies, Doorstop Dumpies, Fun with fabrics, Handmade fabric doorstops, Original, Original art and craft, Pig 'Doorstop Dumpy', Pink checked pig doorstop, Pink fabric pig 'Dumpy', Ribbon trim, Unique creations, Unique doorstop, Zips

One of my own creations ”DOORSTOP DUMPY” PIG

This is one well fed looking character ”Doorstop Dumpy”

For those who may not have seen MY ”Doorstop Dumpies” before, this is one of the new ones, (Others I have previously made, can be found in the Doorstop Dumpy section of my about page – OR you can commission your own to fit in with your own decor – I am always up for a challenge feel free to contact me if you want a unique not yet made idea put into creation)

I created and designed and hand make from my own patterns a unique range of doorstops that I have called ”Dumpies” They are quite substantial and once the weighting element has been put inside by their new owner, they certainly do the job they have been designed for!

For reasons about shipping ie cost for weight and custom restrictions on sand/soils/grit (which can be viewed on my Etsy site under the ”Doorstop Dumpies”) you will see I have made them with a zip underneath the base for easy to fill access into a pre-inserted zipped bag.

So, if you are getting excited about the warm weather – that’s just around the corner!!! (let’s hope) Then, you might just be needing a character ”Doorstop Dumpy” to hold open your doors to let in the warm refreshing breezes, that is if you can ever stop cuddling it and put it down on the floor to do its job! 🙂

Perfect pink pig pose No.1

Perfect pink pig pose No.2

Perfect pink pig pose No.3

Perfect pink pig pose No. 4.

 

Framed fabric art Collage – Sheep knitting

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Applique, Art, Art and craft, Art collage with fabric, Artistic moment, Arty, Caren's creative canvas and craft, Cotton fabrics, Craft, Crafted by hand, Crafty creation, Creative crafting, Cute crazy ideas, Dyed fleece, Embroidery threads, Fabric pictures, Framed fabric art picture, Green, Green environment, Green pattern fabric, Green sheep, Handmade designed ideas, Handmade original ideas, Handmade pictures, heep in the countryside, Imagination, Knitting on toothpicks, New, New craft ideas, Origiinal ideas, Original, Patchwork, Quirky designs, s, Scrap craft ideas, Sheep dip, Sheep in the countryside, Sheep knitting picture, Toothpicks, Unique creations, Weird and wonderful art

Sheep knitting
Framed fabric art collage

This little picture has been made from a selection of different fabrics to create a cute quirky scene. whilst I have machine stitched the background fabrics together, all the little applique pieces after that have been hand drawn, cut then stitched in place. The sheep sitting on the fence is one of my own drawings and though I may do a similar scene no two are ever completely alike, making them a unique piece of art!

If its been made by me at Caren’s creative canvas and craft there is only ever one like it in existence. If you find there isn’t something you want on my Etsy shop, please feel to contact me about a new creation idea! Items seem to ”fly off the shelves” sometimes before I even get to show what I have made, as in this case, which I don’t mind at all, but if you feel you might have missed out on something, a request can always see another unique similar creation happen!!

For fun I knitted some embroidery thread on two tooth picks to give the impression that the sheep is knitting from the wool of the smaller green sheep in the dye dip tub. For the effects of fencing I used small strips cut from a tapestry backing and stitched them in place too. Some simple embroidered grasses and flowers to decorate the foreground, with the final finishing touch of placing it on a felt backing and bordering it with cream cotton and then quilting the sky fabric to create texture on the plain fabric!

Photographed again without glass for added detail without reflections then safely mounted and glass replaced.

Now back to that ever growing pile of fabric……