Autumn Wreath

Last fall/winter flew by and I saw a lot of craft inspiration on the internet but didn't carve out the time to make anything! I am determined to not let that happen this year! I have been decorating for Halloween & Autumn and saw this wreath decoration on a blog called Secondhand Suaviloquy. I love her whole mantle set up, but don't have a mantle but I am trying to make my apartment seem as homey as possible!

I have an old book I bought at a garage sale for the cover design so I decided that ripping out a few pages for this project would be acceptable, even though I love books so much the thought of ripping out pages makes me feel bad! I took pictures throughout my process so I could show you all a tutorial on how to make your own book page wreath!


1. Take a deep breath and rip out a bunch of pages from a book!
2. Rolling the pages is a big difficult to describe in words, but I used two layers of pages. The bottom layer keeps the page right side up and the roll is a bit loose. I used tape to secure the rolled page. For the top layer, I turned the page on it's side and rolled it slightly diagonally until I got the shape I liked, again securing it with tape.


3. I laid out the rolled paper and saw my wreath take its shape. As you can see from the pictures, I flattened one side of the rolled pages, stacking them on each other, and used a stapler to secure the rolled paper together. I did that for both layers. I felt the top layer was a bit too long when I was laying it out, so I trimmed the ends before I stapled them all together. This created a more significant difference between the layers.


4. I needed a centerpiece to hid the ugly staples so I went to my scrap stash and dug out what Halloween paper I had. Most of what I had, had words on it and wasn't really the "look" I was going for. I found a maroon "autumn" paper and the orange does have halloween words on it but they are really small and monochromatic so you can barely tell that it's halloween paper. I used my circle punches to cut out the shapes and then crumpled up all the paper. When I flattened the paper back out it gave it a more distressed look to go with the old book pages. I secured the layers with a Making Memories brad and added the fabric ribbon flowers as an extra touch.

5. Now to put all the layers together. Unfortunately, my brad was not long enough to go through all the layers, so I got out my handy craft glue and glued the two book page layers together. I set the closest thing (apple) on top as a weight while it dried.

6. Once it dried, I glued on the flower and voila! I had a handmade wreath! To create a way to hang it, I cut a couple lengths of curling ribbon and stapled them together and taped them to the back of the wreath. I hung my wreath off a floor lamp in my living room where I can see it and I am so pleased with how it turned out!



What do you think? Link me up if you make one too!

Bueller?!

Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...

Hello readers! Zoom here coming 'atcha with a mobile post. I seems like I can make a written post via my
phone but I'm unsure how to add pictures at this point. Any hints?

It is Wednesday and I've recently completed some projects and have others in the works so Stitch encouraged me to do a work in progress Wednesday post! It would be more exciting if I had pictures... But....

In progress:
* cleaning my scrap are. And wishing I could do a swap with some else who was purging their scrap stash!
* going through my grandma's photos for her
* fall crafts
* wedding scrapbook/ guestbook

Recently completed:
* paper pumpkin garland
* paper pumpkin decorations
* tshirt quilt! (almost)

I feel like I'm forgetting things but that's what I have for now! I'll be back with pictures tonight! :)

friday feature: autumn!

well, the autumnal equinox has come and gone, and today it was an unrelenting 80 degrees in fayetteville. *sigh* maybe by this time next week it will be cool!
here to encourage the cool fall weather is a little autumn feature, combining some of my favorite fall activities with some etsy features!
i adore this red panda scarf! red pandas are some of my favorite animals, and this scarf just begs for cool fall days! check out more fun stuff at bobbin4apples etsy shop!this hot air balloon necklace sets my imagination to wanderlust (it just might be satisfied at the end of october!) it'd be fun to go on a hot air balloon ride, though sometimes i feel more partial to a dirigible... check out heartworks by lori for more lovely jewelry!

one of my favorite parts of fall is warm, tasty drinks! and little starts along day at class off better than caramel apple cider!and perhaps the biggest contributor to my desire for cold weather is all of the wonderful things i've knitted this summer, not least of which is this brand new pair of socks!i am now officially addicted to doing toe-up two-at-a-time socks (i just started a new pair)! thanks for all the help, cassy!

fingers crossed autumn shows it's head soon!

**EDIT**
any one happen to follow the efferdares blog? well, a few days ago, one of zoom's fabulous scrapbook pages was featured there! congrats sister, your work always looks so fantastic!

Friday Feature: Fair-Isle Knitting

i thought it might be fun to mix up etsy faves friday with a friday feature! so here's the first: fair-isle knitting!
first off, i adore fair-isle, the technique, the finished product, making it, buying it. i can't get enough of it. and i just finished a fair-isle hat that's a recreation of an old commercially-bought hat. so i thought it'd be fun to feature some of my favorite pieces along side it!

anyone who's talked to me about knitting recently has probably heard my schpeal about these Moulin Rouge Mittens. and how much i want to make them... it's such a brilliant design. Extreme kudos to Heather Desserud, she's got other brilliant fair-isle mitten designs on her ravelry page, you should check it out.

(ravelry link)

can you really have a fair-isle feature without showcasing a Kaffe Fassett piece? i think not! one of his most recent pieces in the new Rowan magazine is the gorgeous Lidiya Scarf (ravelry link)

my friend and co-worker at Hand Held has recently contributed to my knitting addiction by teaching me to do socks! and what else do you do when learning a new skill, but look up other fun patterns? that's how i stumbled across these Durmstrang Socks by Ann Kingstone (shown here knit by Northknitter (ravelry link).) (ravelry link)

speaking of my dear friend Cassy, she's made a lovely fair-isle hat called Zooey (ravelry link)! isn't it just gorgeous? and i'm seriously jealous her photography skills.

on wednesday i finished my most recent fair-isle piece, and my first original piece! designed after a hat zoom bought years ago, i wanted to recreate it.
So here's 'Autumn Phoenix'since i couldn't find near enough reds that i liked, i decided to go a completely different direction and pick up six skeins of various Amy Butler yarns (and you all know how much i love amy butler yarn). i could gush more, but i'll spare you the mushy details. if any body would like the pattern, i'll try to clean up my sketches and scribbles

happy friday!

end of summer wrap-up

now that summer has (almost) officially past, it seems like it's time for me to do a wrap-up of my summer goals as well.

1. finish the sweater *CHECK*
2. finish fingerless gloves.... gonna call this one a check too.
i may have given up on those specific gloves, but i did make two different pairs, and broke into socks. personally, i think that counts for a lot more than one measley pair of fingerless gloves that drove me crazy...3. sew clasps on duvet cover ~fail~
oh well, i just wasn't into domestic sewing this season. maybe when there's a pressing need for the comforter to stay inside the duvet cover...

4. learn bach's prelude to cello suite #1 ~meh...~
this one didn't work out too well either. the change in climate didn't do my cello any good (in fact, i broke a string the first time i tried to tune it up here), and honestly, i have to be really in the mood to make music...

5. pinhole camera ~nope~
also, not accomplished. with the repairs i've been having to do around my apartment, i just haven't felt like taking apart this beautiful old camera. maybe when it gets colder outside...

6. doodle-a-day *kinda...~
off and on, this project didn't really take off the way i had planned. i've drawn a lot more than i have before this summer started, but it's been a lot of sketches of things to embroider or just class-notes doodles.

7. learn/get better at embroidery *WOOT*this one, i'm really proud of. i have been so continuously inspired this summer to pick up a needle and thread and create. i never imagined i'd get so sucked into it, but now i've completed three pieces and have a few more in the works. i think one of the biggest things for this goal to me was getting up the courage and gumption to enter the Sublime Stitching Combo Contest. i am really proud of my piece, and i think it looks fabulous. i can't wait to fill up the rest of my wall with more embroidery!what a fun, busy, crazy, crafty summer... here's to fall being equally as productive in class and craft!

big hopes, big goals revisited

Well my friends, it is officially September 1 and summer is OVER! Let's revisit my beginning of summer goals, shall we?

~ Week in the Life scrapbook~~ CHECK
~ Hilton Head scrapbook (from a trip in May 2009) ~~ CHECK
~ Beer-fest mini book (from an event May 2009)~~ CHECK
* Faulty Hearts Art Journal class (by Rachel Denbow) *
* Spray ink focused class (by Vee Jennings) *
* Kelly Purkey Sketchbook Class
* a mini book to build on based on my love of Jcrew and their catalog
* Alphabet Inspiration - based on an old, old post on Jamaica's blog
~A quilt for Karen~~ Materials purchased
~A quilt from my old college tshirts for me~~ IN PROGRESS
* Jessica Sprague photo editing class
~ Take Donna Downey class locally- she's opening her studio in my town and offering classes- I'm so lucky and excited that she lives in the same town as me! ~~ I've been to the store but haven't taken a class yet

** These classes were offered in the past and I was part of them then but never finished all the project or what have you.

Not too shabby! Almost half, plus a few extra projects completed that weren't on the list! I honestly couldn't remember what was all on the list so I am pleasantly surprised at how much I did accomplish!


What did you conquer this summer?

These are a few of my favorite yarns...

Not too long ago, i got my hands on some Koigu KPPM and Amy Butler Belle Organic. and man, let me tell you blogland, these yarns are pretty freaking awesome. I highly recommend them!
now let me show you what i've done with them (well, one of them...)
I just finished a pair of Churchmouse's Koigu Turkish Bed Socks. these were a super quick knit and oh so much fun! I'm not gonna lie, blogland, i've never made socks before in my life. but after doing these, i can't wait to try my hand at more traditional socks (and make more of these!)
one of the reasons i made these socks was to wear under my new TOMS when it gets cold here in Fayetteville. (also, to review TOMS, my vote is awesome: i've worn canvas shoes for years, but these ones have really excellent soles!)i ended up modifying the pattern a bit after the first one, making the foot longer by six rows. i've been living with two different-sized feet for a while now, so it's nice to be able to adjust things accordingly! i decided to add a little embellishment and embroider an L and an R on the bottom of the corresponding sock.and then i went to the park across the street from my apartment and had myself a little photo-shoot before the sun went down!and i was joined by this pretty little guy! isn't he beautiful?the Amy Butler i'm using for a secret squirrel project (no telling, ravelers!) and to recreate a hat that zoom and i have been tossing around for years.

happy saturday, blogland!