Sharing My Space

Well I'm back to sharing my crafting space, albeit with another crafter, but when Rachel came for her sewing lesson tonight I thought she was moving in!  She arrived with a large tote full of "stuff".  

Being up to date with her crafting garbage bags and having finished her special orders as well, (you'll love what she's made for you Martha), Rachel is now on to creating something she's been planning for a long time.  

You have to know Rachel. She has a hard time parting with anything, therefore she has many t-shirts from her earlier years that she simply loves.  Her plan is to make these into a patchwork quilt, hence she arrived with all her "stuff".  We didn't get any sewing done tonight, but we refined the plan and cut the "favourite" pieces out of the shirts.  Next step will be to stabilize the fabrics and cut them to size.  I'll let you know how it goes as the process evolves.

Linda and I were both off this past Saturday so we took the opportunity of going to the craft sale at the Sports Complex in Bracebridge.  We saw many of you there along with lots of other people.  What a busy place it was with a swim meet going on at the same time.  Lots of happy vendors with the opportunity to sell their wares. It was lovely to see what many of our customers made with the product they buy at the Craft Nook.  

We had great fun last week at the second "gifty" class.  The ladies worked really hard, but still had to go home with some homework to complete the one project.  They loved the tea light tree they made from parchment paper.  The paper was first embossed with gold powder and then cut and scored to make the "tree" cover.  Topped off with a star it was a simple hostess gift.  The strip ornament was a great hit as well when the ladies realised how quickly that could be made for the unexpected gift.  The last but definitely most intense piece was the family birthdays board and to complete it required some work to be done at home. What a great gift for a grandparent so that they can remember all the family birthdays.

You can see all these pieces at the store, in the newsletter or later this week on the Flickr site.

This week we have a full class as we make six quick Christmas cards.  There always seems to be a card that comes from someone that you missed off your list, so learning how to create a fast card takes away the stress.  Next Thursday we will be making three more ornate cards.  A little more time consuming, but these cards will be a gift in themselves.  

I mentioned last week that we are going to try and give you a short tutorial on a different craft each week. This week we will show you how to make an easy desk calendar.  It's quick and easy enough that you could make a few and put them in your "gifting stash". 

Supplies

1 piece of cardstock cut into three 4" wide strips

12 pcs patterned paper or cardstock @ 2 7/8 x 3 7/8 for month pages

 2 pcs of patterned paper for the front and back cover of the book @ 2 7/8 x 3 7/8 (if you choose to make  it book style)

12" narrow ribbon                           Various embellishments of choice

12 mats to fit your calendar             Calendar (business card size)   

 1- 12 x 12 cardstock 

Cut into three pieces 12 x 4 each

Score each strip at 3", 6", 9"

Glue one strip to the other as shown at the left to begin to form the pages

Continue in this way until all pages are made.

I didn't glue all pages together, but left an opening so that it formed a book shape.  You could choose to 

simply glue all sides to make complete star shape.

If you are making into book form, then proceed with the following

Glue ribbon onto one side of the front and back pages  and then glue covers over the ribbon.

I added a small non month related calendar to front as an embellishment.

Here you see how I embellished all the monthly pages.

Once all your pages are decorated and embellished to your liking, your calendar will look like this.

Looking down from the top, you can see where my calendar is tied at one side to hold it closed.

  

Here you see it standing on the desk in the open position.  The tie and opening are at the back.

Hope you have fun making this desk calendar.

As you're gearing up for Christmas may I suggest this to you......

One day at a time you'll be able to achieve

all your crafting goals.

For all the non paper crafters, here are a few links you may enjoy....

Some great FREE dishcloth patterns here

Or how about a quick felt pincushion or coaster here.

Perhaps by looking on Google images you could find a nice snowman pattern made from felt.  Just add a pin back (we have them at the store) and you have a cute little embellishment for your winter jacket. Or perhaps it's the felt Santa that we have on display in the store that you could make into a brooch.  So many choices....

Whatever your craft of choice.....

Until Later, Happy Crafting  

Lilian