Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! There will be some long awaited updates this week. Until then I hope that you all have a fabulous time!

Christmas Craft Day Part 3.

This was our impromptu demonstration. Dawn was showing Donna how to use embossing powder when stamping. So of course we all had a look.

First you used a clear ink pad and place the stamp on the card. You then gently sprinkle embossing powder over the wet ink.

Take away the excess powder and you should be left with an image as demonstrated by Dawn.

You then carefully heat the powder until it has a sheen to it.

Voila! One finished stamp with a metallic sheen. I have to confess I always wondered how that was done. Gives it a professional finish.

We also had some sewing lessons. I think you have already seen this one of Isabel being taught by Alison. Izzi was also up there at one point helping Donna and her sister Julie.

Zuzanna also wanted to have a go so Alison gave her a hand as she practiced on some scrap fabric.

This is what Donna and Julie have been working on. I think this is more Julie's project. Donna plans to stitch an advent calendar for baby Abigail.

Freya brought along her decoupage kit and I couldn't resist taking a photo as she worked on it.

 Here Freya is helping to show Zuzanna how to do it.

In between people were working on their own projects. Lots of knitting going on but a few non-knitting projects too. This is Caroline's set up. I was impressed with how organised she is. These are packs she set up so that on the day all she had to do was sew them together.

Izzi has also been working away the last few weeks for a friend. Her friend has a dolls house and previously she stitched a rug for her. Now she is working on a carpet. I had to take a photo because of the intricate details. Would you believe that Izzi hates cross stitch? I can't wait to see it finished.

Just one last post to go, I promise. That one will contain some finishes.

Christmas Craft Day Part 2.

Elaine once again delighted us with her baking. Once again she developed a class where she did the baking and then taught us how to decorate. This meant that no matter what the end result it would still taste good. This time it involved making Christmas tree cookies. This was her prototype but she suggested you could lather the icing on each layer or (if it was runny enough) pour it over the cookie tree to make it look like snow.

Photo of those cookies before we got our hands on them.

Elaine demonstrating layering the cookies.

What tree isn't complete without stars, tinsel and baubles.

Both Izzi and Alison decided to go with a green Christmas tree.

Margaret and Aileen went with the white.

Some finished cookie trees. I think that these ones were done by Izzi and Aileen.

Freya, Janice and Zuzanna had a go too.

Zuzanna with her finished Christmas tree cookie. I can safely say that she did a better job than I did. As talented as her mum.

The second lesson of the afternoon was the napkin folding by Alison. This was the same lesson as last year but not everyone made it along and a some of us needed a reminder.

Elaine following Alison's instructions.

Margaret's finished basket.

There were other lessons going on through out the day. Everyone is very aware of Isabel's amazing little projects. She finds a quick one and latches onto it (and has trouble giving the results away). Her little bunnies and the charity teds are just a couple of examples. When she saw Alison and Roberta's finished advent calendars she thought she would be done in a couple of hours.

However, poor Isabel was made to work.....

.....and work.....

....and it's still not done. Can you tell she's not amused? The end result will be well worth it though.

I have a couple of more posts to do and then I am done. More impromptu demonstrations, some finishes and a few photo's of projects in progress.

Christmas Craft Day Part 1

It was our annual Christmas craft day on Saturday. Only our second Christmas craft day but I think this will definitely be a yearly event. It wasn't quite as busy as our craft days have been in the past but there were still a lot of people there as you can see. Including a few members who had never been to one of these events before. As usual I will split the day up in parts as there are far too many photo's to post all at once. Even then you will have to head over to our facebook page to see the rest. 

Our first lesson of the morning was from Donna. Despite being a new mum she found the time to prepare a lesson on crocheting Christmas decorations. She made up sheets and samples of the above. The white triangle is from a pattern to crochet Christmas bunting. There is even a snowman design to go on the front of it. However, Donna recommended trying out all sorts to decorate the front such as stitching felt letters to it. Or decorating it with some cross stitch. It doesn't even have to be for Christmas.

Here Donna is helping Margaret who has decided to have a go at the Christmas stocking.

Margaret concentrating on her crochet. This is her first attempt to do something other than the granny square.

Aileen is working on the bunting. She is using some scrap yarn just to practice. She plans on making some bunting with a non-Christmas theme. Something that can be used more often.

I am afraid Elaine was so quick with her crochet I didn't manage to get a photo of her working on it. So instead here is her finished piece. She decided to do the Christmas tree. Looks very effective. It turned out slightly larger because she used double knit but this way it could make Christmas coasters.

This one belongs to me. After a few false starts and some help from Donna I finally managed to make a triangle square for the bunting. The blue yarn was something I grabbed at the last minute but I quite like the colour and might make for a nice wintry theme. Here is hoping I have the time to finish it.

 Here is Margaret's finished stocking. With a little help from Donna she managed very well. Again this is larger than the sample Donna brought because it uses double knit. Just means it can hold more sweets.

We also had a mini member along. You may remember that Aileen had a little girl last year called Olivia. She has grown a fair bit since then and is even walking with a bit of help. Isabel took some time away from her work to walk Olivia round the room. In another post you will see how poor Isabel was made to work.

The last lesson of the morning was continental knitting from Magdalena. Magda's method of knitting uses up far less yarn and less movement. It has intrigues us all since she first came along to the group 5 years ago. Elaine here is being shown how to do it. There were a few more people up for the lesson but sadly they were unable to make it along in the end.

There will be a few more posts to come. They will contain more lessons, impromptu demonstrations and some finishes.

3 in 1!

Apologies for the long wait. As I think I mentioned before I am unable to go along to the group or post as regularly as I did. Five more weeks though and all will be back to normal. For now I have three weeks worth of photo's for you. Sadly, since I wasn't there, I can't tell you quite as much about the ladies finished projects as I would like.

First up we have socks finished by Helen. This yarn is by Regia. Helen first spotted Dawn knitting with it. She liked the colours so much she went out and picked it up too (as did I). Looks fabulous knitted up. Sadly the colours look a little washed out in this photo due to the lighting. I promise you they are more vibrant than that.

Stephanie finished another of her famous dolls. She has an outfit all in black with sequence. A glam doll. This one is for Isabel who I am guessing didn't win the competition doll after all. At least she still got one.

This Polar bear was made by Freya. I'm afraid that the photo is a little out of focus. I think this was done with fimo. Either way it looks amazing. Well done Freya!

Janice has been busy preparing for Christmas. She knitted up some little Christmas stockings and some of her famous fairies.

Caroline has been back to stitching bags again. This time with a Christmas theme. Love the festive colours.

Remember those stitched advent calendars? Isabel has decided to have a go. You can see Roberta and Alison lending her a hand here.

This lovely bag was knitted then felted by Jean. Love felting and I love the flowers decorating the bag.

Janice's fairies again but now they have a friend. This is Flat Ben who is visiting from Belaire Pre-school, LA. He has been sent here to his friends gran (Isabel) so that he can see all the sights of Glasgow and have his photograph taken.

Here he is again and he is showing off Isabel's lovely tree decorations!

This beautiful dress was made by Rhona. She made it for her eldest daughters first communion. It's now been altered and passed on to Freya.

Last, but not least, we have Margaret. Here she is with a finished Hitchhiker scarf. This one knitted using regia sock yarn. We can also thank Margaret for all of these photographs and for keeping me updated. Thank you!

Tomorrow is our Christmas craft day. We will have our usual classes and lots of chat. I will be there this time so expect lots of photographs.