Mr Cthulhu continued...Mr Tuxedo Cthulhu

Seems like I let myself get totally caught up in plushie making craze, with more and more ideas re who I know to make them for etc….

So finished another Mr Cthulhu one last night with barely any ideas on how he should be ‘dressed’….Settled this afternoon on a tuxedo style look. Turned out pretty well, despite the ‘gaps’ that were quite easy to fix using my trusty hot glue gun….

Mr Cthulhu - my first ever plushie!

One of the advantages of living in a residential college (this is gonna end in 2 weeks!!!) is the easy access I have to old stuff that people don’t want to/can’t use any more….in other words, more materials for me to play with!!!!

What was really awesome is my brilliant find of an old wool jumper that had been shrunk into felt. Given that a lot of DIY plushies are made from felt, I thought that I might as well give it a go….

Also I dunno if it’s some kinda trend/bandwagon, but it turns out that there are recently a lot of big fans of octopus and Cthulhu around…

I love all things cute, so was really chuffed to find this awesome pic of Cthulhu via google…

Printed him out to A4 size…turned it into a pattern…then stitched together using my lil tacker sewing machine from Lincraft and stuffed with the stuffing from a old pillow that was thrown out…the pieces (arms, body, head, wings) were then stuck together using my trusty glue gun…

After being kindly informed by my friend via facebook that he needed eyes (felt ones!!!), 2 white felt eyes and a bone bow tie where then cut out and hot glued….

 Turned out rather well for a first attempt, I think....

Seed Bead Pokemon Hair Barretts

Having realized that cross stitch and using seed bead looms is something along the lines of being the original pixel art, I decided to expand the range of designs I was willing to experiment with to include video games. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been crazy about Pokemon (especially Pikachu!!!) ever since they first came out. So it’s a no-brainer that I had to make Pokemon-themed seed-bead hair barrettes as they combine 2 of my favourite things…hair barrettes and Pokemon!

These are made using seed beads, bead loom and barrette clips courtesy of Lincraft and my trusty clear nail varnish and hot glue gun…

Cross Stitch Bananza

It turns out that I have been on something of a cross stitch haitus for many years.

This is surprising given my obsession with crafting and the fact that it was one of the first crafty things I ever learned to do.

So after my mum found a cross stitch bookmark that I had started making in primary school and then left lying around, I finally decided to finish it with the help of a google search re suitable sized designs. It does make me wonder how it would have looked had I finished it 16 years ago without the aid of the internet....

So I guess it was also a really good thing that there are now big crafty shops like Lincraft around for me to get hold of supplies...

To save money, I decided to get a tapestry threads kit and was recommended to get a size 20 tapestry needle for a 14 thread count (?).

I am very proud of myself for finally finishing this. Like with my seed bead items, I also fixed the loose threads at the back with a little clear nail varnish...

NB: the parts that I did when I was 8 is my initials, the border, the flower (snowdrop - my favourite at the time) and the bunny...I added designs of things that I remember myself liking at that time...

Adventures into using a Bead Loom

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of using a bead loom since I was eight. After seeing a bead loom for sale at my local craft supplies store (Lincraft), I finally took the plunge to take one home to play with. In terms of designing things to make, I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult since my mum had bought me cross-stitch kits since I was 7. I also thought having one could be a vital tool in fueling my passion for making jewelry since wearing cross-stitch items feels kinda ‘wrong’ to me…

So let’s see…

Attempt 1: The actual bead work turned out to be a lot easier than I expected, although there was the issue of getting the threads (warp?) to stay in place whilst setting up the loom. Slight issue in that the end threads and knots would not stay in place and kept unraveling.

Attempt 2: Attempted to fix the unraveling issue by using craft glue. It works pretty well although it looks rather lumpy and not ‘neat’.

Attempt 3: Lack of ‘neatness’ in fixing loose threads and knots finally fixed by replacing glue with clear nail varnish – inspired by a brainwave over using clear nail varnish to fix unraveling tights to prevent the holes from getting any bigger.

Attempt 4: Now experimenting with new designs. Due to limited availability of black beads, decided to use green for the background. In hindsight, maybe I should have used brown….