Washi Tape Wooden Jewellery - a Tutorial

 Okay - first of all, the hexagon and cloud came from Spotlight - however, you can google Kasiercraft Wooden Flourishes and purchase them online in your own country - washi tape can be found by the truckload on etsy.com - have a good look around as there is such a wonderful selection.

Secondly, hole drilling - Jonno drilled mine for me but said that you could get a hand drill inexpensively from a hardware store. Good advice methinks.

So, drill your holes first - I am joining this hexagon up with two others so I have three holes in this one.

Grab your first roll of washi tape and apply a strip to your shape.

 Cut to fit so that there is about 1-2mm overlap.

 Fold around the edge making sure that it doesn't jut over the other side.

 Line up your next washi tape pattern so that it sits snugly next to the first. Repeat as with the first piece of tape.

 Continue with different patterns until the shape is covered.

 Then using a pin, gently prick the tape covering the hole until you can smooth the washi tape back to the edges of the hole.

 Et voila!

 The cloud shape is a little different. Cut enough tape so that the front and back can be covered with the same strip.

 Bring it around to the back.

 And snip once both sides are covered.

 Trim the excess tape until there is 1-2mm left, following the shape of your cloud. Snip into the v so that it folds neatly around the curves.

 At the point where the straight edge and curved edge meet, cut the tape so that first one side can be tucked under and then the other side over.

 Like that! 

 Paint with Mod Podge (or similar) to seal the washi tape and then allow to dry.

 Paint the edges carefully with acrylic paint. I like doing this after I have sealed the washi tape as then any splodges or streaks wipe off easily.

 Attach your jewellery findings and thread and start posing for photos.

Here are my three hexagons all joined up together. Note where the holes are drilled if you are after a similar effect.

I hope this tutorial made sense, please leave any questions in the comments below and I will answer them in the same section.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

What we have been making...

I finished my scarf yesterday while the rain pelted down and the children played play dough with their cousins for 2 hours (!!!!!).

They set up a shop where they sold the cupcakes (with warnings attached not to eat - v.v.v. salty) in exchange for the stalactites below. Apparently stalactites are the new currency... who would have thunk it as we say in New Zealand.

Very desirable those stalactites, five will buy you one cupcake.

This morning Jonno set busily to work making the dogs wool stuffed beds.

He had a very keen apprentice on hand to stop the mattress from slipping.

And Willow looks pretty comfortable on it. If you are wondering what kind of dog our big, beautiful girl is, she's a Labrador crossed with an Airedale - we call her a Lairedale which is a very grand title for a puppy that came from the S.P.C.A.

Hugo has been catching up on a bit of painting - the urge washed over him this morning and he just had to get going.

And I have been crocheting - Last night while watching the second season of 'Heroes' (I am so belatedly addicted) I made these little balls using 4 ply cottons. I know I've said it before but I love the colours of bulk 4ply cotton so much.

Last but not least, our mushroom bucket that we bought from the Hawkes Bay Farmers' Market. We have harvested our first crop and are now waiting for the next lot to sprout. I cannot emphasise how exciting it is to watch them grow... even I am not really convinced by that sentence but it is true. They seem to double in size every couple of hours.

It is so nice to be home and making things again. I began to lose a little bit of enthusiasm for everything towards the end of last month (that nasty virus really didn't help matters) so it is wonderful to feel inspiration in my fingertips again. And also wanting to do things again like cook, garden and fold washing, even to feel a slight pleasure as they are done. I forget that a large portion of my life is going to be taken up by folding clothes so I have to remind my self to enjoy the smell of clean washing and to find some sort of aesthetic appreciation from the leaning towers that result at the end. Little things add up to a lots by the end of the day.

Oooohhh yes, it's mother's day tomorrow so I had better do another post then.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate xxooxxooxx.

New Things!

This is the hand of my new next door neighbour... well new to me anyway. We have actually been living next door to each other for three years and have never met (we are in the country - very long driveways) which is terrible when I stop to think about it but so wonderful now that it has happened. It turns out that we both are obsessed with making things - crafting, sewing, crochet, knitting painting, jewellery making, etc, etc, etc and we have both been at home for the past few years with our heads down, completely oblivious to the fact that we could have been crocheting together!!! This morning was our first cup of tea and it was lovely. She didn't even mind that I insisted on photographing her ring and necklace THAT SHE MADE ALL BY HERSELF!!! Don't you love them... AND it turns out her favourite animals are rabbits AND she used to have a house rabbit too.

Her bird's nest necklace!!!!!
AND a velvet pinafore!!!

And while my new neighbour and I were drinking tea and crocheting, my parcel from Happy Supplies finally arrived. I have been running to check the mail every lunch time for the past three weeks. Very happy am I.

So many things to make and do.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

Big 5 year old birthdays.

Hugo officially turned 5 yesterday after months of begging for it to happen. Thank goodness too as the whole family has become a little tired of the 'how many sleeps' question (he hasn't started asking about next year's one yet).

As a very special treat, Hugo's teacher let him have the day at home so we iced cupcakes together, made little necklaces for party bags (extremely simple ones this year - a necklace and a lolly pop), cleared up garden prunings and swept the veranda. A very nice and quiet day - one that I don't think he will want to repeat as a teenager so extra(ley) special.

This week has been more than a little consumed by birthdays and boys - Archie was invested as a Cub Scout on Wednesday, but next week, I promise there will be lots and lots and lots of colourful crafting again... if not I think I may go bonkers.

Lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

Happy Birthdays and the Great Big Greedy Give Away!!

It has been a wonderful birthday so far - lots of spoiling, good food, a few presents (including the necklace and headband from tamar.etsy.com - I can't get a link on it at the moment) and plenty of careful rose transplanting. The weather is beautifulish and the crackle is definitely pinging through the air. Oh to be born on the 10/10 and be alive in 2010!!!

So to celebrate 10/10/10, it is time to kick off the big give away. The prize is made up of one pincushion of your choice (crocheted or sewn) and the book pictured above, 'Kyuto! Japanese Crafts: Woolly Embroidery'.

In order to enter please tell me your favourite read of the past year and your nameif you can't sign in with a pre-existing account.

Happy Day!!!

p.s. I will draw the winner on Monday, 18th October. Good luck...