"The Craft Group" plus...

Valda created a card for her niece Naomi's wedding. There is something special about this card. Naomi will definitely be very happy with the design. Valda reused parts of the wedding invitation and recreated her 'Congratulations' card. I know people don't always keep every wedding invitation they ever receive, but brides and grooms do keep the cards they received on their wedding day, so I think this is a great idea!

Why make my own tutorial if there are so many good ones already? I like this one... Get your long, thin scarf ready and  Click Here  to possibly learn a few new tricks! 25 ways to tie a scarf Thanks Heidi for the link!

Back in March I showed you the beginnings of a quilt Lin was making. I said... "Lin, your grandkids are so lucky to have you creating fun quilts for them!" Your grandkids and friends can be thankful you actually finish things! I am a shocker at the moment with finishing projects! So for inspiration, here is a finished project by Lin. Well done Lin. Keep up the quilting and enjoy your new home too by the way!

Firstly, Yay!!! It's saturday morning and I just received an email that my 23 year old daughter has arrived safely at her destination in India after 32 hours of travelling alone. *big sigh* and Thank you Lord! Now, onto some blog sharing of the crocheting kind. I found this good tip on finishing off threads in your crochet. from 'Playin' Hooky' blog While checking out her site I saw on the top tab a free pattern which looks good too! She calls it the Brain Wave Beanie. :)  from 'Playin' Hooky' Designs But... I am always confused about patterns because of the silly differences in terms around the world. The pattern above is from the USA. The UK and the USA use the same terms but they mean different things. Being in Australia, I am confused because some follow the US was and others the UK. From the chart below, they say Aussies use the UK version. I found this great, chart to convert crochet patterns  Here This follow...

Cutting little pieces of paper and aiming to get them exactly the same size with exactly the same design is tricky. So why not let the Australian (or any) government do all the hard work for you? Postage stamps are great for folding and making cards. Perfect size. Perfectly identical. Here is one by Rita featuring an Australian tropical fish stamp. This style of card decoration originates from origami. Then, from what I can gather, The Netherlands seems to be the place where the craft became huge using the outer cover of tea bags. The funny thing is that even if you are using postage stamps, it is still called "Tea Bag Folding". There are SO many different ways to fold and create. Just google search 'tea bag folding' and you will have plenty to be inspired by.  In comparison to Rita's card, which I find really classy, many on the web look a bit gaudy, but it is a matter or personal taste and trends in different areas. Here is a basic li...

Cowls are not new but there have been a few appearing at The Craft Group. Here is Joan's. Hers is knitted. You can find some free cowl knitting patterns here . Here is one by Bronwyn. Hers is crocheted. I love these next 2 photos. Bronwyn is chatting to me about her cowl she made. In the background are the quilting ladies frantically searching for a needle that flung into the air and landed who-knows-where. It was a very thorough search, let me tell you! In the end it was found at home in someone else's quilting bag.  It had landed there and wasn't on the ground after all! You might have better luck searching for crochet cowl patterns here . Stay warm!  Although I can't complain with our Sydney winter which has seen so many 20 degree days.  Nice!

Buttermilk, yoghurt.... we're talking about fermenting milk. Sounds dubious but it is very healthy. If you want to take probiotics for your gut, then buying Yakult can be expensive. So, instead, why not make your own KEFIR? From 'Homemade Mommy' Elly has looked into it and has mastered it. It is a bit tricky at first but once you have worked it out, it is quite achievable and cheap as chips. You can eat the 'grains', make a milky drink or add it to cooking. (Introduce it slowly though to avoid some side effects! ) If you are a part of The Craft Group, Elly is happy to provide you with some Kefir grains to get you started. I found this blog post from "Homemade Mommy" really informative. Read before you try. She has a link you can click on for an informative post on fermented foods in general and how they are good for you. I am no expert on this topic, just sharing that Elly has some 'starter' grains if you are interested. But I am i...

During our recent All Day Open House Craft Day, the card making ladies, armed with their square paper hole punch, made some lovely cards!   Lots of punched out squares. Guess what they are cut out of? The insides of different envelopes! I bet you never knew the insides of envelopes were so pretty! The edges of each square in this card were swiped along the side of a little ink pad to give them a shaded edge. Then, glued on dark blue paper, you will never see the little gaps. Glue all the squares onto a piece of paper then place a template over it, trace and cut out a fancy shape. The edges of this shape are also shaded giving the card real depth. Katelyn was our youngest attendee at the craft day. She made some pretty gift tags with the envelope squares. More squares! This time cut out of christmas wrapping paper. This time, a gold three was used in the sewing machine to stitch around each edge after they were glued into place. Hope you f...

Did you know you can knit your little fingers off this month for charity? (NOTE ADDED LATER: SEE BELOW*) In the past, ladies at The Craft Group have made knitted items and asked me how to get them to people in need? I had trouble finding a collector and distributor because my local Guardian pharmacy, who used to take my collections, said they don't do it any more. Some of the things knitted by Bev G given to "Save the Children" Well, either the person working there had no idea or that particular chemist didn't collect. But anyway, they are still collecting and I have the website to prove it! Save the Children distribute knitted items to children in need and you can easily donate your items at your local Guardian Pharmacy.   (look here for the one closest to you). They give out a free pattern book too. In the past they have told me that the items donated don't have to be from the pattern book, they can be anything for children to wear, providing they...

Inspire your teenage girls to try a new design for their friendship bracelets. I like the fishtail style shown here in a tutorial by "Carrots 'n spice". from carrots 'n spice Have fun!