Fircone Firelighters

When I saw Circle of Pinetrees share their Pinecone Firelighters a couple of years ago, they went straight on my to do list! Referencing both her tutorial and Walter and Me's tutorial, I eventually got round to making some in time for this year's Father's Day! My Dad has a chiminea in his garden, so I thought this would be a great unusual gift for him.

I dipped about a dozen fircones using mandarin and cassis scented tealights from eBay, which worked out really well as they were white in colour and I didn't need to add essential oils. I packaged them in a simple box, and made my own label featuring this drawing. Never forget the power of beautiful wrapping when presenting a homemade gift. They were delightfully received!

Koala and Raccoon Cards!

I made a recent expedition through the internets searching for inspiration for unique card designs, for both adults and children. I stumbled upon Wee Society's Wee Valentines. I fell in love with the cute designs, and they are so unique - rarely do you see cards designed as koalas, raccoons, bulls and yetis!

The patterns are available in PDF format, meaning all you need to do is print them out and draw around them to create your own version! They would look lovely with some cute accessories, but they also have a charm in their simplicity.

The first one I made was this koala for my niece's 4th birthday. A koala bear is one of my favourite teddies from when I was younger, and I think this card is recognisable, and so cute without being overly girly!

The second card I made from the set was this gorgeous raccoon - my husband loves raccoons, and I knew he would appreciate this cute card. I was able to use my circular punches to help with some of the circle cutting, and it came together really nicely! These designs have opened my eyes to a new way of designing cards, and has got my creative juices flowing!

Sweetbriar Sisters' Giraffe

I have been drooling over Sweetbriar Sisters' patterns for such a long time. Buying them when they've been on offer or I've had voucher codes, and hoarding them for later use. I normally end up crocheting toys, but eventually took the plunge and decided that for her 4th Birthday, my niece would be getting a fabric toy!

This particular pattern is Gerald the Giraffe. I made him using interfacing, yellow stripey fabric left over from my wedding bunting, and a bright red cotton left over from my wedding placemats! His tail uses more strands than recommended, with some left over wool and ribbon.

He came together fairly quickly and easily, although I confess to not pattern matching the stripey fabric, and there's some puckering going on... Sewing the curve between the legs was so difficult for me! I think he's super cute though, and I would recommend the pattern. I might just have found the confidence to make more!

Deer Silhouette Father's Day Card

I don't know about your part of the world, but here in England it was recently Father's Day! Ah, the classic conundrum of creating a masculine card... I googled around for a while hoping to find some inspiration, and came across Moomah's Make It! Fancy Father's Day card.

Using their brilliant deer silhouette, and their templates for accessories, I cut out deer heads from black paper, and mounted them on brown parcel paper on my card. For the accessories, I used some sparkly card, and also leftovers from last year's Father's Day cards, using the paper from Craftseller magazine. I think they worked out well, without being too stereotypically "Dad", which never seem to fit my father and father in law!

Letterpress Pyrography

Well, I don't think anyone can deny that my blog is varied!!

I have recently been experimenting with pyrography, on scrap wood, and on some wooden spoons. It is taking some getting used to, to control the burning iron, and make it do what I want, but it is enjoyable!

With my Dad's birthday recently, and him running The Silver Birch Press, I decided it was appropriate for him to have a personalised inking roller, and managed to burn the silver birch logo on to the handle! The handle has been pre-varnished, so the fumes were a bit toxic, but the effect is lovely. I'm really pleased with how this came out, and I think I prefer burning images where the lines don't need to be perfect! When my husband saw the finished piece he started looking for things he wanted decorating, so I think I might be busy!