Summer Morning Shawl in Neutral Tones

Sometimes, during the summer, I just want to grab a light shawl that I can throw over whatever dress I am wearing. The problem is, all my shawls are quite bold colour schemes, and I really wanted something more neutral.

I was drawn to Rico Design Creative Cotton Degrade in shade Ecru, as it faded from brown to cream, and the Summer Morning shawl pattern for it's simplicity. (Note: I didn't work the final picot edge.) It's a nice easy repetitive pattern, although I never enjoy how long the rows get as shawls progress!

I finished and blocked the shawl, wrapped it round me, and my husband and I agreed - it just wasn't me. It wasn't colourful enough, as insane as that sounds for what was meant to be a neutral shawl! Anyway, I was wandering through Abakhan and found some DMC Coloris thread in shade 4523, Vent du Nord, and the browns in the thread fitted with my shawl so well, whilst the blue and purple in the thread added a touch of colour. I worked this into the shawl as surface crochet in 4 stripes, and I'm pleased with the hint of colour it adds to what is still essentially a neutral shawl!

Beach Hut Card

Recently I've struggled to post projects in the same season as I've made them. To sum this up, today this blog enters October with some summery beach huts!

 I found this beautiful image by Andy Frith on Google and just knew it had to be a card. I printed it out twice and carefully cut around a few of the beach huts so I could layer them up for a 3D effect - I really like how it worked! I also added a bit of sparkle to the bunting, and mounted it on white hammer card and a dark turquoise pearl paper.

Summer Brights Birthday Cards

I recently went through a pile of Craftseller magazines from a couple of years ago, and found in them a whole selection of craft papers I had forgotten about! It's lead to some experimenting of mixing patterns and colours I wouldn't normally use, inspired by the graphics provided. It's been a lot of fun :)

This gorgeous tag with the red polka dot balloon was included in the range. I was even more impressed that I had a pink paper in my stash that (nearly!) perfectly matched the pink edge of the tag. I raised the tag with 3D dots, and added a little ribbon bow so it would appear tied on.

I loved this Birthday Wishes graphic, and how it had matching floral papers. I stuck with the red and white theme, mounting it on some hammered white card and red paper. I'm not used to using a graphic as bold as the red and white zig zags (or chevrons, as they're called these days!) but I think I made the balance of pattern work, and raising the graphic off the background helped.

I used some of the floral papers in this card too, for a friend who has a sweet tooth! The colour combination is so bright and fresh, but the empty space balances out the amount of pattern. Although I have to admit to finding these off shaped graphics awkward to work with!

I love this polka dot balloon, and used it to make a smaller card. The graphic uses off white rather than pure white, so I reflected this in the hammered ivory paper, and then picked up the red again in the "gingham" paper. I love the turquoise and red together!

Moving Pinwheel Card

I have such a fun, bright card to share with you today! With a hint of pink, lots of bright yellow, mandala patterns, polka dots and some pearl paper... and a pink brad that ensures it even spins!

Of course, it then needed an envelope which it would fit in. Thankfully there is a wonderful resource on the internet called Template Maker, ensuring I could make an envelope to fit. I think next time I'd add tabs to the envelope design, but it fulfils it's purpose :)

Watercolour Stamped Mousey Card

I have started to accept that in life there is always another card to make, and as long as I have inspiration, I'm ok with that! This mousey stamp (Funstamps Daisy Mouse) is another from the stash I inherited last year, along with the spring coloured tartan card, the ivory hammer card and the gold Liquid Pearls, which I have used in the centre of the flower to add interest. I used my wonderful water brush and my trusty watercolour paints, and I love the combination of the cute factor and cheery summer colours!