Treasure chest :)

So a while back I picked up a bag of miscellaneous world coins a the ANDA coin show. They're all relatively worthless but a bitta fun to sort though and look at all the difference denominations.

And what better to store treasure in than a treasure chest?

I brought (mostly) everything I needed to make my coins a treasure chest from Riot Art & Craft on a whim ages ago. It's all been living on the living-room table till inspiration struck. For some reason that was this weekend/Monday. 

Stuff I used:
An unfinished wooden treasure chest
Art Culture acrylic paints, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, and Burnt Umber
Random 3/4inch paint brush
Hemp rope (it calls itself 'rope' but it's really string)
< Red sparkly felt
Black felt + free cat fur
Craft glue
Mod Podge (water based sealer)
Copper Slug and Snail tape

First I painted the raw timber chest with Burnt Sienna all over except the straps. Then after that had soaked in and dried I painted a few random spots with Raw Sienna. I didn't really like the Raw Sienna colour and was pretty worried that I'd stuffed it at that point.  But the last layer of Burnt Umber evened it all out and finished it up well. Lucky!

I've never done much painting.  But this was relatively straight forward and enjoyable with nice results, I think I like messing around with acrylic paints. After the painting was done I sealed it with Mod Podge then filled the groves with string lengths of the hemp rope to add some definition and highlights.  I fixed each string lenght with some craft glue. 

I stuck a random bit of black felt on the inside of the lid of the chest with more of the craft glue. I didn't really measure it well or worry too much about the placement.  I'll live with the odd edges and rough positioning.  Then the red sparkly felt was used for the rest of the chest inside.  Also not measured particularly well. I love felt just for the abuse you can heap on it and still get a good outcome. 

The felt had actually been running around the living-room with the cats for almost 12 months so before I used it there was some cat de-furing to be done. It was nice to finally use the stuff. I originally brought it to make a Christmas gift for someone but she's managed to significantly annoy me (there are places you don't invite other peoples partners/boyfriends - a strip club is one such place.)

And moving on;

Lastly I used some copper tape I had left from gardening for the straps around the chest. The tape is basically a thin layer of adhesive copper. It was a rough start as can be seen in the finished product pictures. I put too much on one side several times but in the end product looks pretty good and I'm optimistic that once the copper tarnishes up it'll look rustic and blend in nicely. It's a fair bit too shiny at the moment.

And I only glued the chest lid down once. After I pried it reopen with a pair of little scissors I didn't have any further sticking issues. 

No progress pictures but here's my finished treasure chest. All that's left is to dig up my world coins and fill it (the bottom at least, it's a good excuse to buy some more next time I get the chance) 

[make it] timber Owl

Another timber quicky cross stitch done. The photo's don't do this guy justice at all. The pictures don't pick up the bead colours and the metallic thread won't photograph properly - you'll just have to believe me when I say it looks good.

Before I brought this kit I already know I wasn’t going to be using any of the provided charts - though I was tempted by the very cute apple. For another day I guess. Instead I wanted my owl to have owl-y eyes and a rainbow belly. So at the same time I grabbed the kit I also grabbed some DMC metallics.

I wasn't sure which colour I wanted for the eyes so I chose DMC gold E3821 and DMC copper E301 with the idea of making a final decision once I had a good look at some owl eyes. For the belly I picked the rainbow variegated metallic DMC thread E130.

Once I started stitching I basically made it up as I went along. This sort of worked and sort of didn't. I really love the eyes but the belly is only 'okay'.

The Eyes:
I ended up choosing to use both the E3821 gold and E301 copper the for the eyes. It seemed to match real owl eyes the best. Owls have the most amazing eyes.

I used 4 strands of gold and 2 strands of copper.

Once I had the 'iris' circle of the eyes completed I slid a black sequin into the centre of each eye to be the pupil and added a black bead in the centre to hold them in place. I'm very happy with the way they turned out.

The Body:
I started out with the rainbow thread thinking of doing a spiral/fractal thing. The number of holes and the way I started made the idea fall through. I should have just re-started and tried again I think. I would have been happier with the final outcome.  But I decided to move on ahead and slowly created a star.

I then surrounded the star with copper cross stitches.  Partially to fill in the blank areas but also to try and define the star better. The problem with the wooden cross stitch frames is that they're so dark the stitching tends to get lost and can be hard to see.

The star was still fairly lost even with the copper cross stitches so I decided to add some beads. I found a small container at a second hand shop with some clear/white slightly iridescent beads that I thought should do the job and stitched them on wherever seems to fit.

And done. One cute little owl with some seriously cool eyes.

Babushka Timber Cross Stitch

Another timber cross stitch completed.

I picked up this Babushka by [make it] from the Craft & Quilt Fair the other day.  I'll post a separate post about the fair later. 

I was going to put a little scull and cross bones on her belly but decided I liked the strawberry design that came with the kit and stuck with that. I did add some beads I had on hand for the personal touch. 

I like these little kits I really do BUT this one came with a kind of glaring issue... it's short one drilled hole on the second row from the top.  I've only got 9 holes where there should be 10. So while the design still came out okay the top left just isn't quite right... }:-(

I ran out of red towards the end as I was using the whole 6 threads for better coverage rather than the 3 recommend so the last 3 cross stitches in the bottom right are quite messy as I had to use a couple of offcuts to finish the corner.

She's going to live on my bag once I get the right cord.

Timber stitch kit take 2

I really like these little timber kits by [make it], they're quick and interesting. I picked this one up today while browsing at spotlight.

I actually managed to resist buying anything else but when I saw these little hearts they ended up in my grubby little hands post-haste. 

This kit included;
*2x cut timber heart cross stitch frames
*Needle
*Pre-cut felt backing
*A selection of DMC thread
*6 design charts (flowers, parrot, mouse, stripes, rainbow and polka dots.) It also included an alphabet chart in case you wanted to put a letter in your heart and blank charts to make your own design.
*And instructions

I really needed something simple and nice to do and this kit easily fit the bill. The fact I completed it the same day I got it says something.

 

I decided to do 2 of the charts provided, the rainbow and the mouse. Though I did add a few personal touches.

For the mouse I added whiskers and and a boarder in black and pale blue. I like to think the black reflects the 'black death' and mice being the bringers of pestilence. Yes I know that the finger for that one generally points to fleas on rats, but as a rodent I'm sure mice contributed.

And for the second heart I first thought I'd do the folk flower design but the use of pastels turned me off so instead I went for the rainbow. I used four strands rather than the recommended three for added thickness and added the blue border around the heart and a red and purple boarder around the outside.

Beyond the embarrassing moment when I realised I'd just stuck the pre-cut felt backing onto the wrong side of the rainbow heart they were both simple and satisfying for a quick bit of creating.

And I finished them both off into something useful :-)

The mouse became a brooch - though the pin on the back isn't as well stuck on as I’d like. I really suck with a glue gun.

And I stole to leather cord from a cheap necklace I had floating around and turned the rainbow heart into a necklace.

The finished products

I really like the felt backing, I's a nice finishing touch.

Fenn thought the necklace should belong to him. I had to nip that in the bud. Mine!

Timber stitch kit

Timber Stitch Kit Circle by Make It

Stitchery kit with a circle shaped, laser cut timber frame. The frame has pre-drilled holes that can be used just like the holes in aida fabric for cross stitch (X-stitch) and embroidery.
Kit includes:
♥ 1 x timber cross stitch frames
♥ 6 x design charts – butterfly, fox cub, apple, deer, song bird, peacock
♥ full alphabet chart
♥ blank graphs to chart your own designs
♥ needle and selection of DMC threads
♥ adhesive felt backing for a neat finish
♥ colour instructions and project ideas

The kit was a Christmas gift. I picked the fox, it was the cutest option though I did think about the apple. It was a nice quick stitch that turned out well. I still haven't turned it into anything practical.