DIY Tutorials & Links

I made some of the pieces of my Feb. counterfeit kit. I decided to make a post with links to tutorials & pics of my handmade stuff.

Stick-pins~I got my 2" pins at Wal-mart for $3 for a box of 90. They had pearl or crystal tops. The beads are misc. ones I've had in my stash for ages.


Shimmer Paints~ No tutorial necessary. Just mix pearlizing medium with acrylic paint. Mine is by Deco Art. A little goes a long way. I added a little water to the mix when I painted the flowers. It makes it more of a wash. I then covered a few pieces with the glitter paint. Wow, serious shine.

My messy glass mat.

Shimmer Watercolors ~I found a thread on 2peas years ago on how to make these. Scroll down to the 5th post on the link. I've made a bunch of different colors.

Shimmer Sprays~I've found you can use many different types of coloring in these. The 3 I've shown below are watercolor paint, acrylic paint,& Rit dye. They all turn out great. I use pearl-ex so I have to add glue to make the shimmer stick. I used Aleene's tacky glue.

Here's some test spray pieces.

This is the box I use to keep my space free of overspray.

Lace Flowers~Mine aren't decorated yet. I did spray one with my shimmer spray. The only difference between mine and the link is after I knot the thread I stitch the ends together. It gives a neater edge.

Daisy Variations

Here is a link to my original daisy pattern.
http://crochetedsass.blogspot.com/2009/08/daisy-pattern.html

There are lots of easy variations for this pattern.


From dc to sc in the center.

These are 10 dc in center ring, *slst,ch2,skip dc* around, then work petals into ch2 space.


You can also add or subtract petals easily.

Or you can shorten or lengthen the petals, by using taller or shorter stitches.

Flower Scarf

I saw this idea over on Applehead's blog, to make a scarf out of flowers. Here's her blog. http://applehead.typepad.com/applehead/
Here's her original post that inspired me. http://applehead.typepad.com/applehead/2006/05/100_flower_scar.html
Here's the pattern for her scarf. http://applehead.typepad.com/applehead/2006/05/100_flower_scar_1.html

Here's my take on that. It's not the same, but definately inspired by hers.



The small & medium flowers are made first then you connect them together with the large flowers in the last round.



Small Flower~with color 1 & hook G make 4. start with magic ring method. 5sc into ring. slst into first sc. Tighten ring. Then in first sc *ch 2, 2dc, ch2 slst back into sc* repeat from *to* in each sc (5 petals) finish off & weave in ends.



Medium Flower~ With color 2 & hook H make 4. Start with magic ring method. Ch 3, 9 dc into ring, slst in to top of ch 3. Tighten ring. *Ch2, 3dc in next dc, ch2, slst into next dc* repeat from*to* around.(5 petals) Finish off & weave in ends. This is the flower pattern I got on Little birdie's secrets blog. Here's my post with a link to it. http://crochetedsass.blogspot.com/2009/08/little-birdies-flowers.html



Large Flower~ with color 3 & hook J make 9.(attaching in the 2nd & 5th petals, except for the end ones attach those in just the 5th.) Ch3,9dc into ring, slst into top of ch3, *ch3,skip next dc, slst into next dc* repeat rom*to* around. (5 ch3 loops) In each ch3 loop^sc, 4dc, sc^. To attach flowers after second dc in petal make a slst in to the tip of the other flowers petal. slst into first sc of first petal. Finish off & weave in ends.

Hope my pattern is clear. Feel free to ask questions & I'll do my best to answer them.

Flowers by Nichole

Here is a cute little flower pattern by Nichole Heady. http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2009/05/embellish-it-senior-challenge.html

I've used just the one layer on my necklaces & a card.

http://crochetedsass.blogspot.com/2009/08/crochet-trim-on-cards.html

http://crochetedsass.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-first-crochet-necklace.html

She also has a list of DMC color matches for Papertreyink's colors.

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/dmcpti-color-coordinates.html

Crochet Trim on Cards.

Here's a little trim piece I made to use on a card. I used #10 thread & a #8 steel hook.






Close up of trim.








Trim on card.







Close up of trim & flower. Flower is made with pattern from Nichole Heady.






Trim Pattern~

ch even number(to length you want)
Then ch3 (counts as first dc)
dc in 4th ch from hook & in each ch across.
ch1 & turn
sc in first dc
*sc, picot in next dc, sc in next dc*
repeat *to* across
cut thread & finish off.

Little Birdies Flowers

This link was posted on the "crochet your own fleurettes" thread on SplitCoastStampers. http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-crochet-flower-video-tutorial.html These are simple flowers, but they have great impact. There is also a video tutorial to help you learn this flower.


Here's the link for the thread on SCS. It's a great resource for patterns, tips, & chatter about crochet flowers. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=412822



Here are a bunch that I did. You can vary the size of the flower with thread & hook size. It's also fun to change colors after the first round, or use varigated threads for a different look. The first row is #10 crochet thread & size #7 steel hook, second row is embroidery floss & # 5 steel hook, third row is #3 crochet thread & #2 steel hook, and the last row is 2 strands of #10 held together & #5 steel hook.

Daisy Pattern

I made up this daisy pattern & thought I'd share. It makes such pretty flowers. It uses the magic ring method of starting. Here's the link.

http://www.crochetme.com/Dec_Jan_0405/reads_round.html

I'm also posting a link to a turorial for the treble treble crochet stitch.

http://crochet.about.com/library/bltrtreble.htm

Daisy Pattern~

Use magic ring to start.

slst into ring

ch 4

(dc, ch1)5 times into ring

if using 2 colors finish off.

continuing or starting new color

in ch 1 space work (slst, ch 5, 2 trtr ,ch 5, slst)

repeat in each ch1 space around

slst into first ch1 space

finish off.

Leaf Pattern

I found a pattern for leaves & leaf chains here. http://www.fablehandmadegoods.com/Crochetpattern-leaves.html

I made a few samples to try them out with different threads & hooks.

Here's a chain I used on a card with a flower. I can see tons of possabilitiesfor these leaf chains

And here's the whole card. I had fun with this one. Used a bunch of scraps I had laying around. Love this color combo.

Cards

I thought I'd post a few recent cards with my crocheted flowers on them.

This is grumpabella colored with gamasol & colored pencils. The patterned paper is from a DCWV stack.


The butterfly & stems are Martha Stewart punches.



These papers are also from the DCWV stack. The punches are Martha Stewart too.