Create – AlleyHope

Pop Culture Snowflakes DIY

Today I wanted to share some links with you for these awesome DIY snowflakes. At work we have a little competition between the offices – a Christmas Dec-Off – to see who has the best decorating skills. Obviously we’re going to win in Bristol, we’re going for a handmade theme so I whipped up these snowflakes. I feel like we should get extra points for them being based on film, TV and games since that’s our biz.

Anyway, enough rambling. Here’s what I made and the links to the templates so you can make your own.

Game of Thrones House Sigils from Krystal Higgins. These don’t actually have a lot of internal bits to cut out so they’re the easiest of the bunch even though they look pretty complicated. I love them all but I think the Night’s Watch and the Baratheon ones are my favourites.

Star Wars by Anthony Herrera. There are so many Star Wars options on Anthony’s website, it’s amazing! I must admit I went for the easiest looking ones but I might attempt a few more. These are the original pop culture snowflakes and the best.

Minecraft snowflakes via Instructables. These ones were actually pretty difficult due to all the right angles! Make sure your knife/scissors are sharp.

Mario Mushroom from Atelier Drome. They also have a Kanye West template. Oh yeah.

Frozen by Anthony Herrera. I think Olaf is my favourite of the whole bunch. He is so adorable! Anthony also has Guardians of the Galaxy ones on his website too so make sure you check them out too if you’re a fan.

Making all of these took me pretty much an entire day but I enjoyed it and I’m revelling in all the compliments I’m receiving for my mad paper cutting skills.

Let me know what you think of these! Hopefully you’ll love them as much as I do.

Christmas Gift Guides 2015 | For the Crafter

The Christmas gift guide bonanza continues with ideas for all your craft-loving pals. Whether a sewer, a knitter, or a er, candlestick maker, a hobbyist or a business boss, hopefully you’ll find some inspiration here.

Top row left to right: Mollie Makes Subscription (from £5 – special offer); Singer Sewing Machine Screenprint (£20); Knitting Needle Bag (£14.95); Sewing Skyline Mug (£8)

First up, everyone’s fave modern craft magazine, Mollie Makes. This is perfect for the hobby crafter as it comes with a mini project every month; Singer sewing machines are iconic vintage chic so this will look great in any craft room regardless of the interest; I do love a pun! This knitting needle bag is great and there’s also a matching tote bag for the wool; Crafting and tea goes as well together as crafting and cakes so this understated mug will be sure to go down well.

Bottom row left to right: Cross Stitch Kit (£6.50); Handmade Iron On Embroidery Patch (£5.44); Business for Punks (£10.49); Sewing Basket (£42)

I’ve been a regular subscriber to the Geeky Little Stitcher box for a few months now and I love it. There are lots of options on this Etsy shop for cute, simple cross stitch projects, and even an option for a build your own box; This patch is beyond awesome!; There are plenty of creative and craft business books available but I like the look of this one (craft beer is crafting in a way!). I don’t agree with a large amount of BrewDog’s marketing strategy but they’re certainly an interesting case study and I’m sure it’ll be thought provoking for any small business owners; Lastly, a bit of a classic – a Cath Kidston sewing box – ideal for all ages.

Hope you enjoyed this edition of the gift guides. Let me know what is on your crafty wishlist.

Recent Cross Stitches | Geeky Little Stitcher Club

I’ve written about the Geeky Little Stitcher subscription box before, but I just wanted to share some of the recent projects that I have completed. I’ve been really enjoying sitting on evenings stitching up cute characters with Netflix on in the background and a candle burning away. I think that my stitching has improved greatly since I got these kits so I’m looking into branching out into slightly more complicated patterns or even my own designs.

Apparently you’re meant to start cross stitches from the middle of the pattern. I’ve been starting from the bottom which has been working for me even if it’s wrong.

The Fries Before Guys pattern included lots of back-stitch so it was fun to do a new technique. I thought this would take ages but it really didn’t.

If you want to get your stitch on, check out the Jess’ shop on Etsy to join the club, buy a mini kit or design your own!

This is my current WIP. Can you tell what it is yet?

Wreck This Journal #1

Can’t promise this will be a regular thing, but I want to start doing my Keri Smith Wreck This Journal a bit more and share the results on here. Here’s my first few pages – of mixed success!

Ouchy!

Totally gave myself RSI after this.

Sweary words written in glitter gel pens. Classy.

http://www.toomanyws.com

You can’t really see the colours very well, but I floated the book on a bath bomb and now it smells (appropriately enough) lush.

The cold never bothered me anyway!

If you have any similar post, please leave me links – I’d love to ~~steal your ideas~~ see them!

Geeky Little Stitcher Monthly Cross Stitch Club

Today I wanted to introduce a new monthly subscription box I’ve been loving recently. The Geeky Little Stitcher cross stitch club from Jess, based in Exeter. It’s kawaii themed and each month is a based around a different cute foody character. The first box was released in April with an avocado theme, May’s was burgers, June is cake and July’s (now available) is doughnuts – you can see the pattern emerging I’m sure.

The box costs £9.99 plus £3.50 UK p&p and includes one main pattern, including all the threads you need, an embroidery hoop, aida cloth and a needle. The patterns are bold and contemporary but simple so it’s good even for beginners like me.

You will also receive a second surprise pattern and themed extras. These are a fabulous touch as the box is already great value. I love the ‘B is for Burger’ pattern (this would make a lovely unusual addition to a kids bedroom). The burger fabric swatch is dead handy for keeping needles safe and I always have room for cute stickers and address labels. And sweets, always room in my belly for them!

WIP shot. I worked on the pattern for a couple of hours a night for 2 or 3 weekends. I’m pretty slow but I’m sure my stitching will speed up as I tackle more patterns.

The finished product! I think I like it without the hearts as well, but let me know if you disagree! I can’t decide.

Can’t wait to get started on the next one. You can sign up here and check out Jess’ other designs as well.

Black Heart Creatives Jewellery Making Workshop

Recently I’ve been amassing quite a collection of laser cut and acrylic jewellery, something about it is really appealing to me at the moment. So when I saw that Charlotte from Black Heart Creatives was running a jewellery making workshop in Bristol of course I snapped up a ticket. With an ‘Under the Sea’ theme, the event promised the chance to make two pieces of totally unique, statement jewellery.

Our base for the night was The Crazy Fox in the centre of Bristol, a really nice coffee bar which hosts a range of events from art exhibitions to live music. Once refreshments had been bought, our first task was to make a charm bracelet. On our work trays we were given a selection of sea themed charms – shells, seahorses and fishes plus plenty of jump rings a lobster clasp and a length of chain. We were able to measure the chains to fit and then Charlotte showed us the proper way to open and close jump rings – actually a bit of an art!

I decided to go for the fully loaded look and used all my charms! They are really nicely detailed with etching or hole details as on the starfish and I liked the range of colours and materials – especially that transparent yellow conch shell. I decided to put the two seahorses kissing in the middle and built a kind of symmetrical design around it.

Next up was a slightly more complex design – a fully customisable mermaid tail necklace. Charlotte brought along two designs to choose from, a three part opaque green with etching on the fins, or an older design which had four parts. Both were lovely but as soon as I saw the turquoise mirror acrylic, I knew the choice for me! This time we had a few mini charms and a selection of rhinestones. My tail was already pretty blingy with the mirror look so I added just a few embellishments. The trickiest part of the workshop was injecting the acrylic glue under charm (I almost glued my necklace to the plastic tray), but we all got there in the end!

I loved the workshop and I’m so pleased with my makes. I gave the bracelet to a friend as part of a mermaid themed birthday present and she seemed pretty impressed with my handiwork too. The workshop had a lovely, laid back atmosphere and it was really fun to see everyone’s different interpretation of the materials and the final results.

Black Heart Creatives also do events in London so make sure you give them a little follow to hear of when their next one is. I’ll definitely be along to another one!

#HillarysCrafternoon with Joe Blogs

Last weekend I headed up to Birmingham’s Custard Factory to spend the afternoon doing some crafting courtesy of Hillary’s Blinds with Joe Blogs and The Crafty Hen. Using fabric from the new range at Hillary’s we were shown a couple of beginner’s sewing projects.

First up were some notebook covers. I selected a bold blue and white patterned fabric, as I liked the painterly quality of the print. The project itself was really simple – a few folds, couple of stitches, some hot glue for the button detailing and you’re done. Now most bloggers love their stationery so this project definitely appealed and it had the benefit of inspiring confidence in our crafting abilities.

The next project was a bit trickier. This time we were making a stuffed bird. I choose a yellow leaf pattern for this (I think it’s called Isra Linden) and a contrasting grey geometric pattern for the belly. Mine frayed a bit when I was stuffing it but I’m happy to call that one ‘feather detailing’. I don’t think I’ll be joining the leagues of master toy makers any time soon, but it’s good enough to become a cat toy! The kitten hasn’t managed to undo all the stitching yet so I’ll take that as a win.

Photo courtesy of Joe Blogs

At the end of the day we were able to take our craft projects home with us (with instructions if we wanted to DIY at home again) along with a really cute tote bag made from Hillary’s materials – mine is the red version of my notebook fabric – and some other goodies.

It was a really fun day and superbly organised by Joe Blogs. The tutors from The Crafty Hen were really friendly and happy to help crafters at all levels of skill. Big thanks to everyone and to Hillary’s for having us. Alongside the Birmingham crafternoon they also hosted events in Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow and you can read all about their adventures on their blog here.