Living Life Creatively shop update

I have some new goodies  in my shop.
Pretty ruffled crepe paper gift kits. These little kits are perfect for adding that extra something special touch to wrapping a gift! They come with 1m of ruffled crepe paper, a manilla tag, ribbon or twine and a sweet little handmade embellishment.
They would make a great wedding/kitchen tea party favor too! 

{I just love this rose!}

Also available in blue and more colors coming next month!

 Here you can see the goodies in action on a wrapped gift!

Tomorrow I am sorting out my craft room. A HUGE job. I have big plans/ideas and I will show you where I work when it is all done and sorted!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

An Autumn Tea party

Last Week I gave a little Autumn tea party for a few older ladies I know.
Here are the photo's from it.

I made the gift bags.

 The gift bags were simply brown paper bags, cut open, sewn again. I made the ruffle tape from crepe paper. (will be available in my shop this week). I used an old book and tore out some pages. Then a paper doily, a manilla tag and printed pictures of a photograph I took of the flowers that inspired my theme/color scheme.

 After the little gifts were inside, I punched two holes for the string to go through to tie it closed and attached a gift tag to the string with a teeny tiny clothes pin.

Designed a quick label on the computer for the soaps.

 Before...

 After...

 The Table.

 Some of my favorite books stacked up and tied with ribbon.

 Lot's of acorns, pine cones, autumn leaves.
A Carrot cake....

For the flowers, I simply put some double sided tape on the glass, attached some leaves and secured with twine.
I made some no-crust cucumber sarmies on a little 2-tier plate stand. My little collection of birds, nests and eggs went well with the autumn theme. This little tea party was very cost effective. I didn't spend any money on decorations, everything nature provided, and I made the gift bags with what I had at home.

 Here is a close up of one of the gift bags.
I am going to be selling ones similar to this -as a DIY kit in my shop soon.

Thanks for looking! I hope this inspires somebody to give their own little tea party!

Flowers. watercolors. tea.

Hello!
Popping in to share some photographs I took today of pretty little flowers and some water color cards I recently painted.
I hope you enjoy them!

Have a great weekend xx

TaDa- Crochet Cowl {and Tutorial}!

Hello!
I am back to show you my cowl and the tutorial/pattern for it. I made it up, although it really wasn't rocket science! I am sure there are patterns very similar out there. 
It is joined with a seam, and then put on, twisted and put over the head again.

 Here you can see the length before it is twisted and put on again.

Okay so for The tutorial/pattern..
I used elle pure gold double knit. The color is called "silver".
I used a 7mm hook.
The wool is lovely, so soft!

So follow the instructions on the photos.

stitches/abbreviations are:

yo-yarn over

ch-chain

st-stitch

ch st-chain stitch

dc-double crochet (in US term)

sl st-slip stitch

 

To start: (also referred to in this tutorial as round one)

Chain 38 stitches.

 

ROUND TWO::
dc into each ch from round one.

 detail about dc stitch::

 

end of round one. This is what it looks like once you have done your dc row.

ROUND THREE {and onwards}
*ch 2, turn work
dc into each dc st from round two.*

repeat from ** for a further 67 rows.
I did 67 rows but you can do longer or shorter.
Longer: will give you a looser cowl and a longer cowl
shorter: I don't recommend anything less than 55 rows as you won't be able to do a double cowl
or get it over your head.

 the next few photo's are detailed shots of round 3.

 

 once you have reached your desired length, follow these instructions below for the seam.

Here it is finished (folded double).

 And here...

 And here...love those stitches!

 ahh...one more!

note: if you want to make a SNOOD (scarf+hood) or a cowl that can fit over your head, when you initially chain, just chain longer. I would then recommend you chain an extra 25-30 (to total would be 63-70)

Hope you enjoy making one! I am not putting any copyright on my actual pattern (as always my photo's are copyrighted though) so if you want to use it for commercial purposes, I really don't mind. I would always appreciate a link back here if you use my pattern though or want to pin it. Thanks so much!


Here is the printable version:
(copy the text, click file on your screen and scroll down to print. When the box pops up, choose "selection"
it will print it for you!)
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www.bouncingbonbon.blogspot.com
Silver Cowl Crochet Pattern by Bonnie van Esch

yarn used: Elle Pure gold double knit in silver (one should be enough, but buy two to be safe!)
size hook: 7mm

stitches/abbreviations are:

yo-yarn over

ch-chain

st-stitch

ch st-chain stitch

dc-double crochet (in US term)

sl st-slip stitch

 

To start: (also referred to in this tutorial as round one)

Chain 38 stitches.

ROUND TWO::
dc into each ch from round one.


ROUND THREE {and onwards up to round 64 and end off.)
*ch 2, turn work
dc into each dc st from round two.*

repeat from ** for a further 64 rows.(64 + 3 rounds mentioned here=67 total)
I did 67 rows but you can do longer or shorter.
Longer: will give you a looser and longer cowl
shorter: I don't recommend anything less than 55 rows as you won't be able to do a double cowl
or get it over your head.

note: if you want to make a SNOOD (scarf+hood) or a cowl that can fit over your head, when you initially chain, just chain longer. I would then recommend you chain an extra 25-30 (to total would be 63-70)

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