Welcome


Hello, my name is Dionne and I have been crafting for a very long time. As a very young child my mother tried to teach me to knit, it was a disaster. However, it must have sparked an interest in making things and, partly to prove that I was not totally useless and partly because I really wanted to make things, I taught myself to crochet. Over the years I have developed a love of cross stitch and all types of paper craft ..... I eventually even taught myself to knit.


I am married to a very understanding man, thank goodness, because I spend all my time either crafting, thinking about crafting or talking about crafting. I am hopeless at housework and dinner is often late!


Thank you for visiting my blog.


Dionne

Thursday 30 November 2017

The Holidays are Coming

I know, I know, it has been sooooo long since I last posted anything.

There are several reasons for this, I have been busy knitting Christmas presents for friends and family and I do not think it would be right to post them before the person has received them.  But the main reason I have not been sharing my work with you is because I am still having laptop problems.  The latest in a long line of problems is that the media card reader stopped working so I have been unable to load any of the photographs from my camera.  However, I have treated myself to an early Christmas present and bought a new laptop.  I have not quite worked out all of the functions yet but I have worked out enough to be able to load and edit photographs.

I have a considerable backlog of photographs and, as all crafters know, this is a very busy time of year, but I shall try to write at least one post a day for the next month and to start this roller coaster, this is the first of two posts today.

Regular visitors will recall that every year  I exchange Advent Calenders with my best friend, we have been doing this for many years now and our calenders have become a little out of the ordinary, for instance they contain a small gift for every day for the whole of the month of December and, because I can never find very small items, none of those calendars with tiny drawers for me, my container has to be a little larger than the norm.

For the last couple of years I have made a padded box to put my gifts in.  (You can find the 2015 box by clicking here and the 2016 box by clicking here.)  I have made each box slightly smaller than the previous one so they can be ether stacked or nested.


The boxes are hand stitched around thick card.  In places the fabric can be kept in place with glue, I use Pritt for this, but I only glue around the back where it cannot be seen or where another layer of fabric will cover it.


The lid of the box is padded and the white paper poinsettias are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  These are tacked in place and can easily be removed with a few snips of the scissors.


The outer fabric has a festive theme of holly leaves, it also has metallic elements, (sadly you cannot see this in the photographs), whilst the lining fabric is a plain green in contrast with the outer one.


As you can see, each gift is wrapped and there is a number on each tag, this indicates the day the gift should be opened.


To make things a little more mysterious, the box is topped with a layer of pretty cream shred from Lakeland.


I shall be back later today with my next post.


Dionne


4 comments:

  1. I know how much hard work has gone into achieving this but what a fabulous result. That box is beautiful in every respect.Iwould love a dress made from that stunning fabric. The recipient is one lucky lady! X

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    1. Hi Lisette

      Thank you for your lovely kind words, it is such a shame you cannot see the fabric in all of it's glory.

      Dionne xx

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  2. Hey Dionne, what a wonderful surprise to see your blog name pop in my reader... 3 times actually! lol. I love your advent boxes, I remember the snow globe candle holder, love that one! This one is fantastic, I do love the traditional colour palette, and poinsettias are always a favourite of mine! Great idea with the stuffing on top, makes it look like a real surprise package!! I love the roses and dots one as well, what a unique shaped box that is!! hugs :)

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    1. Thank you so much Pamellia. You are going to see my name quite a lot for the next day or two I am afraid, I have about 300 photos to blog now that I have a card reader. Mind you I am still up to my ears trying to make Christmas presents and cards, so my time is being shared between the two.

      I love making these boxes but they do take a few days to make, worth it though.

      Dionne xx

      PS Sorry I have not been on your blog recently, I will catch up in a few days.

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Thank you for visiting my blog, I look forward to reading your feedback on my work. I hope you will visit again.

Dionne