Let the Gift Giving Begin!

December is usually my busiest craft month. I try and give as many Handmade Gifts as possible. So this month I thought I would just share with you my Christmas Gift Crafts as I won't be doing much blog specific crafting.

Most of them won't be Burlap. However, I hope they inspire you just as much as my Burlap gifts and give you some ideas to create your own Handmade Gifts.

Luckily my Husband never reads my Blog - so let's start with him.

Recently we went to Hamilton Island in Queensland for a holiday. Whilst we were there I was able to do a painting class. It was so lovely to spend 2 hours re-visiting a medium I haven't used in years. Inspired by the class and the beautiful Hamilton Island scenery, I came home and created this painting for my Husband.

He loves sailing and Hamilton Island is famous for it's race week. So I downloaded some photos of the Hamilton Island Race week for inspiration and crated this acrylic on canvas. Once dried I then applied a resin glaze to give it some extra shine and make it really pop. I framed it in a frame from IKEA.

One down, about 20 more to go!

10 Fun Facts about Burlap

Today, I thought I would share with you some little know but interesting facts about Burlap.

1.   It originated from India which it was used for rope and paper production
2.  The English brought it to Britain where the Scottish first spun it into yarn
3. Bangladesh and India are the worlds largest producers of Burlap, closely followed by China, Myanmar, Brazil and Thailand

Burlap Bag Lady at the Brisbane Craft Fair Christmas Gift Workshop

The Brisbane Craft Fair starts next weekend, and I am so excited to have a stand there! The fair runs from Wednesday 16th to Sunday 20th of October at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

I will be running a free workshop at 1.30pm everyday in Workshop Room 4 and I would like to invite you all to attend.

Easy Christmas Gifts to make in 10 minutes or less

Learn how easy it is to make your own Christmas Gifts for Friends and Family. You will learn 3 easy gifts that you can make in under 10 minutes each, that look fabulous and are very budget friendly! One general craft and two easy sewing projects. Includes free online pattern sheet. Never be stuck for a gift again!

Here is a sneak peak of one of the projects I'll be showing you:

Aqua and Cream Burlap Tote for handmade swap

It's swap time again and this time my recipient had Aqua and White as her favourite colours. Luckily I had just the perfect printed burlap to make her a gorgeous tote for summer.

I was in such a hurry to get it made and sent out, that I completely forgot to take photos along the way. So I will make another one soon and post the tutorial then.

Printed burlap is such a great way to add wow to a simple burlap tote. There are so many designs available in printed burlap in the major fabric stores at the moment I would highly recommend experimenting with it to create a perfect summer beach tote!

I hope Jo enjoys her new tote as much as I enjoyed making it!

Heart Shaped Pocket Warmers Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you my heart shaped pocket warmers which I made for Mary for the last Handmade Swap I participated in. Even though Spring has sprung here in Australia, I thought these might come in handy for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere who are just about to embark on your cool season.

So here is the tutorial of how I made them:

1. Cut two heart shapes out of felt. I used a printed felt for the front and a solid yellow for the back.