Tag: crafting

Monthly Digest

Monthly Digest | July 2021

bookishluna2 Comments

Hello and welcome to my monthly digest post where I talk about how the past month has gone in terms of reading, crafting, and random life events. This month was a really fun one. I did some reading I didn’t think I would get to and created quite a few things as well. I went on a few adventures, which was a great change of scenery since I have not really gone far from home over the last 15 months or so. Anyway, here is what happened over the past month!

Book stack of read books, current crochet project, and my D.I.Y. room spray.

Reading

  • Hauled The Domestic Life of the Jersey Devil by Bill Sprouse
  • Hauled Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yu
  • Read Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
  • Read Later by Stephen King LOVED
  • Hauled The Field House by Robin Clifford Wood
  • Hauled The House of Lobster Cove by Jane Goodrich
  • Hauled Writing on Stone by Christina Marsden Gillis
  • Hauled A Haunting Fog by Heidi Martin Washburn
  • Hauled Wild! Weird! Wonderful Maine! by Earl D. Brechlin
  • Read Cursed Objects by J.W. Ocker
  • Read How to Think Like a Roman Emperor by Donald Robertson LOVED
  • Read The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
  • Read Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power by Sady Doyle LOVED
  • Hauled and Read a story I cannot share, but know that it was great!

Total TBR Count: 35, Last Month: 33

Crochet & Crafting

Over this month I crocheted quite a bit, I made at least 4 market bags and gifted them to family members. I really need to make myself one in the future. Now that we can start using our own bags again I think it would be great to use for produce instead of the plastic bags. I did also made a ton of progress on the  Macchiato Crochet Poncho created by BrianaKdesigns. I am about 1/3 of the way done with it, but sadly I did not have the time to dedicate to it like I thought I would this month. I am planning on continuing this pattern in the upcoming month. Another crafting this I did this month was restore an antique picnic basket to use for my larger crochet projects because I have a few blankets I need to be making in the near future. I resealed it and even sewed a liner, a first for me! It even had button holes! As for the goal of making a room spray I ended up making the Mood-Boosting Blend room spray by Hello Glow. It included mixing up orange, lemon, eucalyptus, and peppermint essential oils with a little bit of vodka and filtered water. If you want to make some for yourself, I suggest checking out their post. I really loved how mine ended up smelling. I keep using it and I plan on making it again!

Life

Yard when staying with family.

This month was filled with a ton of really memorable things. As I mentioned in the start of this post, I went on a few adventures. The first being an almost 2 hour trip (one way) with a friend to a indie yarn store called Yarnia. I went a little over the top with picking up yarn because there were so many beautiful options I don’t see normally. Also, can I just say the name of this place is just perfect! A pun involving reading and yarn, not easily topped. I also decided while I was here I would attempt to maybe learn how to knit…it isn’t going so well. I am a crocheter and to be honest, I think it is going to be hard to break away from that.

Another thing I did was finally visit with family I have not seen in nearly 2 years. We got to spend a week together in the middle of the woods. It was so peaceful and calming. It was just great to spend quality time with them once again and also not have to deal with all of the people and congestion that goes on in my daily life. I ended up doing a lot of reading, relaxing, and just spending time outside. Spending time outside and in nature really is something I treasure because it also grounds me no matter what is going on in my life. I really wish I made it more of a priority because it makes such a difference. I will for sure need to work on that going forward.

I hope you had a wonderful July and have a few great memories to dwell upon in the future. I would love it if you shared something you tried or did over the past month. I also hope you have a wonderful month ahead!

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Monthly Digest

Monthly Digest | June 2021

bookishluna7 Comments

Hello and welcome to a run down of my past month. If you follow me over on twitter you will have seen that I want to share a bit more than just reading books with everyone so my monthly wrap ups are going to be sharing, of course, books, but also a few more things as well. Each month what I share might be different, but I want to share something that sticks out as a propionate memory or just some random things that sparked my interest. I hope you enjoy!

Reading

Current TBR Count is at 33 books.

Crochet & Crafting

This past month has been fun for crafting and crocheting. I completed my first granny square sweater without a pattern! I never really made anything before without a pattern and I actually really loved how it came out. On top of that I made quite a few market bags and made a huge chunk of progress in my ally blanket. I am hoping to finish that in the near future, I have never done a graphgan before and it takes a lot more time than I thought it would, but I am really liking how it is coming out.

On top of that I figured out how to transfer images to wood using Mod Podge, I feel like I am going to be using that in quite a few things in the future. I tested it out by making myself my own rune plate on a piece of cut wood. It came out fabulous! If I bought the same thing it would have been easily $35, I made it myself for about $12. This is one of the reasons why I love DIY so much!

Life

This past month I have been doing a lot of deep cleaning. I don’t know if it is because I am doing Summer cleaning instead of Spring cleaning, but I have been feeling the itch to purge a bunch of stuff I have not used in a while and clothing that isn’t really my style anymore. I have really been trying to acquire clothing and things I like and are truly my style. I think being at home so much over the past year I have kind of figured out what I really enjoy and want in my space. I think this month was just the month where I really started to follow through on it.

Anyway, that has been a bit of an incite into my life over the past month. I didn’t really make notes throughout this month because I didn’t know the direction I wanted this blog to go in, but now that I have an idea I think in next months digest you will see the difference. I hope you had a wonderful June!

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Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

Crochet Talk | October – December 2020

bookishluna4 Comments

Hello and welcome to a bit of a round up of my most recent crochet projects. I have quite a few to share today because I didn’t want to post any gifts for anyone so I didn’t ruin a surprise so be warned, there are quite a few projects today. Anyway, on to the projects!

The Projects

I used Patons North America Shetland Chunky in Deep Moss to make this Cowl. I used one of the patterns in the post called 4 Fun Stitches for Chunky Crochet Cowls by Daisy Farm Crafts that uses a front two loop half double crochet. I made this cowl for myself because I needed a new scarf for the winter because last year mine started to fall apart. I thankfully beat the cold weather!

I also made another cowl from 4 Fun Stitches for Chunky Crochet Cowls by Daisy Farm Crafts post. In this one I used the Crumpled Griddle Stitch. I don’t remember the yarn I used, but it colors changed from a dark brown to tan to green. I really liked how this one came out, it was the first time that I used a color changing yarn.

Next I made another cowl, but I made this one out of Bernat Crushed Velvet in Deep Gray. I followed another Daisy Farm Crafts pattern, this one is called Crochet Velvet Infinity Scarf. This yarn is so soft I ended up buying more of it to make some other projects. The pattern took advantage of working around posts in the stitches, which was fun and gave a ridged pattern. This is is another pattern that I ended up using a few times because it was so textural and has more dimension.

Next I made a tic-tac-toe game for a family member. I didn’t follow a written pattern, but I did follow a video Crochet Tic Tac Toe Game | Truc Nguyen Handmade. I used a few shades of blue to differentiate the different pieces, but still tied together. I thought it would also be helpful for my family member to teach shades of color etc. I also like how textural this pattern is with the yarn crocheted through the other parts to create writing of sorts. It was a challenge to complete, but I am really happy with how it came out.

I then got very excited to get my roller skates and decided to crochet a skate leash. I followed the pattern called, Crochet Roller Skate Leash by Crafting Callie. I used a gray cotton and I really loved how it came out. It also looks like a yoga mat strap. I can’t wait to use it when I get my skate in a few weeks.

My most recent project was a snake that I made with Bernat Crushed Velvet in a green color. I followed a pattern by  @niyazova_toys on instagram, but also off of this website called https://amigurum.com/. It was a lot of fun to make a stuffed animal and it is so soft because it is made from this velvet yarn. It also gave it a scaly look as well! I made this one for myself since it was something new and I don’t like to give someone my first attempt at something new. Happily, it came out near perfect.

What have you be doing to pass the time as of late?

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Hauls & Unboxings

Crochet Haul | The Hook Nook

bookishluna5 Comments

Hello and welcome to a crochet centered post. I recently ordered from a crochet and knitting company that I have never heard of before called The Hook Nook which was founded by Jessica Carey. I will openly admit this, I am envious of her vibe and I have more outfit inspiration than I thought I could ever have found on her social media. Of course this led me to her website and I ordered quite a few things.

THN Iridescent Ends Weaver – Currently $10

Last year I made a beautiful temperature blanket and I really loved the process. That is until I have to weave in the ends of 366 ends thanks to leap year. Turns out there is a nifty little tool that can help with this process and I cannot wait to give it a try.

THN Skein Savers – Acrylic (Gold and Silver) – Currently $8

I don’t know about other crocheters, but I always end up with an open skein of yarn that I barely used in a current project. I try to put the wrapper back on, but the size is too different and the ends come loose and end up making a huge mess. This is the meant to help with that. It is a stretchy band that keeps your opened and used skein in order and stop them from making a birds nest while in storage waiting to be used in another project.

THN Designer Interchangeable Crochet Hook Set – Currently $40

Lastly, is this really nifty interchangeable crochet hook set. I have been seeing them for years, but never came across ones while I shopped in person. My go to hooks are Clover, but I really wanted a set I can easily take with me while in the car or somewhere where I have size options. Plus, they came in a really nice carrying case. I tried them out briefly and they felt great in my hand, but I suggest giving them a quick wipe down before using. They had a bit of gunk on them from manufacturing.

Some nice bonus items that they sent my way are a few branded stickers, a pin, and aa yummy serving of yogi Honey Lavender Stress Tea. All of which was a really nice touch and the branded items were adorable and I can’t wait to stick them on things.

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Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

Crafting | Making My Own Book Sleeve

bookishluna16 Comments

Hello and welcome to a DIY testing post! I have always loved using book sleeves for my books since I always am carrying one around with me. Well, I recently picked up a sewing machines and I wanted to finally give making one on my own a try. I came across the following video tutorial on youtube and it seemed very simple. I made a few following the tutorial perfectly and another adapting it for my ereader. This tutorial is called: DIY | Book Sleeve | Tutorial by Craftastic Artist. I highly suggest taking a look at it yourself, it is only about 1 min and 30 sec.

I will start off by saying the instructions are really straight forward and the video is done in such a wonderful way you can actually see everything and hands don’t get in the way. I was able to follow along wonderfully. My first few attempts I followed the tutorial to a T and here are the results.

I will start off by saying I loved this green colored fabric the the pin up zombies were fun for Halloween. I actually made three of these and gifted them to friends and loved ones. I made the mistake of placinbg the pattern upside down, but other than that I loved pretty much everything. One thing I would have liked would have been the edge that is sewn with a lip, I would have preferred that to be bigger. Also, this side only fits mid sized paperbacks and smaller. So, I would modify the measurements in the future, but the tutorial is good. I just wish the pattern stated book size plus a length to aid in adapting it.

Adapting

So the second time around I wanted to make a cover for my kobo reader. So, I needed to adapt the pattern a bit. I ended up cutting the fabric 8.5 inches by 16 inches. The one thing I realized about this pattern when adapting it was you use A LOT of fabric with the two different levels of sewing. The first being attaching all of the pieces of fabric together and the second is creating the pouch. Even though I added more than 2 inches of extra fabric this almost ended up being too small. In the future I would add an additional inch height-wise and maybe another inch width. But, I am no professional since sewing is new to me.

In the above picture you can really see the two “levels” of sewing you are doing and you can see how much space is lost in this manner. But, I think I learned a lot from this and it still managed to fit my ereader sideways so it is protected and I am happy.

If you could not tell from my tarot covered fabric I took advance of halloween fabric being on sale, but I really do like the muted colors used. I think it came out better the second time because I learned a lot and was more aware of my placement and pinning of things. I think going forward I am going to get even better at it and make changes as needed.

Overall, I really liked how straightforward and simple this tutorial is. It was helpful to see them planning it all out and their clear pictures. I might try to find a tutorial for a bigger size to try and compare the two patterns and see if I can find a style that better suits my needs and wants. I hope you liked a little peak at my sewing adventures, if you know any good tutorials for a beginner like me, please send them my way!

Do you use a book sleeves? Have you ever made one before?

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Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

Crochet Talk | September 2020

bookishluna13 Comments

Hello and welcome to another little post about my most recent crochet adventures. This past month I started to work on some presents for the holiday season so I have been hard at work and may have already broken one of my hooks! But, I am so happy with how things are coming out and the progress I am making because before we know it, it will be time to give these items away! Any who, here are the ones I have been working on and completed this past month.

Easy Crochet Velvet Twist Headband by Daisy Farm Crafts, here you can find the Written Pattern and Video Pattern. So, this one was a spur of the moment project I was just going to make a scarf, but I came across this pattern and I have never worked with velvet yarn before so I wanted to give it a try. This was so simple and easy and it has the best little detail if you ask me. I might even make myself one when I am done with all my other crochet plans.


This was created by Grace Forthefrills, you can find the patter here for free, Easy Boho Placemats. I am making 2 sets of 6. I had to stop after two because I ran out of yarn, but thankfully as I write this I got a yarn delivery and I will be able to continue today or tomorrow. I am really loving how these are coming out and I am so glad to be working with cotton yarn again. I really love it more than the synthetic ones, but sometimes those are best suited for the job.

This was created by Daisy Farm Crafts, here you can find the written pattern: Crochet Velvet Infinity Scarf. This is the scarf I am pairing with the headband pictured above. Originally aI was going to do this pattern in wool, but I had enough of the velvet yarn to make it a matching set instead of just complimentary colors. While this yarn was the most soft I have ever worked with, be aware, it is so slippery! It was a really nice challenge and I felt myself actually getting better with crocheting after this project since I tried quite a few new things.

What have you be doing to pass the time as of late?

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Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

DIY Adventure | Plant Stand

bookishluna14 Comments

DIY12:17

Hello and welcome to me sharing a recent DIY I made! I am by no means a professional builder nor is this post a tutorial or building instructions. This is just for entertainment and to share what I made. I recently realized I needed more room for my plants by my window sill. My current method was using my TBR cart. Well, with 10 plants, it isn’t really doable anymore. I searched for months and I could not find a stand or bench that fit my needs so I then searched for a DIY and I came across Shabby Grace Blog’s $10 DIY Plant Stand and it was just what I was looking for. The size I would be able to adjust and the paint pallet as well.

So, I will say I came across a few issues with this DIY, the main issue being the size of the screws. I needed a max of 2 1/2 inches, for some reason this DIY called for 4. inches. If I did that with 2×4 like she used I would have gone right through the top. I also did not have a table saw so cutting a 2×4 along the length was not possible so it stayed the same width. But, I think it was a great guide and jumping point for me.

Here is a picture where I already started attaching the legs to the top of the table. I have to say that this design I found to be really stable. It has the three 2×4 screwed together by the base holding the legs on. Then the legs are supported by another piece of wood, which you will see in the next picture.

In this picture you can see I stained the top a dark gray color, you can also see the support against the back collecting the two legs as well. As I said, this is a pretty stable table, I think it will be more than perfect for my plants. Following the stain I sealed it and the next step was to paint the legs white for a it of a contrast. I will admit I am not the best when it comes to being neat and painting or staining so I had a bit of a clean up to do before painting the legs.

Lastly, here is a picture of the finished product! The legs are a very bright white and the top is just dark enough of a gray stain to be a contrast, but not too dark for this room. I decided to place my giant green jug underneath to add a bit of a decoration, at least for the time being. On top you can see my pilea plant, my ZZ plant I just propagated, that was an experience! Next to that is my snake plant and my mother ZZ plant.

I am really in love with how this came out and to believe I made it with my own two hands! It is empowering to be able to make something like this for yourself. Especially when you have been looking for month and months and nothing you found in the store was quite right. Well, thank-you for reading about my adventure.

What is the last thing you made?

Have you ever made furniture before?

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Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

Crochet Projects | July 2019

bookishluna4 Comments

DIY12:17

So, if you were not aware, I love to crochet. I have done it for years, but this year I have really fell in love with it. I have made blankets, hats, and other goodies and I only want to keep going. I wanted to make a point of sharing more of the things I love outside of reading so I thought I would do a monthly post about my WIPs and completed projects.

In the past I shared a post called, Crochet Project | Making a “Project Bag”. I loved sharing this, but I make a lot of things and I didn’t want to overload my blog with projects. So, I figured a monthly check in would be a good balance. Let me know what you think. Anyway, here are my WIPs!

-Temperature Blanket-

So, if you are unfamiliar with a temperature blanket pretty much you have how many colors you want and you assign a temperature range to them. So, as you crochet the colors you use are determined by the temperature of the day. I tend to wait until I have a few days worth of data, but other people crochet a row a day. I started this in June, so I will finish this May 31st, 2020! Note, only June is pictured below. I will put an updated picture in the next update!

Ravelry Link with Notes: Crochet Temperature Blanket

Inspiration: Knitalieco 2017 Temperature Blanket

-Crochet Tarot Pouch-

So, this one I am pretty happy with, it is the first item I have ever made without a pattern. I just mashed together a few different stitches I have learned over the last year and came up with this. It is a cute little envelope pouch with a loose tie to hold it closed. I was thinking about putting on a button, but I love this boho look. I also love that this can be used for so many different things, just need to adjust the length of the starting chain.

Ravelry Link with Notes: Crochet Pouch

What should I try to make in the future?
What did you think about my projects?

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Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

DIY | Enamil Pin Display

bookishluna8 Comments

DIY12:17So, I recently realized I have a ton of enamel pins, but they are all sitting in the bottom of a drawer or in a cup of some sort. I love pins and have since I was young. I started my collection when I was in 3rd grade…. so it has been a LONG time. I personally really enjoy collecting them because they are small and compact since I don’t have a ton of space. But, at this point I hide them away. I would prefer to display them and have the ability to look at them.

The main reason I would love to look at them is because I only buy them when I am visiting a new place or on a special occasion. I would love to be able to walk into my space and look at the happy memories. So, I went to google and typed in “Enamel Pin Display” and found the following inspiration.

image 0

This turns out to be from the Etsy shop PinnyslugDesign. So, if this DIY does not workout for me, I will be buying them. But, I am hoping it does work out because I can actually say I have everything I need think I need to make these myself! How often does that actually happen?

Divider 2

Materials needed

  • Embroidery Hoop
  • Fabric
  • Exacto knife

Optional

  • super glue
  • needle
  • thread

Progression Images

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I am so happy with how these come out. I ended up leaving the ends raw until I fill them up until I am satisfied. When I have all the pins I want on them I am going to sew the edges in with some embroidery floss that I have laying around as well as put some glue around the edges so they don’t shift to much when I sew them.

I love how simple and cute these are and how I can easily add different sized hoops as my collection grows. I also don’t have to worry about finding the exact same frame or whatever. Raw hoops are always around and don’t really ever change.

How do you think I did recreating this DIY?

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Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

DIY Tested | Sprayed Edges, Can You Guess the Book?

bookishluna6 Comments

DIY12:17

It has been a little bit of time since I have shared a DIY with you all, but I have been seeing sprayed edges all over the place the last few weeks. I have been seeing it pop up in my youtube feed quite a lot. Some of these videos were talking about how they liked it, some talking about how they hate it, and some of them are DIYs on how to create this book on your own books. I finally got to a point where I needed to try and do this to one of my books.

I ended up seeing two types of methods being used. The first is using acrylic paint from a tube and painting it onto the book with a sponge or paint brush. I really liked the details that can be made with this option. Then I saw another method where you can use spray paint and acrylic paint. I think a  year ago I saw Little Book Owl try this with Nevernight, you can see the video here: PAINTED PAGE EDGES | Defacing Nevernight.  While I really like this idea I wanted to start off simple. So, when I came across the following video I wanted to give it a try.

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So, for this DIY I needed a few things, some I did not have and did not want to spend a lot of money on. I didn’t have an airbrush, but my Boyfriend does. So I asked him to help me out with this DIY. I did like how in the video he talks about how you can just use a spray can, but I thought it would be fun to try my boyfriends airbrush. I also needed paint, tape, and a book. My BF supplied the thinner needed for the paint, the airbrush, and a bunch of effort!

The most difficult part of this entire process was getting the airbrush to work, but it turned out the one by BF went to use first was actually broken. Thankfully he was gifted another one and on day two… yes day two we were able to complete the DIY. We did not finish the first day because we were trying to use the first airbrush and we ended up using all of the daylight trying to fix the broken one.

Also, just like in the video using less stick tape so you don’t damage the book is great, but sometimes it did not want to stick at all. That was a little aggravating at times, but well worth the effort so random parts of your book aren’t painted. I am glad this video gave you a few tips to help with it and gave me a few idea how to cover the book without using a TON of tape.

If you can guess what book I spray painted please write it in the comments I am curious to see if anyone can figure it out. I will give you a hint, it has been released in 2019.

Anyway, I really loved doing this DIY and I plan to do it again in the future now that we have a working airbrush. It was pretty straight forward and I was very worried about over saturating the pages and cause them to ripple, I didn’t have that problem at all. The pages are still unaffected and sit as intended, with the added bonus of being personalized a bit. It was also great fun with the BF to sit and do this together. It is wonderful when your hobbies overlap!

Do you like sprayed edges?

Would you do this to your books?

Do you know what book I painted?

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