June 2012

Although snails might not be welcomed visitors in your garden, they are certainly a sign of summer! And, if they are not ravishing your tender young plants, they are cute as... well, cute as a bug's ear :) I know the wee ones are fascinated with snails, and the geek in me always marvels at the the mathematical formula, The Fibonacci sequence, that is visible in the spiral in a snail's shell. [Want to know more about the Fibonacci sequence... and who doesn't... you can find info on it HERE. BTW... when I can't sleep at night, I often do the addition for the Fibonacci sequence... strange but true!]

ANYWAY... Fibonacci aside, I made this sweet little snail to fit a 6" x 6" block but it can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. Check out our tips for cutting out felt HERE. The pattern for our Snail Applique Block can be found HERE. Enjoy!

Next week we will share a project using our lovely little snail, just in time for your summer nature walks :)

DIRECTIONS:
Cut out felt. 

Sew grass to block. Use a blanket stitch and 3 strands of floss across the top of the grass and a running stitch and 2 strands of floss for sides and bottom.

Pin shell in place. Tuck the tail and head under the shell to the dotted lines. Sew on head and tail using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss.

Sew shell to block using a blanket stitch and 3 strands of floss around the outside edge of the shell and a running stitch and 2 strands of floss along the bottom of the shell.

Add detail to the shell using a stem stitch for the spiral and straight stitches for the lines. Use 6 strands of floss for both.

Using 6 strands of floss, add antennas and eyes.  Use a stem stitch for the curves and a French knot on the ends and eye.

Using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss, sew leaf to block. Add vein using a stem stitch and 6 strands of floss.

For each flower, position an outer circle on the grass using the pattern as a guide. Place an inner circle on top of the outer circle. Using a straight stitch, sew the buds to the block using 6 strands of floss. The stitching should just overlap the inner circle. Make 5 straight stitches. These stitches do not need to be evenly spaced. They should be slightly askew. Refer to photo.

Using a stem stitch, embroider flower stems and leaves using 6 strands of floss.

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights. Read our FAQs found HERE for specifics or contact us at weefolkart@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Patterns may be used for personal use only. If you are interested in obtaining a Cottage Industry License so you can sell items made from our patterns, information can be found HERE.

The other day we talked about Letterboxing. Today, we are sharing a project on how to make a journal that is perfect to take on your letterboxing outings. Of course, you can use the journal for anything, but we thought the natural feel, plus the use of recycled items, made it a perfect companion for our time spent on the trail! We used our Snail Applique but you can decorate the journal any way you'd like.

This is a great, eco-friendly project. You can use recycled materials for the covers, inside pages and elastic band. We used a cereal box, printer paper that had minimal printing on one side and a rubber band that came on our broccoli stems. The stick was found in our backyard. The only new materials we used were a few sheets of decorative scrapbooking paper, but you could use any left over scrap paper. Another thing we love about this journal is how it is bound. You can undo the binding and change out the center sheets of paper if you would like… reusing your cover pages again and again.

Directions:

Take a sheet of 8.5" x 11" paper and cut it in half lengthwise creating a 4.25" x 11" piece of paper. You can reuse paper that has been printed on one side. Fold in half to 4.25" x 5.5" (printed side on the inside). Stack several sheets together. This will make the pages of your book. They will be double thick to help stop the stamp ink from bleeding through.

Punch holes in the open side 1/2” from the edges. If you have a lot of pages it will be difficult to punch through… so as long as you are careful lining up the edges you can just do a couple pages at a time.

To do the front and back cover, cut two piece of thin cardboard from either a cereal box, album cover, or an old folder to 5" x 6".

Decorate the cardboard with paper. To do this, cut a sheet of paper to 6" x 6.5". Glue the cardboard down in the center of the paper, wrong sides together, with one short side lined up, the three other sides with a 1/2” overlap. Fold the two corners of the paper in at a 45 degree angle over the cardboard. Glue the corners down.

Fold the three edges of the paper over all the way around and glue down.

You can now cut a 4.5" x 5.75" piece of plain paper to cover the inside of the covers and hide the folded down pieces, again line up the one short side exactly. Make a back cover to match.

Punch holes in the covers by using the pages as a guide.

Line up the gutter edge, and vertically center the pages. Crease the front cover one inch in from the edge with the holes so it bends freely to open. Decorate the front as you wish.

I reduced the Caterpillar Applique to 5" x 5" to fit on the cover (83%). I lined up everything with the outside edge (away from the holes) and glued it to the cover as if it were appliqued. Add any extra details you would like with a fine point permanent marker.

Now place your stick on the front side of the journal over the holes. You may need to break your stick to size. From the back, thread one end of the rubber band up through the top hole, going through the back cover, the paper inserts, and the front cover. This can be difficult. A crochet hook can be very helpful. Slip the rubber band over the top end of the stick. From the back, stretch the rubber band, and do the same for the bottom holes.

Your journal is now ready to hit the trails with you! When you fill your journal, simply remove the stick, and add more pages. Replace the stick. Next week we will have a post on how to make your own rubber stamps that can be used for letterboxing.

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights. Read our FAQs found HERE for specifics or contact us at weefolkart@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Patterns may be used for personal use only. If you are interested in obtaining a Cottage Industry License so you can sell items made from our patterns, information can be found HERE.

Hopefully you won't find this spider going up your water spout! I designed this applique because Bug wanted more bugs in his life :) When we were making stamps for our Letterboxing Nature Journals, Bug wanted something that "boys like". He was quite smitten with the spider, and since that time, this spider has appeared many places. It was designed to fit a 6" x 6" block but can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. For tips on cutting out felt, check out our blog post HERE. The pattern for this spider can be found HERE. Enjoy!

DIRECTIONS - Refer to pattern and photo for applique placements and cutting instructions.

Make a copy of the pattern.

Cut out felt using the pattern. Transfer any embroidery markings.

Using a running stitch, sew legs and body to block using 2 strands floss.

Using a running stitch, sew back marking to spider's body using 2 strands floss.

French knot eyes to body using 6 strands floss.

Using a stem stitch, embroider web using 6 strands floss.

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2012. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights. Read our FAQs found HERE for specifics or contact us at weefolkart@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Patterns may be used for personal use only. If you are interested in obtaining a Cottage Industry License so you can sell items made from our patterns, information can be found HERE.
 

PHOTO: 3-1-2010