A New Project

Hi everyone!

I know I've been MIA for quite a long time here. I spent a lot of time working on Christmas gifts for friends and those I can't share before the great unwrapping on the 24th of December. But I just started a bigger project, a new granny square blanket. The first three squares are hooked, 177 to go. I don't really expect to get this one done before next winter but let's see ;)

This is how the first three squares look like. Each square will be about 13x13cm.

And this is my concept:

As I'm not sure whether or not I'll manage to get on here again before Christmas, I already wish all of you a Merry Christmas and of course a Happy New Year! See you all again in 2013!

Yours,
Uta

Christmas Cards

I just finished these two Christmas cards and I must say I really like them :) They turned out pretty nicely!
The snow flakes and the embossing I did with my new Big Shot machine.

Are you guys in Christmas mood already?

- Uta -

Stocking up on Stockings

A great while ago I started crocheting little Christmas stockings. I thought they might make cute little gifts for my friends. In the end I made 10 of them in red and white:

- Uta -

Simple Christmas Trees

Yes, I began to stock up on Christmas decoration!
One of my favourite sources of inspiration is pinterest. A couple of weeks ago I found a few crochet Christmas trees over there. Unfortunately, the tutorial was missing. But luckily, it's absolutely easy to make these cute little trees. All you need is a cone (I made some out of paper), your crochet hook, some yarn and glue - et voilà:

- Uta -

Sunflower

I made this one a couple of days ago. It only took me an hour. I think it turned out pretty cute :)

My pattern for this little sunflower can be found right here!


I wish all of you an awesome weekend!

- Uta -

Lace-like Scarf

After two wonderful weeks in Windy City, I'm finally back home! And I've got something to share. I started working on this project last year in January I think and never really managed to finish it. For whatever reason I finally felt like crocheting it to the end this year in September - et voilà:

I hope you all had an amazing weekend! I just spent two hours resetting my iPad. Yeeha, what a mess. Btw, did anyone of you come across a usefull crochet or crafting app?!

- Uta -

Help Needed!

Hey everyone,

I think I need your help. You know, I got this amazing Big Shot machine from my parents but don't have any dies yet. At the moment I'm in the US and let's be honest, those dies seem to be cheaper over here than in good old Germany. Therefore I was wondering where I could by them in the US or better to say in Chicago. Ideas anyone?

Greetings from Windy City,
Uta

Iceland

I've started working on some Christmas presents lately therefore I'm not able to share my current creations until after the holidays. In the meantime, let me share some impressions from my trip to Iceland:

Island 2012

I wish you all a nice weekend!

- Uta -

Stars And Pom-Poms

I felt like getting rid of some yarn scrapes, this is the result, some granny stars and a lot of pom-poms :)

- Uta -

In Memory of 9/11

In memory of 343 heroes that lost their lives on 9/11 - fathers, husbands, brothers, cousins, uncles, friends.

They ran in when everybody else ran out...

Egg Cozies

My friend Kristin (the one I visited in Berlin a couple of days ago) asked me whether I could crochet some egg cozies for her. Well, sure! This is what came out:

- Uta -

Stocking up on fall decoration

My favorite season of the year is definitely fall! It's slowly getting colder outside, the days are getting shorter and it's so much fun to cuddle up under a blanket in the evening with a good book and a cup of hot tea. And as fall is not too far away I started to stock up on my fall decoration. I crafted some simple things for my windows using some felt owls, leafs and pumpkins. What do you think?

Oh and by the way, I'm currently working through 600+ pictures from my Iceland trip. Going to post some soon :)

- Uta -

A jar filled with granola

First of all sorry for being MIA for so long. I spent a couple of days in Berlin and afterwards a week in Iceland where I had an amizing time! But now I'm back in good old Germany ready to share some of my self-made stuff with you.

When meeting old friends I haven't seen for a very long time I normally bring some gifts. Everyone does in such situations I guess. Well, in the middle of August I travelled to Berlin to spend three days with my friend Kristin. I haven't seen her for over a year, I was so excited! As a gift I brought her a jar full of self-made granola. I also made the labels myself.

Hope you all had a sunny weekend!

- Uta -

Tea Bag Folding Revisited

I just wanted to post an update on the little stars I made off tea bag papers a couple of weeks ago.

I glued a couple of them together, added some pearls and a hanger:

- Uta -

Granny Hangers

A friend of mine send me some magazine pages with pictures of beautiful granny hangers. That inspired me to this project. I did not copy the design of the hangers from the magazine, I tried to make some different ones. What do you think?

- Uta -

Photo Album Chicago

I finally managed to put some of my photos from that little Chicago trip into an album :) Take a peek at it right here:

Photo Album Chicago (June/July 2012) from Uta Weingarten on Vimeo.

Hope you all had a great weekend, one that wasn't as rainy as mine ;)

- Uta -

Taking Notes

It took me just 10 minutes to make this little notebook:

What do you think?

- Uta -

DIY Bracelets

This time I got inspired by these two pins over at pinterest:

Source: modernhomedesign.org via Audrye on Pinterest Source: Uploaded by user via Uta on Pinterest

I combined them and that is what came out:

- Uta -

Ring Holder: A Tutorial

Step 1: Choose a box, maybe recycle one. I myself used an old candy box.

Step 2: Prepare several equally sized strips of paper. Their width should match the one of the box you intend to use for your ring holder. Again try to recycle here, it's more eco-friendly. As you can see I simply used old news papers.

Step 3: Pick a paper napkin in the colour of your choice and cut it into stripes. The height of your box needs to be the width of your stripes. Of course you can also use fabric if you like.

Step 4: Glue the stripes from step 3 into your box as shown in this picture.

Step 5: Roll up the strips of paper from step 1. Make sure the paper rolls do all have the same diameter. In this step you will find out how many paper rolls you will actually need (plus minus one maybe).

Step 6: Wrap the paper rolls into pieces of paper napkins.

Step 7: Glue the rolls into the box and you're done!

- Uta -

Sorry, but Windy City blew me away

Hello everyone,

sorry for being MIA for soooo long! I just came back home from the USA where I spent two lovely but also busy weeks in Windy City Chicago (business travel). Crafty posts to come soon, I promise :)

In the meantime feel free to have a look at some pictures I took during my stay in Chicago:

Windy City June/July 2012

Have a great week,
Uta

Sherlock Holmes Collage: A Tutorial

Step 1: Materials and Equipment
You might need the following things:

• Picture frame
• One sheet of white paper for the background (should fit in your printer)
• One sheet of coloured paper for the papercutting
• One sheet of paper for the stencil (should fit in your printer)
• Pencil
• Rubber
• Scissors
• Cutter 
• Cutting mat
• Glue stick
• Computer with a printer internet access

Step 2: The Stencil
Search online for a Sherlock Holmes papercut you like and print it out in an appropriate size.
Afterwards cut out the stencil, turn it around and transfer it with a pencil onto the back side of the sheet of coloured paper.

Step 3: Cut
Now cut out the the shape you just drew on the sheet of coloured paper. You might need your scissors as well as a cutter at this point.

Step 4: Print
Afterwards, search for an appropriate text online. I recommend browsing Project Gutenberg. It offers a wide range of free ebooks.
Copy the text into a word processor (e.g. Microsoft Office Word), adjust its size and colour and choose a nice font. I went for Edwardian Script ITC in size 18 and chose a dark grey.
You may also have to adjust the edging here. Make it as small as possible. Then print it out.

Step 5: Glue
Now put just a few small dots of glue onto the back side of the Sherlock Holmes papercut and put it on the sheet of white paper on which you just printed some text.

Step 6: The Finished Collage
Put everything into a nice picture frame. I myself picked a NYTTJA picture frame from IKEA in red (25 x 34 cm) for 2€. They come in some really nice coloures and are definitely affordable.

Et voilà, you're done!

Have a great weekend!

- Uta -

Recycling Paper Box

I found the inspiration for this project while browsing Pinterest. Honestly, Pinterest is sooo addictive :)
Of course I used recycled paper (old paper bags).

I'm not sure yet what I am going to store in it. Maybe I'll place it on the chest of drawers in my bedroom and put some cosmetics in it, I'm not sure yet.

- Uta -

Ring Holder

I'm currently clearing out my wardrobe as well as a couple of other cupboards. Luckily, reorganizing all my clothes isn't such a big deal. I bought a new chest of drawers and spent a couple of Euros on new hangers and that's basically it. But now I'm trying to bring order into my jewelry. The first step is this self-made ring holder:

Now I'm searching for ideas for storing necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Feel free to inspire me and post some links in the comment section :)

- Uta -

PS: I'm working on the tutorial!

Sherlock Holmes Collage

I came up with the idea for this collage while reading my third Sherlock Holmes book. My home office is still in need of some decoration and as love reading why not hang a literature themed collage on the wall :)

- Uta -

PS: The tutorial can be found here!

Llamas, alpacas and other anipals

Sorry for being MIA for so long! I had some days off which I spent in the Lueneburg Heath visiting my cousin. We had so much fun working with her camels and horses as well as cuddling with her two cute cats. Last Wednesday, we got an invitation from a friend who's breeding llamas and alpacas. We spent some really great hours at her farm meeting all the animals there. Let me show you some pictures:

Llama and alpaca sit-in - they kept their eyes glued to us :)

Mummy and her 5 hours old sun :)

More llamas and alpakas :)

Me and an alpaca stallion doing a clear round :)

A poitou donkey

The cat - this lady is so cuddly :)

A knob goose

So many different kinds of animals, isn't it great :)

Have a great Sunday everyone!

- Uta -

Ugly Bunny No. 2

My sister saw the ugly bunny I made for a friend and asked me to make her one as well, that's what I hooked for her:

Can't wait to give her that little ugly doll, I hope she likes it!


Wool: Schachenmayr Bravo 8303 (purple)

Pattern: Ugly Bunny Bag Charm by Wayuki

- Uta -

4 Hearts Make 1 Shamrock

When I saw Debi's 4-heart square I thought "This would make a nice shamrock!" and I was right :)

Wool:
Schachenmayr Bravo 8226 (black)
Schachenmayr Bravo 8246 (pine)

Pattern: 4-hearts Square by Debi Y.


- Uta -