Kanzashi Flowers...

I like to find small projects that are portable. In the evenings I find it hard to sew at my machine.
Though  playing with making my yoyo's with my Clover makers. A member of my fiber arts group got me hooked on making the yoyo's and from that I went to see what other things I could make.
Kanzashi flowers caught my eyes. Diane Gilleland book explains how to make these beautiful flowers. Her blog is full of examples and information.

 http://kanzashi-in-bloom.com/blog

You can buy the templates from clover but this book is very enjoyable to read and look at. It has easy to follow instructions.

Here are some of the flowers I have made.

Petals...

See the yoyo's.

Yoyo's or buttons as centres. 

Hair clips, pins, quilts... of what fun! 

Fabric Beads and more

Over the past few months I have been playing with making fabric beads.
It has been fun and is something easy to do while I watch tv or when I am in the car (not driving as passenger).
After surfing  you tube to find out how to do it and watching a few video's I have made some beads. I have found that I do not like to use glue to hold them together. I have been using some double side sticky tape I bought at an art supply store. I have been using up my batik cotton scraps that I have been saving.
Here is the result.

And after adding some sparkly thread which I wrapped and stitched on again because I do not like glue.

And then I made some earrings.

And then I got hooked on making yoyo's (not the wooden child's toys) out of fabric scraps using my "Clover" yoyo makers that I bought sometime ago.  So I made these.

I am not sure what I will do with the yoyo and beads but I love the colours.  For now I will just make them for fun. 

I am enjoying wearing the earrings. 

Now to figure how I want to use them in a necklace. 

Great things to make and use in the future. 

Resources:

www.kristalwick.com    Kristal Wick - author,  video's, books and beads

www.thecreativeexplorersclub.com  Linda Mathews. This months tutorial from the Creative Explorers club of which I am a member. I can't wait to try our some of the techniques in it. 

Fun to play.