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Tips and Tea on Tuesdays

Dec6

On Tips and Tea on Tuesdays, I will cover a topic and hopefully provide you with some tips that will be helpful! And just as an afterthought, tea may occasionally be a cup of Joe!

cup of coffee

Tea today is as you can see, a mug of coffee. It is cold out, and I just wanted to have a sip of JOE. As I was sipping in my workroom, I came across some cardboard cones left over from a weaving project. I got to thinking about the shape, and thought, hmmm, this looks like it wants to be a tree. So I pulled out my ribbons, trims, lace, buttons, and started to play.

Wire Ribbon Cone Trees
Lace and Rhinestone Cone Trees

Tip: Wire Ribbon Cone Trees

  1. Buy a cardboard cone at your local craft store.
  2. Select the ribbon or ribbons that you want to use.
  3. Start at the bottom of the cone. Wrap the ribbon around the cone, cut off the length needed plus 1″.
  4. Place this onto the cone, with the bottom edge of the ribbon even with the bottom of the cone.
  5. Glue this end to the cone. Fold the remaining end over 1/2″, and pin.
  6. Wrap the length around the cone, remove the pin, and glue this end over the beginning end.
  7. Repeat this step, with the same ribbon or a variety of ribbons, slightly overlapping the previous row, until the cone is covered.
  8. Add a bow to the top, and small ornaments, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Tip: Lace and Rhinestone Cone Trees

  1. Buy a cardboard cone or a Styrofoam cone at your your local craft store.
  2. Select a 2 – 3 yard length of lace with one edge that has a ruffle.
  3. Start at the bottom of the cone. Pin one end of the lace to the cone with an appliqué pin, so that the ruffle is even with the bottom of the cone.
  4. Wrap the lace around the cone at a slight angle, slightly overlapping the previous row, and spiraling up the length of the cone.
  5. Cut off the excess lace at the top of the cone, plus 1/2″. Fold the edge over, and pin this to the cone.
  6. Using straight pins, decorate the tree with a length of rhinestone or pearl trim for a garland, or substitute an old rhinestone necklace.
  7. Pin a ribbonworked flower, or and old dress pin to the top of the cone as the tree topper.
  8. Pin buttons or old earrings in place with straight pins for the ornaments.

Happy tea drinking and stitching to you! ~Christen

PS: If you have any questions or thoughts, just leave a comment! See Tips, Tricks, the Basics, for more helpful ideas.

Friday’s Favorites: Decorating with Lace and Jewels

Dec2

I love to decorate for the holidays. I have quite a collection of lace, buttons, and old jewelry bits, and try to find ways to incorporate them into my holiday decorations.

Metal Ornament Tree
Lace Christmas Tree
Lace and Rhinestone Cone Trees

The first tree here, is actually a metal jewelry holder, with a bowl to catch your loose bits of stuff. I have used it to display my collection of vintage mercury glass ornaments and garlands. I placed vintage tinsel garlands in the bottom of the bowl, then nestled a collection of vintage swan shaped clip-on tree ornaments around the base of the tree. I gathered together a collection of vintage dress pins and single earrings, and added these throughout the branches.

The Lace Cone Trees, are resting in a silver leaf tray, with a garland of bells wrapped around the base. There are two vases flanking this group, filled with vintage mercury glass ornaments and vintage glass beads. See my Tips and Tea on Tuesdays post December 6, 2022, for directions on how to make a cone tree.

The Lace Christmas Tree hanging at the top of the picture is comprised of bits and pieces of lace that had been a salesman’s sampler. I added additional pieces of lace, and some vintage buttons. This project is a free handout that I am offering to my readers as a gift, from me to you.

Happy Stitching to you! ~Christen

Tide Pools Nature’s Treasures

Oct30

Tide Pools Natures Treasures

Tide Pools Nature’s Treasures

Being a native of Southern CA., a shell lover from early child hood, and an avid collector I am drawn to the ocean, the sand, the waves, the tide-pools and all of the treasures that you can find.

beach sand

I started my project with birch bark collected many years ago from our cabin outside of Toronto, Ontario Canada. This I used for the sand, and the inside of the bowls.

I then crumpled up pieces of cotton paper to create the waves, and rocks. I stitched these together with cotton and rayon threads on my sewing machine. I placed this on an old wooden tray, that had seen better days.

The next step was to create the actual tide pool rock formations that capture the sea life and shells.

I started with Timtex and more cotton paper. I cut round shapes in three different sizes. I layered cotton paper over these, and cut out round pieces of birch bark for the center of the bowls.

I stitched the layers together on the sewing machine. I then cut darts into the circles, and over lapped these to form the bowl shape. The last step was to cut the edges of each bowl and then machine stitch over these edges.

shells, sea life and kelp

shells, sea life and kelp

I had an abundance of real shells that I had collected over the many years of beach combing. I had a great time selecting which of these would be included into my beach scene.

I also had some old celluloid buttons that were somewhat grungy, but the colors matched and the patterning looked like sea urchins to me, these are interspersed amongst the bowls.

I thought that it would be cool to include shells and sea life that I had made from ribbons, crochet and embroidery. I started to play and this is what I came up with:

  • A crochet length of kelp with cord and pearl cotton, and grape shells at each leaf (these have a florist wire glued in the center to attach to the kelp)
  • Crochet and embroidered snail shells
  • Embroidered sea urchins, sea anemones and limpet shells
  • Embroidered and gathered ribbon coral
  • Ric-rac coral and star fish
  • Plumes of something made from rayon cord (I am not sure what these are but I liked them)

close-up view of three sizes of bowls

close-up view of three sizes of bowls

Happy beach combing and treasure hunting, enjoy- Christen!

National Sewing Month

Sep22

Day 22

Question: What sewer hasn’t heard of the Sunbonnet Sue? She appears in all kinds of ways, including quilts, small wall hangings and even pin keeps. The pretty little Sue below, belonged to my Grandmother, and as you can see, she is made from real felt. The Sue on the right is my version of the pin keep, working with synthetic felt, lace, buttons, ribbon and perle cotton.

Grandmas
My version

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep17

Day 17

Question: Do you sew functional forms for the home, or do you like to create whimsical additions?

felt cat
Scrappy Pete
felt cat
Phat Matt
felt cat
Patches and Pockets
felt cats

Phat Matt and Friends by Christen Brown

Phat Matt and Friends is a PDF lesson that I offer on the website. This is a fun project that uses felt, perle cotton and buttons.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep15

Day 15

Question: Do like to work with felt? I find that this is a great way to teach a simple project, that can be embroidered and embellished.

Sea Urchins
Mushroom Garden
Blue Bird Nest

In the above pieces, I used the synthetic felt squares that you can find at your local craft store. I used a variety of perle cotton threads, to work the embroidery stitches, which can all be found in my book Hand Embroidery Dictionary, by C&T Publishing.

Embroidered From the Heart by Christen Brown

This group of hearts are the examples from my Embroidered From the Heart PDF class lesson. There are a variety of heart shapes to work with, which you can mix and match; embroidery and embellishment stitches are also included in the 2 lessons. These make great gifts!

Happy Stitching~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep27

Day 26

What sewing enthusiast does not have a lot of precious scraps, that just can’t be thrown away?

3 1/2″ x 24″

Ivory and Lace by Christen Brown

This is my Scrap Roll, which is a project featured in my book, Beaded Embroidery Stitching. This piece does capture and keep all things feminine. The base is comprised of a collaged scraps and bits of lace, hankies, appliques, ribbons, buttons, beads and more. This project is embellished with both bead embroidery and bead woven stitches. The base is a painted wooden spool, adorned with lace, beads and a button.

3 1/2″ x 34″

Pansies and Sunflowers by Christen Brown

This is a slightly simpler version of the Scrap Roll (above). I used larger buttons, appliques, and rosettes, as well as wider trims for the base. The roll is embellished with bead embroidery. The button flowers have a floral wire stem, and are clustered together to create the center and base for the roll.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

Day 16 of FLOWERS GALORE!

May16

Day 16 of FLOWERS GALORE!

Fabulous Felt Florals

This group of colorful blooms is from my class Fabulous Felt Florals. These fast and easy flowers are just fun, fun, fun! Create a brooch, hair ornament, or decorate an object with these colorful, creative floral beauties. Several different flowers, leaves and embellishments will be made using a variety of shapes with the addition of machine and hand embroidery. The techniques involved are both machine and hand stitching. Fun for any time of year!

Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!

Melange a Trois: class/tutorial

Dec8

Melange a Trois: 3 lessons/$32.00

melange1Do you love mixed media, decorative paper, ribbon, lace, ephemera and collage? Well this is the perfect class for you then. You will learn how to combine all of these bits of gathered treasure and create them into gift envelopes, bags, and small boxes. Simple easy techniques, your sewing machine and a bit of imagination is all you need! There are two different envelopes to choose from; two sizes of the small gift bags; and two sizes of the mini matchboxes; with a bonus pattern for a gift tag.

Skill Level Beginning: sewing machine knowledge

Lesson 1: In this lesson I will discuss themes, gathering, storing and choosing your components. Then the fun begins with paper collage including copying, cutting and stitching techniques.

Lesson 2: In this lesson I will show you how to assemble the collaged gift envelope; how to collage and assemble a gift bag; and assemble the mini matchbox.

Lesson 3: In this lesson you will learn how to make the small envelope, gift tag and treasure keeper. Then the decoration begins for the envelopes, bags and boxes. These will be embellished with paints, pens, stamps, trims, ribbons, lace, buttons and more!

Class Information

These classes can be purchased at any time, there is no set schedule. The class can be ordered by contacting Christen: thestoreonthecorner@gmail.com. She will send you an invoice through PayPal.

Once the class is paid for, the supply list will be sent out. The lessons will begin one week after the purchase of the class, unless otherwise stated. You will receive an email with the lesson attached. The following lesson/s will arrive one week after the previous lesson.

A high speed internet connection is recommended, and you must have basic computer and internet skills. You will need to be able know how to download and save a document to your computer’s hard drive, open it and print out a copy.

You can contact Christen with any questions pertaining to the class/class information throughout the length of the class.

Class fees will not be refunded.

Happy Stitching,

~Christen

Embroidered From the Heart: class/tutorial

Dec6

Embroidered From the Heart: 2 lessons/$30.00

embroideredfromtheheart1Do you love hearts and embroidery as I do? These lovely little ornaments are perfect for any holiday or gift from the heart! Whether you are an experienced embroiderer or a beginner this class is for you. There are five basic heart shapes with thirteen different sizes. There are fifteen designs; ten ornament size and five mini ornaments. All you need to create these lovely ornaments are a few basic embroidery and beading techniques and a little bit of imagination.

Skill Level Beginning: embroidery knowledge helpful 

embroideredfromtheheart2 Lesson 1: This class will cover the cutting techniques, which include straight and pinked zigzag edges; pinked zigzag strips and reverse appliqué. The embroidery stitches include: chain stitch, single feather stitch, blanket stitch, lazy daisy, French knot, straight stitch, single beads and seed bead groups. Stabilizing and assembly directions are also included. The directions and designs for heart shapes 1 – 2 will be covered.

Lesson 2: This class will cover the additional cutting and stitching techniques, which include harlequin piecing, patch piecing, stuffing, couched and laid threads. The directions and designs for heart shapes 3 – 5 will be covered.

embroideredfromtheheart3Bonus: Mini Hearts!

Class Information

These classes can be purchased at any time, there is no set schedule.The class can be ordered by contacting Christen: thestoreonthecorner@gmail.com. She will send you an invoice through PayPal.

Once the class is paid for, the supply list will be sent out. The lessons will begin one week after the purchase of the class, unless otherwise stated. You will receive an email with the lesson attached. The following lesson/s will arrive one week after the previous lesson.

A high speed internet connection is recommended, and you must have basic computer and internet skills. You will need to be able know how to download and save a document to your computer’s hard drive, open it and print out a copy.

You can contact Christen with any questions pertaining to the class/class information throughout the length of the class.

Class fees will not be refunded.

Happy Stitching,

~Christen