Posts

Showing posts from February, 2011

Free Crochet Patterns & Craft Tutorials List

Image
I thought it would be handy to have a list of all my free crochet patterns and craft tutorials in one place. So here you go!  These projects and patterns are the original designs of Bohemian Mermaid and are in all ways FREE. Go ahead and make them for sale, print and share, do whatever you like. Just please give credit to Bohemian Mermaid and link back to this blog. Enjoy!   ~Crochet Patterns~    Crochet Basics: A Handy Reference Basic Hat Beer Can Hat Erica's Tweed Cloche Easy Slippers ~Craft Tutorials~    Beer Can Hat   Making the Daphne Book   Outdoor Dog Bed Quick Recycled Notebook Painted Organza Flower (in progress) RockStar Can Tiara (in progress) ~Wedding Geekout~ Wedding Geekout  The Ring and Theme The Invitations The Clothing   The Jewels

Making the Daphne Book - Part 2

Image
Well, I am long winded as usual, so I'm continuing from Part 1 where I talked about tools and materials I used for the Daphne Book . Now I'll get into the process I used for developing the quiet book pages.  1. Design - I looked around the net a lot to get ideas, which also inspired more of my own ideas. Then I sat and sketched out my favorites. I thought about using different fasteners, counting, spelling, certain designs I knew I wanted to include like a robot and mermaid, etc. Very rough sketches, just to get the ideas down. I came up with 20 or so. Then I chose my favorites and decided I'd make 10 pages.   2. Refine - When I had a design I knew for sure I wanted, I would start a new page in my sketchbook and draw it out in the correct size. My pages are 9"x9" finished. I drew a 9" square and penciled my design, making changes until it was just right including all the details. I kept everything at least 1/2" away from the edges. I also consi

Making the Daphne Book - Part 1

Image
Man, can I just say again how fun this quiet book was to make?! Seriously fun. I guess I don't make things just for fun much anymore... getting into the zone of all the drawing, cutting, tracing, sewing. Figuring out stuff. It was very meditative, relaxing. I worked on this project for over 50 hrs, nearly every day for a month. And every time I got going, it was hard to stop. I needed that. It really got my happy artgirl juices flowing. Plus, who can beat this first birthday present? Nobody, that's who. It's all part of my plan for awesome auntie domination. I shared pics of The Daphne Book , and now I'd like to share a little about my process. Let's start with the materials...  Felt or Fabric or Both? After looking at many quiet books around the net, I decided using all fabric was the way to go for me. Certainly, felt is cheaper, easier to work with and could have saved me some headaches. But I just like the look of all fabric, and I wanted to go the old fas

The Daphne Book

Image
Okay, today I was finally able to give my gift to my niece. The quiet book I've been working on for the past month. For her first birthday, I wanted to make her something special that she could enjoy for a while. This will be something she can use as she grows over the next few years. Each page has a learning/playing activity. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It was so fun to do and some of the pages I just love. For now I'll post some pics, and I'll probably do another post about how I made it . The little girl page has a dress that unbuttons and little undies inside. The dolly looks like the one I gave Lil D at her mom's baby shower, Alice Monkey Kitty. Below, the phone page for phone talking. Of course the headset comes off. I was just thinking of things little kids like, so I made this pet the kitty page. I already had the fake fur. Oh and she can tie the bow on the kitty too. Some day. The one below is so cute! I'll find the link to wher

What?

Image
You think I should post more often than every other month? Oh. That's one way to go I guess. ..   The truth is, I haven't had much to report. The usual winter hibernation activities. Like, uh, nothing. Okay, that's not entirely true. At least for the past couple weeks, I've been going to the beach (we've been lucky enough to have sun and 60deg for a while!) and sewing a top secret project for my little niece's 1st birthday. I think it's safe to tell you it's a quiet book, my brother & SIL don't read this very often. After her birthday, I might post some pics and info. It's SO much fun to do... and turning out really cute! Back in Dec I did go through all my free crochet patterns and work up new samples of each. The idea was to take pics for a little pattern booklet. Most of those patterns were written years ago and the samples long gone. The only pics I can find are crappy, so I wanted new ones. I figured if I used good yarn, I could the