Canvas Houses

Wow - the sun is shining today and we have blue sky and puffy clouds!  Seems to have been grey for so long that whilst it's still cold, it's a gorgeous sight and lifts my spirits.  Everything seems so much better when the sun shines!

This fortnight at Try it on Tuesday the challenge is for your project to include stitching - real or faux.  I love adding stitching to my projects although my sewing machine does not feel the same so we have a rather tricky relationship!!  Fortunately for my machine, this project was a hand sewing one so it could stay sulking in the corner ...

We are very lucky to be sponsored by Crafty-Emblies who are offering a £10 store voucher to the winner! 

 

I made these canvas houses for a good friend of mine who wanted to use them to promote the kits she was selling.  The canvas came pre-cut and I also had the string, beads and some stuffing supplied.  

I started by sketching out the design for each house in pencil before using acrylic paints to create each one.  They are painted on both sides but I forgot to photograph the backs before parting with them so I can only show the fronts which is a shame as the pink house has a flowering creeper growing all over it but you'll just have to imagine it!  

Once dry, I half stitched them up before stuffing them using the filling supplied plus some additional soft toy filling.

I painted the beads to match each house and plaited some of the string before threading the beads.  The strings were then glued into the houses to ensure they stay put and the bottom sewn up.

They are a really fun project so long as you remember to punch the holes with a bradle rather than try to get the needle to do the work.  My thumb was testament to my mistake on the first one where I hadn't realised this was the way to go!!

Hope you get some sunshine in your day too ... xx