Merry Christmas :)

Wishing you and your loved ones, a very 
Merry Christmas 

and a fabulous fun and festive holiday season!

Thank-you all so much for your wonderful support and encouragement throughout 2011 :)

See you all in 2012!

Cheers, Love Kris 

xxx

(Designs above from my new collection: Faded French :)

"Easy As" Fabric Roses

Do you like crafting at Christmas Time? 
Christmas is usually my favourite time of year to sit around the dining table, chatting and crafting with friends and family.
I've always loved easy - yet - Oh! so pretty crafts that add a vintage or handmade feel to your decorating - I think pretty fabric roses fit this brief perfectly and best of all they can be made at any time of year!

Easy As - Fabric Rose - Tutorial!
- Tear a strip of fabric / old scraps of cotton and/or linen fabrics are perfect for these pretty roses
(Note: changing the width and length of your fabric strips will create interesting variations in your roses
- Fray the edges of your fabric strip
- Tie a knot in one end of your fabric strip
- Wrap the remaining fabric strip around the knot (twisting as you go) 
- As you twist the fabric use a needle and thread to stitch (hold) fabric in place (or hold fabric in place with glue from a hot glue gun etc)
- When you have almost finished wrapping your rose, tuck the end of your fabric strip to the underside of your new rose
- Your new fabric rose can then be sewn onto ribbon to decorate presents etc
-Enjoy :)

Fabric Gift Tag Tutorial

It's the 1st December! - can you believe it?

For us the 1st December has always been the day when our old dusty box of Christmas Crafty Goodness gets pulled down from the back of the cupboard, and our home is decorated for Christmas (although I'm always so tempted to start earlier)

So today as well as decorating the tree, I've made some personalised Gift Tags (with a lovely handmade shabby feel) for the numerous "brown paper packages" soon to be placed under the tree!

Below is a little DIY tutorial, for my Fabric Gift Tags  ... Happy Decorating :)

Fabric Gift Tag Tutorial

Materials

1 x 3.5" x .5" cardstock rectangle (per gift card)

1 x 7" x 1" linen or burlap fabric rectangle (per gift tag)

Sewing Machine and thread (to match fabric)

Scissors

Hole punch and eyelet kit (or a button and thread)

Stamps, Stencil Kit or Fabric Paint to decorate

Method

- Cut cardstock rectangle to size

- Cut fabric rectangle to size and fray edges

- Wrap cardstock rectangle with the fabric rectangle to create fabric gift card

- Sew around all edges of gift tag (to the inside of the frayed edge)

- Using a hole punch make a hole in your gift tag about .5" in from one end of your gift tag (Or attach a button at one end of your tag)

- Trim any extra fabric /cardstock created by hole punch, to ensure a flat surface for eyelet

- Using hardware supplied with your hole punching kit attach eyelet

- Stamp, stencil, or paint your gift tag with a message or your recipients name etc

- Attach ribbon or twine (through the eyelet or around the button) and attach gift tag to your gift

- Voila :)

"No Sew" Christmas Ornament Tutorial

... seeing all the Christmas Decorations starting to appear in the stores earlier this week, I decided today to make some new fabric ornaments for the tree! ...
(I know ... I know ... where has the year gone?)

So using fabric swatches of my design "Linen Look Stars" in Cinnamon and Mint (as above) I made these - So Simple! - So easy! - No Sew Ornaments :)
Below is a little Tutorial, incase your wanting to make some too :)

"No Sew" Christmas Ornament Tutorial

Materials:
1 x 65mm Polystyrene Ball (per ornament)
1 x 8" square of fabric (per ornament)
Pins
Twine

Instructions:
- Tear 8 even strips of fabric
- Place 2 strips of fabric together at right angles
- Continue to add strips of fabric (as shown)
- Place Polystyrene Ball in the center of the fabric strips
- Wrap the fabric strips around the polystyrene ball
- Fasten fabric in place, with a pin (and add a loop of twine under pin if hanging ornament)
- Enjoy :)

French Linen Fabric Collection

How was everyones Halloween?
.... lots of scary fun, lollies and candies I hope! 

I was very excited to get some yummy candy myself this Halloween, when my latest Spoonflower order arrived, full of freshly printed crisp cotton fabrics :)
The following designs are all from my new collection "French Linen - Antique White" ~ I do hope you like them :)

Finally, speaking of all things French did you see the Melbourne Cup yesterday? (otherwise known as the race that stops a Nation)

What a race by the French horse Dunaden!

What a result - Dunaden by a nose hair

~ Hope you backed the winner :)

NEW: 'Faded French' - Fabric Collection

Hello Friends,
Thank-you all so much for your thoughtful comments on my recent Spoonflower Blog Post - I really enjoyed reading your comments (and it was very reassuring to know my photography tips made some sense - lol :)

To-day I thought I'd share a sneak peek of my newly designed Fabric Collection: 'Faded French' : featuring simple 'mix and match' palettes in Blue, Green and Brown :)

I'm also expecting a fabric delivery from Spoonflower (any day now - fingers crossed) so I hope to post some fresh fabric photos, featuring my latest 'Linen Look' designs very soon - Yay :)

WIN - Free 'Kristopher K' Fabric

Would you like to win 1 free yard of 'Kristopher K' fabic?

Magnolia Little Gem - Sage by Kristopher K

Several days ago I was asked if I'd like to contribute some tips and techniques for photographing fabrics on the Spoonflower Blog. I was so excited to be asked, and now I'm even more thrilled to tell you, that the lovely folks over at Spoonflower are offering a prize of one free yard of 'Kristopher K' fabric, to one lucky reader simply for leaving a comment under the blog post (here) - Yay!

Also contributing some fabulous tips is Berene Campbell of Happy Sew Lucky?
- See Berene's photo tips, and possibly win the cutest Retrotastic Camera Bag Pattern by leaving a comment (here)

The winner for both prizes will be announced on the Spoonflower Blog on Monday 17th October at noon EST!

~ Good Luck

Daisy Dress in Dusty Pink!

As soon as my "Dusty Pink Daisy" fabric sample (above) arrived from Spoonflower, I knew my days - To Do - List would be out the window!
So instead of working, I searched the internet for a cute little toddler dress pattern and spent the day sewing instead ;)
This so cute (and so easy to sew) 'A' line sundress is based on a free downloadable pdf pattern by Oliver + S  called "popover sundress" ~ Thank-you ;)

Now that it's finished, I guess it's time to get back to work! 
... Although It could be 'milk and cookies' time first ;)

Winging It!

Yay! 
So happy to see a sneak peek today of the (Aug 2011) edition of Australian Homespun Magazine, as their Window Shopping Page 'Winging It' features our colourful little dragonfly design: Dragonfly Dance 

Courtesy of Homespun Magazine, I am so excited to share this 'sneak peek' of 'Winging It' with you too!
- Happy Days ;)

Free Shipping 'Monday' at Spoonflower!

Heellloooo,
How is everyone?
It's been absolutely far too long since I said hello! 
(Is it the cold - aka freezing - Winter weather sending me into hibernation?) Well, whatever it's been, the following news is just to good not to share:
Spoonflower is having a FREE SHIPPING Monday - Yay!

... Here are the details fresh from the Spoonflower Blog :)

"For 24 hours 
-- from 8am ET on Monday, June 20th, to 8am ET the following day -- 
we're going to make shipping completely free on all Spoonflower orders. Free to those of you in the US and free to those of you elsewhere (shout out, Australia!). The offer will apply to standard shipping only, but otherwise there are no restrictions and no minimum or maximum order size to qualify. See you on Monday!"

... (Penciling in the diary now ;)

In other news ... Following the amazing response to our very first cushion 'Olives on Spice' (Now Sold Out) I've been busy designing and hand screen printing some all new 'French Provincial' inspired designs, that I hope will be available as cushions, in the Kristopher K Shop, very soon!

And finally 'Just for Fun' 
... here is a photo of a new 'Kristopher K for Spoonflower' fabric - Bubbles - Designed originally for one of my young nieces, and featuring a palette of pink, plum, aqua and mint :)

Anzac Day

Today in Australia it is Anzac Day; a national day of remembrance to honour the Anzacs, (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps from WW1) and to remember all those who have died in military service for their country.
- Lest we Forget
During WW1 mothers and wives, who were anxious to send their loved ones in the trenches in Gallipoli, long lasting nutritional food supplements, started to bake what came to be called Anzac Biscuits 

below is an old family favourite recipe ...

Anzac Biscuits

1 Cup each; 
Plain Flour, Sugar, Rolled Oats, Coconut
100g butter
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup (or Golden Syrup)
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 tbls boiling water

1) Preheat oven to 170°C (about 325°F)
2) Line biscuit tray(s) with baking paper
3) Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl (Flour, Sugar, Oats and Coconut)
4) Melt butter and Syrup (approximately 30 sec in a microwave / or stir in a pan over a low heat)
5) Dissolve bicarbonate soda in boiling water, and add to butter mixture
6) Mix butter mixture well into bowl of dry ingredients 

7) Place walnut sized tablespoons of mixture onto trays - leaving plenty of room for biscuits to spread.

8) Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden.
9) Cool biscuits on a wire rack.

ENJOY :)

Pear Harvest - Cabinet Makeover!

Yay!
Today I finished making over my new 'stock' cabinet!!!

Finding this beauty for a bargain price on ebay was the easy part - deciding what fabric to use for the makeover, .... well that's another story!

Weeks of procrastinating later, I finally ordered my Spoonflower design "Pear Harvest" 
I love that even with the doors closed, you get the sense you are peeking inside the cabinet, to see shelves of pretty pears all lined up in rows :)

Before pics below:


To give this cabinet a simpler, more rustic country feel - the first thing I did was remove the fancy 'fret work' from the legs.
Then I lightly sanded, washed and painted the cabinet in one of my all time favourite products: White Paint!


Further adding to the country feel, I attached a new iron handle and French inspired escutcheon (for a key and tassel.)


To attach the fabric to the timber panels, I measured and cut the fabric to size - and simply used double sided tape to fix the fabric to the timber .
(This also makes the fabric quite easy to remove whenever it's time for a change)
Finally the edges of the fabric were topped with ribbon (applied with a hot glue gun.)


And Voila! 

Linen :)

Just because I heart linen, I've added some beautiful new 100% linen and linen/cotton blend fabrics to the Kristopher K Shop.

Available now, in a variety of natural colours, widths and weights, and sold by linear meter.
Suitable for a variety of uses including apparel, homewares, and crafts.

Fabrics pictured from left:

Linen/Cotton: White

100% Linen: Vintage Stone

Linen/Cotton: Spice

Linen/Cotton: Natural Sand


Also below is a wonderfully filmed and informative short video all about linen, appropriately titled: BE LINEN MOVIE by Benoit MILLOT

~ enjoy



BE LINEN MOVIE from Benoit MILLOT on Vimeo.

New Fabric Designs :)

Yay! it's the weekend ... !!! 
It may be raining again today, here on the Gold Coast but these beautiful Chrysanthemum daises never fail to make me smile.
I clicked a few extra photos of them, while taking photos of my new fabric designs, now available at Spoonflower... enjoy :)
Cheers, Kris

Tea Time :)

I'm certainly going to enjoy my tea and biscuits this morning,
since I've just updated the Kristopher K Shop with more of our hand screen printed designs ....

Pics below feature our latest organic wheat design, 
printed on 100% Linen Tea Towels in Oat, Vanilla or Black. 

Cushion: 'Olives' on Spice

What a fun day I've had today printing the first of the new Kristopher K Cushions - this design features snow white olives on spice coloured fabric.

I am screen printing these designs by hand, using eco friendly water based inks, on a beautiful linen/cotton blend fabric.

These cushions will be available soon in the Kristopher K Shop!

Hope your having a lovely weekend too :)
Cheers Kris

Just Arrived !!!!

... I couldn't wait to show you all these beautiful natural raw Jute 'Market Tote' Bags, that have just been added to the Kristopher K Shop.

Available now in this wonderful softened, natural clay coloured Jute <here>

I will also be hand screen printing a variety of new 'Kristohper K' designs on these totes in a cool collection of earthy shades (... coming soon :)

Stylish and strong, Jute (also known as burlap) is an environmentally friendly, natural alternative to regular poly and plastic bags.

Biodegradable, re-useable and oh so versatile - jute bags are perfect for so many applications: from shopping, picnics & storing your market produce, to adding a rustic provincial flair to your home decor :)

"Easy As" paper flowers :)

Happy Sunday ...

Today I've been making some fun paper flowers, that are not only an ideal way to dress up and decorate gifts but are oh so wonderfully - "Easy As" - to make.

I like to make them from recycled white tissue paper, (after carefully removing the wrap so often used by department stores on new purchases) - but vibrant colours work well for kids birthday parties, and restricted or limited mixed colour palettes help give a co-ordinated look to presents under a Christmas tree etc ....

.... If you'd like to try these out for yourself, see a wonderful tutorial for similar tissue paper flowers on the Feeling Fuzzy Blog <here>

But be warned ... try stopping after you've made just one :)

Revamped Vintage Chair

Fabric Design: Inky Floral - French Blue

I have been wanting a cute and comfy study chair for absolutely ages ... so I decided to remodel an old timber dining chair that had seen better days.

.... Using the chairs original, worn out fabric as a template and leaving the existing padding in place helped to make this (my first ever) attempt at reupholstery so much easier than I thought it would be - YAY !!!

For more fabulous Chair makeovers, see the Chair Party being hosted on the Drab to Fab blog 

... Oh the possibilities :)

Bunting - Just for fun :)

Happy New Year !!!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Over the last few weeks, we have also celebrated several family birthdays - including mine on New Years Eve - YAY! - Happy Birthday to all the other Capricorns :)

... and in what for us was some very surprising and exciting news, we made Spoonflowers list of Top 10 Indie Fabric Designers for 2010

All I can say is WOW ... and a HUGE, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, to everyone for all their amazing encouragement and support :)

I'm thinking all the celebrating may have stopped me noticing until now, that we are already 11 days into 2011 - Time seems to be flying by this year.

So finding some extra time today, just to relax and sew up my first ever Bunting Flags was fabulous. (I did cheat a little with the sewing - just cutting the edges of the flags with Pinking Shears - but I'm loving the way they have turned out ;)


Directions for "Easy As" Bunting:

Cut 15 fabric flags (as included in this bunting kit) with pinking scissors - Iron flat - Arrange as desired leaving an even space between each flag - Cut enough bias tape to fit all 15 flags side by side + extra on each side for tying bunting to hooks etc - Pin flags into place in bias tape (or folded ribbon) and sew to secure - Enjoy :)