Heidi Boyd's Blog, page 6

Carrot Cake Recipe and Pysanky Egg Decorating

This weekends Ukrainian egg decorating workshop inspired a baking frenzy at our home. It began with getting the carrot cake ready for the workshop. The recipe comes from Jon's childhood neighbor Jeannie Hulten. My mother in law shared it with me and ever since it's been a favorite for birthday celebrations. The first alteration I've made to the recipe is to add ground walnuts into the batter. I chop them in our coffee grinder which imparts a mild coffee flavor. I also add a pinch of nutmeg an...

Blooming Bracelet - Free tutorial

 I've been intending to make my mum a bracelet since before Christmas. She is the biggest fan of my jewelry creations, and wears my designs more often than I do. I'm always crafting on a deadline for work and seldom get to take time out to make gifts. Work and band commitments took away two of our children for the day leaving us with just a little girl at home.  She adores her dad and was thrilled to have him to herself while I focused on bead work.

The plans for this gift started when I potte...

Spring Tease?

I was supposed to spend the weekend working on a new book proposal but the unseasonably warm temperatures and bright sunshine made it impossible to stay inside. 50 degrees might seem a regular winter day in other parts of the country but to Mainers that much warmth in March is a dream. We're usually mired in feet of snow, that slowly melts and gives way to enormous puddles and an endless mud season.  To celebrate we visited to two different beaches over the weekend, Popham in Midcoast Maine c...

Ukranian Easter Eggs and Family Stuffed Sock Bunny Workshops

 I took a late afternoon walk around our neighborhood yesterday with my daughter Celia and our wheaten terrier Maizy. It was so pleasant to have the sun shining on us in the late afternoon. The streams were rushing with the water from the weekend storms, providing  plenty of mud and puddles for the girl and dog to explore. There was an abundance of downed sticks and branches on the ground to poke into the mud and instigate a game of tug of war with the pup. Nature had created the perfect...

Sweet Needle Felted Bunnies - free tutorial!

We enjoyed the most beautiful taste of spring in Maine this weekend. After a glorious walk on the beach we stopped at the pet store on our way home. To Celias absolute delight we stumbled upon a pen of baby bunnies. There was no chance of us adding to our menagerie, but our short visit was the perfect inspiration for this needle felt tutorial. If you haven't tried needle felting please do give it a second look, it's incredibly accessible. All you need is some wool roving and a felting needle ...

Needle felted hearts and raspberry square recipe

Last night I enjoyed a wonderful evening sharing needle felting techniques with creative women at Art Mind and Soul Studios in the Fort Andross mill. This renovated brick mill sits beside the Androscoggin river in Brunswick Maine. The interior has been beautifully renovated into office and artist studios, the building is also home to restaurants and antique shops. Art Mind and Soul recently opened their doors as a center for the visual arts community. It's a wonderful place to hold workshops,...

Victorian Beehive Valentines - Free project tutorial!

Who can resist pink, red and white papers, sparkly stickers and ribbons? Ever since I was little I was completely enamored with making Valentines. This year I've been entertained by watching Celia get carried away making hearts and running upstairs to secretly hide them in her room.

The magic of a beehive Valentine happens when you pull up on the center ribbon. The paper expands into a beehive shape to reveal the hidden message underneath. When I taught at the Des Moines Art Center, the educat...

Easy embroidered felt heart sachets - Free tutorial!

I just finished creating these Valentine craft project samples for my Feb 8th visit with Curtis Memorial Library's fiber arts club. The children in the group are 7-12 years old. Felt is the perfect material for introducing kids to embroidery, its sturdy enough to hold it's shape without an embroidery hoop. I like to use a full strand of embroidery thread so the stitches stand out. A crewel needle has a sharp enough point to get through the felt without poking fingers. It also has a wide enoug...