Tried to keep my chin up...

I tried, and failed.
Some of you may have noticed I have closed my shop temporarily. Unexpected goings on has caused this.
I am really sad I've had to close, but hope to be back really soon!

Happy holidays to all

Sx

Let the countdown begin...

So December is upon us, up and down the country people are opening up the first door of their advent calenders, and dusting off the Christmas decorations in preparation. I really cant believe its this time of year already! Where has the year gone? Its seems to of flashed by in a blink!

To get into the spirit of things, I thought I would feature some fellow Etsy artists who are selling handmade Christmas decorations.

I first came across Paper and String's shop, with some of the cutest decorations, I was hard pushed to pick just one,


A very happy looking Rudolph, and such a cute face!


Robin red breast


Aren't these just the cutest penguins!

Here are some more great find, from other Etsy sellers.


Feltmeupdesigns has the most adorable 'Tweets', just waiting to be adopted, and how could you resist?


I'm loving this cute snowman decoration, by Chichiboulie


Yummy looking Christmas puds, by Lupin


This lovely round robin, is made by Christmasclaire



Add a bit of sparkle to your tree with this Jack Frost Sparkle Snow Flake from Clothcat



And last but not least, oh so pretty Christmas trees by Monda

Happy decorating
x

Busy, busy...

I cant believe how this weekend has turned out, I have been busy sorting orders and replenishing stock, after having a record number of sales the last few days! I'm in total shock, and really, really chuffed! Thanks everyone!
I was having a browse through the treasuries this morning and found myself in this lovely one. You can see my froggy coin purse in the bottom left hand corner. Thanks to Louise35flowers

I have also been tagged by Alice, and have to write 6 facts about me, so here goes...

1. I have been a vegetarian all my life, and have never once eaten or tried meat. And have no desire to ever try it, much to my now ex, boyfriend's disgust.

2. I once served breakfast to Richard Gere! Just as gorgeous in real life, really friendly and so polite.

3. Before my fabric addiction I had an addiction to buying shoes, I own about 100 pairs, and once bought 4 pairs at once from the same shop.

4. At college I wanted to train to be a nurse... until I found out I am extremely squeamish, suddenly not such a good career choice!

5. It took me 5 attempts to pass my driving test.

6. I have what would probably be classed as an unhealthy amount of phobias

Now I have to tag 6 people

Ruth - http://www.tiptoptoppers.blogspot.com/
Arty Allsorts - http://artyallsorts.blogspot.com/
Debsmuddle - http://debrasargeant.blogspot.com/
KMC - http://kinkymelcat.blogspot.com/
Cute Designs - http://cutedesigns.blogspot.com/
Sam - http://incywincytogs.blogspot.com/

And the rulesy type things for this tagging lark…

1. Link to the person who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. 5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Enjoy whats rest of your weekend

x

A good day for post!

Today my postie delivered some lovely goodies.


I simply could not resist this oh so cute card from Asking For Trouble over on Folksy. It came in a pack of two, and I'm going to be hard pushed not to keep at least one of them for myself! You really must check out her shop, its full of Kawaii stationary and other goodies, I think I may have to pop back to buy some of these tags!


What also landed on my doormat, was the new issue of Sew Hip! After having trouble finding a copy in my local newsagents, and not being able to make it into the local town to check WHSmiths, I managed to buy a copy online!


After only having time today for a quick flick through, I have to say I really like it. Its so nice to see a magazine like this, with up to date, and practical ideas. I will certainly be putting a subscription for this on my Christmas list! You can order your copy here.

I'm now off to try and warm myself up, and have a proper read of the magazine.

x

Folksy!

I am pleased to say, you can now find me on Folksy! I only have 6 items listed so far, but plan to add some more soon. For those of you who don't know what Folksy is, its the UK equivalent to Etsy where all prices are in £'s. You can check out my shop here!

Brrr what a chilly day it has been today! I've not managed to do anything productive today, really must try harder tomorrow! I'm feeling in a bit of a creative rut at the moment. My mind is ticking with semi ideas, but I don't seem to know how to get them out and its getting quite frustrating! I'm still waiting for that 'light bulb' moment, and hoping it happens soon! Mmm will see what the week brings.

x

Feeling loved!

Quite a small picture there, I cant seem to get it any bigger, but if you look closely, you will see I have reached 400 hearts! Thanks everyone!

I realised earlier that I forgot to mention yesterday two new product ranges in my shop. That were added during my blog-land silence.


First one being lavender pillows. Using a generous helping of lavender, to help you drift off to sleep or to relieve a nasty headache. I always have mine tucked under my pillow, and it does seem to help!

The second is pincushions! I was looking at all my scraps of fabric one day, and was wondering what I could do with them, and I thought pincushions would be perfect! So now you can bring some Kawaii to your sewing room!
I only have a limited range at the moment, but may do some more, what do you think? Would you like to see more in the shop? I'm always open to feedback.

It has been a miserable day here today. I know some parts have had snow, but here its been bitterly cold and lots of rain. Wrap up warm!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

x

I'm a bad blogger...

Hello! Yes it is me, your eyes are not deceiving you! I apologise for my extremely long break from blogging!
The summer was not the best for me, my health took a turn for the worse, which ended up with a few weeks in hospital.
I am pleased to say I am much improved since then (although still a way to go) and feel ready to re-enter the world of blogging. So if you can forgive my tardiness I will aim to please with regular updates on my crafty life. I will also be featuring other crafty folk in the run up to Christmas.

So whats new? My shop recently had a bit of an update, with some new oh so cute fabrics.
One of which found its way onto Cuteable! Thank you Lynsey! I am always on the lookout for new fabrics, so hope to add some more soon!

Last weekend my mum and I attended the first and only craft fair of the year. The lead up to it I was in such a panic, but it all turned out OK, and ended up having a good weekend!


Here is a pic of one side of the table, as you can see I was selling, my purses, bags and jewellery. The table was in aid of the charity Myeloma, a charity which is very close to my heart (mum has myeloma), mum was selling her cards, and scarves, and was such a hit, she sold out of Christmas cards by the end of the first day! Thanks to all who came along and bought, the money is going to such a great cause!

I shall leave you with that for now, have a happy Saturday!

x

June already? Surely Not!

Like I think a lot of people did, I woke up this morning in sheer disbelief that it is June. Where is this year going? Being new to the world of blogging, and Etsy, it is hard to believe that it has been now 2 months since I started selling in my Saysie shop.

I have finally reached one of my targets for my shop, and that is to have 50 items for sale. I have more items to list over the next few days, and some new ideas for creations, so all in all an exciting month ahead!

Here are some of the goodies that will be appearing in the shop very soon.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

x

A pattern of confusion

Guess what was featured on Cuteable yesterday? This rainbow pillow! I was so excited to see it there, thank you Lynsey for featuring me on your fabulous blog!



Some of you may remember, I mentioned a while ago about wanting to have a go at dress making. Well I finally got round to purchasing a pattern, and I also treated myself to a Japanese pattern book.

This pattern above is the one I am attempting at the moment, which is not as bad as this one below!

Can someone please tell me what all those lines, dots and triangles are for!? Some how, in all that, there are several patterns for several garments. Sadly I see it all a bit too confusing!

Despite all this, I got my tracing paper, and managed to draft out the size I need from the picture above. After a lot of tears (I was having one of those days) and a few seams later, I had constructed my first muslin. You may see that there is a no picture of said garment, well I will save your eyes from such a sight. Not that it is that awful, I would just rather wait to show you the completed project.

I am awaiting a delivery of some lovely linen fabric, and once that has arrived I will attempt to make it properly. Once that mission is completed, I will brave the Japanese patterns, and it really will be a brave attempt as there is no English instructions!!

Finally, some more goodies arrived in the post for me today. Some gorgeous gocco prints from Bunny on Etsy.

Aren't they just the greatest? Bunny has two shops on Etsy, and really has some fab items in them. She is a real whizz with the photo shop, and can transform any picture of you or you pet into something really magical! Not only that, but also customises shoes too! Something I really want to save my pennies for, being the avid shoe fan that I am. Of course she also has some great artwork, and prints as well, hop on over and check her out, and take an extra moment to check out her other shop Lapin Noir, where you will find more amazing prints, and a 50% sale! Definitely worth a look.

That's all from me for now. Have a happy Friday!

x

A cute delivery

I just bought this cute doll off Wunderkind over on Etsy, and she arrived in super speedy time yesterday! I saw her shop featured on Cuteable a few weeks ago, and knew straight away I HAD to have one! She doesn't just have dolls, but also cute magnets and other goodies, please check her out. Such a lovely seller.

Here she is settled into her new home. For notes on on what else is in the pic, please feel free to check out the photo on my flickr page

As promised although admittedly a little late, here is a picture of the antiques centre I went to the other day. Sadly inside was a little dark, and I fear they would of told me off for taking pictures! They have three barns in all, crammed with everything imaginable, from furniture, books, trinkets, clothes and well everything! I had to question the antiquity of the clothes though, as one of them had a New Look label in it!! Anyway this picture is of the courtyard between 2 of the barns and on the left there, is a little tea shop.

After our little browse (only purchase was a sorry looking bag of buttons), we headed back to mum's for a cup of tea. Only to bump into her neighbour who had asked where we had been. Mum explained the mission (I had snuck away) saying that we had gone in search for buttons etc, but had not had much luck. 2 minutes later she comes down the stairs with this huge bucket of buttons! For me to keep! I was in shock, and as anyone who loves buttons very excited!

The neighbour is in her 60's and she said they were her mum's, so proper vintage, and after having a real rummage through, there really is some very old buttons in there.

A close up, of a fraction of what was in the pot.

Its Friday!

Apologies for the rather obvious and unoriginal title, it was a struggle to come up with something a little more imaginative (it being Friday n'all).

I got lucky last week, and was the lucky winner on Lisa's blog. Lisa is the owner of the fab online store U-Handbag
Look! What a fab prize! A purse frame, cant wait to give it a go, I have some lovely fabric that would just look great with this frame. Just have to get to grips with how it all comes together.

The weather was so gorgeous yesterday, I took a wander into my little town. Not having any money to spend I was quite content window shopping, and having a rummage through some of the charity shops.

I'm a huge lover of craft books, and have an ever growing collection! So couldn't resist this sewing book in Oxfam for only £2.50. The pictures inside are a little dated though, and I did have a little chuckle to myself...

Bet you cant guess which decade this was published in? lol

Finally onto some cuteness. I have been wanting to use this fabric to make a make-up bag for a while now, and finally got around to doing it.

I really love this fabric and think I will struggle to list it, but I will and will be in the shop soon!

Thats all from me for now. Tomorrow should be a good day, I'm off to an antiques barn with mum, and they have alsorts of goodies. I have mentioned it before in my blog, but forgot my camera, so will make sure I get some pictures tomorrow.

Have a good evening x

Getting there...

Thank you to everyone who left kind comments. I am getting there slowly and now have the task of playing catch up! The saying it never rains but it pours is oh so true! I did have something to cheer me up this morning...
I got a lovely parcel of new fabrics, and cannot wait to get started on making some more cute purses! I also have a ton of zips, so expect to see some new items soon.

I have also been working on a few new ideas for some bags. I originally started thinking of tote bags, but have also decided to do some smaller handbags. I am working on a couple at the moment and will be posting pictures very soon!

Oh so tired...

Today has been a really nothing of a day for me. For some reason these past couple of days, I have had an overwhelming feeling of fatigue, you know the kind of tiredness that makes you want to cry.

I often go through days like this (hence the lack of posting the past month) and am really trying to go with it and let myself rest, rather than beating myself up that I have not done anything. I am hoping for a refreshing nights sleep tonight, and be back to normal tomorrow.

Before I say goodnight, I will leave you with my treasury, that I managed to grab last night. I never really took much of an interest in robots, until I started browsing on Etsy and seeing so many cute robot themed items. Here is the link, if you would like to have a closer look and see who the artists are.

I hope to be back with you tomorrow, fully refreshed and able to carry out my tagged task.

Goodnight x

Its been a long time...

I am sorry for the blog silence for such a loooong time. The past month as certainly had its ups and downs. More downs than up unfortunately, and I hope you can understand that when things are going bad, you don't really want to document them. When things were OK, I was so exhausted that I couldn't get my head into blogging mode and just couldn't think of what to write. I was pleasantly surprised though to receive a few comments and emails, asking me to get back to blogging. I really didn't realise I would be missed. So thank you.
I thought as it has been such a long delay it would be rather fitting to start this post with the same picture as the last post. Of course now we are having glorious sunshine and not a snow flake in sight! Oh how I am much happier in this weather.

I recently joined a group on Flickr. Its called Cake Off, for UK peeps. You get partnered up with a baking buddy, and you make some baked goodies and post them off to them! So much fun. I love to bake, but being just me I don't always see the point of baking, so it was nice to have someone to bake for.

I decided to go with banana loaf cake, pictured above. One of my all time favourite cakes, ever since I was a child, always begging my mum to make it for me. The trick with banana cake is to use those left over bananas, you know the ones that are always left at the bottom of the fruit bowl looking rather brown and unloved. It adds to the moistness and flavour of the cake.

My second cakey goodness was double choc chip cookies! Cookies are another of my favourites and well you cant beat double choc chop ones! I love how these are nice and gooey and just melt in your mouth. So hopefully my partner will be happy with her goodies. She is a fellow Etsian and has two fabulous shops, one called The Birch Tree, and one that I just want everything in Birch Tree Boutique, where she designs and makes some gorgeous clothes. Worth checking out!

I shall leave you now with a little Mosaic of some of the things I have been doing. Although I did neglect my blog, I have kept up the sewing. All the items are available now in my shop. Apart from the bottom right corner, which was a custom order.

I have been tagged by the lovely Ruth, of Tip Top Toppers, and will tomorrow reveal 7 facts about me ; )

x

Snow!

OK, so yesterday I was saying I cant believe that it will snow tonight... well... at about half 6 this morning I was woken up by the pitter patter of snow on my windows (I have sky lights).

Of course I had to go grab my camera and take a picture, as its such a rare occurrence where I live. This is the view from my window.

Outside the back door. I gave up all attempts of going to sleep, and made myself a cup of tea and watched the snow fall. I am not a huge fan of the snow, but there is something so mesmerising about it when it does start to fall.

Here we are only 1 hour later!

I really cant believe how quickly it came down!

Keep yourselves warm, happy Sunday

x

Will there be snow in the morning?

Its hard to believe that after such a beautiful sunny day we have had here, that they are expecting snow tonight! I am hoping they are wrong and that it will still be sunny, as I really don't like the cold.



I had the great excitement of finding myself on my second treasury! I am so chuffed, especially as my Saysie shop is so new!



My item is in the bottom right hand corner. I am loving that owl in the bottom left corner by Owl and Lion. The treasury was compiled by Fibrespace



I had a nice day today it is my sister's birthday tomorrow, so we headed over to mum's for a yummy lunch of salad and falafel, and a nice bit of birthday cake!

Yummy cake, not home made this time, but look at the candles, they're balloon shaped! Sis doesn't know that I have put a pic of her on here....ssssh.

See the cute candles with happy birthday written on them!

My brain has been working overtime with so many different ideas at the moment, I almost want it to stop so I can start on some of them! Its a case at the moment, that I am so excited about it I don't know where to start and want to do everything at once. So tonight I am going to sit down and write/sketch what I want to do, and take it from there!

Have a good evening

x

That Friday Feeling

I woke up this morning to see the sun streaming through the window and then to see I had a few sales overnight! What a great start to the day! I also created this treasury over on Etsy.
I named it the Birds and the Bees, and you can see why! It's always so exciting when you get a chance to do a treasury, I love browsing through all the different artists and making a mini collection of all the great work that is on Etsy. It does of course mean that my favourites/wish list is growing by the day. If you fancy having a proper look here is the link!

I popped out to see my mum this morning for a quick cuppa and a chat, and look what she gave me!

Yummy strawberry linen fabric! Ooooh I cant wait to do something with this!

Happy Friday, and here's hoping this lovely weather lasts for the weekend!

x

Today's post is on Sunday...

This might not make much sense... but today's post is actually below the previous post (Happy birthday Mum)!

Explanation: I uploaded pics on sunday but ran out of time to post anything, and when I wrote the post today with the pictures, it published itself has sunday not today!

For those who are wondering, yes I am blonde : )

x

Happy Birthday Mum!

This is the lovely card that Ruth from Tip Top Toppers made for me for my mum's birthday. Isnt it fab, look at the detail (sorry the picture is not the clearest! Even more reason to check out the website!) My mum loved the card, and she sure did get a few!

We have had a lovely day. We went for a nice pub lunch, and then a wonder round this great antiques barn. Luckily the weather was being nice to us as well. But of course blondie here forgot her camera!

I have not been so good at posting these past few days, this is mainly down a few health problems that I have, that sometimes render me incapable of doing anything. We had a big family meal on Sunday for my mum's birthday and it has just left me exhausted! Hopefully a good night's sleep tonight will put me back on track again.

Happy spring to you all!

x

Spring is here!

Or is it?
The weather has been so interchangeable these past few days I don't think it really knows what season it is! It has cheered up a bit here now, although all day its been pretty grey and miserable!


Here is a little stack of purses all ready to go in the shop!

And this one is a new style that I have been making although I think I need to perfect it a little bit before I put it in the shop. Its also a bit more fiddly to make with a curved zip, and the lining has to be sewn in by hand.

I think it is a cute shape though, and something a little different.

Another of my Elements range of pillow covers! This one is Earth. Now I did finish the other day, and even uploaded the pics to my blog on Sunday, but things got a bit rushed, as I looked at the time and realised I was running late for mum's birthday lunch!

For the backing of this I used Irish Linen in Oatmeal, which I think really compliments the greens. You cant see too clearly in this picture but that decorative stitch I think looks like leaves. Perfect I thought!


I bought this dress/top last year, it was one of those impulse buys. I was just walking out the shop and it screamed - rather loudly - buy me!! So I did! I got home all excited about my purchase and tried it on. But it didn't look right on me, it just sort of hung and the fabric was so pretty I didn't want to spoil it with a belt (which didn't look right anyway) . So it has been hanging in my wardrobe ever since.

Now the sun has been sneaking out every now and then, my thoughts have turned to summer wardrobes, and all the lovely things, I will soon be able to wear. (Unless we have a summer like last year of course!) You may of remembered in a previous post that I said I wanted to make a skirt well what a perfect project to start with! Yep I am going to turn this beauty into a skirt - well try to!

With some great advice from the very talented Abi on Etsy, I know what I need to do. Its just getting the nerve to make that first cut in the fabric. But I will be sure to keep you updated on how I get on! OK, that's all from me for now, pop over to Abi's shop and look at the lovely clothes and bags she has!

x

(P.s for some reason this has decided to still be dated on Sunday! But see I wasnt fibbing when I said I uploaded the pics on sunday but ran out of time to do anything else!)