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!)

A Cloudy Day

I am not just talking about the weather here, but the 1st Etsy Treasury I have been featured in!
Can you see my Happy Clouds coin purse? There I was browsing through the treasury's last night and I spotted a little gold star, I was so excited. A big thank you to Boo Creations for featuring me!

Yesterday I took a little break from making pillow covers, and made some more cute purses.

I love this colourful Alexander Henry fabric.

Now I never thought I would say this about frogs, but they are so cute!

This fabric is gorgeous its corduroy and in the same Folklore Collection as the mint green purse that I made.

I will be adding these to my shop later today.

Shop Update!

You may notice to the right there is a new Etsy mini. I have finally started to list some items in my shop! I started with a few last night, and have added a couple more today, and will slowly over the next few days keep adding more. I have to admit I was quite nervous starting up. I was the same when I first put my jewellery website live. I am however really excited about this new shop and am looking forward to creating lots of new things to put in it.

I made this cute purse this morning. Its a Japanese linen canvas fabric, and I think perfect to use as fun pencil case.

I have been slightly distracted today, not only by the fact that it has been a beautiful spring day today but by this book...

If you have not read it yet, I highly recommend you give it a go. Set in Africa its about a woman who sets up her own detective agency. Its such a lovely story and nice and easy to read and get lost into. The author Alexander McCall Smith has done a whole series of these which means I can predict many a late night coming up. Once I get into a book, I have real troubles putting it down.

Finally, a little sneak peek for you, this is a log cabin top I am working on at the moment. Its all pieced and ready to be quilted. I had to come to a pause with this as I forgot to pick up some backing at the shop last week so need to wait on that. I do have plenty to be getting on with in the meantime!

Please take a little peek at my shop if you get the chance, any feedback would be happily received.

x

I can see a rainbow

Sorry for not posting the last couple of days. I had planned to do a post yesterday, but my day ended up being so unbelievable hectic, that when I did get a moment to sit down and write something I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to string a sentence together.

I did manage to post a picture onto Flickr yesterday of my recently completed cushion cover. I couldn't believe when I logged onto my email this morning to see so many lovely comments. What a lovely thing to wake up to! Thank you to everyone who posted a comment! : )
I love white cotton, especially now the warmer months are slowly making their way towards us, and wanted to combine the cool crispness of this with the beautiful bright Bali batiks that I had. The original plan was to just quilt straight lines with the rainbow thread round each square and then a decorated border. However after doing the first border, I loved the way it turned out so much that I kept going, and I think it has given it quite a nice effect. What do you think?

Another view of the cushion, as you can see all the colours of the rainbow are there, plus a little extra, I just had to add bit of pink!

This is the back view. I used an off white cotton, making an envelope closure, and added the same decorated stitch that I used on the front. I love this stitch and doesn't it look like a string of mini rainbows? I doubled the fabric over to make a nice thick and sturdy backing, which gives it a nice feel.

This cushion cover is another one from the Elements range that I am working on. Can you guess which one this might be? I hope your thinking fire! : )

To really make the reds and yellows stand out more I used a black cotton fabric for the border and red cotton fabric for the back, again with an envelope closure.

Another thing I wanted to start doing yesterday was to add some listings to my Etsy Shop,but that was another thing that was not meant to be. So my mission today and tomorrow is to start doing that. I will update on here once I have done so. So please feel free to check back for updates.

Well that is all from me for now. Have a good day!

x

Happy Easter!

So, today was the day that we got to open out Secret Easter Bunny Swap that we did over on the Crafts Forum! Look what I got!

3 yummy egg shaped candles all scented with yummy chocolate! Packed in a beautiful gift box too! They smell divine and good enough to eat! There is a After Dinner Mints, Choc Chip, and Chocolate Orange! These were all made by Candles By Lisa. You must check out her website, her candles are divine and such a range of lovely scents to choose from.

In case you are wondering, this is what I sent to my Easter Bunny.


This pendant is one of my favourites, and is made with shell. I added silver foil glass beads and Swarovski crystals, completed with a nice chunky chain. I used the same bead and Swarovski to make the matching earrings. I was relieved to see that she has posted on the Easter thread that she did like it! I was a little worried, as jewellery is such a personal thing, and people do have different tastes.


Well enjoy the rest of your Easter, I'm off to light my lovely new candles and tuck into the huge Easter egg that I got from my mum, and watch a good old cheesy Sunday afternoon movie.

x

I Need to Slow Down...

Well at least I think that's what my body has been trying to tell me the past couple of days. Since my last post, I have gone through a cycle of sleeping, waking up for food and pain killers and sleeping again! I think I have slept more in the past 36hours than I have for weeks!

I did manage to do a little yesterday. One of my favourite things to do on a Friday morning is go to my local market where the lovely ladies from Lady Sew and Sew have a stall. I stocked up on wadding and other depleted supplies. I also visited the fruit and veg stall and got a whole load of yummy fruit at a really good price. Walking back to the car with all this was certainly an experience as I thought I was gonna take off at one point! I was rather hoping that the wind and fresh air would clear my head, but alas it was not meant to be, so once I got home, promptly fell into bed.

After a looooong sleep throughout the rest of the day, I forced myself up to finish this pillow cover, I hate to leave projects unfinished, especially when so close to the finish line.


Its the cover that I gave a sneak peek of the other day. I love the mix of blues and greens in this and reminds of the colour of the sea from somewhere far more tropical than the sea we have here in the UK! This is the first cover in a range I am going to call 'Elements' - with this one representing water. Updates of the other 'Elements' will come soon! Oh, and yes this cover will be for sale in my shop.

Now for those of you, who have ever suffered a Migraine, you will know that all you can do is lie in a dark room. Watching TV hurts, being on the computer or listening to music, reading, is just out of the question! So I took the opportunity to leaf through one of my favourite catalogues that I had recently received! Cath Kidston! Oohh it left me drooling for more! Here is just 3 of the things I have added to my ever increasing 'Oh if only' wish list.

House Sewing Basket - Isn't it just adorable!

Cow Boy Skirt.

I just love love this! One of the reasons I cannot wait for the warmer months is too wear yummy skirts like this and my beloved flip flops. Unfortunately for me with a £75 price tag it is a little out of my price range, but to make sure I really don't buy it, they don't have my size! So I need to get eating on those Easter eggs!

I do however really want to make a skirt for myself this year, so maybe this is the boost I need!

Oh yes and of course a girl HAS to have the matching bag to go with it!

Finally I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Ruth of Tip Top Toppers. For the beautiful card that I received this morning for my mum's birthday. As much as I would love to post a picture of the card today, I best not in case my mum decides to have a little peek at this blog. But I will certainly blog about it after she has received it on the 1st of April. In the meantime please check out Ruth's website! Her cards are truly amazing and the attention to detail is out of this world! I am so pleased with my card and have already placed another order for a friend's wedding!

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

x

Its been a funny old day...

I guess the weather hasn't helped much, combined with the fact that I have been suffering with a migraine all afternoon. So I will keep this post short and sweet, so I can try and get some sleep.

Despite the bad head I did manage to get another cushion cover almost done. All the top has been pieced and quilted, I just need to sew the back and front together.

Here is a little sneak peek of the top, as you can see nice bright blues and purples in this one (although in this picture they look darker than the real thing). Using beautiful Bali batik fabrics. I love the style and colours of these fabrics, such bright and happy colours! Perfect for a grey and rainy day like today. I got a range of colours of batik fabric, so expect some bright colourful covers coming soon!

Have a lovely evening and hopefully if my head is better, will get some more pictures up for you.

x

A lesson learned!

I'm one of these people that hates having to get petrol, and often drive around near the red, before I go to fill up. I have been like this since I have passed my test, and over the years have spent many times driving to and from places with my eyes glancing on the petrol gauge praying I will make it there without having to fill up or worse breaking down. So far I have got away with it, I have been lucky.... Until today!

I spent most of the morning huffing and puffing because I had ran of essential supplies and would have to go to the supermarket. After a bad night's sleep and an early wake up, this was the last thing I wanted to do! Especially as I knew I was low on petrol. I finally dragged myself out and made it over to the shop (passing a petrol station - I was not in the mood, and at £1.08!!! Please!)

Driving home I was feeling pretty pleased with myself not only had I managed to stock up on the weekly essentials, I had done a whole load of recycling that had been staring at me for weeks. I look at the clock on my car, 2pm, great a whole afternoon to get on with some sewing. I turn off the main road (passing another petrol station) I'm by now rejoicing as I have so nearly made it home and can leave it another day before I fill up! Hang on whats that chuddering? Oh no I am slowing down! Stop!

Of course there are cars behind me, and of course it would have to be a double yellow that I stop on, but at least I made it to the side. I phone a friend of my mum's and explain to him what has happened and does he have a petrol can he could bring over. He asks me where I am, I say, 2 minutes from the petrol station and 2 minutes from my house! **blush** (as by 2minutes I mean a 2minute walk)

As he fills up I am feeling so humiliated, as people walk past and grin, had I been facing the other way going towards the petrol station they may of had a little sympathy, but no this blonde girl in her battered golf was going the opposite way, and had clearly just passed the petrol station.

So whats the first thing I am going to do when I leave the house next? Go to the petrol station... although I do now have 5litres in there it might just get me to A. NO I would like to get back to B, so I WILL fill up, and let this be a lesson don't drive around below the red!

I am however now the proud owner of petrol can... of course that is empty too.

From Purses to Pillows!!

My labels arrived this morning!! I have to say I am so pleased with how they turned out! I got them from this lovely lady here. So now I have the busy task ahead of me getting them all sewn in and then listing them in my new shop! Hopefully I should have some listed before the end of the week!

Here are some cute pencil cases I made over the weekend, in bewteen projects. Isn't the cat fabric just so sweet. The black Japanese fabric I am in love with and working on a design for a handbag at the moment. So will update you with the progress of that once I know what I'm doing.

As the title suggests, I have not just been working on purses! Remember the sneak peek I showed on Sunday? Well here is the finished project!

I love these pink fabrics, especially the flower one. I used a simple log cabin block and then quilted round in squares. It was great fun making, and the quilting part was surprisingly relaxing. It was just nice to sit and sew, and not have fiddle with zippers or iron's! : )

I also mentioned another project, but was unable to upload any pics of the progress. Here is the finished piece!

This is the project that kept me up all hours, I just couldn't put it down! All the circles where appliqued on, and then I quilted round each square using contrasting thread for each block,sorry the picture is not perfect. More styles like this one in the pipeline!

Both covers have an envelope back and will be available to buy in my shop!

OK, well I best be getting on with those labels! Feel free to leave any comments/critiques on any of the above, I appreciate any feedback.

Happy Monday...

A little something to brighten up your morning!

A Perfect Day for Crafting

When I woke up this morning my heat momentarily sank when I looked outside and saw that it was still raining and very miserable outside. But then I thought, what a perfect day to spend a miserable Sunday, then staying in the warm and dry getting some sewing done! So that is the plan for today!

I have been having a lot of fun with bondaweb recently, but my iron has taken the brunt of it and was looking in a rather poor state yesterday, not matter how careful I was the iron got pretty messy. Honestly this stuff gets everywhere! Thinking I needed to buy some special iron cleaning solution, I asked my mum when I saw her if she had any. She told me she used methylated spirit, and wow it did the trick, my iron is almost as good as new!

It, however decided to punish me later by being very naughty and giving me a nasty burn! Well it was actually my fault, I was so focused on the fabric in front of me that I grabbed the wrong part! OUCH!!!! I spent the rest of the afternoon, running back and forth from the sink to relieve the pain with cold water!

I was hoping to show you a picture of my what I am working on at the moment, but when I uploaded the pics this morning they were blurry, so sorry about that! Instead I will give you a sneak peek of another WIP that I have on the go.



Lots of pink in there!

The piece I am working on is almost completed, so hopefully will be able to show you very soon. I couldn't stop working on it yesterday and last night. I got so tired at one point and thought I really should get ready for bed. So I got all ready, but looked at it and thought oh I'll just do a little bit more, an hour later I was still working on it!

I get the same when I'm making jewellery, I get so involved in what I'm doing and find it hard to leave a project half finished. Does anybody else get like this or is this just me?

I have to say it was nice to wake up this morning and see it almost finished.

Right, time for some breakfast I think and work out what needs to be done for the day.

Until next time, enjoy your Sunday

x

An Easter Bunny Delivery...

I had a delivery from the Easter bunny today! OK... my postman. But he had delivered my Secret Easter Bunny gift that we are doing over on the Crafts Forum. I was soooo tempted to have a peek but we are not allowed to open them until Easter Sunday. So that means a whole week of this parcel staring at me. I feel like a kid at Christmas! I will let you know with pics once I've opened!

Apart from that lovely surprise and seeing some lovely comments on my blog (thank you!) my morning was not so great, one thing after another went wrong, and to top it off an appointment I had been waiting months for got cancelled right at the last minute! Hmph I was not a happy bunny! (Rant over!)

So, I resulted to the best thing you can do when things are getting stressy, a nice cuppa tea and a piece of cake!
There is a very good reason why I chose to take a picture of this. Well two actually. The cake is a giant strawberry French Fancy, with butter cream and jam in the middle! Very tasty. I have been craving one of these ever since I read Lupin's blog on Bugs and Fishes where she has made these gorgeous felted french fancies that look yummier than the real thing!

The second reason is the cup (filled to the top with tea!) I bought this at a craft fair I was exhibiting at last November. I love giraffes, I have many giraffe items, and even been lucky enough to feed them on a trip to South Africa! So you can imagine my excitement when I saw this stall, I fell in love! The artist is Liz Riley, and you can see her website here. She makes all the ceramics herself and then paints them, I want them all and had to tear myself away before I bought the whole set! You cant see very well in my not so good picture (sorry but my mouth was watering!) but the giraffes are kissing, it is very cute.

Anyway, quick update on the shop, my labels have now been shipped! So all being well I'm hoping to start listing this time next week, but will keep you updated. Just keeping fingers crossed that the mail system etc is kind to me!

Until next time x

Cuteable

I would like to start off with a biiiig thank you to Swirly for featuring my tortoise coin purse on her Cuteable blog! This is a great blog of cute handmade finds that she tracks down on the net. If you haven't checked it out before you must do so now! It feels a great honour to be among such great artists! Thank you Swirly!

As promised yesterday, here is a pic of the passport cover I was working on yesterday. I used this so cute Japanese Kids Fabric...

and the inside with red polka dot fabric...

This I made using Animals in the Forest - Japanese Cotton Canvas...

Lovely sunny squares, that are sure to brighten up a dull day like today, I used this fabric to make a larger make up style bag. You can see the picture here...

Its those happy clouds again! Brightened up with a turquoise zip. All 3 were lined with contrasting polka dot fabric - bit of a polka dot fan at the mo!

I am hoping to get my new Etsy store opened soon, and these and more will be listed for sale. I will be sure to keep you updated, so keep checking back for further details!

Another windy day

I was so happy to see the postman today, he delivered a parcel with these yummy fabrics in! I have had my eye on these for quite some time now and finally got round to ordering it!







Yesterday I spent a lot of time cutting out fabrics, getting them ready to make into purses, and this is what I managed to make today...

This colourful tortoise fabric is sooo cute! A lovely little coin purse...

A pretty in pink make up bag...

and last but not least, another make up bag in the beautiful My Folklore fabric...

Here they are posing together, standing proud. All three were made with 100% Japanese cotton, which I just cant get enough of at the moment!

I nearly got blown away walking to the Post Office today! I was heading up there to post my Secret Easter Bunny Present that we are doing over on the Crafts Forum. I hope they like it!

Despite the winds, when I stepped out my front door I had to smile, the sun was shining and there was a lovely smell of freshly cut grass in the air, great signs that spring is almost here!

Right well I'm off to finish making a passport cover from one of the fabrics that I got this morning! Hopefully will have a pic for you tomorrow.

In need of some sunshine...

Oh what a miserable day! I started this morning off with good intentions but one thing after another that has gone down hill!

I was hoping to get some piccies taken and whipped my camera out everytime the sun hinted it might want to show its face but alas, half of them still came out dull and dark!

I did however manage to get a pic of this bag I finally finished last night. My friend asked me to make her one, and we had great fun picking out the fabric. I am quite pleased with the way this turned out. Initially when I saw the spots and stripes I didnt think it would work, so I added a black strip of fabric and it looked much better. I love the lining fabric, and think it really sets the bag off - what do ya think? You could even use it as the outside if you wanted as I made it reversible.

Outside view of the bag.

This is a close up pic of the lining, its not a great shot as it looks like its about to swallow my camera, but the weather wouldnt allow me to take a better one, so I will have to stick with this one for now.

I had a major panic this afternoon, my memory card reader stopped working on my laptop! Oh no I was thinking what shall I do? I know I'll dig out the USB cable. Could I find it? Hell no! I searched high and low, I found many other USB cables that I didnt even know I owned or what they were for, but not the one for my camera. Eventually after much huffing and puffing, and shutting down and restarting it worked! Oh what a relief! But I must make a note to myself to find this cable just in case!

Something Cute...

I woke up this morning with the sudden urge to make something cute... so I made this little purse!

Isnt this fabric just adorable! I love the blue horse, he is so cute, and what drew me to the fabric in the first place. I dont know what it is about finishing something cute like this it always manages to put a smile on my face and cheer me up, which I certainly needed this morning. To finish off a morning of sweetness, I had Nuttella on toast! YUM!!



Here is another cutey that I have been working on this week...

My poor old passport has taken a bit of a battering this past few years (not that I should complain!) and when I got this fabric, I thought what would be better than using some of this to make a passport cover. Boy did I get through a lot of thread with this, but am pleased with the final outcome.

Screen shot of treasury

So I have managed to work out the sreen shot thingy, so here is a lovely shot of my treasury that I did last night. I love all the colours of these items, and it really puts me in a spring time mood.

My first post... and my first Etsy Treasury!

Hello,

Welcome to my first blog post!

I have had quite an eventful evening, not only have I managed to set up this blog, I bagged a treasury as well! I had great fun picking out my fave items, and cant wait till I can do one again!

Take a look! The link is below, I cant quite work out how to get a screen shot of it, if I can I will post that as well.

Etsy :: Treasury List