Monday 1 April 2013

Secret Easter Bunny Craft Forum Swap

Well hello. Long time no see!
 A year infact has passed since I was last on the dreamstar diary blog and what a year it has been. Unfortunately my job took over my whole life last year not leaving me with much time, or even inclination, to get my sewing machine out and create. Now, having changed jobs a couple of months ago, I am a much more relaxed and happier person and maybe, just maybe, that little sewing spark will relight in the not too distant future.
 I have, however been creative in other ways, and on my other blog 'Styles Of Cooking' you can see I am doing food challenges and, at present, have almost finished my first challenge of making 15 bread recipes in a month.
 But back to sewing and despite not having done any for a year I still have a daily read of the threads and posts on the craft forum and when sign ups for the secret easter bunny annual gift swap came up I decided it would do me good to sign up again.
I felt quite honoured this year to have Karen 'BeadsByDesign' as my gifts recipient. She annually hosts the easter and christmas forum swaps and puts a lot of time into doing it so I knew my gift needed to be extra special for her.
It's great doing a forum swap as it makes you go on a snooping mission to discover as much about the person as possible. From Karens blog 'Creative and Faithful' I found she was a lover of the sea and beach and of the driftwood and broken pottery that can be found there. So the beach became my main focus for my gift. Having chosen the idea of putting a beach theme on a cushion I first put my ideas down on paper.
First I drew a house. 
Then I added sun, birds, a beach sign, shells and words.
Using my drawings I cut out fabric pieces from all my scraps and sewed them together. I found some lovely little shell design buttons on ebay to sew on too.
I added the words and then, after a quick visit back to Karens blog for colour inspiration, decided on a blue polka dot fabric for the main cushion colour.

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And here it is!!!!
I am so pleased with the finished product. Infact I may make myself one too.
It's easy to get so carried away designing your own gift that you forget that you actually get to receive a gift too! For me this year my received gift was extra, extra special as it was from a lovely lady that I have admired, and also been slightly in awe of, for the past couple of years. I love her work, her blog, her tutorials, infact everything about her!!
Ros didnt disappoint and she made me these beautiful bunnies 'Pip and Squeak' that I will put somewhere very special and treasure always. You can find more about Ros on her blog rosmademe.
I have decided to enter this post into Handmade Monday over on Handmade harbour blog  for the first time in months. It will be nice to enter back into the world of handmade and see what I have been missing out on for ages| And if you are interested in making bread dont forget to pop by other blop 'Styles Of Cooking' and maybe attempt a few of the recipes.

11 comments:

  1. Love your cushion design, it looks so summery, and we need a bit of that at the moment! Love the bunnies too, hope you've had a happy Easter.

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  2. It was lovely to read about how you came across the inspiration for this project. It all has come together really well. Those shell buttons were an amazing find!

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  3. Oh those little bunnies are SO cute - love them! Your cushion is awesome - great details.

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  4. its always good to come back the old blog spot and resume writing. it's nice that you feel happy both about your jobs and crafts at the same time.

    the break in sewing may have been long but you still in practice and your beach hut sewing looks great! it makes me long for summer holidays now!

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  5. oh wow what a gorgeous cushion!! i love the pretty fabric you've used for the beach hut and the blue polka dot too, and those little shell buttons.. what a lovely finishing touch!

    I'm happy to hear that you have more time to be creative these days and i really look forward to seeing what you make next :)

    pip and squeak are just adorable aren't they! I'm sure they will be much loved :) x

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  6. What a beautiful cushion you made. I like your idea of doing a draft pattern beforehand. I will hop over to your other blog and check out your recipes. Have a wonderful week.

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  7. This blog post made me smile - it's so full of joy and hope and gorgeous things! I adore your cushion (it's actually just my cup of tea, the subject matter, the colours...) and I'm sure Karen will treasure it. I also love Ros's bunnies and I'm sure they'll have a good home with you. Glad to hear the work front is better, hope to "see you around" more! x

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  8. I love the cushion, you've put so much thought and care into it I'm sure it will be very much appreciated x

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  9. What a lovely cushion. I love the way you designed it.

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  10. That seaside cushion is absolutely gorgeous! I love it - I would definitely have wanted to keep it! However the bunnies that you received are equally gorgeous :-) Simmi x

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  11. Am so glad to see you back posting on here... I love the cushion and am glad that Pip and Squeak have found a lovely new home!

    Welcome back, am looking forward to more great reads from you

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