Do You Ever Just Gaze Instead Of Craft?

Weird title i guess for a blog post but lately it's something i find myself doing more and more.
I have loads to get on with and yet i sit at the desk and daydream about everything i can make and how i can make it. And do nothing!
Today was my day off from work so my aim was to finish off the 2 bags i have been working on all week. It took me literally all day as half the time i just sat gazing and thinking of how i would like to finish them off.
I have come to the conclusion it's either an age thing or just an artistic thing!!!
************
But the bags finally got finished and i am sooooo proud of the result, they are beautiful. I wouldnt usually say that about my own product but this time i will make an exception.
But you will have to wait til Monday to see them as i plan to unveil them on Handmade Monday when i know they will get a good viewing.
Below is a small teaser for you of the flower on the front of the bag!

And here is my listing in The March Hares challenge on folksy for day 4. No sales for me as yet this week but here's hoping.
A yellow and white padded heart wreath. Would look lovely in any home as a wall decoration.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time.

xxx

The Folksy March Hares!

Well what a day!

Having spent a bit of time browsing thru the folksy forum last week i decided to join in the March listing club or The March Hares as it has been named!

The idea is to list an item each day thru March, view all others items and promote things that you like in order to create more sales for sellers.

The first day has been very successful with many sellers joining in and, i think, a few sales have been made.

So i decided to blog my 6 favourite items.

This was a chore in itself as i have never done a grid of 6 clickable photos before!

Having followed a template on a blog i have just done the mammoth task of teaching myself to use Html code. And it worked!!

So here are my favourite 6 items of today, tho i could have easily picked more. Click on the photo to take you to the sellers shop.

If you, like me, have never done a clickable photo or grid you can read all about it here

And if you have a Folksy shop and want to join in the challenge pop along to the Folksy forum and join in.

Handmade Monday Week 5

Welcome to week 5 of handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1stUniqueGifts where all of us crafty people can get together and show what we have been up to or what we are working on at the moment.
I have to admit i seem to have spent several hours on the computer this week rather than getting on with my makes.
I signed up to a new site called crafty-bitz run by Sarah from Dragonfly Jersey. She's hoping to turn the site into an online craft fair and basically all you need to do is sign up, load your album with photos of your makes and also links to your shops or websites so that people can find you.
Sarah achieved her 1st goal of 50 members this week and is now aimimg for 200.
I've also spent quite a bit of time "lurking" around the folksy forum and have picked up quite a few tips on promoting and selling yourself. Hoping to put some of what i have learnt in action very soon.

So back to my makes.
Well i managed to finish off the mobile phone cases earlier in the week. And then, at the weekend, i found a bit of time to start cutting up the lovely fabric i bought last week and make a couple of summer bags.
The colours are rather loud i know but i like that.
So let me show you the beginning of the project and hopefully next week i can show you the end result.
First i have cut out 2 bases and attached them to some wadding.

Then i cut the pelmets. I think both materials for each bag will compliment each other very well.

Here are the straps.

The linings.

And the first base stitched.

Hopefully i have left you looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Pop back next week and i will show you.

Thank you for popping by.

xxx

My Creative Space

I have noticed that Wendy from 1stunique gifts not only organises Handmade Monday weekly but also participates in My Creative Space on a Thursday organised by www.kootoyoo.com . I keep meaning to join in but always seem to be late. And i think the blog is Australian based so there are a lot of people getting in early because of the time difference. This week there were 176 participants!! No mean feat and congrats to the organiser as she has obviously built it up well. Here's hoping Wendy will have the same success eventually.
Even tho i didnt join in on Thursday i thought i would still do my own creative space post.

So here was my workspace last week!
Here were mobile cases sewn and waiting for inners.

Here are the inners.

And here is the final result!

Another little collection ready for my 2011 fairs.

Thanks for looking.

Until next time

xxx

Craftjuice Tuesday

BUTTONS
I am beginning to get a passion for buttons. Here is a lovely selection for this weeks craftjuice.
From Hodgepodgearts on Etsy



From Melissa at Totalarttsoul

From ShooglyBeads on Folksy

And look what you can do with them

From SwirlyArts on Folksy

Until Next Time

xxx

Handmade Monday Week 4

This week i have been to heaven!

Heaven to me comes in the form of my favourite fabric shop The Bramble Patch in Weedon.

If you ever want any of the fabric you see on my blog The Bramble Patch has an online shop containing all the material they sell.

So i had a £20 loyalty voucher to spend this week so i really treated myself to this lovely bundle of fabric.

Only thing is my head is now swarming with ideas of projects to do and i am now forcing myself to do one job at a time and complete all half finished projects before starting something new. So i put together the teddies from last week, plus i made a couple more so i have a collection now! I love them and they will be listed in my folksy shop over the next couple of days.

Next project i finished were the kids pin cushions that have sat on my work bench for a couple of weeks. My idea is to make a childs sewing bag and include a sewing kit, pincushion, needle case and possibly a small button bag. Watch this space for the finished article!

All sewing completed and now to try and get marketing again.
My new folksy shop CottonsAndDreams is looking a little sparce so i am attempting to add items on intermitant days this week as this keeps me near the front page with the hope that sales start coming in.

Today i have listed my old faithfuls the tooth fairy cushions. Big sellers at my fairs and such a brilliant idea. Wish i'd have had one when the boys were small instead of rummaging around under the pillow looking for that all illusive tooth!!!!

And that's all folks!!

Handmade Monday is organised by Wendy at 1stUniqueGifts ,and organised very well i might add!!

Please make time to pop along to her blog and check out all the other crafters joining in with this weekly item.

Until Next Time.

xxx

Handmade Monday Week 3

Welcome to week 3 of Handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1stuniquegifts. I seem to be a lot later posting than most people but i have just got home from work and a little detour via Hobbycraft!! But i'm here now!
Happy valentines, by the way, to all you lovlies. I received the lovely flowers below so i was happy!
If you read my previous post in the week you will know that my constant companion to all my fairs last year (photo below) finally made the front feature page of Folksy this week and within a couple of days sold! It was hard letting her go and as i wrapped her up had a "Toy Story" moment imagining her coming to life and wondering where she was being shipped off to!!

Then to my shock,horror and suprise i got a message from someone wanting a mobile phone cover (below). My second folksy sale in a week!

So back to handmade Monday and my decision to start a new era of the teddy now that all 3 of the originals have been sold. Below are my first 3 in the making. Hopefully they will be sitting up and smiling at you next week.

And finally a little sneak preview of a little lady i have made for Francesca of Silverthistle Beads

who won a competition that i ran on the craft forum. She will be going in the post tomorrow.

Until next time.

xxx