Handmade Monday

Welcome to my first Handmade Monday which is a new, regular feature that has been set up and organised by the lovely Wendy of 1stUniqueGifts http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/
If you are a regular of my blog you may remember i purchased a lovely campervan plaque from Wendy during the summer and i am a massive admirer of the work she does.
So the idea is that each participant makes something new each week and shows it off on a monday on their blog. They can also show things that maybe they are working on or even lovely photos of how messy their craft area is!!!!!
Everyone will have a link in their post back to Wendy so you can pop by and see what she is up to and while you visit her blog you may want to check out the links she has to all the other participants.
Hopefully that was all understood!!
So for my makes this week i'm incredibly proud to show off my first ever bag. My sister bought me the kit from my favourite fabric shop The Bramble Patch for christmas .
I started it a week ago and did bits here and there. Finally, after rushing out for more cotton, i sewed the last piece in place yesterday morning.

I made a mistake sewing up the pelmet so i made one of my favourite fabric flowers with a gorgeous metal heart button to cover the mistake up and was really pleased with the result.

And to finish off and accessorise this lovely practical phone case in matching material.

I love the bag so much that i will be attempting more very soon to maybe add to my new folksy shop CottonsAndDreams.

Looking forward to doing this all again next Monday.

Until then

xx

Craftjuice Tuesday

This Weeks Theme Is Brown

Wasnt easy to pick items for this weeks craftjuice Tuesday as it seems a popular colour. Probably because it's so neutral. But what i have picked i love and i hope you all will too.

First is this lovely crocheted brown beanie finished off with an absolutely perfect Kanzashi fabric flower centered with an applique paw print patch.

ScarlettandMaria is the seller of this lovely design and it can be found in her Etsy Shop via this link.

Can i next introduce you to Chester Diddybear. Described in the sellers words as made from dark Shetland Wool and loving Rugby and Real Ale!!

The seller for Diddybears can be found on folksy tho it seems their shop is closed at present

Aren't these tags absolutely beautiful and so elegant?

Made by CraftyFerret these can be found on folksy thru this link.

Go take a look as there are some gorgeous red ones too.

Lastly is this lovely paper bag album by Kezzallcrafts and can be found on Etsy.

Perfect for valentines day this album holds up to 25 photos and can be filled before giving it as a present to make it all the more special.

Thanks for reading and pop back later in the week when, hopefully, i will have some new brown designs of my own to show off!

Until then

xx

Craftjuice Tuesday

Well i have finally jumped on the band wagon and joined up to craft juice Tuesday.
To carry on with my week of red theme i have picked 3 of my favourite items involving the colour red.
First we have a lovely valentines card from Mollymoo who has illustrated and designed the card herself. This puppy love card can be found in mollymoo's shop on folksy along with several other of her designs.
I love hanging hearts and this chicken print design caught my eye yesterday and i thought it was lovely. Philippinka is the seller behind the design and can be found on etsy with their other items.

Finally this lovely fabric needlecase by lynwoodcrafts being sold on folksy. Always handy for the regular sewer!

Lyn has some lovely items in her shop so go take a look if you have the time.

Well that's it for my first craftjuice Tuesday. Hope i did ok!

Until next time

xx

And The Theme Is Red!

A belated Happy New Year to you all.
I had hoped to be back here sooner after the festive season but unfortunately my "proper job" has been keeping me rather busy and away from creating.
But today i am back and have decided that this week will be dedicated to the colour red as that seems to be the colour that surrounds me at this present time.

I've been thinking a lot about valentines and mothers day gifts at the moment. I've never really targetted events before in my designs but feel that maybe this is the year to start.
Firstly i've been working on some photo frames. I worked my design in patchwork first and then proceeded to glue the fabric to the frame.
My second attempt i added padding between the frame and material which i think worked a lot better.
Before i can put these for sale tho i need to work on the reverse of the frame as it looks slightly messy at the moment!
For mothers day especially i've been working on this decorative cushion in my spare time this week and finally put the finishing touches to it at 2am this morning!!!
This is the first time i have done applique but i'm pleased with how the letters have come out.
Ive also never done patchwork on a machine before either and have always used the traditional method of wrapping squares of fabric around cardboard templates and handsewing each square together.


Also targetted at mothers day is this red pen/pencil case which can be personalised to suit the individual.

Making an appearance also this week in my red theme is this white and red spotted felt mobile phone case which is brilliant for protecting your phone and also so much easier to search for in your handbag!

Once again i can personalise these on my excellent Janome sewing machine.

Well that's all of MY makes but i'd love to show off the cushion that my sister made for me this christmas. I was so shocked when she said she had made it. I love it! Trouble is i now want 3 more!!

And finally to end this post i want to share with you one of my favourite ornaments. Despite it being rather christmasy i have it on display all year round because it's too lovely to be packed away.

Until next time

xxx

End Of Year Blog

Well the end of 2010 is now approaching and time to reflect on the year and look forward to new challenges for the New Year.
I started the year with hopes and dreams of opening a shop with my friend and end it with that dream gone but replaced with dreams of new ventures but on a smaller scale.
The best thing i did at the beginning of the year was to sign up to the uk craft forum. Through that site over the past year i have learnt so much, passed on advice, attended new craft fairs and above all met some lovely new friends.
During the final month of the year i have been busy experimenting in some new fields of sewing.
My cousin asked me to make some draught excluders for her house. Not something i have made before although not something that is really difficult. She was really pleased with them and has asked if i will make her a bench cushion in the New Year.
Material was purchased from my favourite shop The Bramble Patch.

My favourite challenge for the month was to create a secret santa present for Silverthistle from the craft forum. I didn't manage to find out too much personal information about her other than 4 kids and living in Scotland and loves beads!!

So i put together this gingerbread man garland representing her and her husband in tartan clothes and their 4 children. I was chuffed with the final results especially with the red beads inbetween as they were my 1st experiment with fimo clay.

Stocking fillers were high on my list of makes this month also and i am really pleased with these pen/pencil cases i designed. They are so handy in your handbag and no more routing around in the bottom of your bag for a pen!

I am enjoying the idea of puting different patterned material together at the moment.

I will also be able to personalise these in the future as i seem to have mastered lettering on my sewing machine as you will discover further down the page.

Was rather choked when i opened my own secret santa present on christmas day from Samigail (alias Fiona) on the craft forum. She had taken the time to read my blog and make 3 presents representing my recent decorating of the bathroom, my love of teddies and the fact that i cook for a living.

So personal and will definately be hung with pride.

You can find more plaques on fionas website here .

And finally another twist on gingerbread men for this year.

As you know i work as a cook and for the week before christmas we have a 3 course christmas menu and usually serve around 350 customers. It's always the hardest week of the year so for a laugh this year i made the 10 main staff badges with nicknames.

I am so pleased i have now mastered lettering on my machine and it's definately a new direction for next year with many ideas for personalising my crafts.

So there we are, the end of yet another year.

Looking forward to next year with many new ventures and dreams to explore.

Happy New Year to you all and see you in 2011 xx

A Successful Event At Sywell

Last weekend saw the start of our 3 big christmas events that we have booked for this year.
This one was run by Penine Fairs and was at Sywell Aerodrome and was a 2 day event.
As usual it was well set up and it was lovely to meet up with lots of members of the craft forum that i am an active member of.
We did really well over the weekend and sold lots of the £3 items that i had made which i was pleased about. Unfortunately my new gingerbread men and ladies didnt do well but i have now listed on my folksy site so maybe i'll have better luck there. If you fancy having any of these lovely gingerbreads hanging on your tree this year then you can buy them here from my folksy shop.

My favourite item at this weekends craft fair were these wine bottle cheese boards
made by Aldridge Architectural Glass .

Unfortunately i had no one to buy this for as a christmas present but i did think they were brilliant and quite unique.

It was a real priviledge also this week to be opposite Cuckoo's Nest Pottery. Kate, from Cuckoos Nest, is another member of the UK craft forum and it was lovely to meet her and chat with her.

I also bought some toadstools off her for a christmas present.

Kate demonstrates at fairs and below are some of her pieces that she was working on.

She also runs her own handmade fairs in the Leicester area and i'm looking into booking with her next year.

A lovely weekend both socially and financially.

Until next time.

xx

Fabric Flower Brooch

I am still using up all my material scraps and, this week, was asked by a lady at work if i could make her a fabric flower brooch for her new pink coat. She gave me one of the spare buttons so i could match colours but unfortuntely none of my scraps were the right colour. What a lovely excuse for a trip to my favourite fabric shop!!
If you have never been to The Bramble Patch in Weedon, Northants it's well worth a visit. For me it's one of those shops that i could stand in the middle of and drift off into my dreams, i love it. They also do many quilting classes in the rear of the building and the staff are so helpful.
So finally i picked 2 fat quarters of material that would match my button. And 2 totally extremes of design i think as well. The flowers look classy whilst the dots are a bit more mad and adventurous.
So i got to work as soon as i got home. If you recall ,from one of my earlier posts in the year, the tutorial for this brooch can be found on folksy tutorial page
and is really quite a simple but effective make.
Below are the final products and she decided to keep both. They match the coat colour well.


Until next time xx