The Crafter's Apprentice

A small success and a fail!

2012-02-25T14:45:00.000Z

How is everyone doing? I am having a lovely, restful Saturday. I've been working really hard this week and so decided to chill out this weekend - an unusual event for me! I'm trying not to feel guilty about it either. I didn't get out of bed until noon, I just lay there drinking coffee and reading my book. Then I got up to watch so programmes I'd taped on Sky+ and continue the hand quilting of the baby quilt - nearly there!

I'm having a break to do a little bit of blog surfing and I realised I was due a post. I've got a few things lined up to tell you about. Isn't it odd how it happens, a few weeks ago I had time to blog, but nothing to blog about, now I've got loads to show you and no time to do it!

Ready for one of my customary failures? Well first you get to see the success.

Yes, this is for my nephew! Due yesterday, but still no sign of him. All I did was cut out a block of animals, turn under the edges and sew it on with a zig-zag. Nice and simple, but I think it's quite cute.

I bought this gorgeous Michael Miller Alphabet Soup print at Prints to Polkadots. I then attempted to make some baby shoes with the same fabric. If you've been reading my posts for a while, you may remember that I have very little luck with foot wear! This is no exception...

See what I did there? No idea how it happened, the pieces were the same size, and I thought my seam allowance was the same for both, but apparently not!! In addition to that, I also made this mistake:

Yep, sewed the inside onto the outside. Oh dear. Another pair has been cut and stitched and is just awaiting the final bit of hand stitching to finish them off. I got the pattern from the magazine Craft Seller, though I altered it a bit as the instructions weren't great and I didn't like the way they finished them.

Well that's it for now, I'll show you these shoes when I've finally finished the handsewing. I've also got to show you the finished mini embroidery in its frame and hopefully, very soon, the finished baby quilt! I've also done a little house-prettying which I will show you too. Phew, too much to talk about!

Baby blanket done, baby quilt getting there

2012-02-23T19:41:00.001Z

Evening ladies. I planned to write this post yesterday, then earlier today but work has been crazy busy, I've been staying so late I'm days behind on blog reading and emails so please forgive me, I'm not ignoring anyone.

I think I've mentioned once or twice (or hundreds of times) that my only brother is about to have his first child, so I've been frantically working away. I managed to get the baby blanket finished on Tuesday and posted off yesterday. Want to see?

I used a V-stitch for the main part of the blanket, just judging the width and length, then I finished it off with the same shell border I used for this blanket.

I couldn't get brown satin ribbon like on the previous blanket, but as I knew that my nephew will be a nephew, I went for blue. It took ages to get it all in place!

Since I finished that, I've been hard at work on his quilt. Hand quilting has commenced and I LOVE it. I thought it would be laborious and tedious, but it's not, I love it!

I'm quilting it in perle cotton in 4 different shades and enjoying every stitch. When he arrives, I wont be able to go down to see him until the weekend as my brother lives about 3 hours away. He's due tomorrow so if he's on time, I'm going to be in trouble as I've still got 30 squares to go, then the binding to make and sew on. If he's born next week, I might be in luck!

Baby quilt progess

2012-02-21T12:53:00.000Z

I thought that I was about due for an update on the baby quilt I'm making for my nephew. I wrote about the top here, and the back here. This is my first ever quilt and I'm running out of time as my nephew is due on Friday! I finished his baby blanket last night, but didn't take photos as I was late getting to bed and it was very dark, I'll post about it soon. The blanket is to be posted down to his parents tomorrow, but I want to take the quilt with me on my first visit which will be shortly after he's born. Part of me wants him to arrive NOW, the quilting part of me wants him to wait another week or so!

So, where am I with it? On Saturday I did loads of straight-line quilting on my machine using grey thread.

Actually, it wasn't that straight. I was following the edges of the sashing with the inner edge of my walking foot, but the sashing is fairly wobbly! I got there in the end, after about 2 hours I think. Here it is so far:

As you can see, the back and wadding were loads bigger than the top, I do learn from my mistakes occasionally! I used Hobbs Heirloom wadding and bought the fusible stuff, thinking it would be easier. Spot the safety pin basting? Yep, it wasn't easier. First of all I didn't realise it was fusible on both sides (duh, why wouldn't it be?!) and fused it to my ironing board, secondly, it's not that fusible. It fuses, but it peels off.

Here's the quilting on the back, I quite like it, wonkiness and all!

So, all that remains to do now is to hand quilt the squares. I've got some perle cotton in various shades hoping that some will match. I went back and forth over whether to cotton should match the square I'm quilting, or contrast. I'm going with matching, about 1/2 inch from the edge, I think! Oh, and I'm going to have to deal with the little issues shown in the photo below. There are two of them... and no, I'm not unpicking the quilting, I'll snip them out somehow!!

After that, I'd better get the binding on pretty quick! I'm at work all week and have things to do most evenings, so if my nephew will just stay put for another week, that gives me the weekend to get it done. Oh, I told Mr CA I'm painting the bathroom this weekend... perhaps not!

Word Verification - PLEASE turn it off

2012-02-20T14:49:00.000Z

I've always hated word verification when leaving comments on posts, especially the kind where you type your message, then the page reloads and you have to type in a word, I suspect I've missed the word-typing hundreds of times and thought I'd left messages but hadn't. Now word-verification has got even worse.

Now Blogger has changed it and it looks like this above. People, I can't read it! Yesterday I tried 3 times to leave someone a comment but couldn't get the word verification right so I gave up. I'll be giving up a lot more too I think as it's a massive waste of time and utterly frustrating.

I've just read an excellent post at The Run Around Ranch Report on this very subject and I ask you all to go and read it, please!!

I'm afraid I agree with her and will have to stop leaving messages on word-verified blogs as it's just too hard. I don't have word verification, but I do have comment moderation. The reason I have it is that I love to go to my dashboard and see "3 comments", but I'm sad like that. I have no problem with spam. I allow anonymous comments so I do get spam, but Blogger puts it all, without fail, into my Spam folder where I can easily delete it without seeing the light of my Blogpage. If you don't want to do that, don't allow anonymous comments. Seriously, that's enough to stop spam.

Ladies, I beg you, turn it off!

A Dotty Kind of Swap

2012-02-19T19:23:00.000Z

Evening ladies! Well, have I got some exciting things to show you today? On Friday night my mum came round with a parcel for me (I have to get everything delivered there as not being in during the week provokes the post office into losing my stuff...). It was from the lovely Dotty, a bloggy friend of mine. We'd decided to have a private shop after I admired her glass work pendents on her blog.

Well, did I win in this swap! The parcel was incredible and even Mr CA was interested which is not usual for him and craft-related stuff!

First up was this cute little pouch...

Inside? Two beautiful fused glass pendants made by Dotty's fair hand. I'm wearing the blue one now!

Then came this little bunny rabbit. How cute! He's sitting on the shelf above me.

And last, but definitely not least... this octopus!

How cool is he? I did consider divorcing Mr CA and marrying him, but Mr CA wants to divorce me and marry him himself!!

Dotty, you're a star! Oh, and she has a shop, all sold out at the minute, but keep your eye out and you too could be the proud owner of a funky octopus.

So want to see what I sent her? It looks crap in comparison.

A patchwork lavender-filled heart.

Made with the scraps from this puffy pouch, tutorial by Ayumi at Pink Penguin.

Hmmm, not quite as good as Ayumi's, but it looks loads better when it's full. Promise. Not that I thought to take a photo to prove it!

That's the back, see how I've pulled the inner bits out so you can see them? Doesn't make it look great though!

And lined with stripes. I also sent her a RAW bracelet. This isn't the one I made on the jewellery course, I got my seed beads out as soon as I got home to make one for Dotty.

Here's a close up:

I also sent her one of the owls and some crocheted bunting. And this card. It's supposed to be a quilt on a washing line. Not too successful, I'm afraid. Sorry Dotty!

I really must stop doing swaps as I always seem to get the better end of the deal, and whilst that's great for me, I feel sorry for the poor partners I rope in!!

FSNI and TAST 7

2012-02-18T09:45:00.000Z

Morning ladies. The Mr woke me up early so I'm up and blogging whilst I drink gallons of coffee to ready myself for the day. Last night was FSNI and I had plans to baste and machine quilt my nephew's quilt. It was not to be. It's about time I learnt not to make plans! Instead my parents came round and I didn't settle down to sew until 9. That sounds like I didn't want them to come round - not true! I love to see my parents and I knew they were coming, I just mean it changed my sewing plans.

Instead, I decided to work on TAST week 7 - detatched chain stitch. Now, this is also called the lasy daisy stitch and Sharon was saying we don't have to use it for flowers, but you know what, I got an idea into my head and flowers it was!

First up is my little sampler. I used 4 strands of some cheapo floss I got free with a magazine and tried out my ideas.

I know the butterfly in the picture only has one wing, but the floss came to an end and it was only a trial. His wings are made from giant detatched chains couched down in several places. Then I got a piece of thin blue linen and took out my perle 8s and began to sew. This is the first time I've used the Perle 8s for embroidery and I'm deeply in love.

I'm not sure the side on daisies worked as well as I wanted them to - I feel my shape is better in the orange version. I also added the butterfly, but didn't make his wings from detatched chain as I didn't want to risk them going wonky - they went wonky anyway! Despite its imperfections (many) I LOVE this piece. I'm going to frame it up in a little embroidery hoop and hang it. I'll show you when I do.

The picture above has a pen it in just to show you the size - I worked this as small as I could! So, I feel TAST 7 was a success.

Last night was the last ever episode of Big Love, I'm heartbroken. I fell in love with this programme and with the family. I had to sit up and watch it on Sky+ after Mr CA had gone to bed so I worked on the crochet baby blanket for my nephew. It's so close to being finished now and I'm putting on the last border round. It takes forever but I'm getting it done this weekend.

Watch out for some finished items next week, oh and a post about the most incredible swap package I got!

Valentines love for some, fabric love for others.

2012-02-15T12:37:00.000Z

Morning ladies! It was Fat Club last night and I only lost a pound. I'm not sure what I did wrong as I was very good, but I blame my body, it is a little strange! I'm sure you all know it was Valentine's Day yesterday. It's not as big a deal over here as it is in America, we only give cards/presents to our other halves, or those we wish were our other halves. Me and the hubby did exchange cards and small presents (well I didn't as my order still hasn't turned up!) but that was it.

A friend at work asked me to make something for her to give to her husband on Valentine's. Apparently he's got the rather bizarre habit of reaching his hand inside his t-shirt and stroking the label.... she asked me about a mini-version of a tag blanket and I said I'd make a heart-shaped one.

As he's going to carry this in his pocket it didn't want to be too bulky but I added a layer of wadding inside. It's small, about 2.5 inches excluding the ribbon tags.

I used a couple of charm squares that I had hanging around. I made the card for Mr CA. Not terribly impressive but I'm going to show you anyway! I'm so out of the routine of card making that I tend to struggle with my designs, they used to flow.

In the background is my rather gross ironing board cover which I intend to recover, joining in the sew-along at i have to say, if I can find time!

I thought I'd show you the bargain Amy Butler prints I got at Prints to Polka Dots in their recent sale, I mean that I "won", they might be destined for my ironing board cover...

Just a quick side note before I leave you, I've just been pinning and I discovered that if you highlight text on the page before you click "pin it", that texts automatically goes into the text box when you pin! What a great time saver... did other people know about this? Am I the last one to cotton on?

Jewellery Making course

2012-02-13T12:58:00.001Z

On Saturday I went on a basic jewellery making course at The Bead Shop Nottingham with my mum. They run a massive range of jewellery courses, most of which I hope to attend at some point over the year! I have made jewellery before but my mum hasn't so I said I'd go with her as I still have a lot to learn. I'm really glad I went.

First of all we learnt the correct way to form loops. I've been doing it the hard way all this time! OK, so Blogger has rearranged my photos. Fine. The LAST thing we made was a memory wire bracelet. The most difficult part about this is choosing the beads but I managed to find some lovely blue and white beads that reminded me of porcelain, so I used them.

Apart from bead choice, this was incredibly easy to make. Making the loops was quite hard as the wire is very tough but it wasn't a difficult technique.

The FIRST thing we made was a pair of earrings using our new-found loop-making skills. I had a bit of trouble with this as earrings make me feel sick. Yep, weird I know. I used to be pierced, loads in my ears, two in my nose and one in my belly button, but for the past 10 years or so they've made me feel ill so I don't wear them. Even seeing other people wearing earrings can make me nauseous. I got past it in the end by very much not focusing on what they were!

I went for a simple three-drop design with these lovely blue beads and some clear crystals. My mum said they looked like the kind of earrings she used to wear in the 60s. Not sure if that's a compliment or not...

Yesterday I attempted some artistic photography. Hm.

After we'd done the necklaces (which blogger says you can't see until last), we had a go at beadweaving, attempting the Right Angled Weave (RAW). I love this technique!

I chose to do a stripy pattern, rather than have one colour in the centre and a different at the sides like the samples in the class. Somehow I managed to break my end-cap type thing which the tutor said never usually happens so I'm not quite sure what happened there! As I'd already cut the thread, I had to rip back a few rows and make the bracelet smaller. It's a good job I've got the smallest wrists known to man (the only slim bit about me). Oh that reminds me, I didn't tell you about week 2 at fat club, did I? I got Slimmer of the Week, go me! It made up for almost dying in the aerobics class. I'm so unfit it's not funny.

This was incredibly hard to photograph as it's so small.

I don't think I've captured the colours very well, they're all really dark. I did manage to iron my photo background cloth though, the new iron is great, it gets wrinkles out and everything, I'd kind of forgotten that irons do that!

So, we made earrings first, then the necklace below this, then this necklace. This uses crimp beads which I like a lot now I've figured out how to close them properly! The beads I used are actually clay, not wooden though they do look it.

I went for a rainbow arrangement and I love this one, I'm keeping it for myself along with the RAW bracelet, the other items (especially the (urgh) earrings) are going in the shop.

I took a close up of the ends as I love the little triangle beads and wouldn't have thought of this kind of detail without the tutor suggesting it.

On to the first necklace! They'd provided us with big jars of mixed beads, so trawling through them to find beads to use was a long process. I'd found two perfect beads and it turned out they didn't have a hole all the way through!

This necklace was made with a kind of cord and knots. Tricky to get the knots in the right place. This was a technique I'd never tried before.

I quite like that funky bead, but it's too long for me and so I'm going to try to sell it.

I'm looking forward to more jewellery classes in the near future, we're planning on attending one a month if we can, but not next month as I've already booked onto a stained glass course, I can't wait!

If any of these pieces take your fancy, or you want to see some other jewellery I've made, take a look in my Folksy Shop.

TASTing

2012-02-11T11:21:00.002Z

I got behind on the TAST challenge. I blame Tunisia (as in my work trip to Tunisia, not the country itself). OK, so I could have caught up with the one week I'd missed when I got back, but I just kept putting it off. I considered dropping out but I'm sick of dropping out of stuff and I really want to see this challenge through. So I sat down and just TASTed.

Week 3 was the feather stitch. I'd already mistakenly done some feather stitch during week 1 when I got confused and thought it was a continuous version of fly stitch. But I did some more.

I had some random spools of variegated thread. I think they're around perle 8 in size, but they're not branded. Do I mean perle 8? Is that thinner than perle 12? If not then I mean perle 12. The first one is a normal feather stitch, then there's one with long arms, then one with straight arms and finally a circle and a square, just because. I actually really like that circle.

Week 4 was cretan stitch. I struggle with this one. I did some of it recently on my Embroidery Journal Challenge (also not abandonned, just very very late) and found it really hard.

Yep, still struggling. The first three are just attempts at getting it to look like cretan stitch, then I tried lacing it and finally a close cretan stitch which is rubbish. I think I might have been better off working on Aida, but I thought the linen would be better for surface embroidery.

Week 5 was herringbone stitch. LOVE IT.

I tried ordinary herringbone, then one a whipped version, a tied version, a twisty version and a veryclose version. Then at the bottom is a laced one and one where I did two lines of back stitch, then put the herringbony bit on top without going through the fabric. I should have offset the bottom set of stitches, but as I didn't read the instructions properly, I got this version.

And finally, week 6 which was the chevron stitch. Wow, how boring.

I didn't play around with this one much as it was boring. One ordinary line, then stacked one on top of the other. Yawn. The blue in the corner is week 2.

Here they are all together, just room for one herringbony-type stitch or one chevron-type stitch - depending on how much I like it! TAST week 7, I'm ready for you!

Prettying my home, and a half-finish

2012-02-09T16:27:00.000Z

Afternoon ladies. Wow, am I stressed? Yep, very stressed. Too much work to do, too much housework to do, too much to think about. So what am I doing? I'm writing a blog post in the middle of the working day! I don't have a great deal to show you, but I wanted to show you how I'm getting on with Cherry Heart's Pretty Crafty Home challenge, and I've finished the cross stitch on the not-a-flowerpot, so I thought I'd show you that, even though I haven't finished it into it's final piece.

For the challenge, I haven't got to the pretty or craft bit, I'm still on the decorating bit! I don't know if you remember, but I'm working on my dining room. I finished painting the shelves, hurrah!

Mr CA says they're shoddily finished, with paint drips on the front, but I don't care as I plan to sew some shelf edging for them. I think it was what spurred him on to doing this though...

Oh yes, my DIY-shy husband is painting the door! I thought he'd work on it at the weekend, then leave it there all week for the next coat, but no, he's doing it after work! I hope he does the living room door next... must make sure I do all DIY shoddily in future...

I don't have anything more to show you on my home-prettifying as I've been far too busy to do much and I'm not sure that's going to change as I have a jewellery class this weekend, then I have to get on the WII fit and finish a couple of items I'm working on...

One of which is this:

That's right, it's not a flowerpot! Mind you, I came to labelling it in my photos and nearly called it an ice-cream, which it isn't. Can you tell what it is?? I bpught the gorgeous wool felt that I'm stitching on from The Rainbow Room on Folksy, great value and lovely felt if you're after some. Unfortunately, the hastily shot photo does not show it off well, not that there's much light at 7:30am in my living room. And the curtains were closed. That might have been a factor come to think of it.

Anyway, I haven't finished rambling yet. I've been given a blog award by two different people! I'd like to thank Bar Purple and my bloggy friend Allie who have both awarded me The Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks ladies!

So, I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself and pass the award on to 15 bloggers. I'm going to skip that part as I did that last time I got an award and couldn't choose 15 bloggers out of the many hundreds I read (no wonder I'm always busy!). Also, I know a lot of you ladies don't accept awards.

So, 7 things about me.

1. I can't stand onions or tomatos. I have to pick onions out of anything they're in. Even if they're chopped up tiny. I'm OK with the taste of tomatos, so I can eat things with a tomato sauce, but I can't stand the lumps. Yuck.
2. I used to be allergic to kiwi fruits, but now I'm allergic to oranges. They give me a migraine. I'm also allergic to sticking plasters, washing powder, scented soaps and lotions and anti-histamines.
3. I'm hungry, but that's probably obvious from numbers 1 and 2.
4. I'm only 5 foot 1.
5. My first pet was a hamster called Dribble. After that I had 3 more hamsters and a selection of fish. They were my only pets until I got my bunnies a few years ago.
6. I'm 34. Yes, I'm admitting my age in public. Well, there's nothing I can do about it.
7. I don't get "vintage". It annoys me. Everything seems to be labelled vintage regardless of age or provenance.

So there we go. I'll be back soon as I have been joining in with TAST, I'm just a bit behind, but I'm nearly caught up now!

A back and a malfunctioning piece of household equipment

2012-02-07T13:51:00.001Z

Those of you with a very long memory, and those of you who (quite rightly) keep a spreadsheet of all things in my life - Yes, that would be you Dotty - may remember I pieced the top of my nephew's quilt ages ago... see here if you don't remember, (and don't forget to put it into your spreadsheet). I haven't given up on it! At the weekend, I finally pieced the backing.

The quilt top is 37 x 45 inches and so the backing needed to be bigger as I know it will shift when I'm quilting it, just like it did with my lap top cosy. I wanted it to be at least 6 inches bigger all round. When buying the fabric, I'd bought a metre piece of two of the prints with the idea that it would be the backing. Clearly I hadn't checked the fabric requirements, why would I do that? That would be organised, and planning ahead...

A pieced backing was the only option. But a simple one.

You know what? It was easier to piece this than take a bloody photo of it! There was snow on the ground outside and enough light coming through my window, but I just couldn't get a good photo! As you can see, I've left the quilt top lying on the floor underneath it!

I pieced some of the left over charm squares together, then added a border of the print fabric which is the sashing on the front, then sewed it to a big piece of my two big bits.

It is loads bigger than the top which is a good thing. I then wanted to get the wadding fused on (yep, I went for fusible wadding, got to be easier...), baste it and get the machine quilting done, I'm also planning some hand quilting.

And guess what? My iron had packed up. It was spurting out lots of water, but it wasn't getting any of the creases out. To top it all off, it might not have been hot enough to get the creases out, but the handle was burning my hand! I had to give up for the day. I bought a new iron yesterday so I hope to tackle this soon, possibly Friday night - anyone know if it's FSNI?

Meet the flock.

2012-02-05T18:08:00.000Z

Good evening ladies. I actually managed to do some sewing today!! Oh before I forget - Sandra, you can call off the hitman, I've done over 4 hours on the baby blanket this weekend, not just 15 minutes! Yesterday was a busy getting-jobs-done kind of day, including getting myself organised and getting the car fixed, so today I'm taking it easy. I went up to my sewing room in the morning, intending to paint the kitchen door afterwards. This was my view.

You can't beat that, can you? Oh, that reminds me, have I ever introduced you to my sewing machine? I can't remember, so meet him anyway. Him? Oh yes, he's definitely male, most of the time he does as he's told but sometimes he throws a strop for no reason!

He's a Husqvarna Viking E116 and I love him (most of the time, he's been good to me today or I'd be calling him blind). His name? Sewing Machine. Inventive, eh? It's like my car, that's called My Car.

Anyway, my brother's girlfriend had asked me for a "Pedro-style owl" for the baby. I flicked through a load of pictures on Pinterest, but decided to make my owl pattern. A quick prototype later and Gustav was born!

He's just 15cm tall and has a long ribbon loop as she wants to hang him from my nephew's bouncer. He's made from the most luscious grey linen (the same as Pedro) which I've now run out of! Must get some more... and has a cotton belly and hand-embroidered eyes. What was that, you want to know where his wings are? Shhhh... it's rude to point out people's short comings...

It's always quicker to make 5 than one... or something like that! So I did. here's Gustav and his friends.

I love the belly fabric on this one, I had just a charm square and I've no idea what it was as I bought it in a mixed bundle. Sadly, after this one, the luscious grey linen ran out and I had to use the almost-as-nice-but-not-quite grey linen I had.

I'm rather proud of this fussy-cut belly! (I think it was an accident...)

And this is from one of my Moda layer cakes to which I never knew the name.

This little lady has a belly made from one of my last scraps of DS fabric all the way from a US Joann's.

What do you think? It's my first attempt at designing a soft toy and I think there are others in my brain, battling to get out... If you want one of these little owlets, they're for sale in my Folksy shop. But don't worry, this blog wont become merely an advert for my shop!!

Oh, I didn't tell you about painting the kitchen door! I didn't have to. I'm not sure what happened but Mr CA, the same Mr CA who's allergic to DIY and has to be badgered into putting up a picture, announced he was going to paint the kitchen door! I didn't argue...

Winnings and "no I didn't buy it, I won it"s

2012-02-03T10:19:00.000Z

Wow, how slack have I been on the blogging front? You know, I'm completely and utterly overwhelmed at the moment. Life just seems too much and I haven't had time to make much (I did finish the stitching on the not-a-flowerpot, but have yet to photograph it or make it up into the finished product) or blog much, but I've had nothing much to blog about anyway. I'm trying to decorate, clean, declutter and prettify the house. After nearly 5 years of living in it, it's about time and I'm at it with a vengence. Add to that the diet/exercise class I've joined, the drudge of daily life and obligations such as seeing the in-laws and I've not got much time to myself. It just feels like too much. Oh, I'm also trying to organise my life, I'm sick of realising my MOT is 3 months over due, or looking for my car insurance to find that my breakdown insurance ran out a year ago, missing people's birthdays etc, so I'm trying to get a "life plan" in place for all that! I do hope this blog will return to normal in the near future, but for the time being will you bear with me?

These are "winnings" of the "no darling, of course I didn't buy more fabric from the Print-to-Polkadots sale, I won it. Yes, I do seem to win a lot of fabric..." variety. Some half metres, some fat quarters. No plans for them yet.

This, however, is a true winning. I won this in Loretta's Advent Giveaway. How cute is that little frame?

And this lovely pile of Tanya Wheelan FQs is a winning from the Eclectic Maker via The Sewing Directory. Thanks EM and TSD, I love Tanya Wheelan fabrics!

This one was a little present from my mum, it's tiny, as you really can't tell as I didn't put anything in the photo for scale, but it's about 5cm / 2inches tall. Sweet!

On the non-craft related front, it's been a traumatic/funny week. There was the incident of the car keys locked in the boot, then I went to get my headlamp bulb replaced yesterday and discovered my bonnet wont unlock as the lock is dead, the central locking has died on the car and yesterday my dearly beloved finished eating all the veg on his plate to find a dead, cooked catepillar!! That did make me snigger. It made him sick but I still thought it was funny!

Busy weekend ahead, shelves to put up (they're painted!) and fill, a door to paint, bathroom and kitchen ceilings to paint, a visit to the in-laws, a trip to the garage to get my bonnet lock finished to fork out for and hopefully some crafting to be done! In the meantime ladies, please do some crafting on my behalf, I miss it!

Blogger map

2012-01-31T11:44:00.000Z

I've just found the Blogger Map over at Latte Love. She's trying to geographically map blogs throughout the world! Ambitious? Yes! Great idea? Oh yes! Hop over and add your blog...

click here

What am I doing?

2012-01-30T14:21:00.000Z

Good afternoon ladies. Well, I was resolved to sew this weekend, sew anything, just get back into the groove. Saturday didn't work out as expected as I was far too busy doing housey stuff, then cooking (most unlike me!), then having a nice long bath! I settled down in front of the TV in the evening and did a few rows on the baby blanket I'm making for my nephew.

He's due in just 4 weeks and I'm only halfway through, then I'll have to add a border. Factor in the going-to-buy-ribbon trip, the posting time (he lives about 300 miles away) and the fact I want this to be his receiving blanket, i.e. a blanket to receive him when he's born, I really had better get on with it. Two rows later, it ended up back here.

I've taken to stuffing it back in my yarn bowl at the end of each session! By the way, the yarn bowl was handmade by LittleWrenPottery and is absolutely stunning.

So why did I give up? Because a sudden cross stitching urge hit me full force in the face... scramble for the felt, dig out the waste canvas, get out the floss boxes...

I'm planning to add some beads to this. No, it's not a flowerpot! I went to bed a few rows in and for the first time in my life was still awake at 1am, completely wide awake. I got up and Eastenders and a film saw me stitching some more. I went to bed at 4am!

That probably explains the long lie-in on Sunday. I did manage to get some sewing done on Sunday, but not as much as I wanted due to the long lie-in and the need to give the shelves another coat of paint. My brother's girlfriend had requested something specific for the birth of their baby and so a design was drawn and a prototype was made. The prototype was then thrust into Mr CA's face as I urged him to "look! look! I made that!". I got his stock reaction - "very good", but decided to push on, but to make some extra...

5 little cuties awaiting their eyes... the eyes are now sewn and I just have to sew them up and I can show you. I got the eyes done that evening after cooking my first ever roast dinner (it was amazing!) - far too much cooking this weekend, I think I'll go on cooking strike for a few months, no change to the norm then - and spending a ridiculous amount of time updating my shop. It was half empty and I had loads of stuff I hadn't listed. I wasn't sure why I hadn't listed it until I started and remember it takes FOREVER to list something... nearly done now, just a few more items to go. Feel free to take a look if you fancy, but don't if you don't!

Now, I've shown you everything I've been working on, so until the cuties are born or the cross stitch is finished, this blog is going to be rather sparse again. I'm really sorry ladies, I know this blog's been crap so far this year - bear with me and normal service WILL be resumed, I promise!

Sorting stuff out

2012-01-28T16:12:00.000Z

Afternoon ladies. I'm afraid I have nothing crafty to show you. Again. I really do need to sort myself out! Unfortunately, I haven't got time. I got up this morning and took 6 rubbish bags of rabbit poo to the tip, then I cleaned out the bunnies and took another 6 bags of rabbit poo to the tip. I came home and started painting some shelves, then had to sort my husband out as he's locked the car keys in the boot and we don't have a spare set! Luckily I remember my breakdown insurance had expired... I renewed it 2 days ago!

That's Tiff chewing through the "window" of the cardboard "castle" I'd made for the bunnies. Anyway, I thought I'd drop in and tell you about the home-sorting challenge I'm involved in and show you some pictures of what I'm working with. I know it's a bit off topic and I usually write about crafts, but this will have a crafting element to it and to be honest, if I don't publish these pictures, I don't think I'll get round to doing anything about my mess of a home.

Cherry Heart is running Pretty Crafty Home which is all about sorting out your home, getting rid of clutter and adding handmade touches - so it is sort of about craft. I bought my house 4 years ago, it had been a student house for about 15 years and it showed. Brown or red carpets through, textured wallpaper that'd been painted over with about 25 coats of GLOSS, chipped and peeling wood-work, brown bathroom suit (yes, brown!), ancient kitchen...

The plan was always to do it up, but time and money have kind of got in the way. So far we've only really painted what is now my craft room (because my cousin lived with us for a while and we couldn't ask her to pay rent the state it was in) and my step-daughter's room, and done some work to the living room / dinning room. Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures of the downstairs as the pictures were on my laptop which was stolen in a burglary about 3 years ago.

The following photos are of the dining room and living room as it is now.

Originally, there were two rooms downstairs, as is common in Victorian houses (my house was built in 1884) but we knocked through to make one large, light room and added a coat cupboard as Victorian houses lack storage. Above is the tip of a dining room. I decided not to clean it up as it will look even better when I show you the "after" pictures!

Bit orange that one. There is a chimney breast and two alcoves. We've fitted the alcoves with bookshelves and I've painted the shelves on the left. I'm currently painting the shelves to the right (just waiting for Mr CA to come home with some more paint before I can continue - after he gets back in the car...), then we'll finish loading them with books. You can see my little computer desk above which is where I'm sitting now.

This room is painted and has the wallpaper and floor done, all that remains to do is the shelves and the beading. Then I'll add a touch of homemade. I'm thinking of painting the furniture white, making curtain tie-backs, chair seat cushions, table cloth etc. The oven will be in the kitchen when Mr CA gets round to sorting it out...

Here's the view into the living room.

Oh, and the kitchen door needs painting and putting back on its hinges!

The living room is also done bar the beading (I've now been waiting 2 years for Mr CA to do that!). I'm thinking of painting the coffee table in here, adding a crochet blanket or two, some more cushions...

And some more shelves to the right of the fireplace. See the fireplace? It's beautiful, it's made of slate and is divine. The previous owner had painted it gloss white. It took weeks to strip it back and I love it.

Definitely room for something hand made here.

I'm thinking the curtains look a little boring - I could embroider them?

So there we go. Here is my home at the moment, stay tuned to find out what it turns into. And no, it wont be next week!

Winter Stitching Update - Halfway through!

2012-01-25T12:36:00.000Z

I've rejigged the list and taken off Christmas stuff that just didn't happen. No use beating myself up about it!

Birthdays before Christmas

~~1. Crochet hook case for mum~~ - completed at the end of October

~~2. A thread catcher for mum~~ - completed at the end of October

~~3. 2 x car kits, 1 for my dad and 1 for my FIL~~ - completed at the beginning of November

~~4. 2 x mug rugs for the same 2 men~~ - completed at the beginning of November

Other pre-Christmas stuff
~~5. An item or two for a private swap~~ - completed at the beginning of November
~~6. Advent calendar for my goddaughter~~ - completed at the end of November

Christmas presents
~~7. Finish the CRM cushion for mum~~ - completed in December
~~8. Glasses cases x 4 for mum, dad, FIL and an aunty~~ - completed in December
~~9. Frilly apron for the MIL~~ - completed November
~~10. Spa kits of my own devising x 6 for MIL, SIL, niece and 3 friends~~ - completed in December
~~11. Finish the Petit Ecole table runner for my brother and his girlfriend~~ - completed in December
~~12. Wine cosy for my brother~~ - Completed in December
~~13. Iris cross stitch bookmark for Nana-in-law~~ - completed in November
~~14. Tea cup candles all round~~ -completed in December along with a lot more candles!
~~15. A frog x-stitch pouch from Cross Stitcher for my best bud~~ - completed in November
~~16. Something for my friend's baby. - I've already made him a linen bunny, and now two bear hats.~~ - completed in November
~~17. wash bags for dad and FIL~~ - completed in December
~~18. Gift tags~~ - completed in December
~~19. Cookies in a jar x 18~~ - completed in December
~~20. Scrubbies for dad, brother, FIL - in progress~~ - I just made one in the end
~~21. Bird feeders - in progress~~ - these all got finished
~~22. Reinbeers for dad and FIL (stolen from Pinterest!)~~ - these were finished too

General Stuff

23. 4 PIF gifts - put off til after christmas - still not done!

24. I'd like to finish the alphabet chart for my goddaughter. I'm on N. - No progress
25. Amigurumi pig for mum for mother's day - nope, not done

My nephew's birth in February
26. Quilt - the top is pieced, next the quilting!
27. Crochet receiving blanket - half done
28. Sewn booties - not started yet
29. A cushion for his nursery - not started either
30. Trousers - no, not started!
~~31. Crochet bear hats~~ - done in November

32. Appliquéd baby grows - again, not started

Stuff for myself (for a change)
33. The dining room chair cushions
34. Matching table topper
35. And placemats
36. Crochet hook case
37. A coffee mat as my coffee pot drips
38. A lunch bag
39. Shopping bags for the supermarket
None of these have been started

~~40. A handbag~~ - yes! This was done in January, quite spontaneously

41. A needle book or 3 - not done

Brother's birthday - none of these are done
42. Coasters with cross stitch - quotes from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
43. Matching coffee mat
43. A cross stitched towel (just a band, not the whole thing!!) again with the quotes.
44. Flash drive keyring

45. Yoda ami

46. crochet R2D2

WIPs
47. Giant granny blanket - no progress
48. Granny square cushion - no progress
49. Sampler blanket - no progress
50. Hardanger - no progress
51. Crochet bag - no progress
52. Tea cup embroidery - no progress
53. Secret project - can't tell you about it! - Yes, some progress! But I can't tell you about it...

So I've added them up and it seems I've done 24 items and have 30 left to do. That doesn't add up to 53 but I've checked it twice and can't see where I'm wrong! I've got a long way to go and having an unproductive January isn't helping!

Resolved to Sew

2012-01-24T09:51:00.001Z

The first month of 2012 is almost over and I've made practically nothing. I have hundreds of books and magazine with sewing projects marked, hundreds or even thousands of bookmarked webpages and pins on Pinterest*, a list of to-sew items as long as my arm yet I'm faced with "what should I sew"? An overload of inspiration maybe? Sometimes I just sit on the sofa, staring at the TV, but then the next day at work I wish I could be at home sewing!

Then I read about the most amazing giveaway at Very Berry Handmade and decided to resolve to sew! This weekend, I'm going upstairs, I'm grabbing a craft book/magazine and I'm going to sew... something. When I take a break, I'll get on Pinterest and find something I want to sew and just sew it! OK, so I want to win the giveaway, and this is the prize I'd choose:

Fat quarter bundle (10 FQ) from Erin McMorris’s Summersault from Backstitch, but I also want to get out of this creative slump I feel I'm in.

Now, you can't have a post without a photo, so here's a photo of the flannel I won on a giveaway at The Sewing Directory before Christmas.

Those piggies will be perfect for something for my mum, I'm just not sure what yet! If you're in the UK and haven't checked out the Sewing Directory, you should, it's a directory of UK based fabric shops and they run frequent giveaways.

I'll be back soon with a post about this:

And I might even get round to showing you the crochet project I've got going on. After the weekend, there should be (hopefully) loads of sewing posts!
Edited to add: ladies, I'm having problems commenting on most blogs - the pages just wont load. I'm also having email problems - I can't email many people and I can't email anyone with a hotmail address! These things come in threes, so I'm guessing Blogger will go down now!
*A note on Pinterest: I've read loads of blogposts recently where the authors are bemoaning the fact they can't join Pinterest as they don't want to join Facebook. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO JOIN FACEBOOK TO BE ON PINTEREST. I have a Facebook page, but Pinterest doesn't even know about it! You can sign up with an email address. If anyone does want to join, I still have some invitations left, so just give me your email address and I'll invite you. And if you want to follow me, I'm here.

A long-overdue crafty post! - Lap top stuff holders

2012-01-22T14:58:00.000Z

Good afternoon ladies. I flew back from Sousse on Friday - it involved a 2 hour drive to Tunis to the airport, a 2 and a half hour flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle which was pure hell due to turbulance the whole way, then a dash through CDG which is the size of a small country, onto a bus which took us to the plane. Another hour and a half flight to Birmingham, then an hour and a half drive home. By the time I got home, I was still sick to my stomach from that turbulance and I'm still feeling ill today, but I don't think it's the turbulance.

Anyway, Before I went to Tunisia, I realised I had nothing to hold my laptop and didn't like the idea of carrying it a thousand miles just in my handbag. So I made myself a laptop case. I used a pattern from One-Yard Wonders which was pretty good, though not perfect....

I chose my fabrics. I've had this lovely green flowery linen for ages and I love it, but I only had half a metre so didn't know what to make with it. I decided to try some other fabrics with it and to my astonishment, it goes with this Amy Butler Bali which I also had half a metre of.
Don't they look cosy? I still had a massive tangle in my suitcase though - Skype headphones, phone charger, camera charger, camera lead, hairdrier, hair straighteners... I can see a lot more "cable cosies" coming on for my next trip!

The green of the linen is actually a little more green that it shows on the photo... but it's the same as the green on the Amy Butler. Even though the patterns are world's apart, I decided to use them together as I like the combination, and that's what counts, isn't it?

First I had to quilt. Typically, I had no cotton which matched any of the colours of the fabrics, except the bright pinky/purple in the flowery print. So bright pinky/purple it was!

I thought I did a fairly decent job with the quilting. There are a few puckers on the AB side, but as it is the inside, I'm not too bothered.

Unfortunately, I should have realised that with my novice quilting "skills" there was no way the top layer, bottom layer and wadding would all stay perfectly aligned, so I had to trim them down afterwards, meaning the case was too short - mind you, I only took off less than an inch so I think it would have been too short anyway. If you make this pattern, I'd advise you to add additional length to it, in case of quilting mishaps, but just anyway as the pattern doesn't take into account the depth of the laptop.

I solved the problem by adding a 4.5 inch wide strip of the lining fabric, with a piece of wadding sandwiched in between.

I had planned on binding the top edge with the lining fabric, but as I'd had to use it to extend the case, I bound it with the green flower linen instead.

I'm pretty chuffed with it, despite two small issues. I forgot to trim the corners so they are very rounded, and the flap is a little bit wonky when fastened.

The inside edges are bound. I used bought white bias tape for this. I hate bought bias tape and can't see me using it often, I'd much prefer to make my own.

Though to be honest, if I made this again, I don't think I'd bind the inner seams, I'd quilt the top layer with a piece of muslin, then make the case up as I usually would, inserting the lining inside to hide all raw edges.

Ta-dah! Here's Mr Laptop all snuggled up inside. I also had extras that get in the way. My power cable and my mouse had tangled themselves up in my bag just on the trip home from work, so I thought I'd better make them each a little bag for the trip to Tunisia. I mean, how annoying is it trying to find your purse in a bag full of cables doing their best impression of spaghetti?

And so two zipper bags were born from the leftover fabrics. They're not quilted as I don't think cables are that delicate. They are lined though.

One in the Bali print, but that was all I had. The linen had been a wider cut than the Amy Butler, so I used it to line the second bag.

Don't they look cosy? I still had a massive spaghetti-mess in my suitcase though - phone charger, camera charger, camera lead, Skype headphones, hair drier, hair straighteners.... I can feel more "cable cosies" coming on for my next trip!

The bag could have done with being just a few inches taller, but overall I was happy with it!

I don't think normal service will be resumed just yet on this blog. I've got about 900 new blog posts and a billion emails to catch up on. I also have made much, I did take a little crochet with me to Tunisia so I can show you that - oh, and I can show you some fabric that arrived chez moi whilst I was away, but I can't see me getting much crafting done this weekend as I feel really quite ill and it's back to work tomorrow. Oh, and I'm behind on TAST now too! How stressful!

Bonsoir de Tunisie... encore!

2012-01-18T22:45:00.000Z

Bonsoir ladies - I've just got back to my hotel, it's nearly midnight so I have to go to bed, but I wanted to drop in to say that I'm not ignoring you all! I haven't had a spare moment to read blogs or reply to my emails, so please don't think I've gone all silent on you. I made something at the weekend before I flew out, I have the photos ready to show you but I just haven't had the time to post. I'll leave you with a quick photo - this is what I found when I got back to my hotel tonight - what do you think this arrangement of my pajamas might mean???

Bonsoir de Tunisie!

2012-01-17T18:36:00.000Z

Hello,

Just thought I'd drop in to show you a quick photo - this is the view from my private terrace. Work trip eh? It's a hard life...

TAST week 2 - Buttonhole Stitch

2012-01-14T10:24:00.002Z

Good morning. It was my intention to post last night, but yesterday sort of got away from me and besides, I was too cold. Our boiler has packed up and our up-to-now very mild winter has decided to take a dive for -5. Not so cold? No, probably not as cold as Canada or Siberia, but in our old, big, drafty Victorian house, it's a bit like being outside.

Yesterday was a day of running around getting ready for my business trip to Tunisia on Monday (25 degrees - yay!) then a hasty trip to take my washing to my mum's. I felt like a teenager doing that but there's no way it'll be dry enough for me to pack on Sunday night if I try to dry it here - it probably wouldn't be dry by the time I get back! Then when I got home at half past 8, I was too cold to do anything but sit infront of the TV. You should have seen us, both in wooly hats, layers of jumpers and fleeces and a hoody, thick socks and slippers and covered in a blanket. We gave up and went to bed early, under layers of blankets and still in the wooly hat!

I'm now sitting here in my nightwear - fleece, thick socks and wooly hat included - too cold to get in the shower or get changed, though I have to at some point as I've heard John Lewis is having a half price sale on fabrics such as Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry (I'm not not sure that's his name! It's the cold, I have frostbite of the brain!) and I have vouchers!!

Don't panic about the wordy-ness of this post - I do have photos! Not many though, it's been to cold to make anything. First up is my TAST for week 2.

This week was buttonhole stitch - a stitch I know as blanket stitch and have done plenty of. I enjoyed trying out some different versions of the stitch, but my work below looks a little pathetic! I'm such a slow embroiderer.

I had a go at the ideas on Sharon's post, including overlapping blanket stitch, barb stitch (though you can't see the whipping, I only used 2 strands and I think I needed more), up and down button hole stitch (it's like a little miracle, it doesn't look like it's going to work but it does! Love that one), some very unsuccessful circles and a knotted buttonhole which I don't think you can make out above. I then turned to my Crazy Quilting book and had a go at the bottom stitch which is laced buttonhole. My stitches are incredibly wonky, but I think it'd look great if I practiced some more.

That's all I've got to show you in the way of craftwork, but I do have a giveaway win and a purchase to show you. I've been quite lucky with giveaway wins recently, I won a $50 gift certificate for a handmade jewellery shop in Sew Mama Sew's countdown to Christmas giveaways - though sadly it has never materialised... I've also won two stitching kits which I'll show you when they arrive and I won the book below in the SMS giveaway day. It came courtesy of Kopeckys.

Oh! Nearly forgot, I also won two PDF patterns from Jojoebi which I'll show you when I've made them!

And my purchase? Well I've made a few, but the most interesting is this Hoopla Yarn.

Which I'm going to make a doily rug with - as soon as I find the pattern which I KNOW is in one of my recent magazines - can anyone point me in the right direction?

That's it for now ladies. I'm not sure when I'll be back...

Just a little something

2012-01-12T11:57:00.002Z

I'm not sure what's wrong with me but I'm finding it hard to get into the swing of things. I don't seem to have made anything and I don't seem to be blogging much. It's going to get worse before it gets better as I'm off to Tunisia next week on business (potential burglars! It's just me that's going, my husband will be at home!), so wont be making anything and wont be blogging. I'm hoping to find time to still do my usual blog reading though!

I have managed to make a little something, a very little something, for the weekly sew along over at Sew Much 2 Luv. I've actually made two little somethings as I royally buggered the first one up! Let's dive straight in and show you the buggered-up one.

I've actually made these little trays on two previous occassions. The first time, I made the same mistake as I did above. I just went to look for the post so I could provide you with a link, but I can't find it. I got the pattern from the 2011 Sewing Calendar but it is a free tutorial online. Somewhere! See what I did? I sewed the ties too far down and where they cross so that you can't tie the corners properly. I started again.

Edited to add: I thought I'd had a bit of strange comment on this post, then I looked and saw that Blogger has stolen half of my post again! Damn you Blogger - why??

So, as I was saying before Blogger so rudely stole my words, I made another one. This time it went much better.

I think I blathered on for a while after that, but I can't remember what about, it was last night after all! Right, back to my Bills of Lading...

TAST and Embroidery Journal Updates

2012-01-08T08:41:00.002Z

Good morning ladies. In all my excitement about my new found fame, I forgot to tell you about my entrepreneurial mum. We opened our Folksy shop about 6 months ago and I sold a couple of things, but over the past 4 days, mum has sold 6 scarves!! She really needs to get her knitting needles out and stock up! I never usually do this on my blog, but it's time for a little self-promotion, so if you fancy checking out her brilliance, the link is here.

OK, so on to the stitching!

I'm joining in with Sharon B's TAST challenge. Week 1 was the fly stitch. It's a stitch I've recently been doing with crewel wool for my secret project, so wasn't too unfamiliar. I think I had visions of me producing gorgeous, unique pieces of work with this challenge. Nah, just some random stitches!

I had a go at single flies, chains of flies, flies with a lazy daisy or french knot at the bottom, flies with long stems and short stems, flies with 2 or three stems.

Next I tried some leaves. I'm quite chuffed with the one on the right. I'm stitching on linen by the way, with 2 strands of embroidery floss.

Then I thought I'd try a little scene. I only did the grass. I might add to this with future TAST stitches. Or maybe not!

Next up I did some stitching for the The Floss Box's Embroidery Journal challenge. Again, I had visions of gorgeous pieces of work, all exquisitely stitched. I think I expect too much of myself. I had stitching block with this as Emily said we should try to stitch without a pattern and I couldn't think of the perfect thing to stitch. In the end I realised that didn't matter and I just had to stitch something.

I have a vision of a circular pattern, going through the colours of a rainbow. So far I hate what I've done, but I'm going to finish it anyway. It's supposed to be a learning process, not a work of art and I think I'm being too hard on myself.

Here I've used several shades of red to do a line in fly stitch, a line of chain stitch, herringbone stitch and chevron stitch. The dirty marks are my fade away pen which I used to draw out the central circle and divide the hoop into 7. I've tacked along the lines as the fade away pen tends to fade after about 5 minutes - unless I want it to of course!

I'll show you more progress on this as and when it's made.

I am just so famous!

2012-01-06T19:33:00.000Z

Oh yes, I am, famous that is! I got home from work, sorted out poorly Tiff who'd been taken to the vet by my parents for an operation to sort out her overgrown teeth, then sat down with the latest issue of Simply Homemade which had been delivered. My plan for the evening was to work on my embroidery journal for January, but I can't see that happening now, I'm too excited! Flicking through the magazine I got to the page on "Crafty Blogs" and there I was! I'd love to show you a picture but I can't get to the desktop computer which is attached to the scanner at the minute as there are rabbits in the way so I'm on my laptop, I'll take a picture tomorrow though as I just know you're all dying to see (don't worry, I'm not that deluded, I know I'm the only person in the world who is excited about it - Mr CA was pretty taken aback though, I'm not even sure he knew I had a blog and he certainly doesn't know what it looks like or what one is!).

Now I'm here, I suppose I should show you some photos. Want to see my latest LANT? I've had a go at needlefelting. I'd bought the tools and then put them on a shelf. I also had some of the merino wool tops as I'd bought them to do some wet felting, which still hasn't happened, so I thought I'd experiment a little.

Here's my equipment - some wool felt, a brush pad thingy that I'm not convinced is the right tool for the job, a needle felting tool and the book "Beginner's Guide to Needle Felting" - so this qualifies as a Craft Book Challenge too.

I put some wispy layers of white wool on the brush thing and jabbed away. Quite satisfying. I added some purple in an attempt to do a heart pattern.

Hm, not so sure about that border. So it was time for the second experiment. I'd bought some biscuit cutters in lieu of the very expensive needle felt moulds.

I pressed the biscuit cutter into the brush matt type thing and jabbed away. Jab, jabbity jab.

Needle felting only takes tiny amounts of wool, but I seemed to be putting half a sheep in this mould!

Ta-da! a couple of VERY thick flowers, one with a falling off petal. Hmm, not quite sure I'm getting this.

So I had a go at a free-hand heart. Yep, definitely not my forte! And the backs? Well, this is the reason I'm not sure the brush matt is the correct tool, the backs are really hairy:

I then thought I'd have a go at something like nuno needle felting. Now I have no idea if this actually exists, I suspect not, but my first go at felting was on a workshop for nuno felting which is a version of wet felting where you use a piece of muslim as a base. Have I spelt that right? I assure you it was a piece of cloth and not a person of faith. Anyway I cut a bit off one of my husband's old shirts (in my pile of old clothes which are waiting to be cut up and sewn with) and had a go at nuno needle felting.

Nope, don't think that working. At this point I got fed up and went downstairs, but I will not be beaten by bits of sheep and a sharp needle. I'll give 3d needle felting a go next - I mean, what's the point of being able to walk before you run??

Right, I'm off to bask in the glory of my fame, eat homemade fish and chips and go on and on and on about my magazine appearance to Mr CA. I've got a lovely weekend ahead, after taking Tiff for her post-op check up (not part of the lovely weekend) and shovellling half a ton of poo out of the dinning room (rabbit poo that is), I've got a full body massage to go to and a day out for lunch and the cinema to see The Help on Sunday with my mum - who I will bore silly with talk of my fame of course! I should be back over the weekend to show you my poor attempts at the TAST challenge week 1.

Sew Along, Week One - a bag!

2012-01-04T13:46:00.003Z

I've joined in the After Christmas Sew Along over at Sew Much 2 Luv. It's a very loose spec - you can make whatever you like!

I thought I'd start off the year nice and easy with some very simple unlined shopping bags for my weekly trip to the supermarket. I never take the throw-away bags and my stack of the heavy-duty plastic bags keep getting ripped or worn out so I want to replace them with life-long fabric bags. I knew I had a good, simple pattern in my big lever-arch folder so started flicking through to find it (I really do need to organise that folder!). And I found this.

So I made it! first of all, apologies for the terrible photos. Yesterday I was off work so actually around in the daylight, not that it did me any good as the weather was terrible! Wind and gales and very very dark. I did see 2 double rainbows on my way to Asda though which really made my day.

Amended to add: this is not a shopping bag! I think there is a bit of a language barrier-type thing going on here. This is a hand bag or a bag, just a bag that I keep my stuff in - I believe you'd call it a purse or a pocket book in America. There's no way I'd put my shopping in this baby!

This bag is bloody enormous! I cut all the pieces first so didn't really have an idea of the scale. I cut into my precious Ruby layer cake and used up the last of my Bliss yardage - but I don't care as this bag is for ME!

I made a few changes to the pattern. I didn't have the black webbing called for for the handles, or webbing of any colour. In fact, if I'm being honest, I haven't a clue what webbing is! Instead I fused interfacing onto one strap piece, fleece onto the other, backed them both with cotton tape, sewed them up and turned them (which was an almightly nightmare - even with my tube turner) so they're almost round and soft. They're also a lot longer than the pattern calls for. I like to put my bag on my shoulder without it digging into my armpit!

I also changed the inside pockets. I like a zip pocket, so I put one on either side, then I added a couple of loose pockets on one side too. By that point in the construction I'd pretty much decided this will be my travel handbag when I go to Tunisia and wherever else work sends me, so it has to be big enough for my laptop. In my normal handbags I have a zip pocket for all my pills (yep, I'm a hypochondriac and never leave the house without 3 types of painkillers - actually essential if you suffer the kind of migraines I get), so I added another one which I think is big enough for my passport, but you know what, I've only just thought it might be a good idea to measure it!!

I lined each zip pocket with contrasting fabric - all taken from the instructions in The Bag Making Bible by the way - and added two 8" zips I had in my massive zip statch which were a perfect match!

Here you can see the layered pockets. I sewed a line down the red pocket and the bit to the right is the right size for my phone, the bit to the left is the right size for my tobacco tin! Got to get the essentials in there - pills, passport, phone, 'backy tin!

The bottom has very heavy duty interfacing in so the bag stays square and doesn't crumple up. I decided to add some bag feet and I'm glad I did as they look pretty good. You can only just make them out in the picture above!

I used a magnetic snap as stated on the pattern to close it, but I could have done with adding some poppers to the sides - this is the side in the photo above. See, massive! I think it will be really useful as a big bucket bag though, I'm just hoping I added enough pockets... After all, I didn't think it through, it was a spontaneously-made bag!

First quilt top - if I'm allowed to publish the whole post and not just the first paragraph

2012-01-02T13:13:00.002Z

A couple of days ago I showed you the quilt top I'd started for my soon-to-be-nephew. I've finished it! I really didn't realise a quilt top could be done so quickly. OK, it's a cot quilt (well actually it'll be a playmat as newborns should have a quilt, but it's cot quilt size), OK the pattern is very simple, but even so! Want to see it?
I'm afraid the picture is a bit pants. It's dark all the time and I had to take it indoors as no way am I taking this little baby to the wet dirty outdoors for a photo shoot! It's made with 2 Sunkissed charm packs. I took all the pinks out as my nephew is/will be, clearly, a boy, but there are some pink accents in the remaining squares - I don't think it's a problem and hope his parents agree. I sashed it in the grey text print. Oh, the pattern, you can find it here on Moda Bake Shop.
It is of course very wrinkled. I'll iron it before I baste it. I have to piece a back first and make a label. I asked on the Brit Quilt forum for wadding advice and was recommended Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 which I discovered is available in an iron on version - I went for that! I'm dreading the basting part but that should take half the worry out.
I'm thinking of quilting 1/4 inch from the edges of the sashing and then hand quilting squares in perle cotton inside the squares. I'll use grey thread for the sashing, and probably orange, yellow, green and grey perle cotton - but I haven't decided whether to quilt in the same colour as the square or a contrasting square yet. Decisions, decisions!!

Wow, that's a blurry photo - no scrap that, it's an "artistic shot"! I've also been doing some needle felting and I'm going to go upstairs and sew in a minute, so I should be back regularly this week with some updates. I don't go back to work until Wednesday so I've got an extra day off!

Quilt top!

2012-01-02T13:10:00.007Z

A roundup of 2011

2011-12-31T10:22:00.009Z

I decided to make a mosaic of the projects I've made this year. Well, I've shocked myself a little as I seem to have made rather a lot of things! I couldn't get the photos from January, so this has started sometime in February, I think. Even so, there are 11 mosaics below with 16 photos each and some of them have more than one item in there... not a bad effort Wendy.

My plans for 2012 are to not stress myself out with deadline, but at the same time I'm going to continue my LANT challenge, carry on with the Craft Book Challenge, and I've also joined in TAST and the Embroidery Journal. So quite a lot to do there then!!

Enjoy the photos and have a happy new year!

I'm making a quilt!

2011-12-29T17:37:00.000Z

I am! I'm making a quilt! But before we get onto that, I wanted to show you the kindness of my blogging buddies in Canada. After meeting these two lovely ladies through our blogs, we've struck up a real friendship and they generously sent me a Christmas parcel each!

From the lovely Sandra I got:

A set of pouches in the fabbest (is that a word, or would most fab be better?) fabric! It's travel fabric so suits me down to the ground. Each pouch had a little present inside.

Embroideries including a sewing basket and lots of lovely bunnies!

Tiger jingle bells (which were a bit shy, they didn't want their photo taken and kept rolling away) and little mother-of-pearl bunnies, both in these lovely little draw-string bags.

The equally-lovely Nancy sent me a mountain of crafty goodies, all wrapped up in freezer paper!

FQs from Petit Ecole, Rounneries and Pom Pom de Paris! She knows my taste so well.

A fabric panel, some horsey fabric and a thread-snipper ring! Ingenious - wonder if I can take that on the plane? I'm going to Tunisia with work in January (I really am going, this isn't like the whole China debacle, I have tickets and everything!) and want to take some crochet on the plane but don't know the rules...

Scrap booking goodies (including embellishments by Amy Butler - who knew?) and ribbon.

Amy Butler ribbon, a hardanger kit and a kit to make a beaded notebook. How fabulous are my fabuloso mates? Thanks ladies, I'm overwhelmed with your generosity - as ever!

So, want to see the quilt I'm making?

I found a pattern, not the original one I was going to do as that was too complicated, but an easier one. Then I laid out my selection of Sunkissed charm squares. That took ages. I hope I got the right balance in the end.

I cut out all the sashing pieces and the edge triangles and started sewing the rows.

I was going really slowly and carefully as I so want to get this right. This is for my little nephew who's to be born in February and so has to be perfect!

This is the last photo I took, but I've actually got a bit further. All the rows are sewn and half the columns. I stopped as I got a pucker and so unpicked but thought I was too tired to carry on. So far, my sashing matches up!! Oh no, I've just jinxed the rest of it, haven't I? I did debate deleting that sentence, but it's too late, the jinx has been cast.... I'll let you know how I get on!!

Winter Stitching - December Summary

2011-12-26T16:07:00.001Z

Hello ladies. I hope you all had a great Christmas? I got some fab crafty Christmas presents but it's dark now and I forgot to photograph them, so that will be a later post. As I have nothing crafty to show you, I thought I'd do an update on my Winter Stitching List.

By the way, if the numbers are all over the place, it's because Blogger thinks it knows how I want my post formatting...

Birthdays before Christmas

~~1. Crochet hook case for mum~~ - completed at the end of October

~~2. A thread catcher for mum~~ - completed at the end of October

~~3. 2 x car kits, 1 for my dad and 1 for my FIL~~ - completed at the beginning of November

~~4. 2 x mug rugs for the same 2 men~~ - completed at the beginning of November

Other pre-Christmas stuff
~~5. An item or two for a private swap~~ - completed at the beginning of November

6. 4 PIF gifts - put off til after christmas

~~7. Advent calendar for my goddaughter~~ - completed at the end of November

8. Hessian Reindeers from kit - I think these will have to wait until next year.

Christmas presents
~~9. Finish the CRM cushion for mum~~ - completed in December

~~10. Glasses cases x 4 for mum, dad, FIL and an aunty~~ - completed in December

~~11. Slippers for mum -~~ - she's now getting a spa kit

~~12. Mani pedi kit (can't find the link) for mum~~ - see 11

13. Amigurumi pig for mum - this will have to be for mother's day

14. Flash drive keyrings x 2 for dad and brother - this didn't happen so will be birthday or Christmas gifts next year

15. Keyboard duster for dad - again, this didn't happen

~~16. Frilly apron for the MIL~~ - completed November

17. Matching tea towel for above - another non-starter

~~18. Spa kits of my own devising x 6 for MIL, SIL, niece and 3 friends~~ - completed in December

~~19. Finish the Petit Ecole table runner for my brother and his girlfriend~~ - completed in December

20. Matching tea towel for the above - didn't happen

21. Yoda ami for my brother, whilst looking for that link on my bookmarks I also found this crochet R2D2 so had better add that to the list!! - didn't happen so moving to his birthday list

~~22. Wine cosy for my brother~~ - Completed in December

~~23. Iris cross stitch bookmark for Nana-in-law~~ - completed in November

~~24. Tea cup candles all round~~ -completed in December along with a lot more candles!

~~25. A frog x-stitch pouch from Cross Stitcher for my best bud~~ - completed in November

26. I'd like to finish the alphabet chart for my goddaughter. I'm on N so I find it hard to believe that will get done! - and it didn't!

~~27. Something for my friend's baby. - I've already made him a linen bunny, and now two bear hats.~~

~~28. Patchwork pouch for an aunty~~ - I realised I'd already done this

~~29. Car air fresheners for my dad and brother - not sure if this will get done.~~ - this morphed into washbags for dad and FIL

30. Applique scarf for my god daughter - no, this will be a birthday gift next year

31. Christmas cards - I gave in and bought them!

~~32. Gift tags~~ - completed in December

~~33. Cookies in a jar x 18~~ - completed in December

~~34. Scrubbies for dad, brother, FIL - in progress~~ - I just made on in the end

~~35. Bird feeders - in progress~~ - these all got finished

~~36. Reinbeers for dad and FIL (stolen from Pinterest!)~~ - these were finished too

My nephew's birth in February
37. Quilt

38. Crochet receiving blanket

39. Sewn booties

40. Appliquéd baby grows

41. A cushion for his nursery

42. Trousers

~~43. Crochet bear hats~~ - done in November

Stuff for myself (for a change)

44. The dining room chair cushions

45. Matching table topper

46. And placemats

47. A needle book or 3

48. Crochet hook case

49. A coffee mat as my coffee pot drips

50. A lunch bag

51. Shopping bags for the supermarket

52. A handbag

Brother's birthday
53. Coasters with cross stitch - quotes from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

54. Matching coffee mat

55. A cross stitched towel (just a band, not the whole thing!!) again with the quotes.

WIPs
56. Giant granny blanket

57. Granny square cushion

58. Sampler blanket

59. Hardanger

60. Crochet bag

61. Tea cup embroidery

62. Secret project - can't tell you about it!

glasses cases

2011-12-23T08:22:00.075Z

Good evening ladies! First of all, a very happy Christmas / Channukah / Saturday to you all!

It's 6pm on Christmas eve here, I finally finished Christmas at 4, then went to visit my aunty before coming home for a quick blog catch up then some baked camembert in front of the TV with Mr CA. The relief to have everything finished! I few items got removed from my list, but I got most things done.

This morning I finished sewing up the glasses cases I'd been working on. I started this weeks ago. One for my mum, one for the aunty I visited today, one for my dad and one for my FIL. Here's the fabrics I started with. Nope, sorry, can't find the photo. It was here, but guess what? Blogger stole my post! I'd copied and pasted it into Word before trying to publish it, but Word stole the photos!!

I started embroidering the pink one.

But it wasn't working so I scrapped it and started again. This is the red one - taken from a Grace layer cake. I cut the first panel funny, out of the centre of the fabric (?!) so had to make the other side different. I hand quilted around the flowers in a gold thread that made me want to scream, but I love the effect! This is my first time hand quilting, so there's another LANT!

I did the same on two green panels from the Grace layer cake. I'd fused fusible fleece to the rear before starting and I love the effect.

I think I showed you the embroidered one the other day and I apparently didn't take a photo of the fourth, so here they are all sewn up.

This is for my FIL and is cross stitched using soluble canvas (another LANT!), I used a pattern from Cross Stitch Cards & Keepsakes.

My aunty's all sewn up. I'd accidentally cut one of the panels too small - you can see it on the picture above, and no way was I starting again after I'd done all that hand quilting, but it meant it was really hard to sew up as the foot has to go over the front, back, lining and the two sleeves. I ended up hand sewing it.

My mum's didn't present any problems!

And I'm still not happy with the speech bubble on this one, but it's Christmas Eve so I'm not going to sweat it!

I finished a load of presents off yesterday but I don't have photos. I did 18 sets of cookies in jar mixes, including patterned paper labels and lids, also a set of 6 candles in glass tumblers. I also made two sets of Reinbeer, found via Pinterest here.

But only took one, really crap photo! FIL's are random beers, my dad's are special beers from a local micro brewery. My dad is Chairman of Nottingham CAMRA and real ale is very important to him!

I made a load of air-drying clay tags (LANT 3!), stamped with the names of the recipients, and once again took a really shoddy photo.

And finally I crocheted my brother a bath scrubby alien from this free pattern. Yes, my brother is 36, not 6, but he'll love it! I was going to make them for the dads too, but that can wait until father's day. love the base:

Oh, you can see my hand in the window! What you can't see is that my eczema has found a whole new lease of life and cracks have formed on my hands. They bleed. It's very painful. Damn you eczema.

Anyway, that's Christmas done. I don't know when I'll be back, but I suspect it will be pretty soon, for blog reading, if not posting as I'm not sure I'll have anything to post about! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - December

2011-12-21T09:04:00.000Z

So once again I've been joining in with Allie's Christmas Through The Year - the final instalment!

Want to see my roundup of what I've made?

1 - 6: Teacup candles

7-8: 2 sets of wax tarts for burners

9: Cross stitch cushion

10: Table runner

11: Wine Bottle Cosy

12-13: Wash bags

14-19: Spa Kits

Which actually adds up to more than 19 presents, because the spa kit itself is a bag and contains:

20-25: Spa slippers

26-31: Eye mask

32-37: Crocheted wash cloth

38-47: Homemade soap

48-57: Home made bath bombs

And there's more!! In the photographless category we have:

58-63: Glass candles

64-70: Birdfeeders

Not a bad effort! I've still got some work to do, but I've still got a few days (including two full days where I don't have to go to work). My list of things to make is:

1. Finish off the 6 glass candles I've made (just topping up around the wick)

2. Sew up the glasses cases

3. Crochet 3 x scrubbies

4: Crochet 1 x washcloth

5: Crochet 1 x keyboard duster

6: Crochet Yoda ami

7: Crochet ami pig

8: Finish the bird feeders

9: Assemble cookies in jars

10: Assemble the reinbeer

Numbers 6 and 7 can be left off if I run out of time, so I'm feeling pretty confident that Christmas will be ready!

Wash bags

2011-12-20T12:15:00.001Z

I'm back again with more pressies to show you! I whipped these up at the weekend, literally. They are so quick and easy to make. I used the tutorial by Patchy Apple but I can't link to it for some reason. If you do a search "Patchyapple boxy bag tutorial" it will come up.

I made these for my dad and FIL after I realised I didn't have much for them for Christmas. I used some lovely homespun that I had, I think it's masculine enough?

The green one is for my dad. My mum mentioned he needed a new one so that means FIL gets one too!

It's lined with this lovely stripy fabric I found in my stash - no idea where it came from!

The only criticism I have of the pattern is that the raw edges are seen inside. The pattern says to finish them with a serger, which I don't have, or a zig zag stitch, but it's still a little messy for my liking. I might try to make a version without raw seams after Christmas.

This one is lined with dots from Breakfast At Tiffany's. The pattern said to line them with canvas, which I didn't have, but I'd have liked to have lined them with a waterproof material. Unfortunately I don't have any and I'm not doing any more supplies shopping!

Poshed up wine

2011-12-19T20:12:00.002Z

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the work Christmas party, the one I was dreading? It was great fun! I managed to avoid those colleagues that I didn't wish to speak to whilst having a good time at the blackjack table and the buffet with those colleagues I like!

Today I've got another present to show you, this one is for my brother who is partial to a nice bottle of Rioja. I hope it's a nice bottle I've bought, I wouldn't know, I hate red wine. I wanted to dress it up and this wine bottle cosy seemed perfect. Actually, perfect is not quite the right word... I think US bottles of wine must be thinner than UK bottles... The first attempt didn't fit. I'll show you and try to explain though I didn't take any failure pictures as I was far too busy cursing.

It's made from layer cake squares of Petit Ecole. If you look at the tutorial you'll see that I sewed the two pieces up the wrong way! It's supposed to have two different fabric designs horizontally, not vertically!

I didn't think to check the fit before I sewed, so I handsewed the buttons to the layer of fabric and wadding, then added the elastic ties (which were a bugger to sew), then I sewed the front to the lining and turned... luckily I checked the fit before topsewing or that would have been even more unpicking to do!

There was no way I was re-sewing those buttons and elastic, so I cut the wadding away, unpicked the seam joining the two pieces and sewed an extra strip in there. I needed an extra 2 inches! The annoying thing is that I was telling myself it didn't look big enough but the wine was downstairs and I was up on the top floor and I'm very lazy.

That stripey strip is the extra 2 inches. I had to do the same for the lining piece.

Due to the unfittingness of the cosy, I had to redo the bottom piece, for the second time! The pattern said to cut 3 circles - one lining fabric, one outer fabric and one wadding, then sew them together. So I did. Except they didn't line themselves up very well (yes, that's right, I'm avoiding the responsibility there!), so I had to do it again, this time cutting larger squares, drawing on the stitching line and cutting out afterwards. So I then had to repeat that step with a larger base piece!

I don't know if I misunderstood the sewing instruction for the base piece, but I think it looks really messy due to the raw edges... by this point, there was NO WAY I was redoing it!

Perfectionist? Me? Not in the slightest!

Spa Kits - complete!

2011-12-18T19:32:00.004Z

I have finally finished the spa kits! Well, OK, I've got one washcloth to crochet as apparently I can't count, but they're pretty much done.

I never showed you the eye masks, so here they are:

After I'd finished sewing them, I put one on and Mr CA said "the nose cut out needs to be bigger". I gave him an "annoyed look" and ignored him. Maybe I've just got a big nose...

They have elastic at the back to account for a range of small - large heads. Not that I'm saying my family and friends have large heads, but you never know.

So, want to see the completed Spa kits?

Here they are, all full of goodies. Want to see what's in each one?

The slippers and eye mask are from this tutorial, the bag itself is from a pattern in Making magazine. The crochet washcloths are are different from various patterns in one of my books. There's also a couple of homemade soaps and bath bombs. The kit above also includes a bought pig-shaped shower gel. This kit is for my piggy-loving mum.

Would you be excited to find this under your Christmas tree?

Each kit is the same but different. Some have plastic bath toys in them - for the mother's of small children.

The slippers and eye masks are all made from the DS quilt line that was sold in the US in Joann's. Each has a different colour combination. I wish I'd had enough to make the bags the same, but it was not to be.

Most of the washcloths are made from cotton or acrylic yarn, I made them months and months ago, at the start of the year I think.

The soap and bath bombs are all from a couple of kits, but there are recipes galore on the internet if you want to try it. The soap is just melt-and-pour and was easy, the bath bombs were NOT easy!

Phew, it feels like a weight of my mind now that is done. I'm just having a break after finishing my last batch of candles and candle tarts and before making my gift tags. Not long to go now but most items are crossed off my list - either because they're done or because I've decided not to make them! Ah well, at least I'll have some ideas for next year!

FSNI - December

2011-12-17T09:23:00.015Z

Last night I joined in with the Friday Night Sew In.

I signed up for the last one which was last Friday, then spent the evening snoozing on the sofa. This week I actually did something, but not much more to be honest! I'm now on day 8 of a continuous headache that is making me feel sick and dizzy and is not very conductive to Christmas present producing. Which is unfortunate with there now being just one week left til Christmas! I'm up early today, headache and all, and after I've had another coffee and done a bit of blog browsing (I'm still days and days behind!), I'm going to get on with it before I have to go to the work's Christmas do this evening.

All this waffling is covering up the fact I've only got one photo to show you! It was hastily taken this morning as I fed the buns...

FFS! I just wrote this post, published it, then went to have a look and Blogger had stolen the second half of it. What is going on with Blogger??

Right, can I remember what I just wrote? I was telling you that these are the front panels for glasses cases for my dad and FIL. The one at the front is for my dad as he's well-known for cursing very loudly at his computer. It's based on this pattern from the Split Stitch, I was going to cross stitch it as per the pattern, but it turned out my panel wasn't large enough so I just free hand embroidered it. I'm not happy with the shape of the speech bubble, but as I'd fused the fleece to the back of the panel in advance, the holes left from unpicking were really visible so it's staying like that.

The second one, unfinished, is for my FIL and will be his initials. I've cross stitched it using soluble canvas so I'll show you how that works out (or not) in a post later in the week.

I think I then went on to waffle a bit more, possibly about how time is running out and I shouldn't be sat here on my arse when I have Christmas present making to do... I think I mentioned I'm going to the work's Christmas do tonight, don't think I mentioned that I'm dreading it. Want to know a little secret? I hate parties. Yep, I'm a weirdo but we knew that anyway.

I think that was it! I should be back often this week with lots of finishes to show you... or my family isn't get presents this year!!

Knot Bags - Spa Kit (and some talk of flooring)

2011-12-16T08:28:00.000Z

Wow, what a week! I've been busy at work; busy trying to enter all the giveaways over at Sew, Mama, Sew; busy with Christmas preparations... I am very pleased the week is nearly over now and hoping I can shake this headache that I've had since last Saturday.

Today I'm going to show you the final part of the spa kits, yep, that means I finally finished all the binding on those eye masks... I've just realised I never showed you the eye masks and that's not what this post is about. Ah well, I'll show you the completed kits at the weekend.

The final part I'm on about is the bags that they come in. I found the pattern for this in the latest issue of Making. As soon as it arrived on the doorstep, I knew I'd found the bag I was going to use.

I have one of those all-in-one printers at home, printer, scanner, photocopier. But you know what the damn things can't do? Enlarge. I mean, come on! So I attacked the A4 size pattern on the work photocopier and ended up with 6 pieces of paper in the end. I skillfully butchered them and stuck them back together to make my lifesize template.

And then I did some serious cutting and sewing! I've actually missed one of the bags, the first one I made, out off all the pictures below. Whenever I make something production line style, I always make one first, to check it all goes together right. I'm really glad I did as the instructions were a little unclear in parts and I completely messed the first one up. With a lot of unpicking, I managed to put it together correctly, but didn't take a photo!

A random hearts print from my stash with a plain pink lining. What do you think to our brown carpet? It's in the hallway from ground floor to top floor, and also in the spare bedroom.

This is a piece of Fig Tree Whimsy I had stashed away. I bought it to go with something else, but I bought it online and when it arrived it didn't go, but I love it anyway. Lined with plain pale pink from Fabricland I think. Downstairs and our bedroom had a lovely dark red carpet, complete with cigarette burns and stains.

An IKEA fabric and an old white sheet. We didn't lay this carpet, I really hope you don't think we did, it's just we're only doing up the house slowly as and when we have money and it hasn't stretched this far yet.

The whimsy again with a dark pink lining. Downstairs we have laminte flooring and ripped lino in the kitchen - I have replacement lino tiles but Mr CA hasn't got round to it yet and I need his help as I can't move the fridge or washing machine myself. Mr CA's daughter's room has the original floorboards painted white and my craft room has a lovely bluey/grey carpet which stars in many of my photos, there's one coming up in fact.

The IKEA fabric again, this time lined with an old pillow case. We haven't decorated any other rooms. The only reason my craft room was done is that my cousin used to live with me and it was her room, so I did it up for her before she moved in.

Here they are all lined up on the floor, except number 1 of course. See the blue/grey carpet?

And this is what they look like undone. I think I've finished talking about carpets now. It was a bit strange really, wasn't it?

I tried to take a photo of the inside of teh bag, with little luck. It appears to be an action shot, though neither me nor the bag (nor the carpet) were moving. I had named this post "knot bags - spa kit" but I think I'd better change it.

Spa Kit - kitchen crafts

2011-12-14T15:16:00.000Z

Well how frustrating. First of all, when I first came to write this post I'd put a load of photos into posts, ready to write them up, then I sat down to write them up and Blogger had stolen them! Fine then Blogger, I'll just put them all back in, shall I? Don't you worry, I've got all the time in the world, unlike you, sitting around being a computer programme. Then, last night, in the midst of Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway week giveaway entering, Blogger decided to disable my account and remove my blog! I finally got it back, after several hours of panic and even a little dispair. I'd scheduled this post to post Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon I come into the blog to have a look at something and guess what, it's only posted half my post, removing all my photos and just stopping halfway through! Bloody great. Doesn't Blogger know I'm meant to be at work right now, and, worse than that, I'm meant to be going out for a fag break? Grrr.

I've done.

So, what was this post about? Ah, kitchen crafts. No, not cooking, I don't do cooking. I do do baking but I don't really blog about that. This is kitchen crafts of the beauty variety. I fancied trying something new (don't I always?!) and these seemed ideal additions to my spa kits (which are so close to being done!).

First up, handmade bath bombs.

In this picture they're just in food bags, I didn't dare take them out and take photos of them naked as I had a few issues with them. As you can see, the blue ones are crumbling. I found this really hard. The recipe said to use the tiniest weeniest bit of water, but I couldn't get them to stick together and I think I ended up adding too much water.

I wrapped them in a bit of cellaphane and tied them with a ribbon type thing I had. Not the best packaging in the world, but to be honest, by this point I was sick of the damn things! I don't think this is a craft I'll be repeating.

Next up was soap. Not real cold-press soap, just melt and pour stuff.

Here they are. Three colours and three different scents. Some have flowers in them but they mainly ended up on the base. The recipe said to leave the soap for 10 minutes to set, then stir in the flowers. Well they were set after 10minutes, completely set! I must have done something wrong.

It was quite fun doing this, and I might do it again if people ask for them, but it was very quick and easy. This could easily be done by children. Or me.

I just wrapped them in cellophane and added a bit of washi tape, you see, I'd overlooked something important. I'm allergic to soap. Yes, that's right, I'm allergic to soap so I decided to make... soap. There's a word for people like me. Yes, that's the one. Anyway, by the time I got to this point, my hands were falling off in large chunks (bit overdramatic but you get the picture) and I didn't really want to touch them any more!

I just accidentally closed the window (on the computer, not in the office) and lost half of this post. I'm about ready to jump out of that damn window, I tell you. And to add to that, I've got a papercut that's as pathetic as they come but it hurts like hell. Wow, such moaning and whining and whinging! I've finished now, happy face is back, it's fag and coffee time and I've just had an email saying it's someone's birthday and there's cakes in the kitchen... Yippee!!!

table runner

2011-12-12T20:05:00.000Z

Well, I have had a shit day. Excuse my language but it was shit. I'm using that as my excuse for the rubbish title to this post. Ah well, call a bucket a bucket and all that. This post is about a table runner. Mind you, with Sew, Mama, Sew's giveaway week going on, I doubt anyone will read it anyway! Oh, and ladies, I know I've gone silent on you but I'm behind with blog reading and emails, I'm speeding through the reading but not commenting much, I do apologise.

Can anyone guess what this is? Oh, I told you in the title didn't I? And then again above. No prizes for guessing then. I pieced this Petit Ecole table runner months ago but it sat there in the corner of my craft room, waiting. Last weekend I knew the time had come for me to quilt it. I was scared.

I had to piece a back too as I didn't have a piece of fabric long enough with this being about 60inches long. So I pieced the back, did the world's most rubbishest basting. Took the pins out and basted again, marginally better. And I quilted. I did straight lines about a quarter of an inch to either side of the straight seams. I say about a quarter of an inch as my piecing was truly rubbish. I didn't think it looked finished so I quilted along the triangles too.

That's the back in case you didn't guess. You know what? I bloody love it! Rubbish points and mismatched seams and wonky quilting and all.

But you know what's not rubbish? My binding!! I sewed it on the front by machine, then hand sewed it to the back and I'm really proud of it, it looks great!

The corners not so much, I did struggle with hand sewing them on the back, but who's going to examine the corners of my binding? Well OK, any passing members of the local quilting guild might, but I don't think my brother gets many of them in his kitchen.

See what I mean about the corners? It does look pretty good though, doesn't it? I know, I know, that quilting in the bottom right of the photo above is probably making you want to cry, but me, I bloody love it!

Rennie Mackintosh - finished! Again...

2011-12-10T07:42:00.002Z

Remember I finished the Mackintosh cross stitch?

Well I've finally made it into a cushion. For once, it wasn't my procrastinating that held me up, it was finding the fabrics. I don't have a LQS so I have to rely on buying fabric online. This isn't usually a problem, but it is when I need to match colours and I needed to match the colours in this cross stitch. I decided to ask an online shop to help and approached Simply Solids. I never got a reply! Not even a "no I don't want to help you", just silence! Well, you've lost a customer then. I then tried Backstitch - same thing! Another shop off my list. I then tried yet another shop, can't remember the name but I don't really feel like promoting them anyway, and guess what? They never replied to me! I was getting a bit disgusted with the customer service and running out of hope, when one of my bloggy friends suggested The Eternal Maker.

You can probably guess from the link to their shop I've included there that I got success? Well yes, I did. Anna from The Eternal Maker was incredibly helpful and even bought two new colours in just for me! The Eternal Maker is my new go to shop and you should too! Thanks Anna, much appreciated.

So I finished the cushion in about half an hour (thanks to The Eternal Maker ), with a simple envelope closure. Now, this is a present for my mum. Who doesn't like cushions... does that seem crazy? Well she does own two cushions, so I've decided she can have a third! Maybe she'll learn to love them...

P.S. have you tried The Eternal Maker ? They're brilliant.

Spa Kit part 1 - the nemesis is faced!

2011-12-08T07:59:00.000Z

Oh yes, I've made slippers! You may recall that this isn't my first attempt at slippers, but in the past it didn't go well... This time I made slippers for the Spa Kits I'm making for Christmas, so I needed 6 pairs... it's a good job it went well! I used this excellent tutorial to make Spa Slippers.

It involved large amounts of binding - my other nemesis. The bits that go across your foot needed binding by machine, I did find this tricky. Above is the top view, below is the underneaths.

Not too bad, but not perfect either! As these bits are hidden, I can live with it. Next came large amounts of quilting.

Actually, that's a blatent lie. If you look at the photo above, you can see that they were quilted before being bound. I can't be bothered to try and change the order of the photos though as Blogger doesn't like that so you'll just have to suspend reality for a moment! These were quilted at 1 inch intervals. It took forever. The other 5 pairs have much wider gaps between the quilting, maybe 2 inches, perhaps a little less. I didn't take any photos of that for some reason.

Here's the first 5 slippers with the machine binding bit done, awaiting my hand sewing attention. I folded the binding in half and sewed both raw edges to the edge of the slipper, to hand sew I tucked it round to the back and slip stitched. I haven't done it this way before but it seemed to work really well! I know, I know, you've all been doing it for years, but when it comes to quilting, I'm remarkably slow!

My machine had a bit of a strop at this point, so I left it and picked it up last weekend. I only needed to clean the machine out, as I'd suspected but had been too tired to do. I got down to some hand sewing...

Ta dah! I'm really chuffed with them. They're all in the DS quilt range that was sold in Joann's and that the lovely Wee Pixie obtained for me. I've used up all but a couple of scraps of the 12 fat quarters I had!

I think these are my favourites. But I can't keep them.

I have a confession to make. I really, really enjoyed hand sewing this binding. I've always thought that quilters who said they love hand sewing binding were wierdos, well now I know that either I was wrong, or I'm a wierdo too!

I'm making matching eye masks. I've done all the machine sewings, so now I get to sit and hand bind them! That's after I hand bind the table runner... oh yes, I've been busy! I'm still crap at quilting though...

teacup candles - lant

2011-12-06T08:38:00.036Z

I have just spent about an hour battling with my printer. I've got one of those scanner/printer/copier all in one jobbies. There's a gift bag I want to make in one of my magazines but it involves increasing the pattern by 140%. I can't get my printer to do it! The scanner wont do it, the photocopier wont do it and the printer just doesn't give me the option! I may have to throw it against a wall...

Anyway, on to the main event. This certainly isn't a new idea, but it's my first adult attempt at candle making. I'm hooked! I'll be adding this to my LANT list.

I've been furiously scouring the charity shops for teacups, but only came up with these four, plus a set of four 1980's expresso cups.

I love that one at the front on the right. They're all scented, a mixture of Fresh Cut Flowers, Blueberry Cheese Cake and Chocolate Covered Cherries. Not all in the same candle of course!

I had a bit of an accident with these two! I made a bit of a murky colour when filling the top up, beneath the first inch or so is a lovely green! I also got the wax all over the wicks. I'm going to scrape the wicks off and then colour the top with the gold wax pen I bought.

These two were more of a success. I'd bought a candle making kit which ran out after the first 3 candles so bought a load more wax on the internet, and I bought far too much! I had a go with the two moulds included in the set. One is still in the mould as I can't get it out! This other one was a disaster...

Note that it has no wick!! I'll melt it down and try again. I also bought a couple of votive moulds to make some more candles as I have so much wax, but the shop forgot to put in the wick sustainers I orders to that will have to wait. I have a burner so I made some melts for it and for any friends that might like then. I used a silicone muffin mould I bought for a pound. Bargain.

I was going to post the other day about TAST, but for some reason my work has blocked Photobucket (but not Facebook?!?) so I can't see my posts properly from work. What a pain in the arse.

Anyway, I've taken the plunge and I'm joining in with Sharon B's TAST challenge. For those of you that don't know Sharon's blog PinTangle, it's a year long stitching challenge - Take a Stitch Tuesday - where we learn and practice a new embroidery stitch each week. My embroidery needs some serious work so I'm hoping this will help, and that I can keep up! Come and join up if you fancy a go.

A swap

2011-12-04T07:28:00.001Z

A few days ago I showed you the wonderful parcel that the lovely Katherine had sent me. Well, now I'm a little ashamed to show you the pathetic parcel I sent her. Rest assured, her generosity will not me going unreturned, there'll be another parcel going out to her next year - maybe for some event like Shrove Tuesday (eh, Sandra?).

Katherine had told me she liked red and blue. To be honest, that didn't come as a surprise as I've been following her blog for ages! I decided to make her a crafty accessory set in Bliss.

Eagle-eyed and elephant-memoried (yes, I did just make that up) readers may remember that Katherine made me this exact same needle case from Sew Pretty Homestyle.

Except Katherine's was much more skillfully sewn!

I added a little pin cushion heart with a strange cut out and sewn flower type affair on the front.

It doesn't look quite so strange from this angle...

It has a naked backside.

I also made a little fabric tray from the 2010 Sewing Calendar, much like the one I made for myself. A little confession here Katherine, that red dot print isn't Bliss... I just didn't have any more pieces big enough so had to break out some Michael Miller dots.

Hmmm... I've seen better but it was made with love and I was trying my hardest to make it neat. It's not like I just whipped up any old thing. The self-pity! Stop whining Wendy.

Lastly came a little button bag from Sew Pretty Homestyle. I really like this one and think it worked out quite well.

And here's the combined contents of my meagre parcel together. I'm sorry Katherine, I didn't even send any chocolate. What is wrong with me?!?

let the countdown begin

2011-12-02T08:12:00.028Z

I think I mentioned an advent calendar? No? Oh, OK then. My mum has made me, my brother, my stepdaughter and my cousins perpetual advent calendars over the last 10 years or so. Last year, before Christmas, she gave me another panel she had to make for my goddaughter but I didn't get round to it. She was only just 2 last Christmas and I don't think she'd have understood, but I was determined to get it ready for this December 1st.

This is the finished calendar. It's all on one panel and I had to cut the parcels out, press them and sew them onto the main panel. The cutting out and pressing took ages, the sewing took minutes!

The instructions suggested using a length of dowel to hang it, but the one mum made for me has curtain rings and I just use drawing pins to put it up (I haven't put it up this year what with the yeast thing, even though I'm actually eating chocolate again...) so I thought I'd do the same on this one. I just added some tabs before sewing it up.

Trying to sew straight and steady was tricky as each pocket is folded in on itself to form a "gusset". I hate that word. I have to use it at work sometimes but it just makes me think of pants. For my North American readers, I'm referring to ladies underwear there, not trousers.

The single pockets were a lot easier.

I backed it with some of the Christmas fabric I won in a giveaway from Pins and Needles earlier in the year. Isn't it a shame I sewed this text print on sideways!!

LANT roundup

2011-12-01T08:22:00.000Z

It's time for another roundup of the lovely ladies who've linked to the LANT Linky (and other words beginning with L that I couldn't shoe-horn into that sentence...). For those that are new here, I'm trying to get the world to try a new craft or a new technique within a craft they do - to push the boundaries, and I want to see the results! I try new things all the time with varying degrees of success and love to see other people trying things to.

Here's a roundup of the latest additions to the ongoing linky party.

Elizabeth tried her hand at crochet:

Sandra did some twin needle stitching:

And Mindy had a go at 4 new techniques! She tried felting:

Crocheting a beaded rope (with a tutorial):

Broomstick lace:

And Iris folding:

Well done ladies! Remember, you can link up a project anytime. You don't need to do anything special, you don't have to follow me or link to my blog (though you can link to the linky if you like), just go to the LANT linky page and link up your blog post. You can join in just once, you can do a LANT every month as I'm trying to do, or you can do one every day! There is no limit to the number you can link up.

Winter Stitching - November Summary

2011-11-30T07:03:00.000Z

It's time for my monthly update on what I've got done on the Winter Stitching list. I've added a fair few items in, and changed my mind about a few items so they've come out, so I've had to renumber! By the way, can anyone tell me how you do that crossing out thing? I've also added in general crafts as I was getting confused having this list and a separateChristmas list, I hope that's OK!

Birthdays before Christmas

1. Crochet hook case for mum - completed at the end of October

2. A thread catcher for mum - completed at the end of October

3. 2 x car kits, 1 for my dad and 1 for my FIL - completed at the beginning of November

4. 2 x mug rugs for the same 2 men - completed at the beginning of November

Other pre-Christmas stuff

5. An item or two for a private swap - completed at the beginning of November (I cna't show you pictures until she's recieved it)

6. 4 PIF gifts - put off til after christmas

7. (new entry!) - Advent calendar for my goddaughter - completed but not blogged yet

8. (new entry!)- Hessian Reindeers from kit

Christmas presents
9. Finish the CRM cushion for mum - cross stitch is done, waiting on my fabric

10. Glasses cases x 4 for mum, dad, FIL and an aunty - in progress

11. Slippers for mum

12. Mani pedi kit (can't find the link) for mum

13. Amigurumi pig for mum

14. Flash drive keyrings x 2 for dad and brother

15. Keyboard duster for dad

16. Frilly apron for the MIL - completed November

17. Matching tea towel for above

18. Spa kits of my own devising x 6 for MIL, SIL, niece and 3 friends - in progress

19. Finish the Petit Ecole table runner for my SIL and BIL - actually, this will now be for my brother and girlfriend as we don't really give gifts to SIL and BIL and I have a few little things for them.

20. Matching tea towel for the above
Handbag for another niece - no longer required as she's decided she wants card making items.

21. Yoda ami for my brother, whilst looking for that link on my bookmarks I also found this crochet R2D2 so had better add that to the list!!

22. A great big question mark. Spot 22 is reserved for my brother. - I have decided! He's getting a wine cosy along with his other little bits and the table runner.
Embroidered cushion from Handmade magazine for Nana-in-law - I've changed my mind about this one too and will save it for her birthday as she's also getting baked goods, a candle and birdfeeders.

23. Iris cross stitch bookmark for Nana-in-law - completed in November

24. Tea cup candles all round - started, waiting for more supplies! I think I need 6 in total

25. A frog x-stitch pouch from Cross Stitcher for my best bud - completed in November

26. I'd like to finish the alphabet chart for my goddaughter. I'm on N so I find it hard to believe that will get done!

27. Something for my friend's baby. - I've already made him a linen bunny, and now two bear hats.

28. Patchwork pouch for an aunty - I realised I'd already done this

29. Car air fresheners for my dad and brother - not sure if this will get done.

30. Applique scarf for my god daughter

31. Christmas cards

32. Gift tags

33. Cookies in a jar all round - about 14 jars I think. There will probably also be some freshly baked items but that's one for Christmas Eve!

34. Scrubbies for dad, brother, FIL - in progress

35. Bird feeders - in progress

36. Reinbeers for dad and FIL (stolen from Pinterest!)

My nephew's birth in February
37. Quilt

38. Crochet receiving blanket

39. Sewn booties

40. Appliquéd baby grows

41. A cushion for his nursery

42. Trousers

43. Crochet bear hats - done in November

Christmas Countdown - November

2011-11-29T08:20:00.000Z

Once again I'm joining in with the Countdown to Christmas with Allie.

A bit of a rubbish count this month, especially with only one month to go. I blame family members who are selfish enough to have birthdays in November! So, here we go...

1. Iris bookmark

2 and 3 - panda and bear hats

4 - cross stitch frog pouch

5 - ruffly apron

So just the 5 this month. Oh dear.

An aprony LANT, that's LANT, not rant - sorry to disappoint!

2011-11-28T09:07:00.000Z

Not only have I managed another Christmas present, I've also managed another LANT. Nope, my LANT isn't "making an apron", it's ruffles. When I saw this pattern I knew I had to make one and my mother-in-law seemed the perfect victim, I mean recipient, as she always wears an apron in the kitchen.

It took me about 3 hours to make, but about an hour of that was finding co-ordinating fabrics. As we don't have the luxury of cheap fabrics in Britain, I very rarely buy full or half metres, and I never buy half metre bundles so I had to scrounge around for co-ordinating fabrics. Above are 2 quarter yards sent to me as a giveaway price, a old pillow case, some ticking I bought when I first started sewing and a fat quarter that I cut in half and sewed back together.

I had to refer to The Compendium of Sewing Techniques when making the ruffles, so this counts as a Craft Book Challenge too! The photos above is terrible, but it was dark by that point, so I apologise, I just wanted to show you my lovely ruffles all lined up.

Getting a picture of the completed apron was tricky, I tried the exercise bike but it wasn't very successful. When following the pattern, I felt that the size given for the bib was too small as it didn't even cover one of my (admittedly over-sized) boobs, and although my mother-in-law isn't quite as chesty as me (few people are), I thought it was too small so I made it bigger. This caused problems when I tried it on as the top gapped. A few carefully placed pleats later and it's perfect!

I LOVE the ruffles. I actually want one of these myself, but I would never wear an apron in the kitchen. Do you think I could get away with wearing it for work?

I love you ruffly apron.

A special parcel

2011-11-27T09:15:00.017Z

My lovely bloggy friend Katherine recently offered to send me a parcel as I'd been feeling down. I was delighted to accept and said I'd send her something in return. Unfortunately, my little parcel pales in comparison to Katherine's, look at this for a wonderful mid-winter gift!

Katherine was so thoughtful, knowing I do lots of different crafts, she really treated me! A crochet magazine (Canadian?), some gorgeous yarn, Aida, threads and a beautiful handmade needle case complete with needles! 2 bars of the world's best chocolate, ribbon, sunflower buttons, a beautiful handmade pin cushion and a string of lovely beads. Thanks Katherine, you are so generous!

Just look at the lovely fabrics in the pincushion, my favourite colour and so skillfully made, I have no idea how she made this!

And a gorgeous needlecase - that button is actually a popper!

Check out the card - how fab is that? Katherine, you're a lovely friend and so very generous. Thank you very much.

I also got a parcel from the Wee Pixie. She'd offered some DS fabrics from Joann's to 3 of us lucky Brit Quilters and I managed to get in there. She then emailed me again last week saying she had some more and did I want them? Yes!!

These are actually my favourites of all the DS fabrics. I considered hording them with the others, but in fact I got them all out on Sunday and have nearly used them all up... quite a turnaround! Thanks ladies!

gift bag tutorial

2011-11-26T08:32:00.002Z

I've shown you the paper gift bags I make before, and I promised you a tutorial, so here we go!

I use scrapbook paper for these which is 12" x 12". I have a big pad of it that I'll never get through and there are about 3 sheets of each design in each colourway so it's perfect for ideas like this. You can make a bag any size you like. You can use a single sheet of paper to make a small bag, or you can join more pieces together. For this version I used three sheets, but it did end up a little tall, I generally make them from two sheets.

Take your sheets of paper. I cut one in half.

Fix them together, I used double sided tape for a nice, neat finish.

Fold the top over about 1/2 " and press down. I used that little tool at the top which is a bone folder used in papercraft, but you could use the end of a paintbrush, a lolly stick or your finger nail.

Now we are going to create the sides of the bag. You're aiming for a square tube, or a box without base or lid! Fold one of the sides in and crease with whichever tool you have to hand. If you've joined your two sheets together, there'll be a join, you want to avoid this join and fold the bag in to one side of it. My first fold is at about 8", the second a further 4" from that. Fold the right hand side over until there is about a 1/2" overlap of the two papers. I did take a photo of this but it was a white with black dotty blur and you couldn't see the joins. Hold the join in place and push the top layer to the right until the first crease (the one at 8") is lying flat on the table, this is to creat a symmetrical fold for both side "corners". Wow, does that make any sense?? Does the picture below help?

Here you can see that I've got a "gusset" in the middle (I hate that word!!) and then two smaller folds at the edges which will join together to make the second side of the bag. The two larger portions should be equal.

Pull the two edges together and join neatly without pulling or distorting the bag. Again, I used double sided tape. You now need to create a crease in the sides of the bag. Fold them inwards so the two corners on one side touch, and the same the other side. You can only just make out my crease in the photo above so I hope you understand what I mean!

Measure the depth of your bag (front to back), measure the same distance from the bottom of the bag and fold. Open up your tube and fold each side inwards along the line created.

This folded portion will be the base. You need to create the base as if you were wrapping a present.

Seal with double sided tape.

Measure the newly-created base of your bag and cut a piece of thickish card the same size. Mine was once some form of packaging. Apply double sided tape and carefully drop it into the bag, when it's in position, press down firmly to stick it in place.

Now we need to punch holes for the handles. I used my fancy Big Bite which is made for setting eyelets, but you can use an ordinary hole punch. Decide where you want your handles, then make sure they are equidistant from each end. You'll need to punch 2 holes in each side.

I then added eyelets, but this is optional.

Take some ribbon, thin cord, yarn, twine, string, whatever and thread the end through one hole, tie a big knot so it doesn't pull through. If it comes undone by itself you can add a blob of glue.

Pass the other end of the lenght of ribbon/cord/string etc (the length is up to you) through the hole on the SAME side and knot. Repeat for the other side of the bag.

And tadah! You have one custom made gift bag, I have one very tall gift bag and one very crap tutorial! I do apologise.

Kirstie's Craft - review

2011-11-26T07:34:00.001Z

I recently asked if any of you wanted a review on any of the craft books I got for my birthday, or on any of my other craft books and two books were put forward. One was One-Yard Wonders and I will review that soon - on first glance, there are loads of projects I want to make. But today, I wanted to tell you a bit about Kirstie's Craft.

First of all, you have to ignore the scary cover - not her best photo. It's divided up into the following sections:

Needlecrafts (bunting, appliqué cushion, embroidered handkerchief, free-motion embroidered table runner, knitted coasters, stack and whack quilt and a cross stitch cushion)

The embroidered hankie is quite sweet, but there are no instructions as to how to make the back neat.

The cross stitch pattern is by Emily Peacock, but don't get excited, it's a tin of sardines?!?

Textile Crafts (devoré silk scarf, needlefelted robin, sewn felt heart, how to die with natural dies)

This is a more interesting chapter, I don't know much about dying and I hadn't come across devoré before, but the felt heart is a let-down.

Paper Crafts (paper sculpture bird, paper bead necklace, paper dolly chain, snowman pinata, papercut bauble, stamped and embossed greeting card, handmade paper, family scrap book.

Some of these are crafts for kids which I don't appreciate in a craft book - we don't all have kids and if we do we can buy them their own books! Only the first two projects, the bauble and the handmade paper were of any interest to me. Oh, and I quite like this little bird, but beware, Kirstie did NOT make this. She doesn't actually state that she does, but nor does she say she didn't. I don't know how many of the crafts in the book are made by other people.

I mean, come on, paper dolls!?!
Food Crafts (fruit cake, ice-cream balls, party jelly, marzipan penguins, banana cake, sugar flowers, scones, damson jam, garden pickles)

This chapter is of no interest to me in my limited diet! I felt the cakes and scones were shoehorned in there and didn't really have a place. Only the jam was interesting I feel.

Garden Crafts (carved window box, elderflower cordial, mosaic chair, birdseed cakes (different to mine), scarecrow, willow nesting box

Some interesting projects in this one, with the exception of the scarecrow, I have no idea what that is all about.
Flower Crafts (yeah, it's flower arranging, I can't even be bothered to read it for you).

Gift Crafts (ribbon rose, making perfume, bath creamers, bath bombs, silver clay button pendant, silver leaf pendant, decorated candles)

This was an interesting enough chapter, some new ideas to peruse.

So, there we go. If you want a craft book on a particular form of crafting, don't get this one, but if you're interested in dabbling in a wide range of crafts, it could be a good start. At least it has some more unusual crafts in it such as the wood carving, devoré and willow weaving, these aren't crafts you often find in craft books. I felt the needlecrafts section was very poor with nothing exciting in it at all, but is that because I've tried all these crafts?

Have you got this book? What do you think?

p.s. I seem to have accidentally posted twice today - I did actually make something too but you may have to flick back a post to see it!

Snog a frog

2011-11-25T07:22:00.029Z

Morning ladies, I hope you're all having a lovely Wednesday. Or Thursday in Australia - see Pam, I've figured that damn time-zone business out! After stitching the fiddly Iris bookmark, I wanted an easy stitch and a pattern I had marked in a recent issue of Cross Stitcher fit the bill for my frog-loving, make-up wearing friend.

I thought you might be interested to see a before and after of the stitched outline. I mean, you're probably not in the slightest bit interested but I'm sure you'll pretend you are. I can see you sitting there now saying "oooh, very interesting Wendy". Maybe not.

He was pretty small but I didn't want to over-embellish, so I sewed him up into a little zipper pouch.

14ct Aida on the front (it should have been evenweave but I couldn't be bothered to go up 2 flights of stairs looking for it and the Aida was right there).

Plain green cotton on the back. And a little loose thread/hole thing I've just noticed in the bottom right corner. Great. It could perhaps of benefitted from an iron...

Lined with froggy fabric purchased with my best bud in mind. Quite liking my corners there, despite having seen just a few days after making this a tutorial by Keyka Lou on how to make perfect square corners...

Erm, I think this was an attempt to show you my corners again!! Do you like the way I carefully stage each of my photographs? By "stage" I mean dump on my sewing desk without even moving the loose threads and covering up the crap on the windowsill!

glitter time

2011-11-24T08:11:00.001Z

So many birthdays meant a day of making cards. Well, it didn't take me all day but they did take me a while!

I have to make a card for my mum from me and one from my dad every year and I try to make them as different as possible, though they usually end up being her favourite colours of pink and green. The one above was for dad to give to her.

And this one was from me. I did the tiny knitting on cocktail sticks and broke loads of them! I do have some knitting needles not much thicker than cocktail sticks but was too lazy to go and get them! The charm in the bottom corner was bought at the Hobbycrafts show whilst mum was facing the other way!

Men's cards, like men's presents, are hard, so both dad's are getting the same!

I've had these metal embellishments for ages, so I just added some card and some brads, job done!

Something a little different...

2011-11-22T07:12:00.029Z

Morning ladies, I hope you are all doing well. I'm taking my dad to the hospital today so no work for me. He's fine, it's just a test to confirm that there is nothing wrong with his digestive system and they really don't think there is. I'm hoping to get some sewing done this afternoon as the weekend wasn't quite as productive as I'd like. I did have a lovely day out with friends and all the kids and I did spend some quality bunny time, but not much in the way of sewing got done.

I've been wanting to show you these bird feeders for a while, but wanted to get them packaged up first. These are presents for my dad and my father-in-law (both of whom love birds in their gardens) and I'll be doing more for Christmas for them, some friends and my brother.

These are very easy to make and only take about 15 minutes, plus drying time. I think it takes longer to clean the pan out afterwards!

I used this tutorial and all it takes is some gelatine, bird seed and cookies cutters, and a bit of string. I've made two batches so far. By the way, readers from Britain - what do we call cookie cutters?? I've become Americanised in my baking vocabulary!

I bought some freezer bags to package them in, but they had writing printed over the front so I added a large label and a piece of patterned paper in the back. A piece of folded patterned paper stuck over the seal neatens the whole thing up.

I will be making more, I have a big bag of bird feed to use up!

Oh, by the way, I got an email telling me there'd been a new submission to my Learn a New Technique Linky and when I went to check it out, I found there had been 6 new submissions! Sorry for ignoring you ladies that linked, I just didn't realise. I'll be doing a feature post very soon. I WILL encourage the world to spread their crafting horizons!!