All change!

Hey! Long time no speak!! You may have noticed there's been a few changes since I last blogged (if you haven't then take a closer look lol)  You may recall I was getting ready to launch Adorable Little Extras, well I sat and pondered, got some advice, spoke to a lot of people and decided it was a bad idea.  If the logo and branding wasn't exciting me then how the heck was I going to get others excited about it?? So instead I decided to re-launch Miss Sweets Boutique!  I loved running it before and the challenges my lovely customers used to send my way, and heck with branding like this how could I not??

Excited doesn't cover it to be honest - I've been scouring my pattern books and files to decide what to bring to the store and I've got some fab things in the pipeline!  Of course, it wouldn't be Miss Sweets Boutique if I didn't offer my staple hair-flowers so I've been busy creating a few gems, including starting a range of budget hair-flowers.  

I'll also be offering my felt pill box hats (just waiting on a delivery!) and am pondering whether to bring back my fascinators, as seen here on the beautiful Missy Malone - what do you think?   If you'd like to take a peek at the store so far just pop over to http://www.misssweetsboutique.bigcartel.com 

While I'm re-stocking and making, I thought I'd run a little competition to win one of my very limited Rainbow Aloha! Hibiscus hair-flowers 

To be in with a chance of winning simply leave a comment below! You can earn extra chances to win by tweeting about my competition (if you're not following me just look for @Madame_Sweet) or by spreading the word on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MissSweetsBoutique), just let me know you've done it in the comments :) This competiton is open to everyone no matter where in the world so have fun and I'll pick the winner on Valentines day! 

Til then, happy crafting!

xx

I made that!

So, as Royal Fail have still yet to deliver anything I've ordered in the last 5 days and I still need to make a craft 'to do' list I thought I'd have a look back over the last 12 months at what I'd actually made (and remembered to take pics of!) and see what I could recall :)

OK, starting when the snow was down a year ago and I was busy creating something fabulous for the derby wife to wear on Christmas day - we are both all about handmade and to make this even more bargainous the fabric for this was found in the remnants bin at the local fabric store!  We had so much fun making this, I'd made one of these previously totally out of gingham fabric (so retro eh!) and to be honest I'm probably going to make another, its one of my favourite styles!

From there I went on to discover macarons.  Tricky little buggers that they are, my first batch totally stuck to the paper and some turned out the size of the saucer!  However I am not one to easily be defeated and after another bash they turned out beautifully!  ok I make them in some really weird combos (thai curry anyone?) but they are really yummy!

After that, I'd re-ignited my love affair with baking and decided to attempt to get a new business off the ground.  Unfortunately it wasn't to be, however it did lead to some fab creations! 

Including a big 'birthday present' cake and Pirate and Princess cupcakes for Cardiff based roller derby team Tiger Bay Brawlers that went down a treat :)

To be fair, I didn't do much crafting over the summer months, I was a bit busy co-founding the Valleys Roller Dolls, however I did make these rather fabulous helmet panties (if anyone's interested I'll do a tutorial on them, just let me know!)

Now things have settled down a bit I've started again and, well, you've seen what most of I've been upto since!  Oh, I did try my hand at knitting again - I now have vowed to only knit with either chunky wool or that fab frilly stuff, I don't have the patience to do anything else! 

Just a last pic I wanted to share as it is so beautiful! I hadn't made a hair adornment in a while but when I do make them I like them to look classic!  And so I give you 'Margot'  

Well, I hope I've inspired you to go and create something, anything! Don't be afraid of making mistakes, half the fun is in the creative journey 

Happy Crafting! 

Podsock Tutorial

Ya didn't think it was coming did ya? eh? eh? Hehe well its not an overly complicated post but a nice easy tutorial for a Sunday evening that can be completed in very little time! I've made these for both myself and my youngest firstly as a little bit of protection and secondly so I can find the damn thing when I put it down!!  Have to thank the Mr for the tutorial name too "ooh it looks like a little podsock!" 

Off we go then! You will need

• felt
• template
• Needle
• Embroidery Thread
• Scissors

First of all cut out your pieces, you will need 2 of each of the back and front template pieces (I know there's only one template but the back is just the front piece without the windows cut out!)  I've done mine in contrasting colours but you feel free to have fun with it.

Put the two front pieces together and blanket stitch around the windows and the top only as my dodgy arrow on the pic shows! (Yes I know mine already has the back on and sewn all around but I forgot to take a pic, sorry!)

Put the two front and the two back pieces together and blanket stitch all around the edge (except for the top back piece which only needs sewing at the top!) Don't forget to leave a small gap at the bottom for the headphones jack plug!

And there you have it! a little felt podsock for your iPod to nestle in.

Its easy enough to make a template for your own version if you don't own the little squat version like me, simply draw around it, add a little extra around the edge for the stitching and, well, I'm sure you get it.

Happy crafting! 

Pucker up - Mistletoe Tutorial

Oops! Its been a couple of days since my last posting but hey, its silly season so I can be forgiven for being a little on the quiet side.  To be fair, I've been off collecting crafty bits and pieces and getting inspired over the weekend - culminating in yesterdays craft session getting ready for this new tutorial. 


I'm pretty well known for not being able to keep plants alive, its a bit of a running family joke as I even managed to kill and un-killable spider plant!  I do like incorporating traditional things into my holiday crafting so I thought why not make some felt mistletoe.  Now it's taken me a few days to get the template right as every time I'd attempted to draw it, it ended up looking rather on the rude side and I'd end up chuckling to myself at my craft desk (simple things eh!)  I wanted this to be a no sew tutorial but that just wasn't going to happen, the bead 'berries' needed sewing so that ended that idea.  But ok, enough waffle from me, you can find the template for the mistletoe here
You will need:

• Moss green felt
• scissors
• Sharpie marker
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• pearl beads
• needle and thread
• ribbon in a colour of your choosing

Cut out your template and arrange the pieces on the felt, now is a good time to decide how big you want your arrangement to be so you can draw accordingly.

Draw around your template with the Sharpie (I did try with chalk but it just wasn't working!) and cut out your pieces

Once you've cut out all your pieces, layer and arrange them until you are happy with your shape.  Using your hot glue gun,  use small dabs of hot glue to stick the layers together.  (In case you were wondering, another reason I decided to use hot glue was to add a little weight to the felt)

You can now start adding your bead 'berries' - if you're not as fussy as me you can hot glue them in place, its down to personal preference at the end of the day.  Add as many 'berries' as looks pleasing to your eye.

Once you've added all your 'berries' you need to make a hanging loop and decorative bow.  Now I'm sure you all know how to tie bows but if you get stuck you can always give me a shout.  Use whatever colour you like to match your decor.

Position and glue your hanging loop to your mistletoe then add the decorative bow.

Et voila! your very own mistletoe to smooch under!!

I hope you've enjoyed this little tutorial and if you make your own mistletoe I'd love to see it! As usual, feedback always welcome :)  

White Rabbits!!

So December is finally upon us!  I had the smug satisfaction of pinch punching my other half this morning (hey, he's managed to get me the last 2 months in a row!) and I thought I'd crack on with my sewing while waiting for the first of my Christmas gifts to arrive.  The fruits for my Christmas cake are soaking (I'll share the recipe with you if you like when I post about it, I've not made one months in advance in a while now and this one is delish), I'm still pondering whether I've chosen the right colour scheme for my living room and I don't yet have a tree, but, its a little to early for my tastes to be decorating yet, especially as there's still crafting to be done. 


We decided that the boys are a little old for the traditional Christmas stocking treatment now (11.5 and 14 in case you were wondering), so I thought it would be a nice touch to downgrade slightly and hang mini stockings from my fireplace for each of us.  I've made 6 in total, well the 2 cats are family too! I'm not sure what I'm going to put in them yet but I figure the little surprises will be a nice after dinner tradition to start.  I'm sure there's lots of stocking templates floating around the internet, however, I will upload mine as soon as I can get it scanned into the computer.  


And so, here's my little Christmas stockings (just as a side note, the crystal in the middle of the embroidery is a kinda oil slick black in real life, it just looks rather flat here!)

      

As the Coke adverts say, holidays are coming.......

Movember

I can't believe I nearly forgot to post this one up! Unless you've been under a rock you'll know that guys everywhere have been growing moustaches for 'Movember' to raise awareness and funds for male cancer charities. There's a fab t-shirt blog about it here . To show a bit of solidarity with the chaps who are undertaking this I created a little felt 'tache hairclip (handy photo prop too), you can either create your own or they will be available to buy on my Etsy shop (details to follow).

The template for your moustache masterpiece can be found here and here's the tutorial - I'd love to see what you make or hear any comments!

You will need: Coloured felt of your choice, pins, matching thread, sewing needle, polyester wadding, metal hair clip, embellishments.

Cut and pin your template to your felt, draw around the template and cut out (you'll need 2)

Sew your hairclip to one of the 2 felt moustache pieces

Pin the two moustache pieces together, trimming if necessary

Blanket stitch the two pieces together - I like to do so with contrasting thread, the stitches add a bit of depth :)

To stuff or not to stuff? the choice is yours! I add a little padding as I like the 3D effect. Finish sewing then.......

Voila!! Embellish in any way you desire (I added little black crystals to the black moustache but the photo doesn't show them very well) Wear your 'tache with pride!

Until next time! Don't forget, sharing is caring ;)

Best Bib n Tucker

Definition - your best clothes which you wear on special occasions

So, enough with the history/phraseology lesson and on to what's been keeping me busy eh! Today I bring you my take on the 'bib necklace'. If you fancy having a go I'll be uploading a template later in the day (once I fix the scanner!) but here's my lil tutorial - hope you like it (be kind, its my first attempt at writing one!)

Bib Necklace, a set on Flickr.

Any feedback appreciated, thank you :)