As the white rabbit said....

I'm late!! I am so sorry, I know I was meant to post my draw up on Valentines Day but things got really hectic and I totally forgot - forgive me?  I've just spent the last 15 mins (the PC is on a go slow) sorting out to draw it and here's the results starting with the list of people who entered so I could give you all numbers

And courtesy of Random.org number generator the winner is.......

KAT!! 

Thank you to everyone for entering and I promise I'll do another giveaway soon, this time it'll be bigger and I'll be more organised!  Kat I'll be in touch in a moment - I hope you like your flower!

TTFN 

xx

Random chaos!

Morning!!  I'm feeling unbelievably chirpy today, considering the dark start and the frost/snow I've no idea why but I'm making the most of it!  Today I'll mainly be sewing a new line for the Boutique, no spoilers yet, it's an idea that came to me yesterday and I'm keeping it under my hat so ner! 

I will share some of the fab fabric I'm working with though, my friends say I've picked out an eclectic mix, I just go with what catches my eye (sorry about the creased/inside out nature of some of the fabric, they were fresh from being pre-shrunk!)

Those who know me know this is barely scraping my fabric mountain but hey, at least I'm finally cutting into it, right? Just don't mention the new additions that pop up on a fortnightly basis please teehee!

Today I'm also on the hunt for answers as to what's playing havoc with my skin - I've been messed about with various contraceptives by my clinic in the last year so ended up going back to the depo injection but when they were playing switcharoo my skin started to hold a protest, I didn't have spots as a teen and don't really relish having them now!  I have a good cleansing routine (god bless Liz Earle's cleanse and polish!) and 7 months into the injections its still not settled, it also went from combination/oily to combination/dry so I'm on the hunt for a really good moisturiser that wont aggravate the teen skin further! If you have a recommendation I'd love to hear it.  Hopefully there'll be something in the Glossybox I received yesterday, but I'll be sharing all about that in another post :) 

Dont forget my little giveaway too! Check my last post - until then,

TTFN!

xx 

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

Me Me Me!

Afternoon! Ok this one isn't going to be of much interest to alot of you I'm guessing as this is very much a 'me' posting.  2012 is usually a time for resolutions, however I don't believe in waiting to make a change - you wanna do it, you do it now, not Monday, not new year NOW!!  That said I've resolved (after reading Rockalily's post) this year to be a bit kinder to myself and also to dress like it matters.  Ok, also to stop biting my nails off - not that I want them too long, it impedes my crafting! 


I'd like to get back to my pin-uppy style to be honest - ok I've gone up a couple of dress sizes since I last went full out pin up and I've got short hair now but I think I can still pull it off, right?  Unfortunately I made the mistake of looking in my wardrobe :/  slouchy, unflattering clothes or things I can skate in - looks like I'm gonna be hitting Primark sometime soon then! I've not looked at vintage undies either - I love What Katie Did but it breaks my heart not being able to fit into some of their lovely things (before anyone hits at me about my weight I'll tell you now, fuck off! I've got a 'lovely' thyroid condition that screws that one over for me on a regular basis so lets just drop it eh!) However that's enough stropping like a toddler - lets focus on the positive!  


This week I AM giving myself an overhaul - starting with the hair.  Ideally this is the colour I want to achieve, I'm not ready to give up and go back to black quite yet :) So if any of you lovely people can recommend a shade/brand I'd love to hear from you!  On the subject of help, I'd also love to hear what brands of eyeliner you recommend for a pin up look - I'm currently using the Maybelline gel one (have also used MAC but am open to suggestion!).  Looking forward to tomorrow as I can finally order my Rockalily Lipstick too! 


I guess that's enough of the 'me' post now - to get it back onto crafting, I'll be giving the details of the 2012 ATC swap in the next week or so and also might give you some sneak peeks of the things I've been making for Adorable Little Extras.


Happy crafting!
xx

Adorable, Alice and adventures!

Just a quick post for today, things are always so rushed coming up to the new year and this year is no exception!  We're off doing some visiting this afternoon, it may get emotional as its the Mr's grandparents and (at their request) we haven't seen them in about 4 months or so (actually I think its about a year for me!), they're pretty old school and as they're ill have been worried about not being able to 'play host' but we finally convinced them they don't need to worry. 

As the 'crafty one' in the family I get the odd request for things, my sister text me 2 days ago asking if I could help her with her Alice in Wonderland costume for NYE - to be fair I'm happy to help I just didn't want to put myself under a tonne of pressure making the entire outfit so I said if she could get a dress I'd make the apron and give her the ribbon for her hair.  A couple of hours work yesterday afternoon and this is the result

Not the best picture I grant you but hopefully I'll get to see it in action!  I made it out of a Winceyette type fabric as I wanted it to be quite thick and its the best the fabric shop could offer me!  

In other news, I've also got the logo for my little venture done, we debated whether to keep the teapot or go with a button, the button won! I've had some great feedback so far and alot of support - 2012 is going to be a fantastic year I just know it!

Well I'll sign off for now before I start waffling but I'll catch you before NYE 

Happy crafting!

xx

'twas the season!

Well? Did you survive?? Pleased to say I did :) It was a very quiet Christmas this year which gave me time to reflect and catch up on my reading - I got new crafty books as gifts so my nose was buried for the last 2 days coming up only for the turkey and sprout fest lol.  Ok, if you're on my Facebook/Twitter list you'll know that I also had a rant or two about sales adverts on Christmas morning (keep Christmas in December and keep the sales in January!) and the obligatory holiday/diet adverts - but lets not get into that again or I'll be up on my soapbox all day! 

So today is back to 'normality' whatever that may be.  I've got a list of tutorials planned for the next few months to keep both me and you amused plus I'm going to be launching my Adorable Little Extras label (really excited!!) I've also been (still) trying to work out the decor for my living/dining room - the Mr has agreed this needs to start looking more like a home now and I've got my eye on the back wall/window for my new craft space.  I've really GOT to do some crafting today - you know when you wake up at stupid o'clock and try to get back of to sleep and you end up remembering your dream, I was dreaming about soap making!! Go figure!

Anyway, I've got pork to be roasting and Warhammer to be assembling with the kiddies so I shall leave you for now - don't forget my open invite on my last blog post to join my ATC swap, I'd love to have you on board!  

Happy crafting 

xx

Calling all crafters!

I was sat looking through some of the things I've created over the years and remembering how I love to 'potch' with things when I discovered a small box with some of my favourite rubber stamps in that I'd kept back from the cull.  It got me to thinking, maybe its time to start something a bit fun for 2012, so, calling all crafters - would you like to be involved in a 2012 ATC swap?

For those of you not in the know, ATC's are Artists Trading Cards which are miniature works of art or stamping projects, collages, whatever you want them to be. There are only two rules, they must measure 2 ½” x 3 ½” and should not be sold, only exchanged for other cards.

Artists usually make a set of cards on a similar theme, they are called series. The artist records the name of the set on the back of each card, signs and dates it and allocates a number to show how many were made and what number each card is in the sequence, for example 1/6, 2/6 etc. Single unique cards are called originals and sets of identical cards are called editions.

ATC’s can be made from plain cardstock or by altering poker playing cards (standard playing cards are not the right size) or trading cards such as Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh etc. Any media can be used but they need to be sturdy enough to survive the mail and not too thick so that they can be stored easily.  You can see some lovely examples on the internet, unfortunately I was only able to find pictures of 1 I'd previously made (and we are going back years here!)

I am proposing a monthly swap with each month having a theme (maybe bi-monthly if we think that would be better?) so all the crafters involved and up with a lovely set of artwork for 2012 and something to get them creating!

So, what do you think? Interested in taking part? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy crafting!

xx