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 

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

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! 

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.......

Colours of Christmas

Good morning - I hope this post finds you well.  I was sat pondering last night on what colours my Christmas decorations are going to be, needless to say white is going to be included after creating the Glamour Wreath in my last blog.  However I am midway through redecorating (4 weeks before Christmas, ambitious eh!) and to give my living room a cosy rich feel I have gone with a cream/black/pink/silver theme, so do I match my decorations to my decor?? I may just do that this year, OK so it means my handmade snowmen ornaments and tree skirt won't make an appearance this year but it does give me the opportunity for some holiday crafting!  I am aiming to make some tree decorations, handmade Christmas cards and a few gifts too - heck I may even ice the Christmas cake in pink!  

Wish me luck!