Christmas Greetings

Hi, it's been a while I know. December (and most of November!) seems to have passed in a flurry of crafty activity which left no time for visiting blogland. I've missed it for sure but sometimes you have to spend a bit of time actually 'doing' rather than 'perusing', sad but true.

I didn't have much time for photographing either but here are a few photos of some of the things I created in a frenzy of stitching, gluing and knitting.

And you know it hasn't ended yet I have one or two projects to finish and I have plans to find time to fit in making Christmas Panna Cotta, Egg Nog, and Christmas Biscuits and I might even manage to squeeze in some Last Minute Christmas Chutney

So I'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Creative New Year. I've made some brilliant friendships in blogland and made lots of interesting discoveries (especially Pinterest!) so here's to lots more in 2012.

The Holly and The .........

Hi. Today I thought I'd share some very simple and quick instructions to make some holly leaves. Now I know some of you are not thinking about Christmas just yet it's just that I am trying to get organised and have many projects in the making. To be honest you could use the instructions to make any sort of leaf you like.

So you will need.....

A leaf template to draw around (or you can go freestyle), some strong thin double sided tape, some glue, book pages or any type of paper you fancy using and some thin floristry wire.

For each leaf you will need to cut out two identical shapes. Secure a bit of tape down the centre of the leaf shape and fix your wire on top. Glue the second leaf on top with the wire sandwiched in the middle.

You can then ink them, add glitter, doodle around the edges or whatever takes your fancy. You could even make them out of felt or fabric. They would be great for Christmas journals or layouts, Christmas cards and 3D projects.

In my stash I found some small flat back red pearls perfect for berries and as they are wired you shape them however you want. So now I have some holly ready to go.

Cloth

Have you discovered Cloth magazine? I hadn't until the weekend and believe me I really don't need to discover another but I'm glad I did.

Inside I found a great bag project. The one in the magazine had been made from an old tweed coat and the lining reused as the lining for the bag and a scarf for the handle.

Which got me thinking......

....and after a rummage in my fabric pile I made one. I feel very pleased with myself that I didn't buy anything new and in fact the fabric was either reused or an offcut. The scarf may be a temporary addition I quite like it but I'm going to keep my eyes open for a better suited one. That's the beauty of this bag you can change the scarf handle to suit your mood or outfit.

And when I came to photograph my bag I realised that the lining was a pretty good match to my hall wallpaper. Both are a William Morris print, the lining is a repurposed piece of Chrysanthemum Minor by Sanderson.

Now that I have a new bag I'm glad I made that discovery.

Preserves, Twigs and Owls

A few weeks back I was lucky enough to win a limited edition seasonal distress ink set. I forgot all about it until a parcel dropped though my letterbox and I ripped open the packaging. I ripped right through the label (oops) it's one of the Tim Holtz Fall 2011 sets.

The colours are very rich, I inked up some circles of white cardstock in Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserves and Gathered Twigs to try and demonstrate. 

Around the same time I had a birthday card to make so I put them to good use and inked up some card and turned it into a owl perched on a branch using a template from Craftwork Cards. The centre of the owl eyes and the flowers are some of their card candi popped on some foam pads.

The template was also good for a bit of doodling on the back of the envelope which I hope will put a smile on my friend's face.

Which brings me last but not least to another owl cushion. In fact the whole reason I wanted to create one was because my friend pointed one out while we were out together and I made a mental note to try and create one for her - for her birthday. So he is the original :-)

Pretty Paper Party - Collaged Background

Today I'm taking inspiration from a combination of things from Shimelle's prompts, paper scraps collaged into a colourful background, a splash of paint and some pretty handmade embellishments.....plus a bit of doodling that I just couldn't resist.

Even if I don't do another thing I'm happy to have kickstarted some creative scrapbooking and every time I look at this layout it will put a smile on my face.

Pretty Paper Party - Paper Pieced Patchwork

As you can see it's all the 'Ps' here today. I had great fun piecing this layout together. It involved a lot of cutting and sticking but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. A great way to use some of your favourite patterned paper.

Crunchy outside, soft inside, the treats cats crave

One of my cats, Purdey goes absolutely mad for her favourite cat treats. I'm beginning to think they have something everso slightly addictive in them. She's developed quite a habit and turns into the most demanding cat if she thinks there is even a sniff of a Dreamie snack. In fact she only has to see you in the kitchen and she thinks it's Dreamie time. Oh what have I started?

I don't know why I suddenly thought about it but I remembered how when I young there was a craze for shrinking empty crisp packets. You might not be aware of it, I know Mr P looked like I was mad when I asked him about it. I'd just thrown away an empty packet, it came free with something else, just a little freebie to get your cat hooked.  I hoped I might be able to shrink it small enough to make a embellishment and luckily it worked.

If you would like a template to make the perfect sized hexagons for a layout or card let me know and I'll happily send you one.

.......now to venture into the kitchen.

Pretty Paper Party - Strips and Scraps

I'm still partying and look I have another layout completed. I've wanted to scrap this photo for ages as I love the colours of the hydrangeas. It was taken in the Garden Cafe on a visit to the V&A.

I'm feeling good about not using new supplies and pleased to be showing off some favourite paper, although I still have quite a few sheets of the Noteworthy design. I know, I'm guilty of panic buying. Please tell me you've done the same.

I'm not entirely happy with this layout and I can't decide if I should add some stalks (stitched maybe?) to the flowers on the righthand side or if I should leave it as it is. They look like they're floating to me and need to be anchored.

I'll stop fretting about it for now and just feel satisfied that I've done some scrapping.

Pretty Paper Party - On the Edge

Hi as you can see I've been partying. I haven't followed all the prompts and certainly not in order but the idea of signing up to Shimelle's class is to get me scrapping and using up paper and that's what I've done.

This prompt was all about including different edges on your layout, maybe using something you don't usually or a bit of a different style. I am a fan of distressing so roughing up the edges of some co-ordination cardstock didn't worry me and I picked out some scallop offcuts I had in my scrap box and even stuck some to another square of paper to make another layer.

I have a stack of scalloped 8x8 and it felt very good to actually use one up. And yes that is purple, it suprised me but it looked perfect as the cliff top flowers in the photo are a shade of purple and as I went through different options from my stack it definitely looked the best suited.

Using what I have and not trying to match everything has definitely brought about some different colour combinations. I hope to share my next layout soon.

Seasonal Crafting

Hi. I just love this time of year, cooking up warming treats to eat, waiting for that first delivery of logs, getting cosy in knitwear and being able to wear boots again. It's also made me want to knit.

I knitted these from a pattern here at creative yarn and I will soon be adding some to my shop. I couldn't resist these fabulous colours in Louisa Harding Kashmir, some gorgeous greens and blues.

I've also squeezed in some sewing by stitching an owl cushion.

After sketching out what I wanted my finished owl to look like I made my own paper pattern and here he is in more Autumn inspired colours.

Do you love Autumn too? I'd love to hear if the season has inspired any of your crafting.

Colour Inspiration

Inspired by this......

Source: design-seeds.com via Amanda on Pinterest

and this.......

Source: flickr.com via Amanda on Pinterest

I made these.........

Two down only another......loads to go.

If you love colour then you'll love Design-Seeds a site dedicated to colour with loads of palette inspiration.

A Sketch Recipe

Hi. Do you remember the cupcakes I baked recently? Well I thought I'd record the moment and dedicate a bit of scrapping to them using sketch 10.6 from Sketchy Thursdays. I had planned to scrap them before now but the printer run out of ink. How did I let that happen?

I've only recently bought some baker's twine and I love the combination of the red and white with a bit of blue. I think that will be appearing in future Christmas cards. I used some of the cupcake papers (clean and unused!) to back my journaling block and folded some more peeking out from under one of the photos and to form a flower under the button.

I'm enjoying the challenge of sorting through my stash and using it up rather than buying new so if you spot any really old supplies that's the reason why. I'm not saying I won't be tempted to buy new but I can try!

Stitched and Ready To Go

Hi, how is the Autumn weather treating you? Here it's very much cooler but then I suppose that is to be expected it is October afterall. It's just a bit of a shock after last weeks scorching temperatures.

As the weather hasn't been great I've spent some time giving my website a much needed facelift and updating my online shop. I've been giving some serious thought to doing a craft fair but nothing is quite as easy as it first seems so for the time being I'm sticking with my online shop. Here are a few of my recent makes which are now available to buy and I'm currently offering free UK postage.

As you can see from the photos my decorated pebbles make great props, just the thing for displaying a ring.

For those of you wondering what I'm knitting from my last post yep, it is a scarf from a great free pattern I found on Ravelry called the Gathered Scarf. The pattern is really easy and it knits up quickly too. I'm using some Wendy merino wool which is a pure ultra soft DK. It should soon be finished so I'll show you how it turns out.

It's T(hat) Time of Year

Yep, it's time for the Big Knit. It kind of snuck up on me this year and I almost missed it. Luckily I realised just in time to get a few hats knitted up ready to be sent off before the deadline next week.

If you shop in either Boots or Sainsburys then you might spot a few of these behatted bottles over the coming few weeks. For every bottle sold the very generous Innocent Drinks people will donate 25p to Age UK. (From 2nd November in Sainsburys and 9th November in Boots). This year they aim to raise £1 million.

Also on my needles......

It must be the arrival of Autumn that's prompted the flurry of knitting.

All of a Swirl

This week saw me make my very first cupcakes with piped buttercream. Whilst I make muffins and cupcakes I'd never felt the need to actually pipe the buttercream before but I keep seeing all these wonderful creations, yes on Pinterest,  so I thought I might just give it a go.

They're definitely not perfect (they are meant to be like roses) but I'm pleased with my first attempt. I have some very pretty floral paper cases so now I'm thinking..........mauve buttercream. Yes I could get carried away and end up with more cupcakes than I should be eating.

Source: glorioustreats.blogspot.com via Rachael on Pinterest

Do you like my photo mosaic? The template came courtesy of Pugly Pixel. With thanks to Sian and her recent better blogging post for pointing out the site it's very useful.

It Took Just One Trip

No, don't worry knee recovery has taken a step back. Today I'm lamenting the sad demise of my favourite sandals.

One day last month the phone started ringing and as I rushed to get to it before it stopped I caught my foot on a wooden floorboard and well, that was that. One pair of totally wrecked sandals - favourite sandals! You might think I'm being a bit melodramatic here but I loved those sandals and they were always the first pair put in my suitcase ready for holiday, the first pair to welcome the the warmer weather, the last pair I braved the chillier Autumn weather for. Not any more.

I spotted this sketch on Sketchy Thursdays and it really appealed to me and you can see how much I loved my sandals as I have a photo of them on holiday, no really. I can't work out if that is being a true scrapper or a little bit bonkers?

My layout has quite a lot of white space for me and I have to resist the urge to add something. You can't see it in the photo very well but I machine stitched down the circle and where each line ends I added the punched hearts. I had some tiny stickers that were perfect saying 'wear and tear' and 'such is life'. Says it all really.

......as my journaling reads.....goodbye my old friends.

The search is now on for a replacement pair - wish me luck

A Purple Patch

Hi. Are you a fan of purple? I didn't think I was until I read the first post in Julie's new autumn series - Purple Phase. She made me realise there are many more shades than just plain old purple. Not that there is anything at all wrong with plain old purple.

As I started to look around I found that I had been drawn to purple more than I thought. In the little bit of stitching I'd done to practice some embroidery stitches, made into a lavender bag. See? Lavender, more purple.

.....in the buttons and vintage cotton I'd plucked from their charity shop shelves.

And look at this lovely bit of hoop stitching that I pinned recently.

Source: tumblr.com via Amanda on Pinterest

You really don't get much more purple than that!

Blog Hopping with Miss Smith

Hi. Today I'm celebrating with Miss Smith by taking part in her embellishment blog hop so if you've just arrived from Becky then - Welcome. I'm sure you've seen some wonderful projects along the way already so without further ado we'll get right to it.

I love butterflies so the handmade embellishment that I received from Kirsty could not have been more perfect. Not to mention the kraft, dotty ribbon, cute tiny label, pretty blue gingham and book pages....not forgetting the stripy paperclip.

Inspired by the butterfly I created a shaped card and added touches of blue, embossed dots and brown lace to co-ordinate.

Next, what to put the card in? A normal envelope? No, not pretty enough so I set about making my own. You may have seen lots of versions across the web of envelopes made from paper doilies.

Here's mine, simply folded. But where is the embellishment you might wonder?

It's here as the perfect finishing touch. Ok, you're not going to be able to post them via Royal Mail but who wouldn't be impressed if you handed them a pretty envelope?

If you'd like to start right at the very beginning call in at Miss Smith's or if you'd like to carry on your merry way hop on over to Mel.

Thanks for stopping by.

Like Pebbles on a Beach

Hi. Sorry I haven't been around for a while I do have a proper excuse so bear with me while I catch up and get back to blogging business. Last week I had a knee operation and progress has been good but I haven't been able to do much blog visiting and commenting so I apologise I'm not ignoring you.

Anyhow, excuses out of the way I wanted to share a little project I squeezed in just before my operation. The weekend was warm and sunny so we took a visit to Deal where we ate the best fish and chips on the sea front. While looking out to sea I was dreaming up a project as unlike where I live Deal has a shingle beach not sand..........mmmmmmm pebbles.

I was humoured while I set about collecting some pebbles and even got some help with some brought for my inspection, were they the right shape, colour, size? So in return I made him a paperweight, the one decorated with the bicycle. Can you believe the Silhouette cut that! You might recognise the CK tape and yep, the tattered floral die cuts too. The other one has a bit of simple paper doily - my favourite I think. All were finished with a good coat of mod podge to protect them.

And I promised to show you a view of the messy half of my craft room, I'm ashamed to say it still looks like this but I just concentrate on the tidy bit.

.....and don't think I've forgotten the high hat too it's on my long list of things to do.

Bye for now

A Eureka Moment

Hi. Yesterday while flicking through Pinterest -  like you do, I came across a brilliant idea which used CD racks for storing fat quarters.

Do we still have our old one I ventured to ask? Luckily the answer was yes. So after a bit of sorting.........and wishing I'd never started I have a new addition to my craft room.

This section was the perfect size for old patterns with a bunny squeezed too.

And my Eureka moment? At last finding somewhere to store rolls of wrapping paper and using a bamboo skewer to hold them in place using the shelf placer holes to secure it.

I'm still sorting all my fabric but I'm getting there.

I love having a peek into other people's craft rooms don't you? I'll be back to show you a bit more of mine. Just don't expect it to be one of those craft rooms that's perfectly tidy!