Finishing off

Remember when I learnt a new craft back in July 2012? It was making toothbrush rugs and I learned how to make them from the lovely Christine. This is where I left off two years ago.

If I read back it had got to a magnificent 37cms!

I go to a monthly knit and natter group although as I have nothing to do with the dark art of yarn twiddling I do still go and take sewing/rug making along with me. The photo above is of how far I was on the 8th of this month.

This is Anya helping me in the park on the day of the teacher strike. Coincidently we met up with Christine and her daughters (as well as another friend *waves at Rachel*) so they were all helping out too.

And here is my other helper - he has claimed it as his rug! Luckily he is a small dog so he could sleep on it as I was making it and I could still turn it!

And this is it today! I'm using some techniques from the art of yarn twiddling to block this rug as it was starting to look more like a basket (useful for the dog but not so much for me!) I'm blocking it by wetting it thoroughly and then pinning it at intervals to the carpet so it stretches out into the shape it's meant to be. This is the second wetting and I just need it to dry overnight so that I can repin and get it in the proper shape tomorrow. I haven't measured it again so I don't know how big it is but I'm pleased with it for my first attempt :)

Anything crafty happening in your neck of the woods?

A book, a pretty little book

A very pretty book don't you agree? Lets have a look through the pages.

Ooooooh this page looks very interesting. Upcyced bubble mailers? Hang on a minute - lets have a closer look at the name at the top.....

Oh yes, that's me!! As you might have guessed from this long winded post, one of my tutorials has been featured in this book :)

See, a pretty picture too of my nursery rhyme bubble mailer.

The book was published in October last year and I forgot about it until I found the letter about it when I was tidying up the craft room recently - doh!!

So, how are you all?? I feel like I have been away from here for ages but it's been lass than a month!

Motivation, shmotivation

You may have noticed that nothing really crafty is going on around these parts at the moment. Nothing major but I do have a case of the CBA's :) I know I have to get stock ready for Country Living in Harrogate in the run up to Christmas and I also have another order which has to be in Sheffield in October but I can't summon up the energy to do anything.

I did sort out these record covers (found in the dining room) and got them out to turn into envelopes but that was at 1.30 and at 4.00 they are still sitting there. Maybe they will go back into the dining room.... Actually no as I have tidied that this morning ready for Tara's craft party next week. Go me being all organised!

I may give up on the envelopes and go into the garden to read instead :)  Hope you are all motivated where you are?

Bank holiday fun

We went to Saltaire today to visit while the Arts Trail was on (it's the first time in about 3 years I haven't had a stall) and it was nice to wander around and see lots of people! 

This was the view from our bedroom this morning with blue sky so we decided to take a picnic along although by the time we sat down to eat it was cold!

We bumped into Bec from Do You Punctuate and her son E had built this den - the girls decided to play in it with him and add more decoration with the bunting!

Tara decided to print this cool spaceman and she was really concentrating on getting the colours just right.

She also screenprinted this robot (the other print was letterpress)

Lots of fun was had by all including Harry although he didn't like the bicarb rockets!

P.S. I haven't forgotten the giveaway (although I did at the weekend - sorry) so it will be drawn tomorrow at 12 noon(ish)

Craft round up from 2012

And here's to another crafty year in 2013 :)

1. Upcycled badges on new packaging, 2. Inside one of the upcycled, refillable journal/notebook, 3. Limited Edition Liberty fabric chicken paperweight, 4.Upcycled stickers - 1970's illustrations, 5. Limited Edition Liberty fabric chicken paperweight, 6. British Wildlife upcycled bunting - heart shaped, 7. Heart bunting packaging, 8. Peter and Jane stickers, 9. Gardenia the chicken pincushion/paperweight, 10. Custom stickers, 11. Sweetie Mum and Baby, 12.Limited Edition Liberty fabric chicken paperweight, 13. Mini upcycled bunting - plants and flowers, 14. Decka the pincushion/paperweight chicken, 15.Richard Scarry card, 16. Pink chicken pincushion/paperweight, 17. Sammy the Shunter gift tags, 18. Mother and Baby chicken, 19. Threads notecards - set 3, 20. Heart gift tags

You can see a larger version of the mosaic here.

Spin, spin, spin!

Hopefully you will be able to see the little video I made of my bobbin winder in action. Lots of people have been asking me why they would need a bobbin winder when they have a sewing machine that does it for them. I always argue that you do need one as you don't have to unthread your machine just to wind some more bobbins - particularly if you need another bobbin in the middle of a project :)



Am I the only one who can see a face in the bobbin winder? The green button is one eye, the bobbin is the other and the clasp in the middle is the smiley mouth :)

A mini challenge

In a bid to get the stock that is sitting around and not in my shops, into my shops, I am setting myself a mini challenge. By the end of the weekend I will have at least 100 items in my Folksy and Etsy shops.

My Etsy shop should be easy as I only need one more thing in there to take it up to 100.

And my Folksy shop needs 7 more things in it to get up to 100. So 8 things over the next few days - it should be do-able shouldn't it? Unless you all buy things and then I will have work that bit harder!

Uh oh - I've learnt a new craft!

When I was at the Vintage Fair on Saturday teaching my upcycling workshop Christine was also there teaching people to make toothbrush rugs (so called as they were made years ago using old toothbrushes*) I hovered for a little bit and then asked her to teach me too.

The orange and the blue are the bits I did in the workshop and the mustard, pink and white are old clothes that I have used since Saturday. It's already 37cms! Cool eh?

Once you've got the hang of it, it is very easy - so much so that Anya was helping me with it yesterday. Just look for toothbrush rug on You Tube. And it has come at the perfect time as I was going to start a plaited rug this week which would have been much more time consuming. I'm still getting the hang of it so this will be my practice rug and then I will be making one for the girls from their old clothes!

*the toothbrushes had holes at one end and the bristle end was snapped off and the end filed to resemble a large needle :)

Hebden Bridge Rag Market

I went to the Rag Market in Hebden Bridge last year and found some good bargains so I thought I would try it again this year. It didn't disappoint!

This fabric is a scrap but quite a big one!

Mmmmmm - pretty vintage :)

More vintage - this time 1960's towelling.

Anya got this bag of fabric scraps for 50p - she is going to use them for collage.

And guess what? I arrived back with the fabric at 12.30 and at 1.30 I was sewing with it - that almost never happens :) I made some chickens!

Meet Sweetie and her mum :)

Gardenia and her mum :)

Decka and his mum.

Cute eh? They will be in the shop(s) soon but shout if you want one asap.

What I'm working on today

This is my temporary desk today - I had to wait in for the washing machine man to come so couldn't be in the studio as our doorbell doesn't work! After clearing it of all the kids stuff (it is meant to be their table!) I filled it with mine :)

Lots of stuff! I'm trying to get all those little itty bits and pieces finished off. I have lots of piles of half finished stuff around the house and want it all away really. Especially as Tara is having a family birthday party in a couple of weeks!

Stickers waiting for their packaging and pieces of paper waiting to be turned into stickers!

Images from magazines waiting to be put into my inspiration book.

This book is waiting to be chopped up - it has some pages missing hence why I am getting scissor happy!

Teeny tiny envelopes waiting to be folded and stuck together.

Oh and these two bags need to be sorted as there is unfinished wok in both of them!

Fun in Skipton

The girls had today off school as it was a teacher inset day so we decided to make the most of pretty much everyone else being back at school and head over to Skipton!

The castle :) The 'long drop' i.e. toilet suspended above the river was a big hit as always with the girls!

Girls with a canon!

And 3 more reasons to visit Skipton - the fab little newsagent that sells a huge range of craft magazines including ones from America! Thanks to Sarah aka Ditsy Bird for pointing the way!

My Creative Space - bag makeover

Take one cool but frankly quite boring bag (same image on both sides),

Add some fabric scraps and some Juanita* magic

And voila - a newly transformed bag that is much prettier! Some of my favourite fabrics are below.

I'm joining in with Our Creative Spaces today - why don't you pop over and see what everyone else has been up to?

*Juanita is my sewing machine :)

Two little doggies sitting in a tree.....

K I S S I N G! Not really but Anya has been saying this rhyme a lot and I think it's cute.

I found these cuties in a charity shop in Accrington and they were 25p each. They are made of see through plastic and have the Danone faintly on the top of them so I think they were a freebie with yoghurts/yoghurt drinks.

Here is the kissing :) And yes, a 34 year old woman set this scene up!

I have plans for these two!