Bugs and Fishes by Lupin

A Lovely Tea & Biscuit Tin

2013-05-18T18:59:00.000+01:00

Check out the new addition to my growing collection of yummy tins from M&S:

Such a nice design, huh? Perfect for a tea and biscuit fan like me :)

It's by Kate Wilson of Little Doodles, whose work I love - I bought one of her birdie prints years ago, I unfortunately don't currently have the space for it but it used to hang in my old kitchen & made me happy whenever I saw it.

Plus the biscuits inside were pretty tasty too! Om nom nom.

Photos From This Week - Craft Supplies & Cats

2013-05-17T18:51:00.001+01:00

Crikey, this week has been super busy! I have been ticking things off To Do lists like crazy, but I've mostly been working on secret stuff I can't show you guys yet though (boo). I can show you some of the yummy, colourful supplies I've been using though :)

Pretty glass beads (I especially love those turquoise blue ones, so lush) ...

... and lovely spring shades of thread. Pink and orange together? Yum!

Thanks to the bad weather we've been having, our cats have been spending lots of time snoozing indoors and keeping us company this week.

Our big cat likes sleeping on the sofa while I'm working in the lounge (how he manages to sleep upside down like that, I have no idea). He is sitting next to me on the sofa as I type this, actually! He likes having a whole seat of the sofa all to himself and gets very grumpy if he finds a person sitting in what he regards as "his" seat.

And our small cat is always very happy to find me sitting on the sofa with the laptop as it means she can yowl at me until I put the laptop down and let her sit on my lap instead :)

She doesn't always choose the most convenient times (pesky kitty!) but I think being able to rearrange my workday around "kitty cuddle breaks" has to be one of the great perks of being self-employed.

May Sponsors

2013-05-15T09:04:00.000+01:00

Say hello to my current sponsors!

Blooming Felt sells 100% wool felt sheets, colourful fairtrade felt craft supplies like felt beads and felt purses, plus a whole bunch of other crafty goodness like buttons, ribbons, flat pad findings, embroidery floss and fabric:

The Bellwether (formerly known as Miso Funky) sells cross stitch samplers with a modern twist (and a bit of spicy language!) along with coasters, needlework kits, cards, and stitch-able stuff like iPhone cases:

Asking for Trouble sells illustrated stationery, accessories and gifts using cute characters inspired by Japanese kawaii:

Mason Bee sells detailed hand embroidered pieces and embroidery patterns, often featuring bees!

Cherry and Cinnamon is the work of Bridgeen Gillespie, a freelance illustrator who sells kitsch and cute embroidery patterns & and fabric:

Lucky Cat Handmade sells key fobs, glasses cases, pencil pouches and purses:

And The Dusty Attic sells handmade felt brooches and other accessories:

P.S. Interested in promoting your shop, company or blog? I've recently reduced the price of my ads, so ad spaces on my blog start from the bargain price of just $5 for 30 days (that's about £3.25! BARGAIN). Your shop will feature in a sponsor post like this one and I also give new sponsors a shout out over on my Facebook page. Click here for more info re: rates and my blog's traffic, and to buy an ad.

Book Review: Felt Sew Good

2013-05-13T09:08:00.000+01:00

To finish up my Book Week, I've got a lovely felt-y book to review (you guys know how much I love felt, gotta save the best material 'til last, right?).

Felt Sew Good by Christine Leech contains "30 simple & stylish felt projects" divided into chapters of gifts, decorations and items from the home.

The designs are all pretty simple, accessible projects you could make in an afternoon or a couple of evenings - perfect for beginners or people who just want to squeeze a bit of relaxing crafting into their week

There are some cute projects like this elephant mobile (so adorable)...

... and these sweet woodland animal finger puppets:

And some very stylish, more "grown up" projects, like these decorative baubles...

... this geometric mat...

... and these pretty feather napkin rings:

Other projects in the book include winged baby booties, a pear doorstop,circus-inspired egg cosies, and an autumnal garland.

Each project has step-by-step instructions but only the more complicated steps are illustrated with drawings or step-by-step photos. All the templates are included full size though, which is something I love to see in a craft book!

Felt Sew Good would be a great book to add to your collection if you want some fun and pretty projects that are relatively quick and easy to make. I think this would also be a great book to use when sewing things with younger children, or to give as a gift to a teenage crafter - I would have loved to make lots of the designs in this book to decorate my room as a teen, or to give as gifts to my friends.

Felt Sew Good is published by Quadrille. RRP £12.99. It's available from Amazon UK and many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: Quadrille sent me a free review copy of this book. The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

Book Review: Stitch and Sew Home

2013-05-12T09:03:00.000+01:00

Today's book is very very different to the one I reviewed yesterday... for starters, check out the pretty pink cover!

This is a seriously girly, pretty book - with lots of roses, birds, butterflies and oodles of pink.

It reminds me a lot of Cath Kidston's prints and I think if you're a fan of all things CK you're gonna love this book.

The book contains "over 45 cross stitch, embroidery and sewing projects" but there are also several paper crafting projects, some small crochet patterns, a couple of projects involving self-hardening clay, and several mixed media projects that have a stitched or other textile element to them.

This is a book that's heavy on pretty, inspirational pictures and light on instructional content. Many of the projects just have a list of materials and brief instructions - sometimes as little as three lines of text - but some have more detailed instructions (there are no diagrams though, and no techniques section). Mostly this doesn't matter though, as the projects are either quite simple ideas, like adding covered buttons to a charm bracelet...

... or the instructions are intended as more of a starting point than a step-by-step "how to" for creating the exact design pictured - as in the bunting project where you're just told to decorate the bunting "how you like".

Several of the projects are variations - for example, different ideas for using covered buttons; and in one section you're given instructions for making a fabric bird and then there's a series of projects where you can use the bird(s) to make a bird in a box, a bird on a string, a bird mobile, etc.

When I first got sent this book to review (along with some other titles I'd requested) I have to admit to looking at it and thinking it was a bit too girly for me, but actually looking through it again I found a lot of things that I'd quite like to make - if not for myself, then things that would make nice little gifts or pretty decor ideas for parties or a wedding.

My favourite projects are probably the cross stitch roses - this cushion just makes me swoon!

The majority of projects in the book are actually made with (or include some) materials that were specifically designed by Eline to accompany the book - fabric, paper, ribbons and stamps in a range called "Eline's House". So lots of the materials lists will say to use a certain product from the collection, and you'd need to track these down if you wanted to recreate the designs exactly.

You could easily use different pretty paper and fabric to make a lot of the projects (just as you wouldn't be using exactly the same fabric, etc, to recreate the designs in other craft books), but some are very specifically built around the supplies in the range - especially the stamps. Some of these could, again, be substituted (for example for the butterfly projects you could easily find some other butterfly stamps to use instead) but others seem to be very specific designs I think you'd have trouble finding in other ranges, so you'd just have to skip those projects.

What do you guys think about this sort of "craft supplies & book" tie-in? Have you seen any other craft books that are like this? I guess it pretty directly solves the problem of having lovely supplies and not knowing what to make with them, but I do find the projects that depend upon owning a certain specific supply a little frustrating... and I expect that the product range to accompany the book will only become harder and harder to find as time goes on, so if there's something I like the look of in this book, does that mean I have to rush out and buy the matching supply now in case it's no longer available when/if I want to make the project in the future?

I am actually very tempted to buy the butterfly stamp set as they are quite lovely and I can see myself using them in a lot of my own projects as well as possibly recreating some of the ideas in the book. I couldn't find anywhere in the UK to buy them, but this store in the Netherlands carries them along with some of the other projects designed to accompany Eline's books.

UPDATE: Eline has let me know that this shop in the UK also carries some of her products, including new digital versions of the (now sold out) paper packs that were designed to accompany Stitch and Sew Home.

Overall, this is a very pretty book with a lot of lovely project ideas but it's definitely one to buy if you prefer your craft books to be more inspirational than purely instructional.

Stitch and Sew Home is published by David & Charles. RRP £14.99. It's available from Stitch Craft Create, Amazon UK, Amazon USA and many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: David & Charles sent me a free review copy of this book. The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

Book Review: Merchant and Mills Sewing Book

2013-05-11T09:04:00.000+01:00

Today I'm reviewing the Merchant and Mills Sewing Book, by Carolyn Denham.

Like Sew Over It (which I reviewed a few weeks ago) this is another vintage-inspired sewing book but I think it would be quite difficult to find another book more different to Sew Over It's retro prettiness - which is firmly in florals + bunting + gingham + cupcakes + Keep Calm & Carry On -style vintage territory. The styling of the Merchant & Mills book (like the packaging for their haberdashery range) is stripped back, utilitarian, with muted colours and a consciously old-fashioned writing style. Check out that grey board cover!

The cover gives this book a very distinctive look, but the cover of my review copy unfortunately got a bit bashed up in the post and I think it could very quickly start looking a mess as it would damage easier / get greasy marks on it / etc much more than an "ordinary" hardback book. (I think my concern about this may mean I am turning into my mother, but I do like my books to stay looking nice, especially the fancy hardbacks).

The blurb on the back of the book reads "Keep it simple and do it well. No shortcuts. No Cheating. Just good old-fashioned sewing" ... "Use for reference or as a jolly good read." The first part of the book - "the foundations" - is very much for reference, with chapters going into lots of detail about tools, techniques, haberdashery, fabric and "the importance of meticulous pressing".

It's written in what seems like an imitation of the style of an old instructional guide or household manual, and it's illustrated with retro diagrams...

...and pictures with muted colours (often featuring vintage bits of sewing kit).

The second part of the book is the projects, with instructions for making things like bags, a tailor's ham, an ironing board cover and cushions.

Lots of the projects involve quite heavy weight fabrics like oilskin, canvas and denim which gives them a different feel to the ones found in sewing books that mostly use pretty printed cottons.

There are also two paper patterns included at the end of the book (in an envelope attached to the inside cover) - for a Fisherman's Top and a Tailored Shawl.

The paper patterns unfortunately both need enlarging by 175%, which is a bit of a shame as surely the point of including paper patterns in a book like this is so you can get some full size patterns that don't need enlarging? I think I would have preferred to see one full-size pattern included instead of two that need to be enlarged.

Each project is illustrated with black and white drawings to guide you through all the steps, which all look pretty clear and detailed.

Overall, I think the utilitarian vintage style beloved by Merchant & Mills is so strongly and consistently expressed throughout this book that I think it's a bit of a "Marmite" book - one you'll either "love" (and spend many happy hours pouring over the vintage-y details and enjoying how the book is written) or "hate".

Personally I have to admit that, as a lover of all things colourful and bright, I did find the lack of colour in the book a bit off-putting and I don't really have an itch to make any of the projects, possibly because in the chosen fabrics I just can't picture them in my house or in my wardrobe. The book actually addresses the colour issue directly in the chapter about fabric:

"A further caveat for all you colourful souls out there is that our middle name is 'drab', which the dictionary defines primarily as 'dull'. That is to say, we lean towards the darker, more muted end of the spectrum for much of our making and are particularly alarmed by bright primary colours. This is a personal choice and should not be seen as a directive." ... but actually, I think my personal choice would be to choose a reference book like Sewing Made Simple which, for me, was a great balance of prettiness and practical information.

But if the Merchant & Mills style really appeals to you (if you've looked at the photos in this blog post and gone "oooh" or if you can't resist the siren song of their retro packaging when you see their products in shops) or you're just looking for a really practical, really detailed book on some sewing basics and don't care whether it's colourful or "pretty", I would still heartily recommend this book!

The Merchant and Mills Sewing Book is published by Collins & Brown. RRP £20. It's available from Amazon UK, several sellers on Amazon USA and from many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: Collins & Brown sent me a free review copy of this book, & the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

Book Review: Stitched Gifts

2013-05-10T09:01:00.000+01:00

Stitched Gifts by Jessica Marquez (who sells her work on Etsy as Miniature Rhino) is a lovely embroidery book with a modern but retro-loving style - what I would describe as "very Anthropologie / Etsy-chic".

The book contains 25 embroidery projects divided into 5 chapters.

Home & Hearth, which includes a horseshoe (for good luck), a embroidered floor plan of a special home and a welcome banner:

Engagement, Wedding & Anniversary projects, including table numbers and a "bouquet" for a wedding, and embroideries involving a couples names and initials:

Projects for Babies & Little Ones, including a mobile, a embroidered frame for a transferred-on-to-fabric baby photo and a nursery alphabet:

Designs for Holidays, Birthdays and Special Occasions, including embroidered cards and tags, zodiac designs, and a monogram:

And Keepsakes & Forget-Me-Nots, including more projects based around family and loved ones, plus these sweet messages in bottles:

The introductory text for each piece is sweet and personal, each project helpfully includes an estimate of the time it takes to stitch and they are all beautifully and stylishly photographed.

The patterns at the back of the book are printed on very thin paper with perforations down one side, so you can tear out the pages... and with lots of pages squeezed into a small bit of space, it means that most of the patterns have been included at full size, which is great. You're also given a choice of seven different alphabets to use in personalising your projects. Sadly, the lovely twining leafy design from the front cover isn't included.

And as well as the instructions for the individual projects, there's a detailed chapter at the start of the book which explains how to transfer patterns and personalise the designs and how to construct all the stitches used in the book (with detailed step by step photos for each stitch)... and a chapter at the back with instructions for framing your finished pieces (in embroidery hoops, in frames or stretched over canvas). I know I will be using these chapters as a reference when working on embroidery projects in the future!

Overall, I think this is a charming book and one that would be especially useful to have on your bookshelves if you enjoy making sweet, personal gifts for your friends and family, or special pieces celebrating your family's milestones and history.

Stitched Gifts is published by Chronicle Books. RRP £12.99. It's available from Amazon UK, Amazon USA and many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: Chronicle Books sent me a free review copy of this book. I've had a couple of projects included in a book published by Chronicle Books, but you guys know I am always honest in my reviews! The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

Book Review: Quilt Love

2013-05-09T09:06:00.000+01:00

Today I'm reviewing Quilt Love by Cassandra Ellis. Isn't the dust jacket lovely? (the book itself is a bright pink hardback).

The 20 projects in the book (lots of quilts and a few smaller projects like a cushion and some quilted artworks) are divided into four chapters: Big Events, Love, Friendship and Memories.

Cassandra begins each project by talking about the kind of event, memory or relationship that inspired it, writing thoughfully about each topic, how she's used it as a jumping-off point to create the design and about the meaning the finished piece will have.

For example, the New Beginnings quilt is inspired by an early commission from a woman whose husband was divorcing her and the finished quilt is described as being "not a reward per se, but a marker and a reminder of your fresh start once you are living your new life."

She writes about her fabric choices, how and why she chose them (for their personal meanings, their textures and patterns, the moods conveyed by their colours) and explains how the details of each design connect to her inspiration.

For example, the new beginnings quilt design is slightly wonky and off-centre to match how you feel when things change, and involves panels of luxurious fabrics so you can treat yourself to something really special. And the quilt for a student off to university includes large stripes of fabric representing their new adventure and narrower stripes to remind them of home (maybe taken from old clothing or linens).

She then goes into detail about how to put each project together, with all the important info you'll need to make the designs but also lots of tips about how to choose your fabric and things to think about when constructing your design ... like the best way to arrange the pieces when working on the quilt, which sections will dominate the design, how your fabric and colour choices can be changed to alter the feel of the finished piece, how to build a design around a cherished piece of fabric, and so on.

Then at the end of the book there's a chapter called "Practicalities" which includes stuff like how to prep fabric, what threads and tools to use, how to cut and piece, how to construct a quilt, etc...

... but there's also an emphasis on doing things your way, finding materials that suit you, etc, and there's a whole section on how to create your own designs, things to bear in mind when using fabrics with special meaning (e.g. using old clothes or vintage textiles) and lots of useful notes on tone, pattern and scale.

I would love to spend a relaxing evening reading this book, whether I was planning on making a quilt or not, but especially if I was planning on making a something for a special occasion or person in my life and wanted some ideas and inspiration for making something really personal and meaningful. Plus the quilt designs in the book are pretty nice, too!

Quilt Love is published by Jacqui Small. RRP £20.00. It's available from Amazon UK and a paperback edition is available from Amazon USA.

[Disclaimer: Jacqui Small sent me a free review copy of this book, & the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

Book Review: The Gentle Art of Stitching

2013-05-08T09:05:00.000+01:00

Today's book is The Gentle Art of Stitching: 40 Projects Inspired by Everyday Beauty by Jane Brocket.

It's a large hardback, with a canvas-wrapped cover that has a lovely texture.

Judged purely on the cover I would have guessed the projects in this book were colourful with a slightly vintage-y feel... and, guess what, they are!

There are a few introductory pages, explaining Jane's sewing philosophy and the chatting about the supplies you'll need for the projects in the book. I think "chatting" is definitely the right word, as Jane's style is lovely and personal, talking about what she likes to use, how she stores her supplies, etc.

Then the rest of the book is divided into short chapters that each include a few projects that use the same (or similar) techniques: Sashiko, Needlepoint, Seasonal Kantha (quilt projects), Fabric Flower Arrangements (stitched pictures), Stitching on Felt, Half-crazy Patchwork, Suffolk Puffs, Lessons in Stitching (samplers), On the Edge (decorative edgings), Busy Daisies (projects using lazy daisy stitch), Vintage Embroidery, Literary Cross Stitch, and Button Cards.

Each chapter has some introductory text, discussing the history of the technique used, how Jane has used it as inspiration for the projects, etc. Lots of the chapters also include recommendations for books and websites for you to check out if you're interested in learning more about a certain technique.

Most of the projects are quite beginner-friendly, with small projects like this felt pincushion...

... and these button cards:

And larger projects like this patchwork cushion...

... and this embroidered edging:

This quilt made from vintage embroidered linens is especially awesome - a simple idea, but very inspiring!

It's a bit of a shame that several of the project chapters are "variations on a theme" design-wise, for example the needlework chapter includes these two cushions...

... and these pincushions:

I do like the design of these, but a bit more variation would have been nice.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that the book contains some simple projects and ideas (sometimes a simple project is exactly what you want!) but if you're a seasoned stitcher you might not find this book challenging enough to suit you. However, if you're new to sewing or looking to explore some new techniques this would be a great book to add to your collection.

The Gentle Art of Stitching is published by Collins & Brown. RRP £20.00. It's available from Amazon UK, Amazon USA and many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: Collins & Brown sent me a free review copy of this book. The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

Book Review: Folk Art Needlecraft

2013-05-07T09:00:00.000+01:00

I really need to learn not to announce a series of blog posts before I have actually written the blog posts in question! It's been a few weeks since I said I'd be posting some sewing-themed craft book reviews "in the next week" and here I am finally getting around to posting the second one. Ah well - better late than never, right?

So, I've decided that this week is going to be a Book Week! And I have actually prepared the posts this time round, haha. Lots of reviews of lovely craft books coming your way, folks :)

First up: Folk Art Needlecraft by Clare Youngs.

Clare's book Scandinavian Needlecraft is a huge favourite of mine so I was really excited to see this new book.

The book includes 35 projects, arranged by theme (although not divided into chapters with a chapter heading, etc, the projects just follow on one from another which briefly confused me), each with clear step-by-step illustrations.

Bags and Purses, which includes a zipped purse, a picnic bag and a travel sewing kit:

For Children, which includes dolls, embroidered pictures, booties and softies:

Pillows and Throws, which includes a chair pad, a picnic throw, a tied quilt and some pillows:

For the Home, which includes a tablecloth, a letter rack, a set if coasters and a pot holder:

And Gifts and Accessories, which includes a teacup pincushion, a lavender bag, some covered buttons and a notebook cover:

Some of the projects involve relatively simple motifs...

... and others are much more detailed and intricate:

It's a shame the full pattern for this hedgehog isn't included in the book - instead there are just straight lines for the spines and you're encouraged to experiment with different shapes and stitches, but I think it looks lovely as it is!

Each project includes a bit of info about the motif being used (what part of the world it's from or its meaning in folk art) which I think would be a really useful starting point if you found a particular style you really loved in this book and wanted to find out more about it. There's also a short guide at the back of the book that covers all the techniques and hand stitches you'll need to complete the projects.

You need a sewing machine to make most of the items in the book but if - like me - you prefer hand stitching, you could just use the projects as inspiration and embroider the motifs onto ready made items or in embroidery hoops, etc. Some of the templates and motifs are included at full size, but many need enlarging.

I have to admit that I am not quite as in love with some of the folk art motifs used in this book as I was with the ones in the earlier book, but this is still a lovely book with some really gorgeous projects.

There are some Scandinavian folk motifs included (along with the designs from Eastern Europe, Spain, India, Peru, Japan, etc) and I think the Scandi style (while wonderful) is so popular that you see it popping up all over the place... it's nice to see something a bit different!

Folk Art Needlecraft is published by CICO Books. RRP £12.99. It's available from Amazon UK, Amazon USA and many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: CICO Books sent me a free review copy of this book. They also publish my books, but you guys know I am always honest in my reviews! The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

My Projects from So Pretty! Felt

2013-05-06T09:03:00.000+01:00

As I mentioned yesterday, today I get to show off the projects I made for So Pretty! Felt, a lovely new felt craft book that was published this spring. Hurrah!

(Oh, and hello to anyone visiting my blog as part of the So Pretty! Felt blog tour! If you're a fan of all things felt-y, do check out my free craft tutorials).

So, the lovely Amy Palanjian got in touch a couple of years ago asking if I'd like to contribute to a felt-themed book she was working on for Chronicle Books and I said YES PLEASE (I have such a crush on Chronicle's range of arty, crafty books). I made my projects that summer, blogging about some of the threads I was using since I couldn't reveal what I was using them for...

... and then this spring I got sent my contributor copy of the book and there was much oohing because Oh My Goodness this book is SUPER nice, you guys!

It's a hardback book (about 9 inches high) ...

... containing 24 felt-y projects - two each from 12 crafty women who work with felt.

Each designer/maker/crafter is introduced with a spread with their name, location (mine is a bit out of date as I actually now live near London, not in Gloucester, but never mind!), a page of text about how they got into felt crafting & what they love about working with felt plus links to their websites or Etsy shops so you can check out more of their designs.

You can see a full list of the contributors here - I'm thrilled to find myself in such great company!

Here are a couple of "work in progress" snaps I took when working on my projects...

... wanna see the finished designs in the book?

First up, there's a Mosaic Pincushion...

... and second, there's a Dragonfly Pennant with lots of lovely sparkly details:

They were both so much fun to make! And aren't the styled photos lovely?

Even the chapter headings are super pretty, with sweet felt lettering designed by Julia Rothman.

Another nice touch is the final chapter, "How to Find Inspiration". I did a little happy dance when I saw that Amy had mentioned my blog in her list of "favourite craft blogs" and my book in the list of "trusted felt books" (she kindly listed my felt shop in the suppliers list too but, alas, I've had to stop selling felt squares this spring).

So Pretty! Felt is available from Amazon UK and Amazon USA, direct from Chronicle Books or from lots of other bookshops.

Want to follow along with the rest of the blog tour? Here's the full schedule:

Monday, May 6 – Whip Up & Bugs and Fishes

Tuesday, May 7 – Mom Inc. Daily & Studio DIY

Wednesday, May 9 – Coquette & Studs and Pearls

Thursday, May 9 – The Sweetest Occasion & Ambrosia Creative

Friday, May 10 – West Coast Crafty & One More Mushroom

Saturday, May 11 – Mod Podge Rocks

Monday, May 13 – Handmade Charlotte & Fabric Paper Glue

Tuesday, May 14 – MINT & A Spoonful of Sugar

Wednesday, May 15 – Positively Splendid & Hart and Sew

Thursday, May 16 – Rouge and Whimsy & So You Think You're Crafty

Friday, May 17 – Aesthetic Nest & Dollar Store Crafts

(P.S. The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links)

So Pretty! Felt - Blog Tour

2013-05-05T08:38:00.001+01:00

Remember I mentioned a while ago that there was a new felt craft book out called So Pretty! Felt... and that it included a couple of projects designed by me?

Well, tomorrow is the start of the blog tour celebrating the launch of So Pretty! Felt.... so I get to show you guys my projects! Yay!

Here's the full schedule for the blog tour - if you follow the links for each day over the next couple of weeks you'll get lots of sneak peeks at the projects included in the book and I think there are going to be some giveaways and tutorials too :)

Monday, May 6 – Whip Up & Bugs and Fishes

Tuesday, May 7 – Mom Inc. Daily & Studio DIY

Wednesday, May 9 – Coquette & Studs and Pearls

Thursday, May 9 – The Sweetest Occasion & Ambrosia Creative

Friday, May 10 – West Coast Crafty & One More Mushroom

Saturday, May 11 – Mod Podge Rocks

Monday, May 13 – Handmade Charlotte & Fabric Paper Glue

Tuesday, May 14 – MINT & A Spoonful of Sugar

Wednesday, May 15 – Positively Splendid & Hart and Sew

Thursday, May 16 – Rouge and Whimsy & So You Think You're Crafty

Friday, May 17 – Aesthetic Nest & Dollar Store Crafts

Making Stuff & Making a Mess

2013-05-04T09:17:00.000+01:00

It's amazing just how quickly my studio space can go from "super neat and tidy with everything put away" to "looking like a crafty bomb went off with piles of stuff everywhere".

This usually happens when I'm brainstorming some new ideas, as I go rummaging through lots of boxes of supplies looking for the perfect material and try to get half a dozen different ideas out of my brain and onto paper / into prototype form all at once. I love making sessions like this: so much creativity and crafty fun!

Tidying up afterwards = less fun, but never mind :)

Luckily I have a dedicated studio space at the moment so I can leave the desk, coffee tables, sofa and floor covered in heaps of crafty stuff, shut the door on it and come back and tidy up later! After years of working from the kitchen table or in the living room in my old flat it is a delicious luxury to be able to really throw myself into making things / working on new designs and not have to worry about tidying up straight away.

Lots of Blue, White and Grey Squares

2013-05-03T17:08:00.001+01:00

Remember a few months ago I blogged about the big pile of yarn I had leftover from making my sky blanket?

Well, after many relaxing hours of knitting most of that yarn has now become blanket squares - I've got about two and a half balls of yarn left to go and, so far, have knitted about 60 squares.

I have had so many nasty bugs this year that I've had an awful lot of afternoons and evenings where I've not been up to much except curling up on the sofa and watching some DVDs. Knitting these squares has been the perfect simple project to entertain my sleepy brain (I have to be either really ill or watching something really amazingly gripping to not feel the itch to make stuff while watching TV) ... and it's wonderful to have produced this big heap of squares during time that otherwise would have been "wasted".

It's funny though that I've almost finished knitting squares from the leftover yarn from my sky blanket before I've finished sewing together my sky blanket itself! It's just so much easier to just pick up a ball of yarn and knit a few rows than it is to get out my (by now quite large and heavy) sky blanket and all the squares and the chart showing me what goes where and to spread it all out and carefully sew on some squares in their correct order. Ah, excuses, excuses. I Must Try Harder and actually get it finished!

Starting and Finishing

2013-05-02T14:44:00.001+01:00

This week I've been doing lots of work involving piles of paper and pencils.

Starting a possible new project by sketching designs for project proposals (fingers crossed some of them get accepted!)...

... and finishing up the work on my new book. Working through the proofs to check all the text is correct = a pretty boring job, but it's great to see how the finished book is going to look. Roll on the autumn! :)

10 Craft Books I'm Excited About

2013-04-29T11:25:00.001+01:00

My "craft books I want to buy" wish list is starting to get quite long as there are some AWESOME-looking craft books coming out this year.

Some of these titles have just been published or are due out in the UK very soon but most of them are due out in the late summer or autumn which luckily gives me lots of time to save up my pennies!

Stitched Blooms: 300 Floral, Leaf & Border Motifs to Embroider by Carina Envoldsen-Harris of Polka & Bloom. I am really looking forward to this book coming out as I adore Carina's embroidery designs and her use of colour.

Stitched in Scandinavia: 39 Contemporary Embroidery Projects by Karin Holmberg (spotted via Carina's Flickr photostream). I do like a nice bit of Scandinavian stitching and this book looks particularly lovely!

Woodland Knits: 20 Enchanting Projects to Make and Share by Stephanie Dosen of Tiny Owl Knits. Stephanie's designs are always super adorable and my wardrobe definitely needs some more forest-y themed things in it.

Sew and Stitch Embroidery: 20+ Simple Sewing Projects With 30+ Fresh Embroidery Designs by Alyssa Thomas of Penguin and Fish. I think I am going to die from the cuteness in this book, but in a good way. Just look at that fox! Serious cuteness.

Hoop-La!: 100 things to do with embroidery hoops by Kirsty Neale of Ginger & George. This is such a fun idea! I can't wait to see all the creative projects Kirsty has dreamed up for this book.

Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction by Abigail Patner Glassenberg of While She Naps. Abby's blog is always such a great read, she comes across as a lady who really knows her stuff. I'm excited about the new designs I might be able to create with this book in my library!

Felt Fantastic: Over 25 brilliant things to make with wool felt by Sarah Tremelling of Blooming Felt. Sarah and I have joked that our felt-y craft books will be doing battle when they're published this autumn, haha! I am so looking forward to seeing the projects she's designed from all the gorgeous supplies she sells in her shop.

1, 2, 3 Quilt: Shape Up Your Skills with 24 Stylish Projects by Ellen Luckett Baker of The Long Thread. This is another book with a lovely looking cover, and my quilting skills could definitely use some shaping up!

Quilting Happiness: Projects, Inspiration, and Ideas to Make Quilting More Joyful by Diane Gilleland of Craftypod and Christina Lane of The Sometimes Crafter. I am very intrigued by the "making quilting more joyful" concept of this book, it looks like it'll be quite different to more "standard" quilting books with set instructions to follow. I'm really looking forward to reading it and (hopefully) using it to inspire lots of creative projects.

And last but by no means least, Quilt Improv: Incredible quilts from everyday inspirations by Lucie Summers of Summersville. I'm a big fan of Lu's fabric designs, her quilts are always seriously swoonworthy and judging from the cover artwork the projects in this book all look pretty fantastic. A definite Must Buy for me!

Have you spotted any exciting new craft books lately? Please do share them in the comments :)

(PS just to let you know, the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links so if you buy a book through one of them I get a teeny percentage for the referral)

Website Tinkering

2013-04-28T16:22:00.000+01:00

I've done a bit of tinkering with my website, blog and shops today, which is one of those jobs which is a) super boring and b) always takes longer than you think it will because you keep spotting more things you need or want to change!

The main job on my list was re-arranging the categories in my shop, as I've decided to group my products thematically - e.g. with all my flower designs together in one section instead of being divided into "brooches" and "headbands" and so on.

This was a pretty speedy job by itself, but couldn't be done until I had the time to update all the pages on my website and the static pages on my blog which linked to the old categories... and all that took rather a long time! I expect there are a few old links still floating about but, fingers crossed, I think I've got most of the important ones (do give me a shout if you notice any broken links I've missed!).

I've also updated a few other pages on my website which, to be honest, has been a bit neglected since I moved my shop over to Big Cartel. And since I'm promoting my Big Cartel shop more than my Etsy shop these days I've moved a whole bunch of "end of line" clearance items out of my Etsy shop and into my BC shop's sale section so you can pick up a bargain handmade something at the same time as shopping for a destashed craft supply or two.

And now I've got all these boring-but-useful things ticked off my to do list I can turn off my laptop and go do some creative stuff, hurrah!

Cherry Blossoms: Finished

2013-04-27T12:48:00.002+01:00

Ah, there's nothing quite like finishing a big pile of sewing! Such a lovely feeling of accomplishment.

Lots and lots of little stitches went into these cherry blossoms:

There are some pink cherry blossom trio brooches (already available in my shop, here), some white and peach brooches... and some cherry blossom headbands in both and pink and white/peach colourways. I made a few of the pink headbands last year, but with pale pink ribbons which I wasn't 100% happy with. I decided to switch to brown ribbons instead (to match the felt the blossoms are sewn onto) and I'm very pleased with how they've turned out.

Hopefully I'll get some time this week to take some product photos and get all these goodies added to my shop. I'll be sure to let you guys know when they've been listed!

Super-Cute Felt Animals... coming soon (ish!)

2013-04-25T18:24:00.002+01:00

Crikey, this has been a busy week! How is it Thursday evening already? How??

I've been working on a whole bunch of new projects (always fun) and slowly getting caught up with a gazillion and one little jobs that have stacked up while I've been unwell this spring - mostly boring stuff like admin and tidying up my studio, but it feels great to be finally getting it all ticked off my giant to do list.

And - rather excitingly - I've been looking through the layouts for my new book, Super-Cute Felt Animals, double-checking all the text and other details, generally making sure everything is how it should be.

I finished designing & making all the projects and writing all the text a few months ago, sent everything off to my publisher, and now magically (well, thanks to the hard work of the awesome team of people working on it) it's turning into a real book! Eep!

It is seriously thrilling that some stuff from inside my head has turned into this thing which will be in bookshops and on peoples shelves and (hopefully) inspiring lots of people to make lots of fun felt-y things.

It has been so awesome seeing photos of the things people have been making from my first book, Super-Cute Felt, and reading all the kind reviews (thanks to everyone who has written one on Amazon or elsewhere! it is much appreciated xx)... It's wonderful to be going through this process for a second time and I have my fingers tightly crossed that you guys will love the new book as much as I do!

The new book is due to be published this autumn, so it'll be a while before I can tell you any more about it... but I can show you the draft cover (which you may have spotted on Amazon already), which gives you a little peek at some of the projects:

Super-Cute Felt Animals will be published this September by CICO Books and is available for pre-order on Amazon UK and Amazon USA.

Working on New Things

2013-04-22T13:56:00.001+01:00

I got lots of rest this weekend but I was also super busy. How does that work, you ask?

Well, I spent most of the weekend sitting on the sofa watching DVDs... but with a pencil and pile of paper in my hands and boxes of felt at my feet as I had a whole bunch of design proposals to get sorted ready for a couple of looming deadlines. There was lots of sketching and scribbling and thinking and rummaging in my felt stash for the perfect shade of felt!

I can't show you what I was working on, but I can show you the lovely colourful heap of felt I had leftover by the end of the weekend:

Mmm... so much delicious colour.

In other felt-y news, I've reduced the price of my remaining stock of felt squares. You can find them HERE.

Signed Copies of Super-Cute Felt, now back in stock

2013-04-21T13:09:00.000+01:00

I sold out of copies of my first book, Super-Cute Felt, a few months ago and thanks to being busy with other things (including working on my new book, which is due to be published this autumn! Yay!) I have totally failed to get round to ordering some more... until now.

So, if you fancy a signed copy of my book you can buy one from my main shop or my Etsy shop.

If you want it dedicated to you, or to a friend if you're giving it as a gift just let me know the name you'd like me to use / if it's for a special occasion etc :)

Six Years of Craftiness, in a Book!

2013-04-19T09:31:00.000+01:00

When I was making up some books of press clippings earlier this year it got me thinking about other things related to my business that I'd like to archive or document somehow. I've got all my files and photos backed up, of course, and I back up my blog at irregular intervals too... but there's nothing quite like having a scrapbook or album to flick through, is there?

After a bit of research, I decided to try making a photo book. I'd heard good things about the books from Blurb and decided that getting a book printed would probably work out being a lot cheaper and a lot less hassle than going down the DIY scrapbook route (my printer drives me nuts! and the ink costs a blooming fortune!). I thought I'd chat a bit about how I put the book together in case any of you lovely folks are thinking of doing something similar.

Though I'm sure I may have written some interesting (?) things on my blog over the years, apart from my tutorials (which I'm thinking about making up into a separate booklet of some kind - a project for another day!) I realised that I was only really interested in collecting all the photos I've taken over the years. And I decided to stick to crafty photos only (leaving out the more personal home and life-related pics from my blog) as though there's room for personal stuff on my blog I didn't think photos of my old flat, etc, would sit well with the more business-y things like product photos... and now I'm single I have a lot less desire to look at photos of where I used to live :)

Blurb have an easy to use bit of software which you download and then use to create your book. It includes lots of ready-made templates for you to use, with spaces for adding text and/or images, but you can also create custom page layouts which was what I wanted. I made a custom layout with spaces for four square photos on each page, and then I used Pixlr to create collages from my photos and put one collage in each space to create pages jam-packed with images.

Using collages like this was great because the problem with getting photos printed is that you have to have good quality large images or else they won't print well... and though I have some hi res images a large chunk of my photos are really rather small. I take a lot of quick snaps because when they're just going to be used in a blog post or a shop listing, so why bother with a large image size? And I also lost several months worth of original files due to a computer-related disaster a few years ago so there are a whole bunch of pics where the small version I uploaded to my blog is the only one I've got. But you don't need large images to make collages, hurrah! Problem solved.

Your photos also don't have to be perfect, or totally fascinating when they're in a collage... so I could include photos of lots of the "everyday" bits and pieces that make up my crafty life (like photos of posting supplies) as well as my more "pretty" photos and I could include lots and lots of pics on a page... so a) I could fit in more photos, b) this would make it much easier to choose the pics I wanted to include as there was room for so many of them, c) I could fit "everything" in without having to spend loads of money on a whole stack of books and d) hopefully the finished result would be really visually interesting and, well, just fun to look at.

But enough of this waffling - on to some photos of the finished book! :)

I chose the hardback option, with a dust jacket and just picked a few of my favourite higher res images for the front cover and the back...

... the book is a large square (12 x 12 inches / 30 x 30 cms) so a nice coffee-table book size.

Then inside I've got 43 pages of photos, in roughly chronological order from 2007 through until the end of 2012. I chose a slightly glossy paper which looks really nice (but does make it a bit tricky to photograph!)

I was a bit worried about how my photos would print out but - apart from a few pics which I knew would be a bit dark or blurry - they all came out pretty crisp and lovely and bright.

I tried to group similar types of photos together when I was making the collages, so some of the spreads are very busy with work-in-progress pictures and lots of colourful supplies...

... and others are more product-shot heavy with more white space...

... while others are full of tutorials, or my personal crafting projects like all the knitting I did last year. I like how the different pages look and breaking the pictures up into categories helped make the collage-making and the book-layout-planning go much more smoothly than it otherwise might have.

Overall I am thrilled with how it turned out. It was definitely worth the money and the time spent sorting and arranging all the photos. And luckily Blurb do lots of smaller book sizes too so I won't have to wait another six years before putting together a second book!

P.S. Sorry if this post has popped up in your inbox or blog feed twice - I hit the wrong button (oops).

An Exciting Parcel

2013-04-18T14:42:00.001+01:00

Remember those mosaics I was making of my old crafting photos? Well, I finally finished putting them together and ordered my photobook and it arrived today:

I'm really pleased with how it turned out & I can't wait to show you guys some more snaps tomorrow :)

Much less excitingly, I've also finally finished working out the new postage rates for my shops and updating all my listings to reflect the Royal Mail's new prices. Goodness, what a chore! It feels great to have it ticked off my to do list though (phew!).

Book Review: Sew Over It

2013-04-17T09:36:00.000+01:00

First up in my "hurrah for sewing!" mini-series of reviews: Sew Over It: Sew it, Wear it, Make it by Lisa Comfort which I totally meant to review last year and then got too busy and forgot (oops).

I have to admit to having never heard of Lisa Comfort or her sewing cafe "Sew Over It" when I got sent this book to review last year, and then she popped up on Kirstie's Vintage Home a few weeks later which was nice!

Sew Over It is a smallish hardback, about 9 or 10 inches high and about 160 pages long. It's very pretty book with a retro, vintage-y feel to it. Each of the chapter headings features a double page fabric print...

... there are nice little touches like a button or a pin next to the page numbers at the bottom of the pages (depending which chapter they're in), and the end papers feature a lovely paper-sewing-pattern design:

There are also lots of pics of Lisa wearing snazzy vintage outfits and shopping for lovely supplies (these are all very nice photos but to be totally honest they do feel a little like padding at times).

The book starts out with an introduction to Lisa and how she started Sew Over It...

... then there's a short introductory guide to basic skills like threading a needle, simple hand stitches and using your sewing machine.

The rest of the book is made up of simple projects, with an emphasis on beginner- or learner-friendly ideas and skills to help you gain confidence in customising, adapting and updating your wardrobe.

There's a chapter on "Customising Clothes", which includes ideas like swapping plain buttons for pretty fabric-covered ones, and tips on embellishing clothes with sequins, motifs, beads, buttons, ribbons and strips of fabric.

All the project ideas are explained with step by step instructions and clear photos.

Then there's the chapter which I think I'll personally find the most useful: "Altering Clothes". This chapter is perfectly designed for someone like me who loves to buy vintage and other second-hand clothes but doesn't have the confidence to alter my finds help them fit me better. The chapter includes are some vintage shopping tips and guides to useful things like turning up a hem, shaping side seams, elasticating a waist, and changing sleeves.

The next chapter is "Making Accessories" with some quick projects like making a vintage scarf necklace, sewing a simple headband, or decorating a tote bag with appliqued shapes. These are the sort of projects you could sew in an afternoon or make at a fun crafty evening with friends.

The final chapter - "Challenging Yourself" - features a guide to measuring yourself, and instructions for making a tote bag with plaited straps and three styles of skirt including this Sex & The City inspired tulle skirt.

If, like me, you fancy a wardrobe full of handmade clothes but find the sort of "proper" dressmaking featured on The Great British Sewing Bee a little bit intimidating, I think the ideas for customising and adapting clothes included in Sew Over It are a great solution.

It's probably also a lot cheaper to buy a dress from your local charity shop and customise it than it would be to buy metres of quality fabric, etc, making this a great book for students or anyone else on a budget. If time machines are invented tomorrow, I am totally sending a copy of this book back in time to myself when I was a student - there were so many great frocks I left on the rails of Bristol's charity shops with deep sighs because they needed a bit of altering to suit me!

Sew Over It is published by Ebury Press. RRP £15.00. It's available from Amazon UK and selection of sellers on Amazon USA.

[Disclaimer: Ebury Press sent me a free review copy of this book, & the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

Hurrah for Sewing!

2013-04-16T15:14:00.000+01:00

Have you guys been watching The Great British Sewing Bee?

I wasn't sure how well sewing stuff like A-line skirts was going to translate into a TV show but actually I've been really enjoying it!

I don't think it 100% works - for example, I think the slightly rushed "how to make a cushion" segments fall rather flat & don't seem at all connected to the dressmaking theme of the rest of the show and the crazy time pressure of the tasks doesn't exactly convey the joys of leisurely Sunday afternoons spent lost in a crafty project. But the contestants passion for sewing really comes across (I especially love the segments that give you a peek at their personal creative style) and I hope there are lots of people watching at home who are being inspired to rediscover the delights of sewing, or to try it out for the first time.

Watching the contestants struggle to follow the men's trouser pattern in last week's show, I also thought what a great example the show is of how you should get expert advice when tackling new sewing skills: either taking a sewing class or buying a quality sewing book with clear step-by-step instructions and diagrams to guide you through the projects.

So I've been inspired to dig out a few sewing-themed books from my "to review" pile and, er, review them for you!

Some of these are vaguely dressmaking related, and some are not remotely - they are just lovely books about sewing. Either way, I hope you'll enjoy the reviews and maybe find something new to add to your wish list. The first review will be popping up on my blog tomorrow & the rest will follow over the next week or so.