Jan May

The world currently seems to under siege by them! What is it that's made the marketing gurus suddenly decide that everyone needs an owl in their life? Of course, I love them......... But........yesterday in town, I was amazed that every single shop I went into was selling an owl of some shape, size or form. Clothing, blankets, mugs, bags, purses - you name it, it will have been owl-ized! My daughter fell in love with some stuffed owls, which were pretty but cheap-labour produced in Thailand and being sold at an extortionate price. (as were most things) So.......... Guess what I was up to last night? It's a no-brainer really! A little bit wonky, but not bad for a first owly attempt. I cut a leg off a pair of old jeans for the body, and attacked the scrap bag for the rest. I didn't cut or pin anything, simply laid scraps on top - marked sewing line with air erasable marker and then machined around with a tiny zig zag stitch.... cutting away the excess with a...

Hoorah!  I've finished something this week........... honestly I'm so slow at making things.  Actually that's come out sounding wrong.  I'm not so slow at the making, rather than being pathetic at sitting down to concentrate to start with.  Once in my sewing chair, I can whizz through an item in no time. So many diversions.  Twitter - you have a lot to answer for! Here we are anyway...... let me introduce my ever-popular "Sophie" bag in her new Winter guise.  This version is in a beautifully soft 100% wool plaid in a bright zingy cerise/forest green/deep grey combo.  I fell in love with the fabric as soon as I saw it.  Didn't love the price quite so much - by golly, but wool is expensive!  Couldn't resist it though, I'm a sucker for cerise, and the funky plaid was calling my name.  Didn't realise until I started flicking through some magazines that plaid seems to be "in" this season - I'm not a follower of fashion at all.  (m...

Some time ago I was approached by My Memories and asked if I would review their software on my blog.  At the time I was rather baffled, as although I'm a big photography fan I've never felt the need to do digital scrap booking of any kind.  Still...... the software came free, and I've never been one to turn down the offer of a freebie - so I said "Thank you very much". I forgot all about it for quite a while, until I realised my blog was looking incredibly dull and I was in need of a decent header.  After fiddling about pathetically in Photoshop and Paint for ages to no avail, I suddenly spied the My Memories shortcut on my desktop and clicked on it.  I'm so glad I did.  Without it I would have had to resort to paying someone to make me one!  Sometimes I get so annoyed with myself......... (I'm artistic and have plenty of ideas, but transferring these through the medium of a computer mouse is frankly pathetic).  Now armed with a good basic supply of...

I've just realised that I've never let you know about the fabulous blog that is "The Graphics Fairy" "The Graphics Fairy" . I was so delighted when I discovered this cornucopia of vintage loveliness.  It's far too lovely to keep to myself.  The blog is run by Karen, and has amassed a huge following (and no wonder).  If you're anything like me and fond of all things vintage, you'll fall instantly in love and add it to your list of blogs to follow straight away. Get ready to lose yourself in all the free to use clip art.  Be warned, you may be in there some time - there's so much to choose from!  I'm including a few snippets below to show you the sort of thing to expect......  Isn't she adorable?  And where is she when I need her?  Such a cheeky little miss! (I'm sure she's thinking something naughty!)  Time to do some printing?  I love, Love, LOVE Mason Jars  Flower Fairy loveliness  Historical a...

a simple heart pattern - two make a lovely little gift bag.  I made this one for an online swap  There's something about crochet that I absolutely adore.  For me it beats knitting hands-down.  I can do both, but I'd much rather be following a crochet pattern.  I suppose the first thing that comes to mind when you mention crochet is a granny-square blanket - surely everyone can remember there being one in the family at some time or other.  The perfect "use-up-your-yarn" project, that can be made with hardly any concentration whilst sitting watching the television.  Oh - but crochet can be so much more! You can achieve so much with just the basic stitches, and it's really easy to pick up.  Once you have grasped single, double and treble crochet - you have all the stitches you need to make a wide variety of items. A basic blanket (I made for the dog basket) - so simple to do If you've always wanted to try crochet, but been baffled by any ...

A darling jumbo button created especially for @Jeeberella from Twitter - after reading a tweety plea for something owly. I had one jumbo button left from my trip to New England last year, and I'm rather pleased with the result.  A pretty candy colour print for the button, the embroidery is done using Perle 12 thread on a piece of calico. 

This morning I have been mostly messing about with some scraps of fabric, and I've made another cute little flower to attach to Phoebe's collar - Simple to make and all sewn by hand - I've used a scrap of fabric taken from a little girl's summer dress for the petals (car boot 50p find).  The centre of the flower is a self-cover button in the same fabric.  The flower is backed with a circle of wool felt stitched securely, and then a little piece of velcro has been added so that it will wrap around Phoebe's collar and hold firmly in place. It looks really pretty, and I only wish my "model" would stay still and pose for a photo.  No hope!  I have managed to catch her sleeping though.  It's such a simple way to give a boring (pink - of course!) collar a bit of bling! Not that Phoebe gives a hoot about her flower, but she certainly has no idea it's there and it doesn't bother her in the slightest.  When we were out yesterday she was we...

This week I was delighted to receive a book to review for the Popular Crafts Magazine.  With the lovely weather we've been having, it seemed totally surreal to be sunbathing whilst reading a book on Christmas crafts from cover to cover.  Whilst the review will be in the December issue of the magazine, I'm told I can share it with you in advance.  This way, I get to show you some lovely photo's of the makes too! After reading this post, why not pop over to the Popular Crafts  website.  It's a great site, with lots of features, a crafting forum and a book club.  It's free to join, plus, if you join the book club where this and many other books are reviewed each month - you get the opportunity to purchase at a specially discounted rate.  Got to be worth a couple of minutes tapping away! Christmas Crafting In No Time by Clare Youngs (Cico Books)  50 step-by-step projects and inspirational ideas. If you would lik...