Yuletide Crafting Revealed

Well, now everyone has received their little piece of festive handmade I can finally blog all about them!

First up, place mats - the red and grey are the ones now in Guernsey with my brother and his girlfriend and the funky house shaped ones are Jo's creation for her ma. Both sets were great fun to make and were very well received by their new owners.

The more we do of this sort of crafting the more efficient we become and the neater our work gets. We're now self styled pros at turning in those awkward seams and solving various problems we come across along the way as we make our way along a new crafting journey.

Next up, pin cushions - super fun and easy to make and they do their job brilliantly. The white is mine that I made ages ago, the yellow is my ma's and the little pink one is Lexi's, my niece. Jo made some too but I didn't get a photo - as usual we were too wrapped up in the making to document it much.

Initials - I used some of mine as labels for when wrapping gifts and others were used as the gifts themselves. Once templates and a few logistical issues were sorted these came together beautifully. With a little bit of ribbon or fabric to form a loop they make lovely additions to the Christmas tree too.

Organisation is the key to all sorts of life's little pleasures so we each made a little peg organiser (Jo's was 'lost socks' while mine was just labelled 'things' as my parent's are so organised that they would rarely consider having lost socks or lost things of any kind for that matter.) Ma's going to use it in her green house for holding seed packets and instructions so I'm sure it will be well used.

Along with all of the above creations we also made chalk boards, animal magnets and various other solo projects for various friends and relations. All in all, a very lovely weekend spent with a very good friend and my first car-boot experience too.

Hope you've all had a lovely festive season. I'll be back in the new year with more bits and bobs. 2013 here we come.

S. x

The Christmas Crafting Begins

With the first fully frosty weekend of the season comes a day of crafting inside and a wintry walk at dusk before hitting the books  (or laptop really) to prepare for work next week. But not before blogging eh!

The quilt has been backed and is now almost complete. All it needs now is to actually be quilted - a long job for the Christmas holidays I think. 

It's fairly minimalist but for a first try I'm pretty happy with it. It's about the right size for a child's bed rather than an adults as the batting is too short but it's pretty nice to wrap up in before the heating comes on of an evening, even before the quilting.

With one project nearly complete and Christmas only just around the corner the pressure is on with the Christmas crafting! Along side several gifts, which will appear here after the season so as not to spoil any surprises, I'm also cracking on with the cards and wrapping paper. I've made my own for a few years now and although it can be quite a task, I do love it. So, here's a sneak peak at some of the cards - 2 batches done already and another 2 or 3 to come to meet the demand.

Happy Christmas crafting all. S

Life's little pleasures

The question of what you would do if you won a large sum of money on the lottery came up in the kitchen at work today as everyone, or almost everyone, dug out £2 to put on tonight's Euro millions. We laughed as everyone 'in it' suggested I'd be one of the few staff members left at school and talk turned to moving abroad, buying big houses and never working ever again. And what about me? What would I do with a few million?

My honest response is that I would change very little. I would buy Tao, my favourite horse at the stables to spare him from a life of riding school misery. I would hopefully buy the house we currently rent and probably give a little money to friends and family, or a lot in my parent's case who have given me far too much over the years. Of course things would change. I wouldn't have to calculate the costs of skiing and riding and purchasing fabrics and craft materials. I could upgrade my equipment and maybe buy a pair of ski boots. I would have savings!

I would not quit work - hard as it can be at times I really do love my job. I would try very hard not to change the person I am now, except of course in a positive way - become more patient, more generous and more tolerant.

The reason for this? I am content. Like everyone else I have good days and bad days but ultimately I feel I have been dealt a bloody good hand and I am grateful for that.

On that note I will leave you with a few photos of mine and Jo's last two-in-a-row crafting sessions.

Glass beads bought from a charity shop for 75p + interesting paper from my stash + Jo's never-before-used glue gun = very funky marble things to be used to make coasters, decorate jars for candles and stick on drawing pins to make them prettier.

Getting ready for Christmas with some very cute stuffed trees - expect these in your gifts people! 

Jo's first mini patchwork...

...and mine.

And the complete works - two patchworks each, a bunch of trees and our first attempt at free embroidery.

Happy crafting and happy life in general lovely people.
S (and J) x

At last...

Almost a month late (as is usual with most gift giving around here, oops!) I have finally delivered my sister's birthday gift. So, I can finally blog about it!

The initial drawings and photos...

...and all stitched and stretched over a canvas.

Now to start on Christmas gifts.
Happy crafting. S

Have-a-go Quilting (with an audience)

Last night I was inspired to start something I've wanted to do for ages, a quilt. For my first quilt it will quite a small one, a lap quilt if you will, just to test it out and see if it's for me. Here's what I've got so far...

All the pieces laid out ready to be stitched into strips

The attentive audience, trying to catch every ray of beautiful sunshine

The pieces are now stitched and laid out. I think white is to stark so will have to go on a hunt for something a little softer before completing but its certainly a start.

Will show the finished project when it happens, need a shopping spree first though.

Happy weekend all. x

My First Foray Into Crochet

I'm pleasantly surprised to find how easy it is to crochet with different stitches, far easier than knitting in my opinion.

So, here it is, or rather they are. My first pair of crocheted slippers!

 Not terribly beautiful but warm and comfy and desperately easy to make (tutorial is here). All I need to do now is remember to count the damn stitches!
Happy crafting S. x

Intimate Sewing with Jobie and Spo...

Sounds... interesting yes? So called due to a shared sewing machine, a short wire and a very squashy sofa that lead to us practically being joined at the hip throughout the whole crafting process! Here's the result of about 6 hours of crafting, chatting, pizza and crap TV...

Little houses - great for using up scraps and sooooo cute! Very simple in principle and easy(ish) to work out without a pattern. I do plan to re-do the top of the roof on mine as it's a bit wonky - too much stuffing? Will have a fiddle.

Next thing on the list, a few cards. Far fewer photos here as we were getting sleepy by this time!

All the goodies and our sign - better writing this time I think.

THANK YOU JO for letting me steal your fabric and your space and time. Looking forward to next month's adventure already :)
Happy crafting, S (and J!) x