Summer Outdoor Fun... Continued!

Okay, so I never said there would be a continuation of my previous blog post but it has been so amazing out at the front of our wee cottage since we knocked down the old vestibule/porch. We kept putting it off for so long thinking about what to replace it with when BAM... It hit us! (Well, hubby really though he claims it was my idea.) WHY REPLACE IT AT ALL?

Mind = blown. 

Moving on! We have basically now got a vintage-styled cottage garden at the front and are still reaping the benefits of having spent so much time on the back garden... Literally the best of both worlds! :) happy! 

Soooo, it hit me earlier that the back is the result of hard work and money, with a few exceptions on both counts. The front, however, is recycled, upcycled, thrifted, handmade JOY! And it's the most peaceful place ever to sit, too.

This blogpost will focus more in the individual decorative elements we made rather than the whole effect. We're still working on that! :) 

Here are some bottles I had collected. I love the Buddha ones as they were green (brand: lucky beer) but I really wanted them matt or shiny so the detail stood out. Cue a trip to halfords and the purchase of purple and oyster champagne spray paint. (We already had the silver.)

Next up was an old footstool I had in the spare room and we hadn't used for a while. It's got the perfect cushion cover to stencil or paint onto as it's a really thick and usefully neutral material. I used bright red fabric paint (just had a tiny jar, didn't need much!) and pritt-sticked the matryoshka stencils I bought in hobbycraft. The pritt stick is ok on fabric but you'll need to go slow and dab the paint while holding it a bit taut, rather than crazy brushing. 

Excuse the finger on the middle photo! :) 

Also, but massively not lastly, hubby made a table in a morning. Seriously, literally from 9.30 am until it was finished at 1! He had spare wood in the garage (insert own double entendre here...) and set about it. Needless to say his new table saw played a part in the construction. Happy hubby! :)

Hearty Birthday!

It was my lovely friend's birthday recently so I made her a wee trinket with love. I had a blank wooden heart shape and covered it with two coats of chalkboard paint. I got my paint in Hobbycraft but am sure other retailers will stock it too. (I like to support local craft shops too. Use them or lose them, I say!). Link to the particular stuff I used here: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/decoart-americana-chalkboard-paint-59-ml/563790-1001 

I then halved a piece of chalk and stuck a small bit of paper round it to pretty it up. I stuck 

on the large flower with a sticky dot as it came on one and the two smaller ones I used 

tacky glue on. It's fairly sturdy so they won't fall off! I never got a photo of the ribbon I used

 but it's beautiful candy-striped chevron stuff I got free with Mollie Makes. gorge!

(The heart behind it I used washi tape on to create the stripes then painted various shades 

of coral and grey and added the wee acrylic flowers.)

Yee-ha!

Finally! I can finally post these pics! This is the make-up roll that I was making for my sister. It only took me a couple of hours one Sunday and I finished off the closing stitches during the week. I wanted to wait until I posted it to her so she wouldn't see the secret bits I added!

The pattern was from an edition of Craft Seller from a couple of summers ago. I simplified it as it was made from almost patchwork style bits and I wanted a solid  print. 

Quite simply,

- cut two pieces of fabric to 21 x 30 cm. these will be the outside and inside of the roll.

- cut another piece of fabric to 16 x 30 cm. this will be the pocket.

- iron interfacing to the back of all three pieces of fabric. This gives your work structure and stiffness. You might prefer a looser roll so feel free to skip the interfacing on the two larger pieces BUT do still interface the pocket fabric as it will make it more hard-wearing and professional looking.

- take the pocket material and fold over half a centimetre and the top long edge, then fold it over again. Iron the fold to smooth it down the run a quick straight stitch along it on the sewing machine.

- Put the pocket material wrong side down on the right side of the inner fabric piece, pin together and sew vertical lines starting at 1 inch from the left. Carry on sewing along 1 inch intervals to create the brush pockets. You will have a wider gap for the last pocket but this was intentional as my sis wanted to make sure she could fit her big blusher brush in!

- Pin the outer piece and the now-joined inner piece and pocket right sides together, pin and sew a straight stitch seam about 1 cm from the edge. Remember to leave a gap to turn right side out.

I added a ribbon in before I machine-stitched the piece. I simply got a length of ribbon - up to you what length - and pinned it into the seam with the ribbon being tucked out of the way inside.

- iron, turn out using a chopstick if needed to push corners out neatly. Before I turned mine out, I chopped the corners off diagonally to try and get sharper corners.

- add button or any other embellishments, hand-stitch opening closed, roll et voila! :)

Sis had picked the fabric from my stash. It's Cath Kidston Cowboy fabric and it's quite thick. She then chose red polkadot for the pockets and I added the handmade fabric button and swallow ribbon. The ribbon was free with Cloth magazine and you might remember I added it to a hat I bought a few weeks ago. And to the photos...

Pinned Down!

Happy Friiiiday, everyone! Yes, it deserves all those extra letters in there. It's Friday share time so I thought I'd show a pincushion I have been working on myself from scratch.

I made a template for my wee doll and cut out two pieces of fabric. Before I sewed them wrong sides together, I added in features like a bonnet and waistband as the photos show.

It was a fun project as it really got my brain going and it was genuinely something I needed!

She just needs her wee head hand-stitches once I decide if I want to add a loop for hanging. What do you think?

Card-spiration!

With the beautiful spring weather finally making its long-awaited arrival, it's time to get cracking and crafting! I've been reorganising my craft to-do list to make it easy and accessible and make it work for me. I'll blog about that later but meantime, I had two cards to make and I planned my time thanks to my new system!

The first is a card for a colleague who just had a baby boy. It's a different friend from my previous posts about handmade baby gifts but it sure was a cute coincidence they both had baby boys within a week or so of each other!

The second is an RSVP (as you can see!) to an evening wedding reception. I just wanted to keep it simple.

Both cards feature some lovely craft tape I got in the Pound Shop of all places. I got three rolls for guess how much?! Clue's in the title! ;)

And to the pictures...

Oh Baby!

Squee! Yesterday, my lovely husband and I went to see two friends who have just had a beautiful bouncing baby boy. He's three weeks old now and is just perfect in every way! After all the cuddles and fuss, we gave them their gifts including the little mittens I wrote about in the first blogpost of CCC.

What I hadn't shared yet was the bib I handmade for them too, inspired by an idea in Polly Treffry's Freehand Embroidery book. I decided to go nautical so used a red and white background before I appliqued a blue and white boat complete with little flag. They absolutely loved it and it actually matched the wee outfit he had on that day! Yay!

Another thing we did was take lunch. My friend had told me months ago that in her ante-natal class they said if you have visitors then use them! Ask folk to bring in messages if they are coming in the first few weeks/months. It was no surprise, then, when she asked us to take some lunch round for the visit. Happy to help! We made tomato, carrot and basil soup and big, thick door-step sandwiches with homemade egg mayo. We also made a big batch of tuna pasta mayo and left it with then for evening snacking. I was just so happy to be able to help them and they were glad to have minimal fuss guests so it was a big win for both!

Happy crafting, peeps!

Time for Tea!

Next month, my lovely parents celebrate 40 years of marriage. Wow! I'm so proud of them and their wonderful, inspirational marriage. But how could I show them? Ah ha... Handmade!

I thought really hard about what to make that they could big share and enjoy and since I was practically raised as a tea Jenny, I thought a tea cosy was perfect. Someone had one made for my hubby and me for our wedding last year and we adore it and use it every day.

So here goes... I didn't have a pattern so drew round our tea cosy and cut out two outer pieces, two lining pieces and two bits of batting. I then did some freehand machine embroidery on a heart shape I cut out (embroider before cutting shape or it won't fit in your hoop!).

This weekend I have to sew it all together. I'm thinking of adding another heart on the back with 'since 1973' embroidered on it. Will post more pics as soon as it's done but here is the progress in the meantime...