Well this is only half the story… the bottom half in fact! One of my recent shopping adventures produced this fun fabric in very dark grey with fun stylized houses printed all over it. I knew I wanted to use it for something a little unusual, but just needed to think about it for a…
Thought I would take a break from the glue gun and the sewing machine, and put to rights a few images I had waiting for some digital darkrooming. I think it was last year (or maybe earlier) that I built up quite a collection of my photographs of flowers which got used for various things,…
Every now and again I make an assault on my collection of books in an effort to organize them a bit better. Don’t usually have much success as books are one of my great weaknesses and Amazon frequently drops a few more onto the doormat – vicious circle really. But this one caught my attention…
Just added a new frilly scarf to the collection. The yarn for this one is a little different, though still with that lovely lacy effect, this one also has minute pompoms along the edging in a coordinating colour. Nice combination here of a dark mauve with the pompoms in a light grey/mauve. Very tempted to…
Been getting myself tangled in Celtic knots to produce this attractive upcycled knotted brooch, created using industrially upcycled fashion fabric yarn. Set on a felt backing with metal closure, I added some hand beading with glass Rocaille beads. For the time being this is the only colour available – a lovely brick tan with black…
Remember the post I put up about checking out the dustbins some while back? I mentioned some salvaging I had done – or rather – my husband had done on my behalf – of display items which had been thrown out by a local store – they never actually went in the garbage by the…
Just finished the first of several of these bags which I plan to make. Pleased with the result, and as usual, I love the colours! I like to make things which I use/would use myself, so inevitably I end up using mainly my own favourite colours. I’ll be trying out other colourways at some stage.
Inspiration in progress – what say this should become??? Experimented with some washing machine felting yesterday and this is the resulting piece. I was pleasantly surprised to see how soft the felted piece remained. As you can see, first of all I had to knit it up and then give it a fairly energetic whirl…
Just adore this new yarn I have used for this touch of glam on a cold day – a frilly scarf to brighten up even the plainest coat or jacket and bring out the feminine in you! Pretty, frilly and surprisingly warm in spite of its airy appearance. Love these colours too! I think there…
If anyone is interested, I have just added a pompom tutorial – I have set it all up in a downloadable pdf file for you – free for the taking, and have fun with the pompoms – they are always such a cheerful addition to scarves and hats and sweaters for both children and adults…
Following unexpected requests, I have now added a couple more specs’ keepers to the collection. The one you see in the image is made with old gold silver lined Rocaille glass beeds and has an amber colour glass bead at each end of the thread and gold findings. The other one is a lovely midnight…
Experimented with one of these sewing pouches yesterday, and I know I shouldn’t be the one to say it, but I will anyway – I love it! Shades of grey and red are high on my list of favourite colours anyway, so this combination of grey felt and red ribbon and buttons is a winner!The…
Might seem a little bold and osé, but give careful consideration to a thorough rummage through the dustbins of your local clothing (and not only) chain stores. It is common practice for them to change the store display quite frequently, and most of the old display will end up in the dustbins. It goes without…
Been wanting to make some of these little guys for ages, but I was finding it hard to get hold of the felt colour I wanted. At long last my suppliers came up with the goods and I was able to ‘bake’ half a dozen. I also decided to set up a little kit for…
I do mixed media work using upcycled newspapers with my lino cuts and here you can see the base sheets hanging outside my window to dry. When there is a breeze up I keep my fingers tightly crossed that they don’t all end up in the canal directly beneath the window!! When these sheets dry,…
I may have mentioned that for a number of reasons we have been downscaling our home. One reason was the need (albeit theoretical) to pack our 30 years of marriage into a barge. A more immediate reason has been my daughter’s 99% move away from home. By my calculation, the remaining 1% can be put…
This most divine book dropped onto my doorstep yesterday and has me drooling. I have mentioned that recently I fell in love with felt, but if I thought that was love, I just hadn’t been prepared for this new surge of passion that this book has brought through the door. If anyone is interested, I…
JesS and I have been doing quite a few things, though she tends to limit herself to flashes of inspiration for earrings. I’m the one who pulls out the sewing machine, and this is what I was up to last month… I call them travel buddies to take along with you during your short breaks…
is what I said. There are all sorts of occasions for wanting to take a cup of hot tea or cocoa to someone outside – maybe it’s for the lads working under the car bonnet – or for the gang around the bonfire letting off fireworks – or even for the snowball fights when there’s…
Tough going for the felt hearts I am sewing right now. Not quite a drill job, but I do have a pair of pliers to hand to pull the needle through at almost every stitch! The problem is probably down to the fact that I am having to use a hefty cotton and a needle…
So I have moved one step further with my note book production and have done some larger ones (21.50 x 15.00 cms), still using the gorgeous designer papers. These are all one-of-a-kind, with both back and front covers in super paper, with a block of 40 coloured sheets (80 sides) inside, bound with spirals. I…
Been doing these little note block holders. I have a feeling that with the current economic crisis people are going to be looking more for useful gifts rather than ornamental ones, so this is my answer to that need: a little covered cardboard note block holder with closeable flap and linen covered ‘hinges’. When the…
Greetings with a difference and they don’t come much more different than this one! Your seasonal wishes will certainly stand out with this cute (ouch!) washing line full of Santa’s smalls – and larges too! These will be custom made as and when they are requested, but that shouldn’t affect the delivery times so within…
Well it’s just about that time again, and we are getting ourselves ready for the Craft Market to be held in Via Garibaldi here in Venice at the end of this month. We have a fairly good stock of bits and pieces, but were surprised at the last market by just how many earrings went,…
Probably a slight exagerration as far as titles go as I really am just dipping my feet back in here to let friends know that I’m still alive and kicking! So briefly, arty stuff has been keeping me incredibly busy for the past 3 or so months…you can see some of what I have been…
I know that I am not alone in my desire to recycle/upcycle etc. as much as possible. In and around the home we have become pretty nifty at finding acceptable alternatives to substitute a lot of our less eco-friendly cleaning agents and so on – one of my favourites is my spray bottle filled with…
Taking a look around the various crafters’ (and not only) blogs, I see that one of the biggest problems a lot of us face is the storage. I am no different – having a small home with no built in storage such as cupboards and so on, I have had to invent ways to store…
Just in the process of doing some more Christmas cards and have used some of my lovely pure cotton prints for die-cut baubles. These cottons are all gorgeous Tyrolean type micro-patterns which I manage to pick up locally. Just love them. They bring to mind mountain chalets and big log fires – maybe even a…
So here is my wallet card. Now I have to find some stuff suitable for card making to tuck inside the two pockets on the front before swapping this with some good soul in the challenge group!! This handmade paper is very attractive, but not very easy to work with when you need precision cuts….
Well if ever rain stopped play, I can say with confidence that is exactly what happened today to put a stop to our last craft market of the year. Gale force winds, lashing rain and a particularly bad bout of high water just put us out of the game! Even if there had been no…
