Come ON spring...

                                   

This winter seems to be dragging on forever. Motivation and energy have been seriously lacking. The first couple of months of a  new year always feel like a bit of a false start to me.  Christmas is over, the decorations packed away and you're ready for the new year, a new start, new ideas...yay! Then you realise it's still rather cold and dull and dreary and dark, but there is no festive season with it's cheery celebrations to enjoy and chase away the gloom.... Suddenly spring feels like a long way off and the temptation to hibernate  with mugs of hot tea and wedges of chocolate cake takes hold. That said, the first snowdrops are appearing in the garden, and the days are slowly getting longer...so there is hope on the horizon & spring flowers (nearly) in bloom.

Once again this year I have succumbed to moaning and shuffling my way through January, not really getting much done, but I'm determined not to waste February as well. Therefore, in an attempt to focus the mind, I thought a new post featuring some of my latest handcrafted 'makes' might be a good place to start:

First up a gift for a good friend. Another of my zipped pouches, but in a fabric chosen specifically for the Birthday Girl. 

The feature fabric is by textile designer Kate Spain for Moda & as soon as I saw it and it's  peacock feathers-inspired lovliness, I knew it was perfect!

The young daughters of 2 sets of close family friends also celebrated birthdays just recently. It does get difficult to buy gifts when you know they are going to get loads of presents...and we've only just had Christmas. So I decided to make them both name-banner flags to hang in their bedroom/across the end of the bed/along a shelf/on the door/over a window.......

As with many of my gifts for children, I wanted to use fabrics that would last the girls for some years to come and not feel too 'baby-ish'. Hopefully, these flags will do the job!

A new little product I wanted to get going on this year was doorstops. A friend of mine had requested one in the same style as one I already have propping open our kitchen door. It wasn't something I had made, so the challenge was on to make one the same....a bit of tinkering later...and da dah! I didn't just make one however,....I made LOTS:

These make a great gift for yourself or someone else, with fabrics chosen to co-ordinate with the rest of a room. Fab for a child's bedrooms too...to prop that door open at night-time and keep the scary dark at bay!!

So there we have it...proof that I have done SOMETHING in the first few weeks of this year! Next up are another couple of orders for toy bags and then I'm planning on utilising some of my ever-expanding stock of designer fabrics to create some products to (hopefully) sell on my 'yet-to-be-set-up-but-always-on-my-to-do-list' Folksy site.  That's the plan anyway...let's hope for no more snow, or I'll be back moaning about the weather with that hot cup of tea and chocolate cake, achieving very little, other than an greatly increased waistline!

New Year....New Ideas....

Love this banner...not my own work I'm afraid..but that of Two Chikkadees....

So, 2013 is here already. T has been back at school for a week, I made it back to the gym (only once but hey, it's a start) and I've completed my first couple of orders of the new year.  We had cupcakes to celebrate this afternoon.....

Not the most beautiful of cakes but they tasted good!  I am full of admiration for the talented individuals who can decorate cupcakes with style and finesse, producing the most amazing works of art. My problem (combined with the fact that I'm just not very good at it!), is impatience .  I am such a lover of CAKE in it's many forms, that I always hurry through the icing process to enable me to eat them as soon as humanly possible!

Last weekend I did a bit of fabric sourcing for a drawstring bag order.  There are so many gorgeous new Spring/Summer prints already appearing, that I'm really excited about using them for projects that I'm going to start working on in the coming weeks.  I have lots of ideas for some more textile home-wares....doorstops, table mats, coasters, floor cushions and beanbags. I  also want to develop some  protective fabric covers for mobiles, iPads/tablets and Kindles; and of course, I will be making more of the zipped pouches, coin purses, tote bags, cards and personalised children's gifts that I've really enjoyed making recently and have proven pretty popular. Over the coming months I also want to look into producing more 'stock' items from my ever-expanding fabric stash, with the aim of setting up an online shopfront via Folksy or Etsy. With this in mind, I feel I need to develop my 'house style' when it comes to photographing my work. Consequently the images that appear on my blog may change from time to time whilst I experiment with different options. Phew! Sounds like I might be busy...and perhaps need a few extra hours in the day....

Anyway, before this drags on too long, a little note about the orders I completed this week.  Firstly there was a bag which was made as a gift for a friend of a friend & their new baby boy, Monty.  These drawstring bags work really well as new baby gifts as they can initially be used as useful storage for nappies, muslins, accessories, clothing and then as the child grows up, they can become toy bags or kit bags for nursery/pre-school.  I found this really fun fabric from Birch Organics which I thought was perfect for a little boy and the neutral colours will work with most bedroom decors/tastes.

I used my favourite natural cotton/linen base fabric and then personalised the bag with Monty's name and a cute star that make a feature of the little robot. The bag was lined with a bright, bold orange cotton to match the flames coming from the rockets.

...and finally, I also made a little collection of 'spotty' coin purses this week. These were little 'thank you' gifts that a friend requested.

Until next time, thanks for looking....E x

A quick look back at December 2012 'makes'

I can finally share some more pictures of the gifts and orders I was busy making in the run up to Christmas (but was keeping secret!) I don't want to write too lengthy a post about these bits and pieces as my head (& pinterest board!!) is now full with new ideas and projects for 2013, so I'll be brief....here's a few of the things I got round to photographing before they were packaged up and delivered:

These stoneware, hand thrown ceramic bowls, glazed in creams and green hues, are from the collection I produced last term. I made them with certain friends & family in mind, in the hope that they would be good enough to give as Christmas gifts.  They were well received so hopefully the recipients weren't just being kind!

Quite a few of these zipped pouches were ordered for Christmas, and I made a couple to give as gifts as well. I'm planning on making quite a few more with some of the new spring ranges of designer fabrics I've seen.

The natural canvas tote bag, with applique flowers and free-motion machine embroidery, that featured in a post last autumn proved to be really popular. Each one is totally unique and can be tailored to suit the individual, making them a lovely personal gift. Here are a few examples.

Another natural canvas tote, with a pretty green spot lining.

These 2 tote bags were made in a very practical dark charcoal/nearly black heavy cotton and feature different colour themes and prints to make them unique and personal. 

The printed cottons featured in this first bag are from a fabulous range from Birch Fabrics, by textile designer Rebekah Gilda.

This second bag is appliqued and lined using a variety of printed fabrics from the gorgeous Tilda range:

The bags together; similar in style but completely unique.

I then created coordinating coin purses and luggage tags. 

I've had absolutely loads of orders for these 'bag tags'....totally individual, fun and an inexpensive little gift. I really love making them too!

Christmas Trees, Control Freaks and Confidence Crisis

This is my fantastic Father Christmas who perches (albeit in a rather wonky, drunken fashion) on top of our tree. A couple of years ago I spent some time seeking out my perfect 'tree topper'. My parents have a 1960's 'Beatnik' Angel who I just adored (and still do actually), and really wanted a special character for our own tree too....... I think I found him!

Apologies for this post in advance. I warn you it is going to very dis-jointed, a bit too long and probably not very articulate, but I just wanted to get something written pre-Christmas with a bit of an update. I've  had trouble taking photographs lately as the light has just been so bad and the days so short that pics just aren't turning out very well, so apologies also for the dodgy shots on here.
 

It's been a busy few weeks (hence lack of blogging) but all pre-Christmas goodies are now finished, packed and either posted off, or wrapped and ready for their recipients. Phew! 

Back in the Autumn, I had planned to have a very hand-made Christmas and be very 'Kirstie Allsopp' about it all, however, everyday life has run away with me. I also had a little crisis of confidence wondering if anyone would actually appreciate (like/want) home-made items when what they honestly really want is a nice bottle of wine/new book/jumper/pair of socks!!!  So, whilst I have created some gifts, I've not done as many as I had originally planned. I'll share the pics in the new year.

 

The  Christmas decor in the house isn't quite as 'home-made' as I would have liked either.  Feeling like I've kind of failed miserably on this front but did manage to make a wreath for the door (which J came home to see hung up and asked "Is it finished..what about the other side...??") Yes, it is supposed to look like this.  I was quite pleased with it, even if my husband is not convinced. Remains to been seen how long the foliage stays looking fresh though!

Whilst I had also planned on making some extra Christmas decorations for the tree, I decided once I'd unpacked all the things from last year, I probably actually had enough and really didn't have time to be making more anyway.  

We get our tree each year from a local farm, who, on the 2nd weekend of December, have mulled wine & mince pies on the go whilst you 'shop'.  This year was something of a disaster for J in that we arrived too early in the morning for the mince pies and mulled wine (still heating up!), which made the very long process of me making him stand there holding out just about every tree to 'check the shape' even more of a bore.  I wasn't as pleased with our tree choice this year...it's not quite the perfect shape but then I reconcile myself with the thought that it's nice to give a home to a not-so-perfect tree & they all look splendid once decorated anyway! Onto the task of decorating the tree with a 5 year old boy....  Now, the control-freak in me has found this very very tricky in previous years, torn between dearly wanting to share this tradition with my son, and just wanting it to look how I want it to look. This year however, with a few 'rules' discussed initially about the placing of baubles, colour schemes and 'overcrowding', I do think we managed a harmonious afternoon and a pleasing result without me getting (too) 'twitchy'!  I know, I know, as a mother, you're supposed to put this controlling behaviour to one side and let your children express their own creativitiy in these situations, but sorry, NO...not with the Christmas Tree...I just can't relinquish complete control of that one!! This is where I should be inserting a great picture of said tree..but I think it's very hard to capture the 'twinkliness' of a decorated tree in a photograph, hence the not-so-great snap here!

 

Over the past few years I have managed to get round to making some of Nigella Lawson's  'Chilli Jam' (it it just yum with all those Christmas left-overs) ..and every year it turns out more like 'Chilli Sauce' (it never really sets properly...I should probably purchase a jam thermometer but I feel this is one step too far towards becoming a member of the WI and I'm certainly not ready for that!!). This year is no exception but at least this time round I have embraced my failure at making 'jam' and labelled all 6 jars as 'sauce' instead!

Completely as an aside to all this handmade business, I just wanted to include this (told you this is all a bit dis-jointed!). Of all the (many) presents I have purchased over the past few weeks, this is, perhaps rather oddly, my favourite. They caught my eye in Waitrose whilst looking for something extra for Father Christmas to give to our daft dog, Daisy (he gets so busy at this time of year, you just sometimes have to help him out!).  These are organic dog treats (yes, she is a very spoilt dog & no, she doesn't deserve to be!!), but I just loved the packaging illustration. The reason that they are called 'Forget Me Nots' is so we don't forget all the unwanted dogs that are in shelters waiting for a new home...sweeeet....AND best of all, for every pack sold, they give a donation to Battersea Dogs Home. Ok, I've lost all the non-dog-lovers now, so I'll get off this subject quick smart and move on.....



Along with all my 'sewing work' finished for Christmas,  college is also over until some point in mid-January. I managed to complete a number of projects over recent weeks and was able to help unload the still-warm ceramic loveliness of it all from the kiln on the last day of term.  A few pieces have been reserved for presents (confidence-crisis still looming on this one, especially as it's all rather 'amateur' but I hope the chosen recepients will appreciate my efforts!), but these bits have been piled into our cupboards for general use...tapas bowls/olive dishes etc.  Next term I really must move away from making bowls..I've become stuck in a 'general purpose bowl' -obsessed rut!

...and finally, I have at last, got round to setting up my 'Pinterest' boards (sort of an on-line scrap book for anyone who isn't familiar with it).  I've dallied with Pinterest a few times but never really embraced it.  I'm a bit old-fashioned when it comes to technology (just ask J!): I'd rather write a letter than an email, I love postcards, I still quite like having music CDs rather than downloading it..and I certainly prefer actual proper books or magazines over online/kindle editions.....so the thought of cataloguing pictures/photos/favourite things on a web page rather than in a scrap book or folder with handwritten scrawly notes didn't really sit comfortably with me, but I have had a proper play around with it  and I do have to admit that it is really rather quite good.  I shall be developing my Pinterest site in January and work out how it might fit in with this blog and my facebook page.

So, that's it for now. Lots and lots to come in the new year, so do check back in again in January. Until then, have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & thank you again for your interest and support this year.

E xx