Is it too early to be talking about Christmas? I don’t think so! Now the weather has turned colder my thoughts have turned to Christmas and the pile of presents I’m trying to hide from my children is growing. One thing I can’t hide away is this wonderful plate from Bluebelle Create which we were sent. I shared it on my Instagram feed when I un-wrapped it and it got lots of Instagram-love. Isn’t it lovely? Bluebelle Create is a lovely handmade business, which you know is right up my street, making personalised and handmade gifts, from signature plates to…
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This has been a great month for some grown up crafting. I’ve cut back on my blogging which means lots more time for making the things that make me happy rather than hours spent staring at my laptop. I completed Wild Olive’s Winter Stitching Club pattern which made a really lovely table mat or wall hanging. I loved stitching each hexagon and making them into puffy hexies. I think my favourites are the embroidered Christmas jumper and quilt. Wild Olive’s Winter Stitching Club I’ve completed some smaller projects too, such as a cute little gingerbread man I bought from Asking…
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I am really looking forward to lots of crafting time over half term. My 4 year old has a long list of things to make, bake and craft which I couldn’t be happier about. Today we made a Chocolate House which was a choc on choc kit so everything was included – the chocolate beans, moulds, garden scene and chef’s hat. I melted the beans using a small silicone pot in the microwave which made pouring the melted chocolate really easy. I used the white chocolate for the four walls and the milk chocolate for the roof and trees. The…
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Today I had a lovely day all to myself at the Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally. I’ve been for the last couple of years but this year, for the first time, I booked myself on a couple of the Learning Curves workshops. Boy, did that make the day go super fast! First thing in the morning I found myself making a hand painted tile pot stand. I went for a simple design, it just needs baking in the oven to seal it. After a short break it was off to learn how to recycle materials to make a…
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Every couple of weeks I receive a mystery parcel of craft supplies and the latest Bostik glue product. The idea is to make something fun with the children. Our latest box was full of amazing goodies in autumnal colours and we all enjoyed looking at the felt, wool, coloured paper and styrofoam balls and dreaming of what we could make. We thought we would make a styrofoam ball pet for Halloween and it was fun and easy to do. Equipment needed to make a stryofoam ball spider: styrofoam ball black tissue paper googly eyes pipe cleaners ric rac to hang How…
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I’ve been having so much fun looking for festive decorations to make and you all know that gingerbread men are my absolute favourite. Today I’ve put together a list of 15 felt gingerbread people to make and sew, have fun checking them out! 15 felt gingerbread people to make and sew You can’t beat a gingerbread man, they’re great for re-telling the story of the gingerbread boy but make a great decoration too. There are lots of patterns out there . I love Wild Olive’s gingerbread man although I’ve often just drawn around a cookie cutter to make my felt…
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September was a pretty busy month for making things. Aside from crafting with the children, which happens pretty much every day, there was also some baking with carrot cakes and a lovely Victoria sponge. There was the finishing off of WIPs and making a start on handmade gifts for Christmas so I thought I would write about my Monthly Makes. The month started with the London-themed ATC I made for a swap. I embroidered a London bus (from a pattern in Annela Hoey’s Little Stitches). I received a lovely ATC from my partner, she created a sandcastle and used a…
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Did you know that September 19th was Talk Like a Pirate Day? My 2 year old is currently obsessed with pirates and loves dressing up so it seemed like a great time to make her a pirate hat, beard and eye patch. A couple of weeks ago I told you how I was introduced to Duck Tape as a new tool for crafting. I knew it would be the perfect material to use. Equipment you will need to make a Duck Tape pirate hat: 2 x A4 sheets of plain paper Roll of Duck Tape Scissors Self healing cutting map Scalpel/Stanley…
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One of my favourite craft books is pretty in patchwork doll quilts. I’ve already made one of the quilts from it (the I Spy quilt) but I’ve also had my eye on the really pretty ticker tape doll quilt by Cathy Gaubert for my daughter. So over a year ago, yep you read that correctly, I bought a colourful rainbow of fabric from an Etsy store and it wasn’t until a few months ago that I got it out again. It felt strange finally cutting into each piece but now I have at least I’ll be able to use the…