• book review - handmade - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Jane Foster Creative Craft with Kids

    A few weeks ago I treated myself to a copy of Jane Foster’s latest book – Creative Craft with Kids. I’m a big fan of Jane Foster’s style (she loves Miffy as much as I do!) and I really enjoyed her first book. Creative Craft With Kids is the second book from Jane Foster and includes fun projects for parents to make with and for children to encourage creativity and experimentation. There are 15 creative projects to make with children which include felt-faced toys, customized T-shirts and a patchwork quilt. Some of the projects require some simple sewing skills, but…

  • book review - competition - sewing - What I'm reading

    Win a copy of Torie Jayne’s Stylish Home Sewing

    I’m delighted to be taking part in a blog tour today for Torie Jayne’s Stylish Home Sewing book. I’ve been a fan of Torie Jayne’s blog for a long time so I knew her book would be full of beautiful and stylish items to make. This book does not disappoint. It contains over 35 projects to make your home beautiful. The projects are fresh, are co-ordinated in Torie’s trademark pastel colours, and definitely reflect her style which shines through on her blog. As you would expect from a book published by CICO Books, the projects are really well laid out…

  • book review - Kids crafts - What I'm reading

    The Artful Year book review

    I was so very lucky to win a copy of The Artful Year :: Celebrating the Seasons & Holidays with Crafts & Recipes by Jean Van’t Hul recently. I’ve read her blog for ages and was so excited to hear about her book. It is loosely based on her Artful Year seasonal crafts eBooks but expanded with some new activities and a fifth section on arts and crafts for the whole year, or those that can be adapted to the season or holiday at hand. There are 175 crafts and activities with clear, step-by-step directions. There’s also  a long appendix of…

  • book review - mindfulness - parenting - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Mindful discipline

    Today I wanted to share two new parenting titles from Scribe with you. They aim to help parents solve two of the most commented on, despaired over and debated about parenting dilemmas: sleep and discipline using Mindful discipline The Happy Sleeper by sleep experts Julie Wright and Heather Turgeon offers an alternative sleep training method to ‘cry it out’ or ‘attachment parenting’. Using an approach rooted in making children feel safe, secure and happy in their bedtime routines, The Happy Sleeper offers practical advice for parents wanting to create good sleeping habits, or undo poor ones. The fantastic thing about…

  • book review - Christmas - Kids crafts - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading – A Year in Crafts by Clare Youngs

    Top of my crafty pile of books is A Year in Crafts by Clare Youngs which contains 52 seasonal projects to make and give. This is a gorgeous book, not only are the projects fun, well laid out and illustrated, but the book itself is a thing of beauty. It’s hard-backed but conceals wire binding so you can actually keep it open whilst crafting. The projects haven’t quite been divided by the seasons but there are 4 handy dividers throughout the book where you can keep your templates, notes or scraps of fabric. There’s also an elastic bookmark to help…

  • Bahlsen Book Club - book review - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Me Without You by Kelly Rimmer

    These chilly evenings are perfect for curling up with a book. I’m not a huge tv fan so love to have several books and magazines on the go. Bahlsen Biscuits kindly sent me a copy of Me Without You by Kelly Rimmer to read which is the latest Bahlsen Book Club book. They also sent me a couple of packs of biscuits which were perfect to enjoy whilst reading. The premise of Me Without You is as follows: A year ago I met the love of my life. For two people who didn’t believe in love at first sight, we…

  • book review - Handmade gifts - sewing - What I'm reading

    Crafting handmade gifts

    I feel bad writing about Christmas but it’s my blog so I think I’m allowed. Christmas is fun, especially when you have two little children. They’ve been writing their Christmas lists for weeks which means we’ve all been thinking about it perhaps earlier than normal. I love crafting handmade gifts. Every year I say it but I never start early enough but this year I am going to have. As my family read my blog I can’t say too much but I’ve planned a few super cute projects from some of my favourite craft books. First of all I really…

  • book review - crafts - Dolls quilts - Patchwork & Quilting - sewing - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Little Quilts by Sarah Fielke & Amy Lobsiger

    I promised myself I would spend more time on my hobbies and am trying to finish off lots of sewing projects before I start any more. However when a copy of Little Quilts by Sarah Fielke & Amy Lobsiger landed on my doorstep there was a project I just had to make straight away. Craft books are a major weakness and indulgence and Little Quilts is my kind of book. I love making little quilts for Little Sis to play with and I’ve already made a couple. Little Quilts features 15 step-by-step projects for small quilts using traditional and contemporary…