Monthly Archives: May 2014

Back Home

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Well I’m back from sunny Portugal and straight into half-term holidays for my daughter. So I’m now catching up with washing and cleaning, as well as trying to find interesting things to do for the next week or so, to keep her entertained!

But my batteries are well and truly recharged and it’s time to start on some of my orders, finishing off some partially made items and thinking about what to make and enter into the next Bury Show at the end of June.

I had a lovely surprise delivery whilst I was away. Well several actually. I had placed an order for some crochet cotton and a new adhesive pack from Create and Craft which arrived, but I also won some gifts from doCrafts in the May magazine giveaways.

GIveaway delivery

Now to get doing something with them all. I’m particularly intrigued by the icing roller.

Happy half term crafting
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Crafting in the Sun

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Well, I’ve taken the plunge and had a weeks holiday in Portugal, leaving Hubby, daughter and the crafting at home!

It’s so lovely to completely chill out in the sunshine, without sneezing from hayfever.  I haven’t completely left all the crafting at home though.  I was hoping to be able to crochet on the plane, but I was told I couldn’t take a crochet hook in the my hand luggage.  So I had to make do with reading my latest issue of ‘LGC Knitting and Crochet’ instead.

Anyway,  I have been doing some crochet practice and have made a couple of small items using new stitches.  So here’s my first doily.

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It was lovely to use some new techniques and to practice changing yarns.

Next is my first little bowl, with a lacy base! My daughter has now claimed this for her bedroom.

Crochet bowl

It’s been such a lovely relaxing break and I have really recharged my batteries, ready for Half term when I get home!

Happy crafting
x

New crochet blanket

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I’m working on another crochet blanket, blue this time.  I posted a snap of the first part a week or so ago and I thought I’d show a bit more.

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I have eight completed squares with the white rows at different points in each square.  I plan to do 2 of each square and then sew them all together with a white border.

I shall post more pictures as I progress.

Happy crafting
x

Charity Hearts

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In the latest issue of Craftseller magazine, there was a lovely little pattern for crochet hearts. I’ve wanted to make hearts for a while so it was lovely to see the pattern. I have had a go and made a few, so I am looking to sell them to raise some money for physio for my former work colleague.

Each heart will cost £2 with £1.50 going to fund some further physio and speech therapy sessions.

I can make them in any colour you would like and I will add them to a keyring or attach a brooch back.

Crochet Hearts Order yours now. Send me an e-mail or a message on facebook.

Happy charity crafting
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Father’s Day

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With Father’s Day coming up in a few weeks time – Sunday June 15th – I thought I’d look at some of the Dad related items I have available.

My Dad loves football and golf, so I’ve made a number of simple Father’s Day cards using these as my inspiration.

Football Dad and Spider

Football Dad and Spider

Golf Dad

Golf Dad

I really love the embossing board that I used to make these cards. It’s fun to use up leftover pieces of papers. My Dad really liked his golf card last year. These cards also include handmade shrink plastic charms. These are great fun to do with the kids too. My 5 year old daughter loves watching them shrink to tiny charms.

I am taking orders for any of the cards on my sale page and I can make orders to your requirements. Just drop me an e-mail or send me a message on my facebook page.

So don’t forget your Dad on Father’s Day.

Happy crafting
x

Masculine cards

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I have been somewhat pre-occupied with crochet recently. Since I managed to get the hang of reading patterns and double crochet I have spent all my crafting time with a ball of yarn and a crochet hook.

This week I’ve resolved to try not to pick up my crochet hook until the evening, and to spend some time making some cards. In particular male cards. I’ve always struggled to make masculine cards. The men in my family aren’t all into classic cars, ships and football! So on Sunday I raided my card and paper stash looking for some masculine style inspiration. I came up with a collection of decoupage from Docrafts, called Home to Roost and a Hunkydory kit, For the Boys.

I set myself up on the kitchen table, watching the birds in the garden, I really started to connect with the Home to Roost kit. I don’t generally do very much decoupage, but this is a lovely set of designs. The lovely little bird details are beautifully painted and make gorgeous little finishing touches. So here are some of the cards I made.

Gardeners Bench

Gardeners Bench

Wellies

Wellies

I then had some ideas to make some cards for boys and out came the Hunkydory kit. I was inspired my daughter’s recent school topic of ‘space’ and made the following cards for boys (or girls) birthdays.

Spaceman

Spaceman

Alien

Alien

I plan to make some more cards that can be used for men too. Any suggestions for themes for men and boys?

Happy crafting
x

A New Outlet

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Over the last few weeks I’ve been hunting around for possible new outlets for my crafty makes. I’ve been looking at a number of online outlets and this week I’ve been lucky enough to win a 1 month stall on The Supermum’s Craft Fair website. It’s a great little place to visit a number of small businesses and purchase unique items across a very wide range of crafts.

So today, I’ve been stocking my stall and would love to know what you think of it. The number of items listed is limited to 20, so I have split it, with 15 cards and 5 knitted gifts.

Have a look at my stall and please leave some feedback, either on the stall or here.

Butterfly Hama beads

Happy crafting
x

Something Different

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I haven’t done any baking for a while and thought I would have a go at something a little different for a change. I like to make scones. They’re quite simple and quick to make, as well as being totally delicious – especially warm with a little butter on the top. I love the recipe that my Mum uses, it’s over 50 years old but tastes great. Although I am starting to find cream of tartar more difficult to locate in the shops, and it’s this that makes the difference I think.

Anyway, I thought I’d have a go at a batch of scones, but this time I added chocolate raisins. It seemed a logical progression as I’ve made chocolate chip scones and fruit scones, why not combine them?

My daughter helped with the measuring and mixing and we watched the lovely scones rise in the oven together, mouths watering.

Chocolate Raisin Scones

They turned out pretty well. My daughter and I loved them. They were soft and light. Some had full chocolate raisins in the centre, whilst others had bits of chocolate and raisins. Delicious and a great experiment. It’s certainly got me thinking about what other ingredients I could add next time.

Happy crafting
x

A Tough Week

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I seem to have been away from crafting and my blog for quite while. What with two weeks of school holidays to entertain my daughter!

This week I’ve been heavily involved in my other role, as a governor at my daughter’s primary school. I took on the role last year, as a way to get involved in school and give something back. Little did I know how much I was going to have to do! I think it’s been an unusual few weeks though, as our head teacher is retiring due to ill-health and we have had a very quick turn-around to find a new head. To the credit of everyone involved, it’s been had work but we managed to get to interview stage. So that’s what I’ve been doing this week, observing practical demonstrations in school and interviewing.

So I’ve had little time to actually craft during the day, but I have found it very therapeutic in the evenings to unwind from the stresses of the day. I’m currently obsessed with crochet. Having discovered that I can actually read a pattern and do more than one stitch, it’s been great fun working on different projects. I managed to finish my granny square blanket which my daughter loves. I’m trying to keep it away from the cats too as they seem to be taking a shine to my work at the moment (they’re never that interested in my card making though!).

Pink Granny Square blanket

This has inspired me to make another blanket in blue this time, but I’m going to have larger squares I think, with some patterns running through. It’s going to be an evolving one this so I shall see where the mood takes me!

Crochet in progress

With the success of my amigurumi creatures over Easter, I thought I would have a go at some bunnies in different colours too. I have a couple in progress now, in beige and pink and I’ve also started a yellow chick.

Bunny in progress

Bunny and Chick in progress

I shall get stuffing soon and then will add to the range for sale.

It’s been great having such a lovely past-time to help unwind after such a busy week. I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t pick up some needles or a hook – probably eaten and drunk far too much.

Here’s to a relaxing bank holiday weekend.

Happy crafting
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