Over the last couple of months I’ve had quite a few requests for personalised cards and gifts. So now that half term is over I’ve been able to make a start on the Christmas personalisation.

I’ve been making lots of little stockings to use as tree decorations, and have been asked to add some initials.

I’ll be taking a good supply of these stockings to the Christmas Market in a couple of weeks time, and I have plans to offer personalisation on the day.

In addition to the stockings, I’ve been making some specific Christmas cards which has involved some hand-drawing of caravans! This has not been the simplest of tasks, but I have put together a pack of 15 individual cards which cover the brief – caravan Christmas!

Caravan Christmas Cards

The next order I’m working on is a couple of personalised knitted Christmas stockings to fill with presents. I’ve had a trial run and have chosen a black chunky yarn, they will have a turnover at the opening and names in a grey and silver mix dk yarn. Time to get back to it.

Happy Crafting
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As the week progressed and the weather deteriorated, I had to find more interesting things to do round the house.  So out came the box of crafty bits and the TV!  We watched an episode of Mister Maker (one of our favourite shows) which was followed by an extra Halloween make, and of course inspiratiion was found.  Halloween themed pencil pots.

I knew keeping toilet roll tubes would come in useful at some stage!  These were minute makes for Mister Maker, but for a four year old they take a little longer.  Above was the first attempt, a ghost.  We had to make do with paper as we didn’t have much fun foam, but I think the second attempt of a bat worked quite well. 

All made with bits and bobs from around the house and a lovely gift for Dad or Grandad’s desk.  We may try Santa and a snowman for Christmas.

Happy Crafting
x

Have a fabulous day with any celebrations you may have.

Hope nothing too scary comes through the window tonight!

x

It’s half term again!  Where did that time go?

So we’re off in the stormy weather and looking forward to Halloween and Bonfire Night.  That can mean only one thing, it’s time to bake!

Baking really does seem to be the best craft with a small child.  We had a party to go to on Saturday, so it seemed only polite to make some cakes and biscuits to take with us.

Out came the ghost cake moulds, spidery cake cases and the spookiest biscuit cutters we could find – stars, cats and bats!  And how could we forget adding orange and green icing for decoration???

The biscuits are gingerbread and the recipe is from a Hello Kitty Christmas book!!  It’s really simple and makes very lovely biscuits.  The cakes are an all-in-one sponge recipe with cocoa powder and chocolate buttons added for interest, decorated with chocolate buttercream and a ginger biscuit!

They were all demolished at the party, but we did manage to sample a couple first (all in the name of quality control of course).

Next stop is carving the pumpkin and making a pumpkin curry!

Happy Halloween crafting
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Say hello to Father Christmas, the prize for my raffle for The Christie.

Father Christmas is approximately 28cm tall and comes complete with his sack and a teddy.  He is made from acrylic yarn and the stuffing is 100% washable polyester, non allergenic, non toxic and flame retardent.

Tickets are £1 each and all you need to do is pay a £1 either to me in person, via bank transfer and I will be taking him to the Bolton School Christmas Market, so you can buy a ticket there.  I will be drawing the winner towards the end of the Christmas Market on Saturday 16th November. 

I am hoping to raise around £100 for a very worthy cause.  Please support this fabulous charity and buy a ticket, and tell your friends.

Thank you and Happy Christmas
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I have booked myself a stall at my old school for their Christmas Market!  It will be a bit of a trip down memory lane for me I think, although it’s in a building that wasn’t there when I left in 1990!

Old Girls’ Christmas Market 2013
Saturday 16th November 12-3pm
The Arts Centre, Bolton School

Come and buy your Christmas gifts and stocking fillers – jewellery, handbags, cards, skincare products, children’s books, games and more…

Sample, buy and enjoy quality Christmas food and drink – cakes, cheese, chutneys, pies and wines…

Plus, take part in the Great Bolton Bake Off! (Contact the Development Office for further details).

Entry: £3 adults and £1 children, includes mulled wine/hot vimto and a mince pie.

Please buy your ticket on the door
All profits to charitable causes

All welcome – bring your family and friends!

I’d love to see you there, so come and say hello!

Happy Christmas (!)
x

As my fruity keyrings went down so well over the summer, I thought I would expand my range to include some for the winter months.  I originally planned to just do some Christmas stockings, but after a lot of hat knitting for the ducks and the Innocent Big Knit, I decided to add some little hats to the range.

Christmas Stocking keyring

This has been an opportunity to use up some lovely oddments of yarn, particularly cotton and merino wool.  I’ve also started to use the recycled cotton yarn I bought in Hebden Bridge for my birthday.  It’s gorgeous to knit with and feels so lovely and soft.

Recycled Cotton Stripy keyring

I’ve also scaled down my stocking pattern to make little socks / boots. I think they work quite well in pairs.

Recycled Cotton Boots Keyring

I’ve put all my recent keyrings on the for sale page, have a look and let me know what you think.

I’ve really got back into knitting recently, I think its because the weather has started to turn, and I can snuggle up on the sofa with some knitting, the cat and the tv!  It’s a real turn back the clock time, reminding me of knitting toys with my Mum or watching Grandma knit school jumpers with a cat on her lap!

Well, time to get back to the knitting needles.

Happy crafting
x

I’ve fallen under the spell of the Halloween pumpkin it would seem!  So much so that I’ve been looking for ways to make little pumpkins to use for keyrings or for potential trick or treat gifts!

Anyway, I found a little pattern for a garter stitch pumpkin in a Jean Greenhowe jiffy knit booklet.  It’s really cute, so I made one, but it wasn’t quite what I was after.  So I decided to try something else.  I knitted a strip of stocking stitch in orange, joined the cast on and cast-off edges together, then gathered up the row ends, stuffing as I went.  It made a little slightly flattened ball.  I then used some more orange yarn to make segments in the ball.  I completed the pumpkin with a crochet chain in green to make a stalk.

I took both pumpkins to school for a straw poll.  Which looks most pumpkin-like?  The one on the right was the winner, so I have made some more and added split rings for keyrings.

The original one has had a face added and been given to my daughter to play with.

Which do you think looks most like a pumpkin?  I’d love to know.

I’m going to have a go at making some more from felt and turning them into a Halloween garland!

Happy spooky crafting
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My daughter has recently enrolled in a ballet class.  This is a whole new world for me as I never did ballet as a child.  So I am now immersed in a world of leotards, tutus, ballet socks (really?) and ballet pumps!    I have been very fortunate in having some lovely friends who have helped me out donating things from their older children.

The hardest thing for us though is hair accessories!  It sounds daft, but Alice has very fine hair and absolutely nothing stays in it.  I’ve tried hairbands but they hurt her ears.  So I have knitted my first Alice band.  Very plain in baby dk yarn.

She doesn’t seem to mind this one and it doesn’t damage her hair.  I’ve even started on another one with a bow on.

My next task is to knit a little ballet cardigan.  I can feel a trip to the wool shop coming on!

Happy crafting
x

BOO!!!!!!!

I’m not normally one for Halloween. Don’t get me wrong, I like a fun carved pumpkin and dressing up as a witch as much as anyone, but all this trick or treating seems to be taking over the Britishness of apple bobbing and a spooky Halloween party.

But I thought I’d have a go at some Halloween inspired cards, so I spent some time drawing some simple ghosts and pumpkins (not too spooky, more fun) and I’ve added them to a couple of cards.

I loved hunting out the googly eyes for these! They may only be small cards, but ideal for party invitations.

Do people send Halloween cards in the UK? I’m not so sure, but if you’re planning a party and would like a few invitations, drop me an e-mail and I can add my fun ghost or pumpkin to a set for you.

Happy Halloween!

x