It’s the Bolton School Old Girls’ Christmas Market tomorrow!  I shall have my stall set out stocked full of Christmas Tree decorations, gifts and gift tags.  Plus come and see my friend Jill with her lovely hairbands and slides.

I’ll also be selling raffle tickets for Santa and making the draw.

Recently, I was asked if I could make a couple of large stockings with names on.

This was quite a daunting task initially as I usually stick to small items, but I thought, why not and decided to have a go. I adapted the tiny stocking pattern, using super chunky yarn and 6mm needles, and then scaling up the number of stitches. My first attempt was far too big and took forever! So I scaled things down a bit. Then I decided it would be nice if the stocking had a turnover at the top, which would be ideal for adding the childs name. This meant increasing the length of the ‘leg’ still further. I finally added a crochet hanging loop and embroidered the names – a first for me doing lowercase letters!

I was asked to make them in black with names in silver.

I’m going to add these to my Christmas range, however, they will be made to order and I will not carry any stock. They will be £15 each and made to your own colour specification. I’d love to know what you think of them. Please leave me a comment on here or on the facebook page.

Happy Crafting
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With less than a week to go to the Christmas Market, I’ve been pulling together my stall and making lots of lists!

On Saturday I did a quick mock up of the stall, without going too mad! I didn’t get tall the stock out of bags or but the Christmas tree up, but I’m quite pleased with the range and stock levels that will be available.

The majority of the stock available will be knitted gifts and decorations, however, I may have a few sneaky cards under the table if you want any.

It’s back to the to-do list now – labels and raffle notice!

Hope to see you Saturday
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There’s only 1 week left now to buy a ticket in aid of the Christie to win my knitted Father Christmas.

I’ll be taking him to the Christmas Market at Bolton School next Saturday and will be making the final draw there.

So come along and buy a ticket for such a worthy cause.

Happy crafting
x

This Christmas season I have decided to stick with my loose themes of hearts and flowers, by making use of my fabulous new Sizzix Tim Holtz die. I absolutely adore the poinsettia. The die itself is really robust and it cuts beautifully.

Poinsettia Gift Tags

Poinsettia Cracker Cards

I have so far concentrated on cutting card and paper, but I’d like to try some other mediums, perhaps making some felt brooches and tree decorations.

I hope to have a little bit of time to play with some felt and other fabrics to see how they get on! It would be a nice change to get out needle and thread! Hmmmmmm, maybe I could add some of the lovely beads and buttons I’ve bought on my travels……..

Happy crafting
x

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
x

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
x