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 (!)
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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
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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
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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!

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Today I’ve been contemplating Christmas and sorting out exactly what I want to make and what I need to make it!

I spotted a lovely template in the latest issue of Creativity magazine for Christmas crackers.  But instead of making the traditional size cracker for the Christmas table, I thought I’d make smaller versions for decoration purposes.

I’ve made up a few and I’m happy with how they’ve turned out, so now I’m hunting through my card stash for some lovely Christmas designs.  I really like the simple shaker style at the moment using recycled kraft card and ties with bakers twine, so I think they might make an appearance on my tree this year!  But I thought they may also look nice on a table as place settings.

With careful template positioning I can make 4 from a sheet of A4 card, so I’m using some of my expensive Christmas card with foiling, embossed designs and of course a bit of glitter!

Do you like them?

Happy Christmas Crafting
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Finally the first day of school has arrived.  It’s been a long seven weeks of summer holidays for us, between leaving nursery and starting reception.  Fun packed, sunny and some craft too, but we’re all ready for doing our own things again.

My daughter ran to school, very excited to see her new teachers and find out who would be in her class.  So with a cheery wave and a hug, she was off, and I was left to wander home contemplating how quiet it was!

So now I can get crafting again!  Once I have the housework out of the way, fed the cats and taken my Mum and Aunt out for lunch! I think the actual crafting will start tomorrow, but today I will have some time (I hope) to organise my thoughts, list my makes and priorities for the next few weeks, and generally get ready for Halloween and Christmas.

I’ve had a delivery this morning of some new papers from ‘Craftwork Cards’ and I love the vintage style designs.  I think they’ll be great to use with the poinsettia die I bought the other week.  I can’t wait to get all the papers and embellishments out again.

Happy crafting

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To celebrate my 21st birthday (again) I’ve been treated to a trip out to Hebden Bridge.  I can’t believe how sunny it is, amazing to be sat out in the square eating lunch and listening to the buskers.

This place is just full of crafty inspiration.  I am spoilt for choice!  I have a little bit of Birthday money to spend, but what to choose I’m not sure.  I’ve found a craft stall on the market which has a few papercraft items, metallic button brads and large hand-covered buttons; then there’s a lovely little shop called Ribbon Circus which has a fabulous selection of buttons and yarn (I’m very tempted by the recycled cotton yarn in gorgeous muted colours).  Even the RSPCA shop and an antique shop have some craft supplies!  Keep an eye on the future posts to see what I actually bought!

What has been even more fun than hunting round all the shops for supplies, has been the inspiration I’ve found all over the place.  I’ve been wanting to add knitted embellishments to cards for some time, but struggled to work out exactly what to make and how to attach them.  I’ve discovered how to make mini-knitting needles and will be adding some to cards in the future I’m sure.  In fact I could add them to some Christmas cards using some recycled cotton.

Hmmmmmmm, my creative juices are flowing, thank goodness I have my notebook to jot down the ideas.

Happy birthday crafting to me!! (and you)
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We decided to get away from it all for a couple of days, on a girls trip to Abergele.  It’s so nice to sit out in the sunshine watching the kids splash about in the paddling pool while we get to chat and relax!  I feel a glass of wine coming on!!

I’m contemplating all the bright colours here at the seaside.  It’s making my yearn for some more bunting cards!  I haven’t really made any for ages and they are so cheerful.

As this was a last minute get-away I haven’t brought much crafting stuff with me.  However, I have brought a bit of knitting and crochet, so I shall see if I can make something bright and cheerful with my little yarn stash.

We’ve had a trip to Rhos-on-Sea today and I love it. Quiet and quaint, and the beach is so pretty. I love all the little boats hauled up against the wall.

And the beach is covered in lines of mussel shells.

After a rather lovely ice-cream, it’s time to gather our things up, find the kids and head off to Llandudno to see the White Rabbit!

Happy Summer Holidays
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Another day, another tram journey!  Actually this is the first one for a while.  We haven’t ventured into the big city this way all summer.  So while little one is content drawing butterflies and ladybirds, my thoughts have drifted to further expanding my flowers and hearts range, with half an eye on Christmas too!

I’ve been trialling making some knitted flowers this week, using a pattern I found in the recent issue of Craftseller magazine.  They’re a little fiddly to make, but I like the simplicity of shape.  I’ve been adding them to my donation of hats for this 2013 Innocent Big Knit. So now I’m putting together some roses with knitted leaves to make some statement brooches.  I might also add some to keyrings to complement the fruit that have proved so popular.  Whilst they are quite summery, I’ve been looking at making some ‘glam’ ones using metallic yarns, and maybe some lacy effect roses too.

With Christmas fast approaching, I’ve invested in a new Sizzix die – a Tim Holtz tatty poinsettia.  My plan is to make some ‘cracker’ cards with the poinsettia as the main image and some ribbon ties.  I’d like to achieve a ‘natural’ look using kraft card and vintage style papers and ribbons, possibly bakers twine or string.  I shall see how I get on.

I also fancy experimenting with the die to cut fabric and make some poinsettia brooches, keyrings and card embellishments.  Once again my mind is working overtime and hopefully I shall be able to get going with it all once the new school term has started in a couple of weeks.  Well it’s time to get off the tram and visit the Lego and Disney shops!

Happy Summer Crafting
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