Babies on the brain

When crafting, I tend to make stuff that will either be pretty/cute or practical/useful. So... whereas in the past  I have made things like bags, coffee cup holders, camera cases, badges and bunting, I now find myself orientated to making things for babies (natch!).

Up til now, I've been doing rather dull things like making sheets, lining nursery curtains and covering the moses basket etc, but this week I came across the cutest dinosaur fabric which I knew would end up being put to good use...and it was!

Firstly it got made into a little dribble neckerchief type bib, modelled beautifully by little Owen!

It has a terry towelling backing and a simple elastic hook and button at the back.

Next it got made into a little draw string bag (to house a spare set of clothes for the inevitable 'out and about' nappy accident!).

A super cute addition to Owen's nappy bag, even if I do say so myself!

To see what some other crafty peops have been up to this week, head on over to Our Creative Spaces new home on Kidspot.

My (short but sweet) Creative Space

I’m thinking that bitesized blogging might be the way forwards given my current situation so hows this…

My sister wanted an ipad cover… so I made her one!

Its basically a larger version of the phone/ camera cases I made a while ago, with a double layer of padding.

She loves it! What do you reckon?

To see what a few other crafty peops have been up to this week head on over to Our Creative Spaces

My (swiftly changing and much more disrupted) Creative Space

So my creative space has been turned upside down in the past few months for two very big reasons...

Firstly, we moved house!

We not only bought our first ever property, but we also moved out of London!!! Only half an hour out of London mind, but its like a different planet. On the plus side, we have a whole house to ourselves (plus garden) and are surrounded by countryside. On the downside, dining options and access to the materials I was used to getting my hands on in London have become incredibly limited.

Its all worth it though, mainly due to reason two for my lack of crafting

... this little chap!

 Little Owen joined us in February and has totally taken over life as we once knew it. He’s gorgeous and I love being a mum although hilariously, I thought I would have hours of free time on my hands to make stuff during my maternity leave, but things havn't really panned out that way - shocking eh!

So as I said, my creative space is more chaotic than normal but I am still managing to get a few things done.

The priority this week is finishing these some flowers/ bridesmaid hair decorations for my little sister who is getting married on Saturday!

She wanted something not too big, not too small to attach to hair combs. She also wanted a slightly frayed look to them (which they will get as soon as worn) to mirror a detail on the bridesmaids dresses. They have been re-purposed out of offcuts from her wedding dress. They will look something like this (cue dodgy self portrait)...

She seems really happy with them which is always pleasing! I’ll post a piccy of them in action next week.

Whilst I'm unlikely to be blogging with any regularlity for a while, I am still going to try to keep things updated when I can. However I do hope to be catching up on other peoples blogs in the next few weeks as I have plenty of time during the middle of the night feeds, when my phone and the internet are my only company, so I'm looking forward to that.

For more crafty and creative projects pop on over to Our Creative Spaces. Its always well worth a visit!

Feeling Snuggly

So after feeling so totally inspired for some time on the crafty front, the autumnal days and dark wintery evenings have been making me think about knitting again.

So that’s what I’ve been doing... well that and some Christmas crafting planning. I don’t know about anyone else, but whilst I publically curse the fact that there has been Christmas stuff in the shops for the past month, there’s a little bit of me that inwardly leaps for joy at the fact that Christmas is just around the corner! Bit to early for posting about Christmas though so more on that at some other point!

It was mums birthday not too long ago. I spied this gorgeous point 5 Colinette yarn…

and turned it into this snuggly high neck cuff (please excuse the dodgy ‘its me’ shot – wasn't feeling my best on the day of that photo)...

Love LOVE high neck stuff. So simple yet it turns into snuggly loveliness. Perfect for easing me back into the crafty groove.

My new teapot

Today I wanted to share my love of my beautiful new teapot...

ahhhhhhh... isn’t it pretty!!!

It was a surprise gift from my parents and is specially for making green and white tea. If you dont know, I'm a huge fan of green tea, so I can’t wait to try it out. In the mean time I’m more than happy for it to just sit there looking as lovely as it does!

Very Belated Thanks

About a month or so ago (possibly longer) I was the lucky recipient of a fab giveaway. I am deeply ashamed to say that in my blogging funk I didn’t blog about (sorry sue!).

So, very belatedly, but with the same amount of excitement as when I first recieved it,  here's what I won... this awesome selvedge cuff made by Sue at Laniappe!

 

Cute isnt it! My favourite side is the one shown below with all the pinks. You can even read ‘yummy cupcakes’ on one bit. I bet that print rocked!

Plus it came wrapped with a little note on some very cute button writing paper!

If you are inspired by the cuff (and why wouldnt you be), take a look at the entire chair that Sue covered in selvedge. Its awesome!

Anyway thanks again Sue. I love it!

Catching Up with my Creative Space

After my rather extended hiatus, I have decided to throw myself back in the deep end with a new craft. Stamp carving…of sorts.

I have been needing a name stamp for labels and things for a while, but haven’t found one I have been happy with. So when I stumbled upon a fab little craft shop in Winchester at the weekend, I decided to get all the bits I needed to make my own.

This linoleum stuff is newer and softer than the stuff you used to be able to get (apparently) and it cuts like butter.

I tried a couple of different approaches. The first was this one.

I used some letter stamps I had to create the outline of the text but it was very fiddly and ended up looking much more like an Asian print than I had anticipated. The ‘S’ is a bit wonky unfortunately. But its kind of okay.

The second one I did in about a minute.

I was just trying out one of the fatter blades and in truth I didn’t think it was going to any good, and it is a bit wobbly, but actually I think it might be my favourite! What do you reckon?

In a bid to get back into the swing of things I'm joining back in with Our Creative Spaces. Have a look, its always well worth a visit!

AWOL

Slightly shame facedly, I’m sneaking back onto my blog after, oh, about…7 weeks away!!???!!!

I’d love to say that I’d been on a fantastic holiday, or just enjoying the British summer, but sadly there has been no sign of either. I have just been tired...really, REALLY, tired, and really not in the mood to make much of anything ... with even less inclination to blog about it (sadly).

Still, I’m back – kind of...  I have plans to be back anyway, and I guess that’s better than nothing!

I am also still holding out hope that something approximating a summer reaches us soon (hence today’s rather wistful picture that I took two years ago in a very dried out Greenwich park – ahhh, for a few dreamy hot summer days like that one!). A glimmer of hope poked its way through the clouds yesterday so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Vintage Glassware

Again this is a slightly belated post as I didn’t find these this weekend, but they are well worth sharing.

I have always wanted a set of shot glasses, and had had designs on some like the ones they drink out in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones). I always keep a look out on my thrifting/ junk store rummage days and have always been disappointed until I saw these…

Aren’t they beautiful?! Granted they are absolutely nothing like what I originally had in mind but they are infinitely better. Not only are they so much more me than anything Indiana Jones wise, they cost all of about £6! I have to admit I hardly ever use them, not being the hugest shot drinker, but I they are super pretty to I always have them out.

For more vintage/thrifty finds pop on over to Her Library Adventures 

and Apron Thift Girl

More Preparation - Hair Bobbles

So I’ve been doing a bit more preparation for the fete. As there are going to be lots of little girls there, I thought that hair bobbles might go down well, so I’ve been making a ton of buttons to turn into bobbles. 

I think I need a few more colourful pinks etc but there’s still plenty of time for that. Its quite therapeutic making rows and rows of little buttons. Not I just need to get the elastics.