Sunday 24 August 2008

A Little Bit Of Sunshine Goes A Long Way

Typical conversation overheard between any two people in the UK:

"Terrible summer we're having"
"All this rain..."
"One week of sunshine and that was it.."
"Not as bad as last year though"
"True. But nearly as bad"

Oh yes we remain obsessed with the weather, the lack of a consistent spell of glorious sunshine that we all remember used to occur throughout all our school days (honest, 6 weeks of complete sunshine! It's true really!)

And when I discovered a little yellow wooden heart in my box of bits I was inspired to create my own ray of sunshine:




A little summer brooch - carry your own sunshine yellow with you!

I've put it in my Etsy shop today. Create your own weather!

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Off The Cuff

"Cuff" according to Dictionary.com:
1.a separate or detachable band or piece of fabric worn about the wrist, inside or outside of the sleeve.
2.to put handcuffs on.
3.Anatomy. a bandlike muscle or group of muscles encircling a body part.
4.off the cuff - extemporaneously; on the spur of the moment.




And so to my own definition of the cuff:
1. wrist cuff - band of wool, hand crocheted by me, in a variety of shades of wool, buttons added too, a unique piece of jewellery.

And these are some of my latest designs:







I've put some wrist cuffs in both my Folksy and Etsy shop and will also be making some new designs for some craft fairs later in the year - perfect little Christmas gifts! (It's never too early to be thinking about Christmas!)

Wednesday 13 August 2008

Garage Gems



While on an outing to a Honey Farm recently we discovered that tucked in the grounds was a garage/barn full of wonderful vintage treasures. Treasures that were gleamed from every aspect of past lives - scooters, light bulbs, records, posters.....



.....cars, gas masks, cigarette lighters.....



....big shoes, little shoes, petrol cans, music sheets...



...flags, coins, car tyres, coats, piano....

So much stuff to drool over, some things I'd never seen, some things I never thought I'd see again, some things to bring back memories (oh little vespa scooter how I loved you...), some things to stop the children causing untold damage to themselves (yes, people really did mince meat in one of those.)

We never did meet the "collector" of those wonderful items but whoever you are thank you for letting us take a look at your incredible collection.

Sunday 10 August 2008

Coffee And Cream

Maybe the sandy beaches of my recent trip to Northumberland have still been on my mind for my latest creations seem to be in shades of cream, beige and sand. It all began with a rummage in my material cupboard to find a piece of this flower print fabric in subtle shades, which just had to be made into this little clutch bag.



Then with the same material I used one of the flower prints to make this brooch, I also added a few machine stitches to highlight the centre of the flower.



And last but not least I crocheted this wrist cuff in pure wool, and added some surface crochet in brown wool.



I've divided them up between my Etsy and Folksy shops and listed them there today.

Monday 4 August 2008

Find Me On Folksy

Folksy is a brand, shiny new UK based site for indie crafters to sell their creations. Its still at the early stages at the moment but is open to buy and sell, and joining up was one of the 1st things I did when I returned from the camping trip.

Something we have all been waiting for, us UKer's have been desperate for a UK based craft platform.

Have only listed a few things at the moment but will be adding more soon so check me out on Folksy!

Folksy blog logo1

Sunday 3 August 2008

Misty Beach Life

Have just returned from a wonderful camping holiday in Northumberland (hence the neglected blog) which was full of sun, BBQ's, castles, bike rides, ice-cream, more ice-cream, and the most amazing landscapes.

The sun appeared nearly every day, but what I also found beautiful was when a sea mist would descend suddenly - standing on the beach in glorious sunshine one minute, unable to see the sea the next.



Children's ability to create games without prompting or props is always a delight too - miles away from the play station/ TV/ computer world. The "sand hand" is a game of trying to build the biggest hand you can by piling up as much wet sand on top of your hand as you can without dropping it.



Meanwhile, the female of the clan decided rock pools made a perfect bath, and a shiny black beach stone was the soap.



British beach life at its best!