A rainy day project finished

I'm on leave this week, we've been to an old friend's wedding in Hampshire and had a few lovely walks in Cornwall and Devon whilst I've been off  (makes us feel blessed to live on the Cornwall and Devon border, we have the best of both counties on our doorstep).  This morning however, the weather changed and we woke up to rain.  Some people might be upset to have rainy days whilst on leave, but for crafters it's the perfect excuse to get to grips with that project that they need to finish (or indeed, start a new one). This is my Button Angel "Blackbird Garden Bag". I love how it's turned out. It's such a good size for shopping. It just so happens that there's a craft fair across the Tamar tomorrow, the perfect shopping opportunity for its first outing.

My first fae fabric doll

I've been busy over the last few weeks making this doll. She's fashioned following a Jan Horrox pattern after attending one of her workshops held near Glastonbury.  I've named her Solstace as she's my first fabric fae doll and she was 'born' on the Summer Solstice.  Solstace was a lot of fun to make, a lot of fiddly parts but so nice to see her emerge from a pile of fabric and stuffing.  I have so many fae friends in mind to keep Solstace company.  I think I may have found my niche.

Scrappy Fabric Passport Covers

Passport covers made from fabric scraps. Really fun to make and I love the way they've turned out.

A productive weekend away with the girls in Hereford

Had a lovely weekend away with some crafty friends tucked away in a little farmstead in rural Herefordshire at the foot of the Brecon Beacons in a place called Craswall. It was such a beautiful place, made even more beautiful by the snow capped Brecons which could be seen from our worktable.

I managed to finish some wedding bunting for a friend's wedding, some scrappy fabric ready to make a journal cover (now finished and pictured below) a few journal pages and started another scrappy fabric sheet which is now ready to be turned into something. I'm thinking maybe an evening bag.

More patchwork

I've really been enjoying my fabric crafts lately - particularly patchwork and applique. Used up quite a lot of scraps on this little hottie :)

More sparkly fun

Have been having a lot of fun with patchwork and applique lately. It's somewhat heartwarming to rediscover the love of a craft.

Found a wonderful new craft

So excited to share a new craft I found at  Westpoint Craft Fair today.  It's such a versatile form of sculpting fabric with glaze, varnish and pigment and so much fun to do.  Here's my first attempt below

Made for a friend

Unfortunately I didn't get this finished in time for a friend's birthday but, it's done now.  My friend likes to spend her summer weekends at her caravan.  As the summer season is coming to an end I thought she might appreciate this applique to remind her of her summer weekend home.

A major project begins

I've been meaning to start this Lynette Anderson Cherry Tree quilt for some time. I was recently given a voucher to spend at Cowslip Studios in Launceston by some lovely crafting friends that clearly know where to shop. This family run business is based in gorgeous rural Cornwall and prides itself in stocking a wide range of quilting and craft fabrics.  Cowslip Studios also run a wide range of workshops, mostly fabric based but also include other crafts too. To top it all they have a fabulous little cafe which serves lovely lunches, cakes and beverages, making this a wonderful place to visit for a fabric obsessed crafter, such as myself. One beautiful summer's day last last month, I took the opportunity to visit and, quite by chance Cowslip had an exhibition of quilts. There was some stunning work on display and I found it so inspiring. I came away fully fired up to begin my project.

I bought some beautiful batik prints which are lending themselves beautifully to the flowers in Lynette's design. It isn't easy cutting fabric with limited space but I cleared the kitchen table and made a start. Now the pretty bits begin, I'm really enjoying the applique on these little flowers.

Quilty dresser protector with heart applique

Who would've thought recuperating from breast cancer surgery could be this much fun? Certainly sorts your head out and stops you from dwelling on your cares and worries. I made this dresser protector because I wanted something pretty to look at each morning and also because I wanted a project small enough to cope with post surgery.  I applique the hearts whilst I didn't have much arm movement and then tackled the quilting as soon as I could move my arms without pain. Love the way it turned out.  I added a pocket to the end to store hair brushes, clips and combs.

Watercolour blooms

Been having fun with watercolour pigments last night. Really love the way that it moves on water. Anyway this is how the experiments ended up.

Live Laugh Love

After much dilly dallying over what to do with these panels, they finally became cushions (much to Joe's chagrin, he says men don't 'do' cushions) - shame that :)

A thank you gift

I make all sorts of things to raise money for my favourite charities - Dogs Trust, Cats Protection, The Donkey Sanctuary and Cancer Research to name a few. I've recently met a very nice Chinese lady who has given me lots of pretty cotton fabric scraps and I wanted to make her something to say 'thank you' for the donation. I've therefore made Di one of the covered notebooks below. Di mentioned she has a young daughter, I've therefore made her one of the covered notebooks shown below, and for her daughter some bunting with the motto "Carpe Diem" on it. This of course means 'Seize the Day' a saying made popular in the film Dead Poets Society. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

Using fabric scraps

I wanted to use up all those little scraps of fabric which were too small for patchworking but too pretty to throw away. I also wanted a fabric cover for for my Moleskine - I put the two together and came up with this. What do you think?

Invites

Been having a lot of fun creating invites this afternoon ...

A new year full of possibility

Don't you just love a New Year? It offers so many opportunities to make a fresh start. No matter what you do in life, or where you're at - even if it's just changing your attitude toward something - it can make life a lot less stressful. I'm off to a creative start, I've been painting and sewing a little - starting more than I've finished (no change there) but enjoying myself indoors while the weather has been turning increasingly bitter outside. I've decided to take part in a Facebook Group which is designed to help people control stress through art and this lady below came from a meditation which made up the first exercise.

Today I have a stinking cold consequently I'm not venturing out of the house. So what does a true friend of the fae do when they can't stretch their real wings? We don our 'wings of whim' (wonderment, hope, inspiration and merriment) and get the glitter out ....yay! Loving the way these twinkly trees turned out.

Just finished off a little glittery loveliness for a good friend's birthday - I hope she'll like it.

Cats asleep by the fire, glitter in my hair and on my clothes, chocolate and wine in the fridge for later, Emeli Sande filling the air with her wonderful voice - what more could a girl need (apart from tissues and paracetamol)? Happy days :)

An engagement album for a lovely Goddaughter

The album I'm creating for my Goddaughter and her Fiance, Jason,is coming along nicely - just a few more scrapbooked pages to do now. I've thoroughly enjoyed getting back into scrapbooking - it's been a long time since I've concentrated my creative energy on scrapping but it's really nice to work with pretty papers and lovely photos of my Goddaughter, Nadine. I think it was my time at Meadow Barn (Hereford) last month on the scrapping retreat that inspired me to get started again - thank you ladies - your work was amazing and got my scrapping juices flowing again. It's also nice to be earning proper scrapbooking points for The Dizzies on UKS too. So here are the results to date ...

Another thing completed

Hurrah I've finished the cot bumper set and quilt for my Goddaughter's baby, Kiera Isabella - it's SUCH a beautiful name - I keep wanting to say it over and over. I've also found the perfect teddy to set it all off (there's a teddy in the fabric print). I can't wait for her to see it, I hope she likes it. It now just needs to be laundered and then it'll be ready to go :)

Another birthday card

I attended a faery fund raiser to keep the doors of the White Spring open at The Assembly Rooms, in Glastonbury, last weekend and to celebrate Imbolc at the Chalice Well. The Dolmen played at the Assembly Rooms event and they were amazing as usual. The event raised £1000 ... hurrah! It was quite a small crowd in comparisson to other fae events, probably because it was on a Friday, but it was fun nonetheless and a great chance to catch up with my clan. On the way home I stopped off at Exeter's Westpoint Craft Fair and bought some lovely new supplies including some dies. My partner's sister's birthday's coming up so I've made her this card. I hope she likes it.

I also have another very special person's birthday coming up and I've made her this card

with a little surprise inside

Brightening up a blind

Back in the summer I bought some gorgeous pearl trim with the intention of adding it to the blinds in my craft room in order to transform them from bland to beautiful. I'm so pleased with the result