Wednesday 31 October 2012

Halloween

We dooked



 and carved (a terrified pumpkin!)


and carved some more (well my Mum did..)

A traditional turnip lantern
and ate some mummies!

Inspired by pintrest

Hope you have all had a great!


Sunday 28 October 2012

DIY Scented Owl's aka Stinky Owls!

 While I was sorting out my huge fabric stash I came across two half cut up felted jumpers so decided some little owls (and some other things that will be blogged about soon) should be made!

I made these two a few years ago

A well loved Owl, looking really tatty!
so used the same template I had drawn then and made these little owls.

He looks evil doesn't he...... this one is hidden in the bedroom out of view:)
Since radiator season is in full blast here I  made them into smelly radiator hangers so when the radiator heats up these little owls start to smell. I stuffed one with lavender and the other with stuffing and added a sachet of cloves and a cinnamon stick. I sewed ribbons in the top seam and now they proudly hang from my radiators.


Totally coincidentally they go very well with the decor in my living room:)




Linking to some of these fab parties!


Thursday 25 October 2012

Banksia Top Number 4!

Yes, I have made yet another one:) Meet Banksia Number 4...

Big E took the photo and cut off half my head, no bad thing really!!

My Banksia number 2

RIP dear top, your collar and buttons will have life again though!

disintegrated on me (the downfall of using very very old blackout blind fabric...) so I had to make another!

This time I altered the pattern for jersey material and, using fabric that had been lingering in my stash, made a jersey version. I added contrasting bands on the cuffs and bottom which avoided having to hem the edges which never ever goes right for me! This is my favourite so far, much much better length and less of a tent effect from my bust!

I think I might make just one more, to use the collar and buttons from number 2.... now which fabric should I use this time??



Saturday 20 October 2012

DIY Map Hearts Picture

I first saw the idea for a maps picture in a catalogue (no idea which one), they were £35 and the maps were generic country maps. I thought I could probably make it which would mean the maps could be presonalised. It really was as easy as it looks!



I have made 4 now, two engagement gifts, one Christmas pressie and one wedding gift. It really is the perfect pressie for most ocassions!


If you want to make one this is how I do it:

You will need:
A deep frame ( I use the Ribba Ikea frame)
Photo Paper
Computer
Printer
Sticky foam pads (good quality ones, the cheap ones loose their stick....)
A large sheet of backing card ( I use 12x12 scrapbooking card in either silver or pearlescent white)


First you have to decide how many hearts you are going have. I have done one picture with one large heart and three with four hearts.

Then use Word (or similar) and insert a heart shape into a blank document. Make sure you make it the correct size for the frame you are using.

Go to google maps or your preferred map site and find the map you want, for this one I got a map of where each person was from, where they got together and where they went on honeymoon.

Copy the map , I always print screen, paste into a photo editing package and crop the map closer to the are I want in the heart.

Copy map into Word making sure it is set to be behind text then place the heart outline over the map.

Do this for each heart then print it out and cut out your hearts.


Cut the backing card to size then arrange the hearts as you want them then stick them on with the foam pads so they stick out a bit from the backing card.


Reassemble the frame and voila, you have a fantastic gift for someone!









Linking to some of these fab parties!

Friday 19 October 2012

I've been tagged!

 I was tagged by Carol from Tales From Spring Cottage in a getting to know you thingy so , here goes...

The Rules:

Each tagged person must post 11 random facts about themselves.

Answer the 11 questions set by the previous blogger,

Create 11 more questions.

Tag 11 more blogs, with less than 200 followers.

Inform the blogs that they have been tagged.

My brain is not functioning enough to do it all (need more sleep...) so I will do the first two...


Ok, 11 random facts about me:

  •  I met my husband at high school, 
  • I had Big E when I was 25 and everyone thought I was mad,
  •  I didn't think of myself as even remotely creative until I was pregnant,
  •  I am a closet hippy, 
  • I only buy ethically or second hand, 
  • we use only organic natural products in the house,
  •  I love purple, and turquoise, 
  • I would love to buy the field next door and keep alpacas,
  •  my favourite parenting book is Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn, 
  • I wear barefoot shoes most of the time.

The Questions:


1, What is your favourite "me" time activity when you get the chance?

Anything crafty.

2, Do you prefer Spring or Autumn?

Probably Autumn, I love the colours of the trees and cold crisp but sunny mornings.

3, If you could have just one wish what would it be and why?

That everyone would care about the planet they live on and the people they share it with.

4, When as the last time you did something for the first time and what was it?

I did a papercutting course for the first time about a month ago. It was ok...

5, What was your favourite subject in High School?

Physics

6, When taking a holiday what do you prefer, countryside, seaside or city and why?

Combination, we always travel around on long holidays.

7, If you were hosting a dinner party who would be your guest of honour and why?

 My best friend from school, Emily, as we have not seen each other for almost 2 years :( She is busy putting people to sleep (she is an anaesthetist) and I am busy being a Mum.

8, As a teenager who was you idol?

Mark Owen (Take That)

9, Do you prefer to read a book and turn the pages made of paper or a kindle?

Paper, don't have a kindle.

10, What is your preferred footwear, heels, trainers or flats?

Vivobarefoot shoes (very flat, 3mm sole)

11. What is your favourite fairground ride?

Not a big fairground fan but if I had to choose one it would be the carousel because the kids love it. Little e's favourite bit about Disney last year was the carousel in the Magic Kingdom!


Off to seal the new plaster in the living room, I have a load of crafty things to post so hopefully I will get round to it this weekend!




Sunday 14 October 2012

The Abbey Coat

Thank goodness it is done, what a long and torturous sewing journey....


I should say first though, what a brilliant pattern! I have never made a coat before but this pattern and instructions were so clear it should have been pretty easy.

My first, and main, problem was the wool blend material I bought, it frayed even if you breathed on it and if you dared try and unpick it (and I ended up doing a lot of it) it basically self destructed!

Then, after sewing the coat panels together I realised that the material was stretching crazily when it was sewn...

Then to make it all 100% worse my sewing machine died on me and I ended up using my Mum's machine which was horrendous, think it must actually be broken, and my top stitching ended up wiggly and I had to unpick it all (see problem above!!)


The coat is now done apart from the button holes (I have put large poppers on in the mean time) as I am not even attempting them until my machine with the button hole programme comes back!

Slightly wrinkly post car journey photo!



The back isn't really squint, must have been standing strangely!
It is far from perfect, there were lots of bits I had to restitch since the fabric was stretching and it doesn't lie right in places but, for a first attempt with the worlds worst material, I am happy!






Linking up to some of these fab linky parties!




Tuesday 9 October 2012

Another Banksia Top

There is a Banksia Top Sewalong going on at the moment on the Megan Nielsen Blog. Seeing all her beautiful tops inspired me to make another one, it would have been rude not to really:)




This time I altered the pattern by doing a FBA as explained in the sewalong and enlarged the sleeves and sleeve openings on the body (I appear to have much larger than average upper arms!). I also skipped the placket on this one although there will be an exaple of a fake placket tomorrow so I might add it later ( I was just desperate to wear it today so carried on!).
 

Excuse the awful photo, it really does look better in real life! I doubt I will ever wear it like this seeing the photos, I am currently wearing it untucked with a card buttoned up a bit and it looks a bit better! You need a cardi when the living room is this temp...


 The red fabric is an Ikea table cloth  and the apple print material was bought in Florida last year and has been sitting in the stash waiting for the perfect moment so this top cost me the grand total of £0!

Hopefully I will be back over the next few days to show you my Abbey Coat, going on the search for buttons today!




Linking to some of these linky parties!