W.I.P.

I have little felt naughties all over my flat waiting to be stitched up...
Its so exciting! I'm going to stuff a few owls too just to see what happens...

Sew i have my nose in books at the moment and am disappeaing home for some easter time off...wait no... i mean revision *sigh* but when i'm back i'll finish these up and pop them in the shop.

Tulips and Chocolate

Spring is here! Kind of anyway - its sunny, definitely warmer and the long awaited daffodils, crocuses and snowdrops now line the high street all at once. I felt contrary and bought tulips instead...

And did i ever show you what MummySew left behind? a CHOCOLATE duck

...But all this coursework and pbl and portfolio works makes you kind of hungry...

Nom nom nom!

Plotting Against Monsters...

MummySew and I put our heads together a while ago to figure out a way to keep my little felt pencil toppers on their pencils! The answer from MummySew was quick and simple:

I cut a rectangle of matching felt and wrapped it around an average pencil as tightly as possible, stitching the edges together....(note the ever so awesome personalised 'Tara' pencil)

And then simply stitched it in at the bottom, when i sewed the monsters up in blanket stitch.

Even with a good shake, these little monsters are going nowhere!

Watch out for scary additions to The Shop sooon!

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day! I made a card as usual, but was even more fuelled to DIY it after popping into Clinton Cards and seeing all the little cards at £5.00 each. No thanks! Anyway, Scherenschnitte came to the rescue with a gorgeous paper cut out (very fiddly - had to get the scalpel out!) that worked very well.

Download your own PDF and have a go yourself here - but do check out her other designs, they are all equally delightful!

I got a bit paper-cutting mad and found this idea on How About Orange and used that to frame my message as well. I copied her pattern but its basically a well thought out paper snowflake! I can't wait to try some other designs :)

Oh and i found these gorgeous earrings on Folksy which are very Mummy Sew. Just missed the sale *sigh* but Gama agreed to pop a little Happy Mothers Day note in the packet for me which was lovely of her and meant i could post direct to Ma.

To Finish...Happy Mothers Day MummySew! Thank you for your love and attention, your patience and education. I cannot wait to see you again :)

Little Hearts

I taught myself a little bit of crochet today :) 'The Blanket' uses UK trebles...but I wanted to expand my repertoire a little so I made a little sampler from here and learnt to do US dc, sc and sl st from videos on you-tube (I do have a life - honest. This is done in my study tea breaks!). Its a little messy as I don't have my tension right yet...the journey begins anyway.
On a completely unrelated note - I adore these books :) The illustrations are fantastic; the plots brilliant; the writing refreshingly simple. I only wish i could read and crochet at the same time!

What Dreams are Made of...

I went hunting for circular knitting needles and crochet hooks today...I hunted through the local charity shops and found some 2mm knitting needles. Are they used for ANYTHING?! I cannot for the life of me find a pattern for anything done on 2mm 80cm circular needles *sigh* They just get added to the pile then and the hunt continues. I might ebay it.

I want to make hats - ravelry has been taunting me with these things. I would love to try all sorts...

• a loose hat to avoid hat hair issues
• a lacy cowel for snuggling into
• a cosy shawl which would be lovely in the recycled wool from here

But they remain dreams until the right equipment comes my way. I did find a whole lot of vintage material and crochet scraps, which i resisted up to a point. Not having a sewing machine here is killing me. I am itching to get at big prints and make some handbags. I treated myself to some miniatures which proved wonderful inspiration for the upcoming Mothers Day.

Oh and the tiny little Petit Fours cases are so useful at the moment!

Ringo

Marianne of Applehead had a little giveaway of one of her lovely little pen and ink drawings a while back - she asked us to name one of her little creations. Sew here is Ringo!

She wrapped him up very cutely sew he peeked through the paper! I loved her idea of using the teeny little tags.
Isn't he lovely? I have to get him framed up in something equally tiny and cute. She emailed me when she was drawing him asking if i would like anything particular to accompany him...I suggested a teapot and it turns out she had already drawn one alongside him! Great minds obviously think alike - he was destined to come my way :)
I haven't posted about anything crafty for a while and i do apologise! I will whip something up for you soon I am sure (as soon as this horrible coursework is out of the way)!

Aren't I Lucky?

MummySew came to visit this weekend :) She bought a big bag of post with her including my OWOH prizes! It was so lovely to see her, it makes me realise how much I miss her though and now she's gone its horrible!
Anyway enough moping look at the lovelies I have...
1) A crochet pattern to make this gorgeous chocker necklace from Heather of Jeweled Elegance. She sells these and other patterns in her etsy shop.
I can't wait to try the flower - it would be lovely to add onto all sorts of other lovely things (namely a new pair of fingerless gloves like these)!

2) I also received 5 beautiful cards from Barbara of Barbs Garden which will be lovely to post off to friends and family.3) Linda from The Briar Rose Gate sent me this gorgeous little chappy who I can't wait to frame and have up on the wall...4) ...and finally, I opened up this little leather notebook from Eva of The Elusive Muse. It's the tiniest little thing - perfect for a handbag at just 2 inches square :)

Sew...Aren't I lucky?

Progress

My blanket grows slowly - I'm still adding in those orangey wool from here. Its getting a bit big to photograph really! It's now a whopping 85cm wide (this is definitely whopping to me)!

I have 8 balls of wool left - I wonder how far they will go...and what on earth i will do when they run out!!