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Sunday 5 August 2012

Birthday!

I know, I know- I haven't posted for nearly a month now.... but I have excuses! First I was super super busy at school, and then I went away on holiday- but I'm back now!

So what happened in the time I was away?

I became a teenager!

Yes, I was 13, and today I'd like to share with you some of the things I got.

 Finally, I have a rotary cutter! I have an Olfa one with a 45 mm blade, and an Olfa 24x18 cutting mat to go with it. I've got no idea what brand the quilting ruler is though. At the moment I'm trying to get used to using it.
Some lovely, lovely thick, 100% wool hand-dyed felt from the craft shop in Abergavenny.
 
And The Vintage Tea Party Book. This is a very, very lovely book, and not only are the recipes mouthwatering but the layout, photography and illustrations are stunning. I will definitely be using some of these recipies and ideas when I have my vintage tea party for my birthday in September!

Monday 9 July 2012

Quilt

Sorry I haven't posted for such a long time... I've been working on a secret project! I've been making my grandma a quilt, and since she reads my blog I obviously couldn't post my progress.


This is the patchwork pieces laid out. Please tell me what you think!

Monday 25 June 2012

Peach and raspberry pie

Mmmm... baked today in food tech, and too yummy looking to resist sharing with everyone. I'm off to try a slice...

Thursday 21 June 2012

Modern Patchwork book review

 So today, I got a little treat in the post! The lovely people from sew mama sew choose two random comments each month, and send them a book! I got Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman, and I am absolutely delighted!
 It's full of lovely photos of quilts made with gorgeous fabrics, and the instructions are clear and in depth. I especially like the neighbourhood quilt, and I may give it a go!
 I really love most of the projects listed here, which is quite rare. I will often flick through a book and see maybe two or three projects I'll try, but I could imagine making all of these!
It also has an alternative ideas section at the back, which is great as it helps you imagine the quilt in different ways. Also included are a fold out full size paper pattern section, a fabric choosing section and some basic techniques. Something particularly useful for me is the section on rotary cutting, because I'm hoping that I will get a set for my upcoming birthday!
Overall this is a nicely presented book full of amzing quilts, with in depth instructions about how to make them.

Thursday 7 June 2012

Crafty things to do with postage stamps

Yesterday I showed you my haul of stamps, and asked you for ideas. Thanks to MadWild, who suggested covering a notebook. Well, after a quick search on the internet, I found plenty more projects that took my fancy!

Stamp cake garland (by Dsharp)

A stamp covered bangle here
Postage stamp covered bangle via flickr
Postage stamp shoes here

Even for decorating a whole table!

hope you like these!

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Stamps

Today I was out shopping in Tewksbury, and as well as a very nice ring...
 I bought this load of stamps! For the incredibly cheap price of only one pence each. I managed to buy 50 in total- but it was only 50p.
 These are some of my favourites. How come England doesn't have stamps with cheetahs and buses on?


I am seriuosly considering moving to Antigua, just to use these stamps. Side note, can you use old unused stamps from other countries as stamps on letters?
I know I want to do something crafty with them, but I'm not sure what. Does anyone have any suggestions? If you do, please let me know below!

Saturday 2 June 2012

Geoball- free download

This is from a blog called zu, and is a cute geometric washi tape/ bits and bobs holder. I can't wait to get started making mine!


http://zugalerie.blogspot.fr/2012/04/diy-geoball.html

Saturday 26 May 2012

Thursday 24 May 2012

Sew mama sew giveaway day

I'd like to tell you about sew mama sew's giveaway day- it's actually a week. It closes tommorow though, so hurry! hundreds of blogs link up to giveaways in categorys like supplies, handmade accesories, and kids and baby. Hurry up and have a look!

Friday 18 May 2012

An utterly amazing sewing machine!!



So, I was just wandering along at the car boot sale, carrying some bargains, minding my own buisness when I found THIS!! It's been converted to electric, but I'm not sure how safe it is... so I'll just try and take the electric bit off. And guess how much it was- £5! Yes, really, only five pounds.

Anyway, now I have to go and tackle the ginormous mountain of mess that is my room. See you on the other side....

Thursday 17 May 2012

Make your own notebooks

These are cute notebooks I've been making recently- and for about one hundredth the price of a store bought one!












All you need for these super easy notebooks is a magazine page, A4 paper, an embroidery needle, embroidery thread, a gluestick, a pair of paper scissors and a pair to cut the thread.
(I have pinking shears here because I've lost my nice sharp embroidery ones!)
 Glue the magazine page to a piece of paper to strengthen it. You'll probably have to trim either the paper or the magazine page.
 Place the magazine page on top of a stack of A4 paper. Here I've used plain white, but it would look cute with coloured paper, graph paper, handmade paper... whatever you like!
 Fold the stack in half and make sure it's a nice sharp crease.

 Again, you'll probably need to trim the edges of the paper to get a neat finish.
 Thread your embroidery needle with coordinating thread- or a really bright, fun colour to stand out.
Open the notebook to the centre, and sew up along the crease. Tie a secure knot at the end, and you're done!


Thursday 10 May 2012

Post it organizer

I've been seeing quite a lot of these recently, and I thought it would be a cute and easy organizing project. often, I find loads of projects to do, start them or get about halfway through them - then forget completely about them! Hopefully this will change that. I blutacked a pencil to the sheet, because I can never find one when I need one, and maybe putting it on the organizer will mean it won't get lost. It's up on my bedroom wall now- let's just hope it doesn't fall down in the middle of the night!

Tuesday 8 May 2012

a new apron!


I made my mum a new apron- it's like the one I made my grandma, except her's had a pink and white floral for the main bit, and a bright spotty blue for the ruffle etc. I used the tutorial here.

Monday 7 May 2012

origami bows


 These are some cute origami bows I've been making this weekend, using magazine pages from vogue. I got the tutorial from here. I really like all the bright colours- and it's the first piece of origami I've tried that has actually worked!

Saturday 5 May 2012

Bloglovin

I joined bloglovin!
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3704955/pinwheel?claim=da85d9bwyew">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Decorated notebook



Today I was looking for a notebook to draw some quick sketches in, but all my notebooks seem to be lined or squared. Why do I need squared notebooks? Anyway, I found a cheap A5 notebook from the works - 99p! However, it looked a bit plain and boring. So I decided to spruce it up a bit! The front has my name in letters cut out from magazines, and 1940's style clothes tags I printed out from The Cottage Market.


The back is decorated in a modern style, with bright colours I picked out from magazines and adverts. It went a bit wrong... I forgot to smooth out the bubbles! Despite this, I still like it, and it's a lot better than a plain cardboard cover. Do you like it?