summery makes part 1

After last nights three hour deluge of rain, thunder and lightning, following an extremely hot day, I think we can officially declare British summertime is here.

Not that anyone is complaining, it really was rather spendid and all that water on the plants after all that heat can only be a good thing.

So it's time for me to show the first of my new summer makes. I found a couple of vintage curtains to transform. The dark blue floral fabric is some lovely Sanderson fabric. A pretty table cloth and a serviette! I based the size on a bag I already have, made some lining, added a flap and a little pocket. I feel like the bag is a cross between Cath kidston and the lovely granny chic of dottie angel. I'm not sure how either of them would actually feel about that!

Lest that sound too easy, I can assure you I had a good wrestle with the lining fabric and strap! But it somehow all found it's place.

All I need now is a dusting of granny chic bravery as I step out wearing my transformed curtains, table cloth and serviette. What's that?......oh of course, that is the whole granny chic point!

Well I do love it so I shall be brave, and today's the day.

It was so nice to use up some of this fabric, I have been collecting madly. The cross stitch on the little handy pocket, inspired some more around the flap. This is a secret pocket/label for hiding secret lists in. Lists of adventurous and brave things. And maybe a shopping list too. So wish me luck as I step out with some hopeful granny chic bravery.

Oh and Miss Trissie was very happy about it too!

Have a lovely summery weekend.

a pretty fabric covered notice board

I have been having fun with vintage fabric and cork boards.

This has been on my so easy craft list for ages!

how to prettify a corner of your life.

I used the cork boards available from here. It's a smallish size which can easily be covered by less than a fat quarter of fabric, so take your pick from the vast array of pretty fabrics out there. It can easily be changed, which is also nice. I like these boards because the fabric can tuck right over the edge without a frame to deal with.

Cut the fabric to fit the board. I used an extra layer of white cotton underneath. Now just smooth the fabric over as if you were making up a bed! Tuck in the corners like a parcel. Best not to leave them too bulky. I fixed my fabric on with drawing pins also from the same place. If you have a staple gun you could use that.

Aim for a nice smooth finish.

Stand back and admire your new notice board!

Photo taken at Glastonbury about 1995!

Attach momentos. The board are thin, so best for display rather than changing every day.

Pop a nail in the wall and bobs your uncle!

The notice board is soon covered, but looking a whole lot prettier.

De-clutter your work space.

My new corner!

That feels much better.

Onto another lovely screen saver from here.

  

Enjoying my Earth Pathways diary from here. The cup is cute. It belonged to my Mum. I love the mouse handle.

Of course I didn't just stop at one!

Oh no.

This one is for my jewellery.

I stitched on vintage buttons to some ribbons, and attached these with drawing pins, in the same way as before. Very simple. With hindsight you are probably best to stagger the buttons, so you can hang necklaces, bracelets and earings quite easily.

Amazingly this board was exactly the right size to fit an old frame I have been holding on to! I painted it first with some left over paint.

Did a clever trick with some small nails around the edge to hold the board to the frame. I used the string already on the frame to hang the board and et viola!

I'm enjoying this in my room. It's nice to hang keepsakes that might otherwise be away in a box and enjoy seeing them.

The 'love who you are' garland will be available in my shop just as soon as I've listed it.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. I enjoyed making them. I hope you do too.

♥♥♥

So said I

So I started a new cushion........a chance question led to a spontaneous burst of new cushion!

Just a little cushion it was going to be......

16 circles, which suddenly grew to 25.......and why not!

Just a little join-as-you-go, and then the border.

And anyone who's ever made a cushion knows it doesn't stop there......!

a certain amount of commitment takes it to the next stage.

darning in those ends! has to be done, nice and neat. Only a hundred plus!

time to machine sew a cushion cover now and over-lock the seams. Then the final mission is to hand stitch the crochet to the cover. Totally not the best the bit!! That's what thimbles are for right!

So not quite finished yet. It's a lot of work. I think they look fab, but it's a lot of work!

And although I've been sizing this one up for my couch, it will be going in my shop! :-)

and so said I.

finding my way back to colour

I've finally found my way back to working with lots of colour! These colourful crochet circles are edged in a off-white colour with a silver thread running through. I'm not sure how easily you can see the silver here. It has been a fun and sparkly project to work in the evenings.

The idea was sparked by Ale's christmas tree project and the need to wip up a few christmas presents.

I used Debi at hooks and yarn's pattern for her squircle using the pattern for the first two rounds of trebles. Then I added a further round of single crochet and then a border of alternating single crochet and a chain. Does that make sense?!

I think you can see the sparkle here and i'm having fun with the photos. So as it's christmas I'll get them all out!

of course I wanted to keep them all!

but knew i wasn't going to......they were destined to become 'happy garlands of colour and sparkle' and on their way to add some cheer in other folks homes!

  

and it was so hard to see them go that I had to make myself a little one too!

It's looking quite festive here now. The tree is up. I just love the smell of tinsel! and my woollies tree. It has a very definite christmas smell! 

Tonight I will look for some greenery and a lovely candle to burn as today is the winter solstice. It's nice to mark the return of the light and longer days in a peaceful and warm way, thinking of hopes and wishes for the future. 

wishing you a happy solstice,

Heather

X

the crafty clogs are turning.....!

This autumn I have found myself called by the beautiful berries, the reds and the pinks, in fact I would say that this has been the year of the berries for me. I have almost never noticed quite how beautiful they are before. The wool I used for these wrist warmers was found tucked away in a basket in my slightly muddled local wool shop. There was no label, but the colour jumped right out at me as something I've been wanting to work with!

A gorgeous deep berry colour, so lovely to work at this time of year. What would you call this colour? it was this very particular colour that I was looking for. It's not quite burgundy, or wine, or berry! Any ideas.

 Of course one thing led to another.

and another! each time I had to add a little of this wonderful colour in. There was a moment of dismay when I realized I had made two different pairs of two different lengths with the colours in different places. Which led to some unpicking and re-making. And now I am left with two gloves of the same length and different colours. I know it's confusing isn't it! So what do I do now?! I do actually really like both!

I was inspired by the work of the lovely Coco rose on her post here. And also Maiike's beautiful design at Crejjtion. The pattern is here. It would be sweet to add some little roses to the berry gloves. I used approximately a 3.5 hook, which you can see above. I love this hook. I think it's very old as it belonged to my grandma. I think it may be made from bone! It's got a great little hook on the end and really easy to use. I have to say a couple of years ago when I began crocheting granny squares, I never ever thought I would see the day when I would understand how to make these. But I do now, and that's just fab and very empowering, and really rather amazing! and now I'm thinking hmmm, how about some berry boot toppers to match, oh yeah!

a finished autumn blanket!

After two days without a local internet connection, I decided it was time to show you these pictures. We had an evening of playing chess and drafts and re-connecting! It felt like divine intervention really and a little glimpse back to how life used to be. I quite liked it. It felt really different and has given me something to think about. I definitely felt more present in my life and I felt like I had more time! It's a tricky thing to get the balance with.

I am enjoying my new autumn blanket. The light indoors is just not up to it, so I took the blanket outside to show you.

You can see the colours are quite dark already. I'm so happy I added the little pops of colour. Overall it's the effect I was looking for. I wanted something darker, perhaps less girly to sit on my couch in these colder months.

I was a little unsure about adding in the beige colours to the mix, but having ordered the wool I decided to plough ahead with it. The brighter colours in the middle were some merino wool from my stash. I was inspired by this blanket here, by little cotton rabbits. I saved this in my flickr favourites a long time ago. I was inspired by the colours although mine is not quite as blue grey as I would have liked. But in situ it looks just fine, and I will show you eventually.

The pattern was very straightforward as you can see. Triples followed by four chains at every corner. The join is ridged underneath, which I decided would be best as really this blanket will be for sitting on!

It's probably the size of a large lap blanket. Any larger would need serious dedication. I do have my eye on this blanket found on Annette's pinterest board, as a possible next project. Definitely back into girly! wouldn't it be lovely.

Well the elving has begun here in earnest, I'll understand if your visits here become fly-bys! it's that time of year. I still need to go and dig out my advent star. It's time to begin lighting up the house. Have a good Sunday. Bye for now,

Heather

X

Just wanted to add that this screensaver for December is fun.

a little bit crafty.......

I have had a bit of a crafty week here. Probably because I have now finished my blanket and am feeling a little free! I still need to block it (if i do!) and am waiting for a bright day to photograph it but I will show you soon. I have been enjoying a flurry of crafty moments:-

This book by Kanako Yaguchi, The art of decorative paper stencils 2, appeals to me on so many levels. I do love paper crafts and it's been a while now. (You can see the little suitcase!) Kanako combines her travel memories of cities around the world with the art of paper cutting. It has a Japanese feel to the book and especially in the translations where she talks a lot about her memories of the air and the wind. This is a beautiful Japanese quality to me. She turns her work into illustrations and exhibitions. I feel very inspired.

These were the colours I had left with my origami paper. I love this combination. There is some patterned paper to try out with at the back of the book too. I'm imagining trying different mediums say newspaper print, and perhaps they could become cards or added to wrapping paper.

This week I discovered the work of Flora Bowley of  Brave Intuitive You. There is fantastic film here of her making her art. You absolutely must watch it! I think of myself as a crafter. Not an artist. Not really. Not yet anyway. But I was inspired to begin a little something small, just for myself really, that I thought I would share with you.

These were my Mum's watercolour paints. I have cut small squares of paper, and everyday I will paint one piece. It may just one colour, or maybe I will use crayons or pens. Or maybe I will stick something on it! Anything is allowed, and I will see where it takes me. It's only a small piece of paper so, no pressure just something. At the end of a month I will make a collage of all the pieces. Would you like to join me?!

I just felt like trying something new.

I have many art books which belonged to my Mum. I try to remember to open them up and keep a page open for inspiration, which I change around. I like this idea of intentional inspiration. I believe that things that we see everyday do inspire us subtly on a deeper level. This is my current page by the Impressionist Cubist, Jacques Villion. I also have books on street art and many different kinds of art. I like the idea of my son growing up with this kind of inspiration around him.

I do feel the need to be more creative in other areas of my life. I have got stuck in a rut, whether it's the food I'm eating or the clothes I'm wearing. More on that to come. I'm on the look out for inspiration, I feel like it's definitely in the air. A burst of inspiration is always a good thing :-)

I have been playing with china alphabet beads, sometimes it's the small things that bring pleasure!

and I do so want to create my life.

Well the sun's shining, so I will be off to soak some up while I can.

Enjoy the weekend,

Heather

X

birthing a new project

To be honest the last two weeks here have been very difficult. We seem to have fallen off the edge of a precipitous slope that we didn't want to go down, we may still land the right way up, sometimes things need to crash and tumble before they can land in a new way. I hope so.

I felt the need to clear away all my shop things into my craft room, it was taking over the living room, and distracting me from being able to think and act, in a way that I needed to. I also thought it was a bit unfair on teen boy to expect him to live in the middle of frilly heart making! My craft table was slap bang in the middle of the room. So I've cleared that now. I've needed to become a cog in the wheel of what's happening here, without distraction. This week has been a time of climbing into the works in different places and pushing relevant authorities into action. At last.

But it's been hard and stressful for both of us and comfort and safe space has been much needed.

This is my go to comfort soup, potato, carrot, leek, a teaspoon of Swiss bouillon, and chicken pieces (apologies if your vegetarian, it would be nice without too). Together with toasted pitta bread and butter. 

It's warming and hearty,

in fact I make it so much I've almost forgotten how to make anything else!

  this is my new cozy spot.

new beginnings are being made.

The living room actually feels a bit bare now.

I am struggling with the white walls!

I need to make a new blanket.

I feel as though I could sit here on this sheepskin all winter and do just that.

I love this friendly little table too.

It says just sit here a while and think and everything will be alright.

 I need to make a blanket that's earthy and warm. Not too jazzy. I'm feeling jarred and I can't do big colours.

I need soft and gentle with little pops of colour.

I like this paint box picture.

This feels nice and easy.

you can see where it's going already,

although I think you may be surprised when you see the dark grey.

I am loving this charcoal colour right now. 

the colours remind me of pebbles and stone, with little colour pops,

I don't want to be too girly.

Have to have the colour pops though!

Perhaps it because I didn't get to my pebble beach this summer.......

I'm hoping it will look good here,

and warm things up, in a modern and not too girly way (i know I've already said that!)

notice the vintage car and the dark blue.
I think this couch would be nice covered in a denim blue.

It still needs something else.

and maybe another sheepskin rug.

It's definitely getting colder here.

oh and I must dig out my fairy lights, that always works.

I hope I can stick it out, this blanket making mission! I tend to fall into making cushions instead.

I will do my best.

promise.

I will faithfully carry my new project on the go bag, to all my appointments.

and not find myself with idle fingers, quietly wishing I had my crochet with me!

Hope you have a nice weekend,

Heather

X