Stashy Swap :: Received

Hello, thanks so much for visiting my little blog today, I really do appreciate each and every person who visits and comment and to all my lovely followers, I hope you are enjoying the ride. My blog will be one soon which I am rather surprised about, after such an apprehensive start I have so enjoyed sharing things with you all, and growing in my creativity.

Anyway, enough about that, I will of course be having a giveaway when I do reach one year old.

Today I wanted to show you my gorgeous goodies from my 'Stash Busting Swap' on the Shabby Chic Cafe organised by the wonderful Bloomin' Myrtle. I was partnered up with Claire @ Dollydollop. All this came in a huuuuuge box on Saturday afternoon just as I was dashing out the door, and I had to patiently wait until Monday to open it up.

It was worth the wait let me tell you. I photographed each stage, as I always do. I love to keep a record of all the swaps I've taken part in, and this blog is like a virtual diary of things like that.

Lots of bubble wrap as you can see....

A pretty Cath Kidston envelope with a lovely letter inside. I do keep each and every little note and card I get, it will be lovely to look back on one day.

The theme of the swap was to use up or share some of your stash, and Claire has certainly de-stashed some wonderful goodies. I opened up this huge bundle of fabric.

You can see some pretty florals, checks, ginghams, polka dot, some christmassy, some polka dot. Sooooo much fabric goodness going on there. I forgot to seperate them all to take a photo so you can see a bit clearer, but there is just about everything in there.

This cute little tin contained something very handy...

Lots of bobbins, these are great as I always need another colour, but I only have three bobbins, so have to work with the wrong colour to use it up!!

Next I opened this fabby chicken doorstop, which also smells of lovely lavender too. He is so sweet, and I love the buttons on his eyes! Claire is so clever, and a hugely talented crafter.

Hehe look at his little face!!!

Another little fella, this one is so cute, and I love the retro style fabric Claire has used for him!!

I know its pink, but I think its a boy. Any name suggestions?

Claire also sent me this lovely cupcake tin which I am gonna keep on my crafty shelf.

Especially as its filled with a whole bundle of ribbon and lace.

Lastly, what is possibly my favourite thing in the swap :: this gorgeous boat fabric picture which will go lovely with the padded hanging boat I received from Claire here.

Isn't it lovely? I am so lucky!!
Thankyou Claire for a fantastic swap, I am nearly there with mine, so it will be with you soon!

Mr Owl has a found a home on my crafty bookshelf!

Now he just needs a name! X

Shop Talk

I have been feeling a little downhearted about my makes lately, am I stuck in a rut with the things I make? I love pretty girly things, but not everyone does. I like hearts, but not everyone does. I had these lavender hearts sitting in this fabric bucket for about a month, I wasn't sure whether or not to put them in my blogshop or not.

Anyway last night I thought I'd just put them on and see how it goes. These are all lavender scented and smell lovely. They are here if you'd like to have a little looky.





Some pretty Cath Kidston material, like this pink paisley one {I think the paisley type fabrics are my fave Cath prints}

A little smidge of everyone's favourite: Rosali print.

And some really cute buttons too like this gingham one...

Vintage blue textured button...

So there we are, I have listed them in my little blogshop and would be so thrilled if some of them went to a nice new home.

Back tomorrow with my fabby swap from this lovely lady xxx

Thankyou Shelly

A little while ago I helped out a lovely lady on the Shabby Chic Cafe who wanted some help designing some labels for her handmade goodies, so I designed some pretty little labels to her style and sent them off to her.

I wasn't expecting anything in return, as I really enjoyed designing them and playing around with them.

Anyway the other day a random parcel fell through the door and I couldn't work out what it could be or who it was from.


It was a lovely surprise parcel from Shelly, as a thankyou for the labels I did.

A beautiful lavender pin cushion, which I thought was too pretty to be pricked by pins, so I have taken them out and nestled the little cushion in one of my drawers to scent it.

There was also a matching needlebook too which has gone on my crafty shelf and will most definately come in handy.

Thankyou Shelly for a lovely surprise parcel X

A Pretty Present

It was my aunts birthday last week, and she is one of those people who does appreciate handmade things, so I thought I'd make her a pretty cushion.



I picked this faded pink floral fabric because I thought it would look quite nice in a neutral bedroom or on a sofa.
I added some co-ordinating green buttons and one of my jazzy labels and sent it off to her.


It got a big thumbs up and it was nice to make something handmade for a family member for a change, I hope to make some more cushions for people for Christmas - I think cushions always go down well don't you?!! X

Make Do And Mend

You might remember my post the other week about my trip to The Museum of Brands - post here, and how there was quite a heavy 'Make Do and Mend' feel to some of the displays.

Well I spotted the 'Sew and Save' book below on one of the shelves in the museum - in a cabinet of course as it was the original one!


Well I found one of the new repro ones on Amazon selling for a pound and thought I'd get it to go with the reproduction 'Make Do and Mend' one I found in a charity shop.

They are lovely books and full of good tips - I look forward to settling down with a nice cup of tea getting cosy and having a read through.

Erm...I do read all of these too - well read/browse - same thing! These are my little collection of crafty/pretty books which have given me so much inspiration for things to make, new ideas to try, styling tips etc.

I can see this little collection growing....

What is your favourite crafty/eye candy book? I'd love to know! X

WIP

This week I have been working on some Christmas makes. I want to get myself motivated to have lots of Christmassy things finished.
Using an existing stocking I had at home I made a template for these medium sized stockings. I have cut out and sewed five of them together so far, using a mix of different fabrics which I hope will make them stand out from the normal red and green a little bit.




I've used this lovely red and blue gingham print, a funky red autumnal print, red polka dot, pink rosali and a red and white floral print. My fave is the red and white floral, its very pretty and I think would be nice for a little lady.




I started cutting out some hearts and stars for decorating the stockings, although I need to bondaweb and stitch these on, then I need to sort out some sort of trimming and loop for the top.

Here are the five stockings laid out ready to be finished....

And here are some close ups of the details on the front:

Pink Rosali with a ditzy pink heart.

Blue and red gingham with a pale blue polka dot star...

Red floral with a co-ordinating red polka dot heart....

Red polka dot with a cute blue gingham star....

And this lovely red print also has a red polka dot heart too. I hope to get these stitched up and finished soon. I am unsure whether to pop them in my blogshop or take them into one of the shops? Any ideas?

Back tomorrow X

Show Us Your Cath

Today is Show Us Your Cath day, hosted by the lovely Lissylou, so I am sharing some photos of my favourite Cath things, Cath style things, and handmade things from Cath materials.

Firstly one of my favourite things made from CK material and a very special gift from Mary Poppins, it is filled with lavender and has a lovely vintage enamel brooch on the front.

This is my pride and joy, my handmade quilt made from a mix of vintage, new, pretty, floral and gingham fabrics, including some little CK patches too. Looks a bit creased here, but still pretty!!

The back is an old CK print which was kindly sent to me my Mitmot...I love this fabric soooo much, wish she still made it!!

A selection of Cath books, I can now add the new 'Sew' to the pile, although I think 'In Print' is my favourite for eye candy!!

CK sewing box, mini sewing kit and some storage boxes for my fabric scraps.

A norty spend in CK recently were these two fabric covered notebooks...with a bit of Rosali chucked in the background, and my quilt is underneath too.

These very pretty CK-esque napkins were sent to me in a little swap by a lovely lady called Eddie on the Shabby Chic Cafe, I have not used them yet as I am saving them for the perfect decoupage project! They are lovely, and half the price of CK, the blue is from Aldi, and the white ones are from Tesco.

Oooh another swappy gift from the hugely talented Mitmot, this fabby polka dot CK mug was part of the 'dots and spots' swap I did. The background is some pretty CK wrapping which is what my parcel was covered in.

This CK bag was my birthday present from my Mum and Dad, and came from the Outlet store in Bicester, its one of my faves because its a little bit different to all the other bags I have in terms of the colours in it, and its quite autumnal too - which is why I have been using it this week!!

This is my CK - alike 'Freya' duvet cover from BHS, I got this last Christmas and think it was such a bargain compared to CK duvet prices, and its so pretty too...roses, stripes and spots!!

Another Christmas present, this was from the BF last year, it is the pink paisley make-up brush holder and small make up bag, I use these all the time and the brushes are great quality. Its also kind of handy for holidays or weekends away too...

Oh and the quilted throw in the background was a bargain from Primark and is lovely. I use it in the winter when it gets really cold as its nice and thick.

Some CK for Tesco eco bags, most of these were sent to me by lovely bloggers or members of the Shabby Chic Cafe, and they make me smile whenever I use them. My favourite is the green ottoman rose print {second down}.

This is the pillowcase I 'customised' a - la the Make! book.

This has little circles of pretty floral fabric {some CK} and was all hand stitched on by myself, its a really pretty effect and jazzes up a plain pillowcase nicely!
You can also spot my Rosali duvet cover and the cushion cover that matches the Primark throw shown above.

There we have it, my Cath show and tell...

Please check out Lissylou's blog where you can see the other bloggers taking part.

XX