Hand Made Hand Bag

This week I was lucky enough to be lent a lovely Tanya Whelan bag pattern from Viv on the Shabby Chic Cafe. I thought I would give it a go yesterday and this is how it turned out...





It is a really similar shape to the bucket bags that Cath Kidston does (one of which I was lucky enough to get for my birthday) and on the whole I really enjoyed making it. The handles were a bit of a fiddle though! I chose some of the lovely Globaltex fabrics I got last month, and used a mix of the pink for the main part of the bag, and stone coloured for the handles.

For the lining I used a small floral print which I thought co-ordinated quite nicely with the pink on the other side, and also with the stone coloured handles.

Although my stitching isn't the best, I am quite proud of it, its the first thing I have made from a pattern since I was at school!

If you'd like to see the bags that Viv has made please check out her lovely blog.

In other news this week I recieved my results from Uni and was pleased to have passed with a 2:1 :)

Hope everyone has a lovely day - the sun is out here! X

Awards and A Tag

This week I have been lucky enough to receive two lovely awards from LoloDesigns. Thankyou Lolo! I now need to pass it onto another 6 blogs...

So I will pass these awards to:

Dollydollop

Emily Pickle

Country Bliss

Sew Hot Mitmot

Pretty Vintage

and Bobo Bun

I have also been tagged by the lovely Mitmot to do the Happy Tag..

I have to list 6 things which make me happy and then pass it on to 6 different bloggers to do the same thing. 

Things that make me happy:

1. Being Creative (also known as "Making A Mess")

2. Getting a bargain - not that my bargains are as fabulous as some bloggers who find a beautiful gem for pennies! (but these 50p pillowcases aren't bad!)

3. Sunny Weather - come out sun! (view from my window)

4. Handmade things sent to me that make me smile when I use or wear them :)

5. Flowery things!

and number 6: Holidays, being by the sea and getting a tan! (photo from my holiday in Sardinia last year)

I will pass the Happy Tag onto:

Rubys Mamma Made It

LoloDesigns

Bertie Meadows

Bibbitybob

Mollycupcakes

and Lissylou

:) X

And The Winner Is...

Thankyou to everyone who entered my birthday giveaway - it has been lovely to read about all your favourite things! It has also been lovely to visit the blogs of some of the new commenters I have had this week. Anyway - on to the results...

I first wrote all of your names onto little bits of paper...

Found a suitable tin ::

Folded you all up and chucked you in ::

And picked a winner!!!

And big congratulations to the lovely Mitmot who was actually the first person to leave a comment - but I promise I haven't been cheating!!!

Mary could you please email me/PM me with your address so that I can send your goodies off to you! Thankyou everyone for joining in - that was lots of fun!! :) X

Birthday Goodies and a Trip to Bicester

Hi everyone, and thanks for all your lovely birthday wishes last friday! If you'd like to enter my birthday giveaway there is still time so see the post underneath this one. I had a lovely birthday, and went to Bicester Village on Saturday to spend some of my birthday pennies in the Cath Kidston outlet shop there. First I thought I'd show you the pressies I got though, from my mum this CK bucket bag which is going to be my new summer handbag - I have put the tweed one away til autumn.



My sister bought me this Union Jack tote bag from Accessorize which I had been oohing and aahhing after - but she didn't actually know this, so she obviously knows my taste well!!

My dad bought me this CK bag from Bicester when he went months ago, so I think I now officially have enough bags to sink a ship!

This little make up bag is also from Accessorize, and is so pretty - I know I could make something similar but it wouldn't be this nice!!

I also got this lovely pink glass heart shaped perfume/decorative bottle which now has a new home on my bedroom shelf.

This is another purse from Accessorize, and the BF bought me this...

Now we move onto the Bicester goodies, now I know I wont be going back to Bicester because it took me ages to drive there, and also there was really only one shop I wanted to buy from! So I made the most of it!
I got these two make-up bags, the rose print one is a newer design but I don't remember seeing the blue striped one in the shops so it must be quite an old pattern - anyone recognise it?

The BF bought me this Paris Rose cushion cover which is just gorgeous! I can't wait to buy a cushion pad for it and sit it on my bed - I love cushions - I have too many but I can't resist anything rose printed!! I think I am a rose-a-holic actually!

These teatowels which I may or may not cut up for craftiness - or I may keep them for my own house one day - not that they'd ever be allowed to be used! What do you think - shall I cut or keep?

This pretty mug which I had been drooling after since I saw it on Vintage Heavens blog in this post here, which I have just noticed also came from Bicester and Julia also has the pink version of the stripey make up bag too. Hope she doesn't think I'm copying her! (only slightly!)

I bought this for myself - a bag of 25 mixed samples to play with, some of them are lovely, some not so great, but sadly I wasn't allowed to pick and chose my samples :(

You can see some of them here :: not so keen on that footballer one up the back!

Anyway I have been thouroughly spoilt and have given CK far too much of my money!! I am currently hunting for jobs at the moment and looking for possible local shops that might want to stock some of my floral brooches. So if anyone has any tips on how to do that they would be greatly appreciated! Hope to be back soon with more crafty stuff as I have been making pretty bits for Roses and Gingham and want to show you soon! X

My Birthday Giveaway!

Hello and welcome to my very special Birthday Giveaway! As it is my birthday today and as I have almost reached the 100 post mark I am having a little giveaway as a thankyou to all my lovely readers, followers and commenters!

This is what I am giving away ::



Two handmade/handpainted cards, one with fabric bunting flags and the other with Stanley...

A fabric heart in pretty rose print material with a lovely velvet ribbon and vintage button!

A 'Roses and Gingham' brooch in a floral fabric and red gingham.

Some Cath Kidston tissues, and a Cath Kidston pink strawberry print handmade pincushion

And some Union Jack stickers to play with!

I will be adding a few more little bits and bobs when the winner has been drawn.

So to enter this giveaway all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post and tell me what is your favourite possession - it could be something sentimental, vintage, something silly - you get the idea!

I will leave the giveaway open for one week and will either draw names from a hat or do the random number generator - so check back next Friday (the 19th) to see who has won :)

Good Luck! X

Love London

I forgot to post about these when I went 'Up West' last week to Central London, only this time I went in the touristy shops because I had a feeling they might stock some cool Union Jack things, so I got this teatowel which is pretty big, with the idea that I might cut it up into a cushion, but I don't know whether I'll do that now as I like it in one piece, plus it was a bargain at £1.99. Very Emma Bridgewater don't you think? Obviously not as nice, but not a bad version!


I also got this one, although I'm not sure what the heck I'll do with it, as its not really the right style for a cushion or bag, I think it would look quite nice framed in a retro kitchen, but of course the BF's kitchen is nowhere near big enough for it to fit! Does anyone else like it? Or is it just me?!! Again it was £1.99.

Aside from the teatowels they also had oven gloves, trays, bags etc, and they had this, and this actually is Emma Bridgewater, and as I had previously been to the Bridgewater shop in Marylebone High Street right before we went to Oxford Street I had seen it in ther for £6.99, but in the touristy shop it was £6.99 plus it was filled with cookies too!

I am building up quite a little Union Jack collection, they are everywhere at the moment, I have seen some gorgeous tote bags and purses in Accessorize, plus sequined clutch bags, quilted leather "Chanel" esque bags in Primark and tonnes and tonnes of other Union Jack pretties, I think its nice to see the flag being shown proudly, maybe it is just a phase, but its quite a nice one I think. Of course adding to my collection is the mug that I recieved last week which I love.

What do you think of the Union Jack phase at the moment? Love it? Hate it? Or not really bothered? I'd love to know! X

Beautiful Brooch from Bibbitybob!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a little giveaway on Bibbitybob's blog to celebrate her 200th blog post. And my lovely prize arrived today, a beautiful brooch made of vintage crochet doilies and a gorgeous blue jewelled button. It looks so pretty and delicate, I absolutely love it, thankyou Bibbitybob :)

Such a pretty button, and I am suspecting it is also vintage too...

I am lucky enough to have recieved quite a few lovely giveaways since I started blogging, and I love how kind so many bloggers are, another thing arrived for me in the post this week from Jane at Snapdragon's Garden :: this adorable little cupcake badge. Which Jane sent out for free asking for photos of it in return. My photos are of me wearing the badge, although I didn't want to be in the photo so I hope thats alright?! I also hope the fabric of my cardigan isn't too distracting...

It is my birthday next friday, and I think I am almost up to my 100th post soon, so there will be a little giveaway in honour of those, so come back next week to see!!! X

A Little Bit Of Fabric

Just a quick post today about some new and very pretty fabric that I have acquired recently (well actually I asked for one of them for my birthday so I can't actually play with it yet but I sneaked it out to show you!) 

The birthday one is this blue one which is from John Lewis - I was supposed to be looking for ideas for my birthday but I chose some of this as a present! (is that weird?)

There is also this bright red and white striped fabric which my mum found for me, I think these two look quite nice together...or is it too much??

This retro pop print flower pattern reminds me of the bags Cath Kidston did for Tesco, very cheerful I think!

This is a little bit more traditional, but still very pretty! I actually think it has quite a 'Libertys' feel to it.

I do have some plans for some of these, as while I was in John Lewis I also picked up a pattern to make a handbag, so hopefully I will give that a go soon, I hope I can manage to actually follow the pattern though - thats the hardest part! X

Mini Swap With Rubys Mamma

That was quite a long blogging break (unintentional of course!) but I have been busy this week and last week, I have been trying to set up my own website - not for my handmade stuff but a website as a graphic designer, so that has kept me busy to say the least. It is not quite finished yet, needs a few more tweaks, but I'm pleased with the style and layout so far. I wont post the link here as I like to keep my blog quite private, but if anyone would like to take a look at it email me and I'll send you the link :)

I received a little package in the post this morning which got me all excited, as I have not been taking part in any swaps on anyones blogs or on the Shabby Chic Cafe (which I am really sorry about as I would love to join in, but just got to get Uni out of the way first!) so I haven't had any parcels recently. Anyway after I posted my illustrations a few weeks ago Kirsty at Ruby's Mamma Made It and I decided to do a little mini swap.

This is what I got from Kirsty today :: 

A fab Union Jack mug which I absolutely love! And a gorgeous handmade beaded bracelet.

Isn't it just so pretty? Kirsty has picked blue beads with little pink rosey swirls in them, which are very me! It is just so lovely, and I am wearing it right now in fact....

- slightly dodgy angle I know!

For my part in the swap I sent Kirsty a print of my Stanley Illustration...

Thankyou so much Kirsty! Your jewellery making is brilliant, and I will absolutely treasure the bracelet, and I hope the girls like Stanley!! X