RRrrraaaaa Red & Aqua!!

 Ha! I couldn't wait to show this off.

So very satisfying when i get a chance to play with this beautiful buttons myself.

I love this fresh colour scheme...

 Giant 10inch Christmas Wreath

(i am doing even more colourways, yipppeee)

Then there is this DIVINE *new* Christmas fabric range.

Can you imagine how i nearly totally fainted when i saw these in the fabric store?

sooo cute. I love Caribous / Reindeer... you know this about me!

 Mini Bunting - for windows or shelving - works both sides...

With a dotty red and white bias trim.

I am loving and in-love with these.

I have made more things with this fabric... and i'll show eventually but my head is filled with stockings and Advent Calenders and all the stuff i just must find the time to make.

 I showed you these spotty bias trims a while back and i have been adding them to some new Bunting lines.

They really lift the colours of the fabrics and make them much brighter.

Last weekend was a big sewing weekend for me - if only i could find more weekends like that!

 x x x

*NEW* Cath Kidston Fabric Pack

 So.... for the Fans of Cath Kidston and her amazing fabrics:

A pack of 5 large sheets Double Weave Cotton.

1 Cherry, 1 White Bird, 2 Florals and a Stone spot - all of these are my Favourites. Lord knows why i am selling them on!

 only available in the FABRICS section at:

http://www.lovepaperfish.com/

my lovely store for buttons & bits that seems to be an endless list of updating and tweaking.

 In my http://paperfish.etsy.com/ store i have been listing these very cute

Button Tag Packs!

 Weeny Button Tags in packs of 5 that make awesome little gift tags for childrens gifts or to stick on a bottle of wine for a host gift. Also great to pop in party bags as favours for the more grown-up party bags.

 I have been making lots of Greetings Cards which has been great as i never get a chance to work with paper and fabric. I love how every card can be different and it doesn't matter. The freedom to make what i want, instead of stuff in 'batches'

 I love imagining 'who' will receive the cards and whether or not they like them.

It makes me feel proud. And it's always nice to receive a card from a friend.

 Tags lying all over, drying out...

They look so funny, like they are breeding at an alarming rate!

I have been doing very little of late, except go Running, Weight Training and Crafting.

Although i did go and see HANNA at the cinema the other day.

have you seen it advertised?

Good for those of us who are interested in Children and the innocence of children and childhood - that great painful chasm between the innocence and adolesence.

Good film but a 12A??? it was a bit Gory....

Maybe i'm a wimp? (But oooohh, Eric Banna...)

x

Cath Kidston Fabric Pack...

 Hello Colour / Cath / Sewing / Fabric faaaannnnnssss.

 This mixed pack of 5 fabrics are available to buy in the LovePaperFish shop.

I thought i had too much fabric and too little time so i have made these packs up.

I am saving some pieces however, as i have 'Grand Plans' to make myself a big big quilt (yes i know i already have many quilts)

 Each sheet is a heart size approx. 21" by 14" which is ermmm maybe 53cm x 35cm?

 This pack is ideal for making smaller homeware pieces as it is the thicker double weave cotton duck fabric. You could make bunting, patchwork, purses, cushion covers, covered notebooks, placemats.... and yummy stuff like that.

 There are 4 florals and then this yummy minty green spot which i just adore and goes with all the florals really nicely. But that is one of the reasons i love CathK designs, i think they all look gorgeous mixed up together.

p.s 2 packs of 10 2cm yummy, pearly, blush pink buttons will go into BigFish.

I fished these out whilst going through the Blush Pink jar and *loved* them so.

More new buttons and fabrics will follow shortly....

For the Love of Citrus fruits, being Homely & Flat Caps...

"You have been quiet since the turn of 2011 Kirsty... what's been going on in 'da hood'?

Are you ill? introspective? struggling a little to cope with the minutiae of daily life?..."

All of the above it seems! and then some more.

So when life is feeling a bit 'too much to bear' i tend to get domestic. I *think* my philosophy is to 'Hunker down' / get back to the basics. In essence, to start again from the bottom up and see if i can feel better.

 I am not a saint and i did go to the (not sooo local) kitchen shop ABRAXAS in Weedon.

If i ever have like-minded friends to stay, it is somewhere i like to take them. A treat of a shop for dreaming and dribbling in. OF Cooouuurrrse, nobody needs 'special things' to cook with. I can SEW my own "Bouquet Garni Bags" etc... and so on but i am trying to treat myself so i feel no guilt in this commercial endeavour.

 I bought this lovely PINK whisk too. It is all rubbery in feel. Very satisfying. Now that i DID need and would rather purchase anew than save from the skip / carboot.

I love to get all my bowls and equipment out ready...

i got all the fruits from a local independant Greengrocers via my trip to the cookware shop (extra Brownie points?) they are cheaper and friendly and superior quality.

I spent a few days in and out of the kitchen making Lemon Cordial and Marmalade, aswell as Candid Peel (waste not, want not)

I have no tried and tested methods for either - i am too young and impulsive to belong to any club involving 'secret recipes'. I used an internet recipe for the Lemon Cordial, and i am gald i did. It was a superb method which made me use lots of the peel from 12 lemons and save it as 'Candid Peel' - a sort of sugary treat. It tastes A-mazing!! and the cordial is the finest / strongest / perfectly not too sweet recipe i  ever made. Very happy.

 It came out quite brown and caramelised looking but has since lightend with maturity and looks far more like it's Lemony self again now. I made many! - one or two glass bottles i purchased a while back but most bottles i have saved from family and friends and the pub and that.

 Then the o-so-satisfying process of PRESERVING in any which way or form.

Delight.

You need smell-o-vision here for sure friends.

Is there much in life that is more beautiful a sight than a bowl full of lemons or a pan full of Seville Oranges? i think not.

 (oh Lordy - it's that tracksuit again. I am beginning to feel that it has become sealed to my chest.... how can i rid myself of it's comfort... it has....wait for it.... a.... FLEECY INSIDE!... i am doomed...MrsB???)

 Now that marmalade....

i have used 3 differing recipes over the years.  i have finally concluded WHAT it is iam doing that prevents me from getting the marmalade to the right consistency. I won't bore you with my marma-experiments but it has a great deal to do with the fact i don't like mine all peely and fleshy / pulpy so i *think* i am lacking pectin in the pan.... it's a theory.

 And honestly, it tastes pretty good - but is not a patch on last years batch.

I must make notes on 'why' etc... then i might make it really well next year?

Do you want to know what went into the jar also?

A few strands of that lemon Candid Peel from the previous day (how cunning can a Fish be?) and a Star Anise (for the Major)

Country pursuits - Preserves and Flat Caps.

I smell of lemons with a hint of ginger and just a touch of fleece.

I am no city girl.

I am no domestic goddess.

I am tired and feeling un-anchored.

A little cooking and a great deal of walking is the very restorative that i need.

x x x

Quick Christmas / Party Garlands.... to make!

 One of the lovely things about this quick and easy garland is, you can make it as a family. Anything that gets cut up and can fit through a sewing machine, can be sewn into this garland.

Even fat handed burly men can join in this activity!

Just cut up any scraps you have around: Felt, fabrics, ribbons, lace.... i tied a few bells onto ribbons to add to the pile of scraps.

 I pre-iron my shop bought Bias Bind and then just keep adding random additions to the bind - with a small gap between each. The gap doesn't have to be uniform at all....nothing about this garland needs to be uniform or precise. It is probably best if you just allow your children to hand you whatever they feel should go on next as that childhood chaos is usually more creative than our own adult restrictiveness. 

 I measured this length to fit a particular space i had in mund for my home festivities but you can just make it any length and hang it where you feel it fits.

Also - you can colour theme it, if you are having a special 'colour theme' Xmas?

I made this garland with anything i had in my studio and i have since decided to save it for a Spring Party. And, now i know this garland works and looks ace, i am making red and white for my Christmas Dining Area.

 It is a poor photo - i was too eager to show you how it looked to wait for better light. But.... i love it!

You can buy awesome handmade Bias from here

I have used this for another project and i love it.

 I also plan to stock a little bit of Bias in BigFish - but not much and not as lovely as the above stuff.

 NeedleBooks are being replenished and i hope to have a big fat stack of new designs ready for January. Feel free to suggest any designs that you think would be popular. I tend to go all girly and Matroyshka-like... i need to break habits for 2011.

 And Fabric Yearning, mmmm....

Loving the Cath Kidston stash *strokes it* gorgeous plans for some huge floor cushions for my daughters bedroom... some bunting.... maybe some bags.....

I am full of ideas and inspiration for 2011.

I have loved the Christmas Retail rush (now it is over for me) sold out of most decorations and Christmas Bunting.  Just enough time to sew some awesome gifts for my family.

No rest for the (super) wicked xxx

make a garland.....!

Paint Furniture! It will save your life.... sort of.....

 Take one (at a time) nasty Old Chair.

This was handmade, in Cheshire, many moons ago as a custom order for my Great Aunt. The workmanship was sublime. Yet it had seen it's day....

My dad and i have this disagreement all the time "look at that beautiful wood" he says "why paint it?"

 And he is right.... but there is no joy left in this object

"dad - there is no Joy left in it. It is minging"

"what are you talking about Kirsty" says dad "i don't understand"

 Anyway.... it got "Fished" Big Time.

The seat came off with just 3 screws but the fabric took an age to rip free as we took out all the old pins and staples (my Sister in the picture, lending a hand)

I ended up padding the seat with a big piece of foam before re-stretching it with fabric and stapling it very tight.

 I cannot recommend spray paints enough. These are Montana Golds - what a joy to use and i have used them on Wicker baskets, wood, metal... everything.

 I won't lie to you.... stripping off all that dark varnish on the wood, was a bitch. It took time to get in all those crevices and curves. I did it with Nitromors twice and then sanded it. Then gave it a light coat of Primer.  The spray paint went on in several stages, till i was happy it was covered. Finally i sprayed it with a gloss varnish.

 Sorry the photo is not great but i am not a DIY show here am i?

the colour is alot darker and more purple than this shows. This looks pink but it is a kind of rich Bramble Jam colour. The fabric is just what i thought went well with the other fabrics round the home.

Everyone approves!

Now do you see what i mean Dad? There is a great deal to be joyful about in this chair now?

"Whatever makes you happy dear" says Dad.

...Paint furniture... it'll change your life!

and now for some quilting...

I haven't quilted anything since i was about 13 years old.
I tried quilting when my mum bought me a book called "Happy Quilts"... i probably still have one or two hand-stitched hexagony 'shapes', half started and never finished, in a mothy box somewhere.
My mum wasn't a confident seamistress and didn't feel able to hand down what untrained knowledge she did posess, so, in turn, i never felt equipped with the confidence to continue. 20 years later... (can that be true?) and i am an entirely different being.... indeed, i am now a Fish.
I had it in my head last week that i was going to try some simple, 'Log Cabin'-esque, quilted pillows. And so that is what i spent last night and this morning, doing.

I made this large and simple quilted pillow for my cheeky little nephew. Actually he loves KNIGHTS! so i might work on a mini quilt for him (if i can source some good Knights fabric)

And below was the first quilted item i have finished - ever!: Needless to say, in true KirstyFish manner, i am now hooked and obsessed with quilted scatter cushions (lavender stuffed of course)

My first mini-pillow used strips of fabric 1.5" wide and i found it took me too long. You know what a short attention span i have. So i increased the width to 2" strips and it was a quicker process with just as much satisfaction.

Now, i am going through my family members thinking "what would my niece like?" ..... "it IS Mothers Day soon" - any excuse to make me some more.

All that yummy fabric.... *sigh*

This afternoon i ordered 50 metres of batting, 10yards of fabric and 2kg of lavender.

You know i don't exaggerate about 'how much' i get obsessed with things. You have seen the evidence right here!

Not being entirely frivolous, i decided to back the pillows in contrasting felt, as you *know* i have plenty of that stuff :)

And a few little details on the back to finish, gives them that special touch.

Because you love crafting too, you'll know how great my day was today... x