The Pegs Rock too....

Still showing you some of the amazing new supplies that i have coming in for Spring...

I cannot stop playing with a box of these pegs - 2inch long (5cm) and sooo colourful :)

A bargain at $8.50 in the BigFish etsy shop. They are limited, i have about 8 boxes...

Show me what you make with your box and i'll feature you on the blog x

Pom Pom Phenomenon....

Been busy... you know how it is. Christmas n'all that. I don't think that excuses the state of my work surface though? *shameful blush*
Nor does it excuse my lack of blogging... But guess what??? we had sunshine today - for a full 10 minutes!!! it was glorious and i became somewhat delirious - bathing in shafts of golden light, twas like a week on a beach i swear (note: delirium in bathroom mirror shot)

So i had a quick opportunity to photograph some stuffs i have been working on.

The PomPom phenomenon happens during each annual festive run-up. I love making PomPoms - who doesn't? so repetative and refreshingly mind-numbing.

I used to make them alot with my 'Kids' who needed a bit of "Time out"

Funny to watch hard-faced teenagers and 'Offenders' turn wool into fluffy balls....

But, more than that, i never fail to get adult attention when Pompom-ing in public: "wow" they exclaim, " i remember making PomPoms and now i've totally forgotten how"... Last year, if i had been selling them at Craft Fairs i think i would have made some real money. Everybody loved to watch the PomPom being born...

Mostly i make mine white and silver to hang like Snowballs. This year i have gone "all colour" and i've been making them to hang in groups of 3. Purple, Pink and Lime - with contrasting gingham ribbons.

What's not to love? They are adorable and i find, even the men like them. Something to do with hairy balls? maybe. But i rather like to think of them as nostalgic and a real moment placed back in One's childhood when we knew Christmas as a time a little simpler, with fewer pressures.

My advice? For what it's worth... don't sweat the big stuff. Bring Christmas back to it's basics: Food, friends, family and Pompoms. Have fun :)

COLOUR me happy :)

The SUN is out today - i'm wearing pink and grey (which, quite frankly, makes me happy) I had my hair COLOURED last night - meh, you might not see what i can see, or rather what i can't see: no nasty orange. no nasty re-growth. no greys.... just honied brown - colour me hair proud!

New buttons. Cool free bookmark from the library. Blackcurrant cordial = colour me cool!

Awesome *new* GIANT spotty buttons arrived - colour me excited... (what to do with them now?)

yumtastic lollies from the Traditional Sweet Shop down the road - colour me delicious (slurp)

Lunch out with my sunshine girl! Colour me sunny and fed.

Blooms hanging good in the sunshine - colour me *loving* that Victorian red brick work x

Buttony brooch. Spotty shower curtain - colour me happy to be in the world today :)

.......... Yippee x x x

Party 'Going Home' bags...

I don't know what happens in other countries...? but in the UK it is traditional to be sent home from a Childs Birthday Party with a 'Going Home Bag'...
Inside is often a slice of the Birthday Cake (wrapped accordingly) and a few gifts to play with on the E-high trip home. A regular, local customer asked me if i could make her some fabric 'Party Bags' for her daughters birthday and i said 'yes' - inwardly panicking!! WHAT OUT OF? Do i have time....??

Yum Yum - i had to share the finished result with you all. WHAT do you make Party Bags out of when your home is FULL of felt? sat next to a bolt of beautiful Matroyshka fabric...

So i made her 10 different coloured bags with different coloured handles and dolls on the front. They are actually much BRIGHTER than these photos suggest but hey! guess what? it rained again today...

And i knew that you'd all appreciate their colour, sense of fun, frivolity - i had to take a million photos of them in different layouts.

Now i want to make loads of them, and for boys too and sell them in the shop... "Kirsty - you do not have any spare minute left in your days..." - "But they're soooo pretty"

Awwww, makes me think i might make a few for a certain little Nephews Birthday though....

Ebay Joy...

Ebay is truly Love / Hate for me...
There are items that take a month to arrive - clothes that aren't what they seemed - furniture not fit for use - dvd's that don't work... (the mistake buys go on and on)

And THEN you find a gem **BLING** >>>>>>> Oh Yummy Yummy 1970's dress.
You can see i had trouble photographing it to it's full effect!

It is much brighter than it seems here and sets off a gentle tan with it's neon pink.

Fits very snuggly (especially after a gentle handwash - i was scared i'd have to sew myself into it after it met warm water)

It is floor length with a sort of fish tail at the back.

£12.00 ebay treasure - i wore it on Saturday night... (and well in to Sunday morning... for which I am still paying the price with a soft head averse to noise) for a "Summer of 1969" party. You know me, i'd wear it for a non-themed event, vintage clothing gives me so much pleasure.

And i had to share with you: ManFish and MotherFish who threw themselves into the idea of a 1970's Festival Theme with such enthusiasm... i don't know where i get my sense of colour and fun from.....?

Colour and Fun!! (remind me to show the photos of us all dressed as the AntHill Mob)

I love sharing my world with you x enjoy the sunshine my friends!

Normal Service is resumed...

Sunshiny 'me' shot to show you this lovely denim dress / top / smock thingy - i love the frilly stand up collar. The grey cardigan is new - not colourful, i know but sometimes a little sobriety can be calming. Craft days with the SmallFish - an amazing painted collage mobile. The square item is an old threads box - with hanging tubes cut from an old toilet roll. I love this x

Then there is the birth of 'Arthur' which was very much like watching a caterpillar emerge from a cocoon ..... a toilet roll (staple craft supply) a piece of card and some 'deatils' (as SmallFish calls them) transform themselves before our very eyes...

The Pipe cleaners were my idea (i like to take a small bit of credit where i can. I can't have my daughter outshine me in all aspects of colourful crafting)

And look how 'Arthur' turned out? Stunning! and fluttering his way through the vegetable trays.

The cost was pence.

The fun was a-plenty.

The organisation was spontaneous.

The pride was IMMENSE.

Got a crafty child?.... have a go! tis so easy and fulfilling x

Sharing the Craftiness...

New selection of Butterfly Party Badges - Paper stolen (well purchased) from the ever wonderful Paperchase shop x A new file drawer system - mainly for allll those button mixes! Shame it's white as i wanted one in red :( from IKEA (that trip i went on, on Monday!)

As THIS aqua set is my sisters and she may want it returned to her soon....

AND i really have had a bunting week!

I made this pretty design for my daughters bedroom x

And this gorgeous line is called 'BRIGHTON PIER' as my sister is moving to Brighton soon and i love Brighton too ( UK seaside town for the US reader!)

Carnival Bunting - very much like the 'Frida' set of two weeks previous but it sold and so this is it's replacement, similiar but different. Bright, funky and 'carnival-esque'.

My personal favourite 'REGATTA' - i luffs it - reminds me of colourful sails on fast little boats!

And finally, ....this week, i have sold many sets of these:

Off cuts / Scrap Bags of the yummy Bunting fabric. All small pieces that would be perfect for smaller projects like hair pins or brooches or.....

What a fabric week x

I've been making these....

Usually, i have an IDEA, suddenly.
And it can take me no longer than a few hours to design, make, photograph and list it for sale! These little fellas seem to have been hovering in the studio half-made for about a year!
I think it took my Sister's input to make me finish a few.
She loved them and wanted one for herself,,,,, it was her birthday so i needed to finish at least one for part of her gift.

I think my issue was, i wasn't 100% sure .... what they 'are'!?

... my sister used hers as a keyfob / charm for her set of car keys.

... my daughter wore hers as a Zipper Pull on her jacket.

... i hung mine on my PIMPED (!) sewing machine as a handy pincushion...

So, you can see my dilemna?
They are a bit of fun. A splash of soft felt colour in your world.

I suppose you have to be a bit of a woodland / toadstool / mushroom 'fan' to see the appeal of these. But, anyway, they appeal to me...

Lots of variations on the same design and theme.

Different colourways and button choices.

Afterall, they are supposed to be 'fantastical' - who said they had to all be in red and brown?

Oh, colour play.

When will this fun ever stop? x

ScrapBook Inspirations Magazine

Yippee - Thankyou to Rosie at Scrapbook Inspirations for including me in their section this month "Handmade Heaven". It is a lovely ego massage to see my work in print. Especially lovely as i am a long time subscriber to the magazine and keen Scrapbooker myself. The item in print was, of course, a Darling Dachsund NeedleBook - photographed with the puppy Brooches below...

And Rosie gave my two supplies shop a little 'plug' - FuzzyFish and BigFish which I thank you for Rosie!! - That is my little 2 minutes of fame below...

So - i make a resolve! I WILL make a greater attempt to photograph and share some of the scrapbook pages i have worked on over the years. The pages below were pages i had been working on for my album "All About Me" but most of my albums are dedicated to the SmallFish who has merited much photography over her short 4.5 yrs so far!

Thankyou Scrapbook Inspirations, Thankyou Rosie, Thankyou Scrapbookers who have visited my shop and blog x x x