Cake and a catch-up...

Help yourself to a cup of tea and I'll quickly catch you up...

Since my last little string of posts, I've had quite an exciting time. I became a year older and was spoilt rotten with cake, 3d Alice (oh how fantastic!!) and a surprise trip to the seaside. Most of the spoiling was done by the Boy who arrived home early, and is now home for good... 

 

... and if that wasn't enough it get more exciting!

He is indeed home for good but our home will be changing... twice! I have always lived at home with my parents and we are all about to move to a new house just down the road from where we are now, but very soon after that in May, me and the boy will be making our own home in our own house.  A little further away, a little plane ride away in Gibraltar...

 

I've never been there before but I'm very excited, a little bit scared and still trying to work it all out. I think it will be quite a busy time but hopefully everything will be the same around the little blog here. The little shops will be open for a good long month at least before a short rest to let us move and I know I will have plenty of time for cake and chattering here, if you will join me...

I think that's all my news for now. 2010 is turning out to be quite an interesting wonderful year for me! How's your year going so far?

oh and just a little about my patient Cakie friend who always enjoys a good catch-up. I used couching to whip up that wonderful fluffy frosting which I learnt from the Hand Embroidery Network's Stitch a Day posts. They finished the posts a little while ago but they are the most fantastic reference of stitches with detailed pics and so many ideas how to use them.

Take care and a second cupcake...

xo  

Stitching and Dreaming en français..

'Les temps sont durs pour les rêveurs'...

...'These times are hard for dreamers'

I am definitely a dreamer.

I could spend all my time daydreaming, making plans and see in the world in my own little way. Thats why  I like to stitch and scribble so much. You can spend a day lost in your head, then have a little memento from that dream... 

Before I float off again (I'm planning my third day of being lost in a cloud of tea and cake) I tell you a little about that phrase. Its from my favourite film ever, Amelie. I rewatched it a couple of weekends ago and that line just stuck with me. Everytime I hear the line, I smile and sigh...

I've never been able to pinpoint why I can relate to it or what it really means,

but I think it means a lot...

xo

Shy Little Flutter-by...

This moonlight loving fellow was going to be fluttering his way into the little shop tonight.

Alas, like so many moths, a pretty light distracted him and he has found a home with my mum instead...

Moth is another idea I had for a stitched pet for your wall like the Ant Farm and the Fish Bowl, 

but the poor little thing ended up as a little collector's item with a label...

I've always found butterfly collections fascinating, so pretty and colourful yet fragile and melancholy. There is something a little softer about felt wings and frayed cotton and although not the brightest of flutterers...

...I think I secretly prefer the shy pale colours of dusty moths.

xo

Timely Shamrocks...

Felt Shamrock Pin How-to Here

As I didn't give anyone much time to make these Shamrock Pins last St Patrick's day (sharing the day before, indeed!) I thought I would pop them to the top with a whole ten days to stitch...

I have to say thank you to The Beading Gem reminding me!

Hope you're having a nice relaxing Sunday. I have spent mine wrestling flexihoop frames... they put up quite a fight, I'm exhausted! But I do now have no less than four lovely stitch picture all photographed ready for more little shop updating this week, starting with 'We belong together'...

I'm really enjoying stitching these little pictures, it my favourite thing to do right now. If March wasn't going to be such a busy month for me I would have loved to join in with the 39 Squares Stitchalong, the flickr group is just amazing but yesterday's blog square was the best...

picture from here

Too too cute for words...

xo

And Spring brought bunnies...

Hello again!

Six blogging days in a row... I'm quietly chuffed with myself

And I have been busy with the stitching as well. The Spring inspired wip has gone from this to...

...these, Bunnikins with a real spring in their step!

Bright eyed and bouquet tailed, ready for all the sunshine and blossoms to come.

And ready for more Bunnikins to come... oh, here they are:

Their Lavender friends adore Spring too but are happy to snooze away the last few chills of winter away. They can't very much help it...

...wrapped in cashmere with a belly full of lavender, who wouldn't be a sleepy thing?

I must admit I have been enjoying Spring through a window myself.

The Bunnikins, both Serene and Spring-y, are in the little shops

(Spring Bunnikins is a little late to etsy but will be hopping in that little shop soon too)

 ...and the little sleepy heads have already been featured in Natalya's All about Rabbit Treasury. Just look at her bunny egg hats, so cute!!

Hoppy Saturdays!

xo

How to Revive a Pattern on a Felted Sweater...

The other day on Craft: there was a really good tutorial about how to felt a sweater so it can be used for your sewing projects. At the end it compared the before and after pics and you can see how the pattern of the sweater gets lost and fuzzy when felted... such a shame!

But I know a way you can revive colour patterns...

Here's a jumper I felted to make crazy patterned something. 

The dull fuzzy grey piece on the right is the front of a sweater and how it came out of the washing machine...

and the brighter piece on the left is the back of the same sweater after I revived the pattern. See how much lovelier?

And it's so easy to do...

The pattern becomes all dull and loses it's detail because a layer of 'fuzz' builds up on top of it as the sweater shrinks and felts. The pattern begins to reappear if you carefully shave off some of that fuzz.

I do this with a pair of scissors, opened wide and run along the knit with flat light pressure. Be really careful when you do this, you don't want to cut or catch the knit, just the fuzz and you definitely don't want to catch yourself! ouch!

I found it works best with tighter felted (more shrunk) wool, the thicker the better and has a colour pattern, and its always best to try it on a small corner before diving into the centre of your new found fabric. I've not tried it with a textured pattern like cable, but I'm guessing it won't work too well and would be easy to catch and tear with scissors.

So there is my little crafty tip...

Hope you find it helpful and have the loveliest brightest weekends!

xo

p.s. the needle felt birdie looking on in the second picture is from The Felt Menagerie and he wishes you a chirpy weekend too!

Happy List...

In the words of the brilliant Small Object...

print from The Small Object etsy shop 

which would make any day awesome all by itself 

It really has been a good day for things that make me smile.

There was a wonderful parcel which I can't share yet (its a pressie) but I do have other bits of awesome that I can like...

Flight of the Conchords tickets!

I have mentioned once or twice before that I *love* them... like when I stitched a pair of business socks.  In my giddiness of getting my paws on them, I thought I'd share the scribbling page which came before the stitching.

Today's skies and stitches.

The weather has been lovely and Springy and it definitely inspired my stitching.... I had been planning more clouds! Instead the grass green knits and the first little flowers started to appear. I don't know what's made me happier, the sunshine outdoors or the little craft meadow inside. I am back on a bit of a crafty roll too, tomorrow will bring fresh bunnikins to the little shops :-)

*

And there's been some awesome things to make me smile in blogland too... 

picture from here (via Craft)

Postcarden

More green fresh Spring-ness.... A postcard and a garden in one!

Picture from here

Steampunk Bunny watches from Marrianne Handcraft watch Studio

They popped up in the Etsy finds email and hopped straight in my heart. I'm smittened...

See, today is awesome!

xo

Colourful Contents

Yesterday I said I was spring cleaning my bag.

After a short pause for sharing, I got back to it only to find a way to make it more fun...

A "Trace the things in your bag" Wreck This Journal page!

Traced, painted and scribbled, all jumbled up just like in my bag. Although there is something cool about lying things out neatly too...

There! All the stuff I've been carrying around minus handfuls of paper receipts, appointment reminders and loose change. And all this bag 'tidying' has reminded me of this wonderful Parisian artist Miss Lecroc who paints gorgeous pictures of the contents of people's bags...

Picture from here

I dream of owning one of these painting!

Anyone else in a bag sharing mood today?

xo

Beautiful Skin

Today I decided my bag needed a spring clean.

(I don't want to start too big and scare this cleaning bug away hee hee)

I didn't get very far before I realised I have some long awaited karma to pass on and share...

Beautiful Skin makes the most gorgeous leather cases and cuffs. I've been lusting after them since I saw them a while ago and for his birthday, I bought my brother this fantastic iPod case... isn't it cool? 

And the seller is just as lovely! I was their 100th folksy sale and they gave me the best thank you ever... one of their amazing dandelion cases. 

And although I feel a bit bad that it's taken me so long to tell you about this lovely things, the timing seems just right as they have some gorgeous new designs... paper cranes and pine cones *swoon*

(all pictures from Beautiful Skin's Folksy and Etsy shops)

xo

March Hares

Hello March!

 Didn't you appear quick this year?

I've really been looking forward to this month... it will be warmer and brighter, I can wear pretty dresses and make plans, I have my birthday to celebrate and the Boy will be home for good... Hooray! Thank you so much for all your well wishes about my happy news, you are all so lovely!

I'm also looking forward to a big spring clean. Its never so much 'out with the old, in with the new' for me, more a good old dust and finding forgotten treasure. I began this morning and rediscovered a few dresses, made a small mending pile and the washing machine is felting grassy green and lavender cashmere as I type which will make lovely spring Bunnikins. I used to cry when things were shrunk but now it makes me quite happy... Utterly mad I know!

All that chatter and I still haven't introduced my March Hare. 

Her name is Olive with an olive green dress and vintage lace trim, made as a special request for a little girl of the same name. She is, of course, more of a bunny than a hare. But with it being March, my plans to spend the rest of the day sewing Bunnikins and all the little bunnies here (me included) being crazy excited about Tim Burton's Alice, we thought we could pretend for the day.

Wish you all a happy fun mad March!

xo