incy wincy stitches

Gym bags

2010-09-28T10:05:00.003+01:00

A few recent makes ...

PE bags, originally uploaded by incywincystitches.

Em started school a few weeks ago so I decided to make her a personalised gym bag, then got requests to make a few more ...

And here she is on her first day at school ...

It seems so quiet here with out her, but I'm really enjoying my extra sewing time!

UPDATE: Just found a great drawstring gym bag tutorial over on Kitschycoo's blog

if anyone fancies having a go at making one ... drawstring bag

choo choo

2010-09-14T20:36:00.000+01:00

for Aaron, originally uploaded by incywincystitches.

Christening gift for our Nephew. Train embroidery pattern taken from A Rainbow of Stitches (with added smoke puffs and button and bead detail).

Folksy Friday

2010-05-07T11:21:00.001+01:00

1. Monty the Fox by Sara Carr, 2. Vintage Flora Pin Card by Daisy Florence Design, 3. Flared Bunting Mug by 1000degrees Art Studio , 4. Seedheads 114 by Zebedee, 5. Assorted Loveheart Buttons by Lilly’s, 6. Regatta 2 by Kirsty Elson Designs.

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As promised here is a small selection of your favourite Folksy finds from last weeks ff & giveaway - I especially love the driftwood regatta with it's teeny tiny bunting! Such lovely finds guys :)

Happy ff x

winner

2010-05-06T14:12:00.006+01:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway, I’ve added so many new shops to my favourites this week from looking at all your links ;) Tomorrow I will be making a Folksy Friday mosaic from some of your chosen favourites, but for now I should let you know who the BIG button giveaway winner is and show you there Folksy find …

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I had intended to get Em to draw a name from a hat, but I hadn’t expected so many people to leave a comment! So with the help of random.org the winner is –

Number 5 - Pukka Pinnies

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And here's her favourite Folksy find ...

Sunflowers 107 by Zebedee

I am loving Zoe's work (aka Zebedee). I find it difficult to choose just one item from her collection, but I really like this one - http://www.folksy.com/items/350657-Sunflowers-107?shop=yes She inspires me - .p.s I would also quite like some lovely buttons!!!
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Well done Pukka Pinnies! x

popular crafts

2010-05-05T13:32:00.000+01:00

Popular Crafts magazine - Issue 2

I was asked if I would like to do a embroidery tutorial for Popular Crafts magazine, so thought I’d write a ‘how to’ on crayon tinting with a variation of my Little Red as the pattern.

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Here’s a quick snap of the article …

Very happy :)

Folksy Friday

2010-04-30T18:34:00.003+01:00

After finding myself in a few beautiful mosaics over the past few weeks (thank you!) I thought it was time to start my own Folksy Friday posts. So every Friday I will be blogging some great Folksy finds and for my very first ff mosaic I've selected a few pieces from my saved favourites page ...

www.folksy.com

1. new home card by Design Rocks, 2. Ceramic cup cake candle holders by Lauren Ceramics, 3. Linen Cat in Pink Russian Doll Print Dress by The Linen Cat, 4. Spotty Toadstool Hand carved rubber stamp by Skull and Cross Buns , 5. Wren brooch by kate broughton , 6. cavebear by Treaclezoo

Share some Folksy love - please link to these shops and add them to your favourites, they're all super fantastic!
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BUTTON GIVEAWAY!!

Who fancies winning 200+ buttons? ... Me and my little helper (above) sat on the front room floor this afternoon and put together roughly 230+ (150g) buttons in some super cool colours! Em was in charge of choosing the bright ones and I chose some beautiful pastel shade buttons. The mix includes a few vintage, but mostly shiny new buttons ... some of which you will find in my Folksy shop ;)

eek! Yes, all these buttons could be yours! :)

Mmmm...

Plus the winner will also receive a few extra treats! ...

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What you need to do --- As it's Folksy Friday I'd like you to leave a comment below & link me to one of your favourite Folksy finds!
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Post your comment before Thursday (6th may), 12 noon to be entered. Em will pull the winner from a hat, then the winner will be announced here on Thursday evening. Good luck!
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very small print -- there will be only one winner / only one entry per person / please leave a contact email address or blog link so I can contact you if you're the winner / feel free to link my giveaway on twitter :p x

button accessories and rainbow button sets

2010-04-29T21:04:00.003+01:00

Stacked button rings

-- Fabric button earrings

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I've booked a craft fair in Lichfield for the end of next month so I've been making a few accessories for my table. My craft fair box is actually looking pretty empty at the moment as I've not done one for some time, so I'm hoping to have some busy crafting nights over the next few weeks or my table will be looking rather bare!

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If you're in the area I will be at the Guild Hall, Lichfield on the 29th May. -- I will add more details nearer the event.

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Rainbow Bright!

I've added a few new button bag mixes and button sets to my Folksy and Misi shops - this gingham and spotty set comes in 7 bright rainbow colours and measure 1cm - so very sweet! ___

Freebie & Folksy Friday!

If you love buttons (new & vintage) you're going to love my giveaway tomorrow ... plus I will be doing my first ever 'Folksy Friday' post so be sure to pop back and don’t miss out!

Easter Sunshine

2010-04-27T19:58:00.002+01:00

Puerto Pollensa, Mallorca
2nd - 9th April 2010
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... well, Easter weekend was beautiful sunshine but then we saw quite a lot of cloud for the second half of the week, but at least it was warm ... and luckily we got back before the volcanic ash arrived!
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Em feeding the fish by the harbour

I've added a few more pics over on Flickr - link

Flickr Favourites - Easter

2010-04-01T07:34:00.000+01:00

Easter bunnies for Emma ...

1. love at first sight, 2. eggbunny, 3. bunny for Emma, 4. Rabbit, rabbit, 5. osterhasen_basteln_wip, 6. Macro-Bunny ____

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Easter makes for George & Ruby ...

Egg cosies with personalised fabric buttons - link here for a super easy egg cosy tutorial!

Happy Easter x

Alice Swap - Sent

2010-03-30T19:54:00.003+01:00

I got so excited with what we received from Anna in the Alice swap that I forgot to post about what I sent! So a little late, but here’s a few photos of what I made …

Kilt pin with wonderland charms

'eat me' glass bottle with mini smarties
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And you’ve probably seen this one before but I’ll add it again anyway! -

‘Drink Me’ embroidery

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Emma playing with my old Fashion Wheel

Did anyone else have this as a child? Wasn't it great!

The digital wheel of fashion -

I did a 'Fashion Wheel' google search the other day just to see if you could still buy them and came across this blog post ... and then lost about 2 hours creating outfits on Looklet - Love it!

Easter Egg Hunt! – pop over to Popular Crafts this week (until the 5/04/10) and check out there Easter egg hunt to win lots of crafty goodies! & if you find the hidden egg on Saturday you could win a set of my Little Red Riding Hood fabric buttons plus a "Make Your Own" button kit! – link

Blue, teal and a little splash of red

2010-03-10T10:27:00.006Z

I’m working with these colours (plus a few others) in my Falling Alice embroidery, so I was very excited not only to find this beautiful mosaic, as I love teal and red together, but to find my french knot sheep in it too!

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I adore the stacking ring set underneath my little sheep ...

Stacking Set by ThirtySixTen

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Still stitching Alice…

Yes, I'm still stitching my Falling Alice piece and hope to reveal both my embroidery and the pattern very soon! I just had to put that piece on hold for a little while, as I’ve spent the past few weeks stitching a variation of my Little Red for a magazine tutorial, which is quite exciting!

Thanks to Kiirey for adding me to her 'Color Combo of the month' mosaic x

french knot sheep tutorial

2010-02-20T22:26:00.005Z

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French Knot Fabric Button Tutorial ...

I originally put this tutorial together for the Feeling Stitchy embroidered button swap -

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Here’s a tutorial for using Prym cover buttons, which you might find useful if stitching French knots, or any other delicate stitches that you don’t fancy squashing in a button mould!
It took me a while to get the hang of this type of cover button, but the nice thing with these is that you can take the back off and reposition the fabric is needed.

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If anyone has any tips they'd like to share for this type of cover button then please feel free to add a comment below.

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This example shows how to make a little French knot sheep button ... (click 'full' to enlarge tutorial)

How To: French Knot Sheep Button

View more presentations from Sam Gillespie.

Alice in Wonderland Swap - Received

2010-02-18T20:49:00.005Z

I'm so glad we were in when the postman came today!

'Sam & Emma, you are invited to your very own Mad Hatter's Tea Party!'

Emma wearing one of the party hats Anna made for us, and opening her gift (see book below) ...

'eat me' chocolates, paper chains for our tea party, a 'drink me' tea box set (below) and a sweet pin cushion ring!

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A beautiful handmade box with tea and shaped sugar lumps
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handmade story book -

Emma loves her Wonderland story - thanks Anna

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... we just had to get out Emma's silly dolls for our Mad Hatter's Tea Party!

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Thank you so much Anna, we've had so much fun today ... it was the perfect parcel to receive in this wet and rainy half term x

potato print hair accessories

2010-02-17T14:22:00.003Z

I came across a couple of potato printing photos on Flickr last week and it gave me an idea for Valentines. So Em and I got busy stamping a lovely potato print card for daddy, and then out came the fabrics … and we got a little carried away!

This is a really easy tutorial to do with the little ones using cover buttons and hair accessories, like bobby pins, elastics etc – Any size buttons will work, but for reference here’s what I’ve used: Headband - one size 22mm (US size 36), one 28mm (US size 45) and one 38mm (US size 60) / Bobby pins - two size 28mm (45)

I think they would make lovely handmade birthday gifts for all the little ones friends. We stamped hearts as we were doing a Valentine print, but you could cut any shape or design you fancy. You could even personalise them with alphabet rubber stamps to make them extra special.

Tutorial - scroll through to view/click 'full' to enlarge

Have fun printing!

Sweetly Stitched Little Red

2010-02-15T11:38:00.001Z

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orsy has embroidered and stitched two of these beautiful bags for her daughters using my Little Red pattern – so sweet! Thanks for sharing orsy x

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happyland

2010-02-14T21:14:00.001Z

Is it really half term already?

... Let's hope the weather is a bit brighter this week so we can all go out and have some fun! x

Folksy Heart Swap - Sent

2010-02-08T11:06:00.002Z

Here's some photos of what I sent Debbie for the Folksy Heart swap - Big thanks to Lisa for organising, it's been a lovely swap x I look forward to seeing what everyone else has made over in the Flick group

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Fabric heart pendant with flower charm

Pleated linen (recycled M&S top) buttons with heart charms ♥

Embroidered Button Swap

2010-02-07T10:44:00.003Z

New swap! I've added all the details to the Feeling Stitchy blog - Embroidered Button Swap

WIP Alice and Folksy Heart Swap Received

2010-02-04T20:48:00.000Z

As promised earlier in the week, here is a wip photo of the Alice embroidery I’m working on at the moment

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Falling ...

I will add some more photos soon :)

♥ heart swap ♥ After spending a couple of days at Mum and Dad’s I came home to the most wonderful parcel today!

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eek, this is what I received from Red Bird Jewellery in the Folksy Heart Swap. It’s so beautiful … and very me! Thank you Becky x
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Both my Alice in Wonderland & Folksy Heart swap pieces will be posted out tomorrow, so I will add some photos once they have arrived safely with Anna and Deborah x

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new pattern

2010-02-01T21:57:00.007Z

10 sweet Alice in Wonderland designs to stitch!

Here is my new 'Alice' themed embroidery pattern, which I mentioned last post, and is now available to buy in my Etsy shop.
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I'm also currently working on a larger 'Alice' design, so will add some wip photos of that later in the week.

'Drink me' bottle, stitched as part of my Alice in Wonderland swap.

I wanted to keep the label hanging loose to give the piece a bit more character but didn't want it to fray, so I got all sticky! Here's how you can do it too -

Sketch/transfer the label design on to some medium weight fabric and embroider the letters on...

Now keep the fabric in the hoop, grab a paint brush and coat both sides of the fabric with a thin layer of glue (I've used Diamond Glaze to give it a nice glossy finish).

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Once dry you can cut out the label using sharp scissors and stitch it to the bottle on a hanging thread. I've also added two jump rings; one which is stitched to the neck of the bottle and one hanging loose on the label.

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I will blog some more stitched examples from this pattern over the next few weeks, so pop back soon for more tips and stitch ideas!

My favourite lamp

2010-01-30T20:48:00.006Z

I love this lamp! Not only does it make a great light box (or light tube in this case) for transferring patterns, but it also makes pretty patterns on the floor (and walls when it’s not being used to transfer patterns) … and it only cost me £5 from Dunelms! LOVE IT!
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If I’m working on a larger pattern I tend to tape and transfer on the back door window, but this is how I transfer any small patterns.
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How I transfer using a lamp - I think this lamp works so well because not much light escapes from the sides, making the light source much brighter from the top (in the same way that a light box works).
I sit an A4 sized sheet of clear acrylic on top of the lamp (use a low watt bulb to stop the acrylic from over heating and becoming distorted), and then place my pattern, then fabric (in hoop) to transfer the design.
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I was only tracing a very small piece of the pattern in this photo so I used a small hoop and held it in place. But if I were doing a slightly larger transfer, with a bigger hoop, I would tape the paper pattern to the acrylic, then peg the hoop to the acrylic to hold it in place.

In wonderland …
This photo shows one of my new embroidery patterns, which I will blog about on Monday – but if you pop over to my Etsy shop you’ll see it in there all newly listed and waiting for some hearts :)

Alice in Wonderland - Flickr Favourites

2010-01-26T21:04:00.005Z

1. The "Late Rabbit" clock charm necklace - Alice in Wonderland, 2. Alice and the White Rabbit, 3. Painting The Roses Red, 4. Drink me! Hoop shot, 5. White Rabbit by Lifepieces, 6. Sumptuosity Alice in Wonderland Herald

Little Red Pattern

2010-01-19T10:46:00.011Z

I've added my little red riding hood pattern for sale in the Craft Hope shop on Etsy - crafthope.etsy.com __

The shop raised $7,000 in just two days and is now rapidly approaching the $10,000 mark! Link here for more details and to see how you can donate to Craft Hope for Haiti ... http://www.crafthope.com

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Update: 25/01/10 - Over $27,000 raised and over 1400 items have sold in the craft hope shop so far! Thank you so much to everyone who brought one of my patterns x

sew hip, secret santa, a couple of new swaps and some penguins!

2010-01-15T12:42:00.002Z

Back in May last year Emma stitched this Alien from a pattern in SewHip magazine (issue 7) and I added a few pics to the Sew Hip group on Flickr. Then early last month they emailed to say they would like to feature it in this months Readers Gallery!

I was kind of hoping they would use the photo of just Rosie Alien, as Em looks like a complete fruit-loop in this one, haha ... Anyway, here's Rosie the alien and Em (and a bit of Hub doing the gardening) in this months SewHip :D
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Click image to view larger

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Secret Santa Received!

Wasn't I a lucky girl ... sorry, weren't we lucky girls, as Spoiltpig sent both Emma and me a beautiful fabric resin pendant! How cute is that little duck?! :)

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thanks sp x ... and to Von for organising the Secret Santa over on crafteroo x

I've recently joined two new swaps - The Alice in Wonderland Swap which is being hosted by Meri, and 'The Folksy Valentine Heart Swap' being hosted by Lisa/aka noodlebubble
I have lots of ideas buzzing round my head for both swaps, so will hopefully get some wip pics on here very soon ...

Penguin hunt, Liverpool 28th - 29th December 2009

August 2008 was Go Superlambananas ... December 2009 was Go Penguins - and didn't we have fun on our penguin hunt! Even with all the fog, rain and freezing temperatures!

There were over 200 large 5 foot Penguins on the Winter's Trail in and around Liverpool, all designed by artists and children from the local schools.

Just a few of the penguins we found around the centre. To see more of our penguin pics link here ... and yes, Em is in all of them!

Craftiness in 2009

2009-12-31T18:50:00.003Z

A favourite make from each month in 2009 -

1. heart button, 2. french knot button, 3. elephant mini quilt, 4. onion skin eggs, 5. wip, 6. Untitled, 7. cross stitch buttons , 8. russian doll brooches, 9. spotty owls, 10. button jewellery swap - sent, 11. stars, 12. hand stitched swap - sent
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Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a very happy 2010. x

tree decorations

2009-12-21T21:53:00.006Z

tree decs, originally uploaded by incywincystitches.

1. Bauble swap received , 2. wrapped tree, 3. stars, 4. bauble swap - sent, 5. peg dolly, 6. bauble swap - sent

I've been busy making decorations ... plus I received the cutest gingerbread house from food of love. Thanks to Eileen for organising such a great swap x craft neutral bauble swap

To see what I sent Eileen link to my swap set

Happy Christmas x

Hand Stitched Embroidery Swap - Sent

2009-12-09T21:31:00.001Z

Little Red

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Megan has now received my embroidery piece so I can add some pics I took before it went on it's long journey!

Megan had mentioned that she loves Japanese fairytale fabrics, so I instantly thought of little red riding hood. You can see some of my sketches and wip photos in my swap set here

Flickr group - "Hand Stitched" Embroidery SWAP

Button Baubles

2009-12-08T10:14:00.014Z

Button bauble made by Emma___
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I originally put this tutorial together for 'made in the UK' blog - thanks to my little helpers Emma and Lucy! x

Button Baubles – something for the little ones to make …

This is such a fun project to do with kids … just make sure you hide your ‘best’ buttons before you let them loose on your stash!

You will need:

Polystyrene Balls

A selection of new/vintage buttons (depending on what you have in your stash!)

Eye hooks/or screws

Ribbon (to hang)

Double sided tape

Scissors

Optional:

Pva glue /or Diamond Glaze

Glitter

Paintbrushes

Step 1 – Prepare the ball

Cover your polystyrene ball with double-sided tape, working from top to bottom around the ball to keep it as flat as possible. (It’s probably best to prepare this beforehand, as it could get very fiddly and sticky!)

Step 2 – Prepare the hanger

Cover your eye hook with yarn to hide the metal (or if you don’t have an eye hook simply use a screw to attach the ribbon to) and screw into the polystyrene ball.

Step 3 – Get busy with buttons!

Select your buttons depending on your tree colour choice, or just go multicoloured like my little helpers did! Now have fun sticking your buttons to the ball.

*note – work round the ball keeping the buttons close together (… best to have some tiny buttons to hand to fill any gaps at the end!)

Step 4 - Optional … get out the glitter and glue!

Yep, the kids love it! To give your bauble a bit more sparkle, mix some glue & glitter and start painting!

Fill any gaps between buttons with glue then sprinkle over some glitter. Then use your mixed glue & glitter to lightly cover the buttons.

note - Diamond Glaze works well as it gives a lovely high gloss finish, but a mix of pva glue with glitter will give a similar effect.

Step 5 – Attach the ribbon and hang! (… Now sit back and admire all those lovely buttons sparkling in the tree!)

Hand Stitched Swap Received

2009-11-30T21:06:00.002Z

I took part in a hand stitched swap over on Flickr and here's what I received! Thank you so much to chmihen for my beautiful embroidery piece - I just love it :)

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I will add some photos of mine once it has arrived, but for now here's a wip pic ...

Little Red

Flickr group - "Hand Stitched" Embroidery SWAP

Children in Need

2009-11-18T08:53:00.001Z

www.folksy.com/shops/CrafterooShop

Don't forget to check out our Children in Need shop over at Folksy - It's full of lovely handmade items all donated by members of Crafteroo ...

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www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey

Pumpkins and Misi

2009-10-29T12:48:00.001Z

We had a pumpkin carving session last night, which turned into a bit of a competition between Em (with my help) and Daddy! I'll let you decided which one is the best ...

On one side of the kitchen Emma and me created this spooky pumpkin ...

Photo is not brilliant, sorry!

Emma helped me prepare the pumpkin by scooping all the middle out, then drew her design on (with the help of a stencil) which I cut out. A great pumpkin, well done Em :)

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Then on the other side of the kitchen Daddy spent over 2 hours making this ...

Isn't it great! Well done hub :) Em said it's amazing, but her one is still the most scary!
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Check out those teeth! ...

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New shop...

I've set up a little shop over at Misi and have listed a few new findings, button sets and accessories - link here to see what's in stock!

Kenny the duck

2009-10-17T21:39:00.002+01:00

ay up me duck!
In the summer holidays we decided to take part in a rubber duck based photography competition organised by a local gallery.

So we spent 7 weeks carrying Kenny (our duck) and my digi camera round with us to get some shots … and we got some good ones, in fact Emma was chosen as a finalist in the 8 years and under category. And this Wednesday night we went to the exhibition launch where they announced the winners. Unfortunately Emma didn’t win in her category, but she absolutely loved seeing her photo large scale with all the other finalists.
Here is Emma and her photograph …

My little red rosy cheeks :)
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To see Emma's photo and others from our holiday link here to my Kenny flickr set
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The exhibition is on till early December at Loughborough town hall.
vanillagalleries.com

button jewellery swap - sent and received

2009-10-11T16:48:00.003+01:00

I actually started writing this post last Friday, but have been so busy this last week that I've not had chance to do any blogging! ... so, here's the lovely goodies I received from my partner Abbi in the button jewellery swap -

A beautiful buttony bib necklace, some buttons handmade by Abbi (really love these!) and a whole stash of crafty goodies and yummy chocs :)

Thanks Abbi x

And here's a couple of the pieces that I sent over to Abbi ...

Wrap around button bracelet (or choker) - buttons stitched to a leather crochet chain.

Layered vintage button pendant on a brown leather cord to match the bracelet.
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More images in my Swap Flickr set
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I had great fun creating these button pieces for Abbi :)
Thanks to everyone that took part in the swap x I'll do a little swap round up post once everyone has received there goodies in the post.
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Button jewellery swap Fickr group

Hand Stitched

2009-09-29T16:52:00.003+01:00

Hand stitched - taken from my Flickr favourites
Originally uploaded by incywincystitches

Taken from my Flickr favourites (old and new) -

For the "Hand Stitched" Embroidery Swap hosted by Ariel

Ruby's Owls

2009-09-17T21:14:00.006+01:00

Owl softie and taggie style snuggle for baby Ruby.

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I found a pair of hubs old corduroy trousers in my stash and instantly decided to make an owl. (Click image to see what other fabrics I've recycled) I had intended to make a personalised cushion with an appliqué owl, but the trousers weren't wide enough, so decided to turn her into a softie instead.

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I just love this spotty fabric at the moment; it just seemed to work so well with the brown fabrics and felted rainbow wings.
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Hand embroidered patch on the reverse - more pics on flickr ... link

Welcome to the world baby Ruby! x

fair and two veg

2009-09-15T12:44:00.005+01:00

I had a lovely fair on Saturday at Ulverscroft Manor. The sun was shining, the atmosphere was wonderful and for once my table looked pretty decent compared to my usual messy displays ... thanks to GK for all the display stands ;)

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More images on Flickr

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home grown veg
I sent off for the free seeds from the BBC dig in campaign in the spring. We planted them in June, so thought it must be time to harvest, but to our disappointment they were a little small...

Yes those are leeks!

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... but they were delicious!!

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haha, Em admiring one of her comedy carrots!

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Happy 4th Birthday!

2009-09-05T07:00:00.004+01:00

___ Love you, hug you & squeeze you, cause you make me laugh lots everyday... have a fab birthday Em. x

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For Issy

2009-09-03T22:09:00.000+01:00

Square Bear

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Made for my Niece's 2nd birthday...

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Taken from a pattern in Sew Darn Cute. I think he looks more like a bunny as I've made the ears a tad long! But he is so very cute ... just hope my Niece agrees!

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Happy 2nd Issy x

Swap update ...

2009-09-03T14:43:00.001+01:00

Here's a list of all the partners in the button jewellery swap...

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Kerry & Jenny
Megan & Suzy
Jane & Gemma
Maxine & Caroline
Juanita & Rachel 1
Eileen & Lisa
Judith & Alix
Kat & Joanne
Abbi & Sam
Debbs & Amy
Rachel 2 & Gemma
Isabela & Doris
Laura & Von
Nikki & Sarah
Deborah & Sophie
Deb & Melissa

Barbara & Emma

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You should all have received an email from me now with your partners details. (if not, then please message me)
Flickr group - link
Have fun making!

Swap - last day to sign up!

2009-09-01T08:52:00.005+01:00

Button jewellery swap -
Here's who I have on my list so far. Please shout if I've missed you/your email!! ... I'm waiting for a few more people to email me today, but please give the swap a final little tweet/shout just in case anyone has missed it :)

Gem

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I'll email you all Wednesday/Thursday this week with your partners details.

Polymer Clay Buttons

2009-08-29T21:00:00.002+01:00

We had a little play with some polymer clay this week - Em helped me make up a few moulds using existing buttons, which we hardened in the oven, then we made a few (very) basic canes to make these buttons...

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More practice needed I think!! … It was good fun though and definitely a great activity for a rainy afternoon ;)

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When Lisa from Noodlebubble joined my swap I couldn’t help but notice her cute ladybird hair slides on Folksy. (Sorry Lisa … but I’ve borrowed your idea for my daughters birthday as she is beetle bug crazy! – hope that’s okay?!) So I dug out my BigShot and cut out some little bugs… I’m sure she will love them -

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Lady bug slides for Emma birthday next week

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**BUTTON JEWELLERY SWAP - Only 3 days left to sign up for the swap. Link here for details** Thanks to all those that have emailed details over - I have emailed you all back, so if you haven't received it check your spam folder ;)

Button Jewellery Swap - Sign Up

2009-08-23T21:19:00.005+01:00

Button Jewellery Swap

Anyone for a swap?
I’ve had this swap idea in my head for ages, but kept putting it off as I was involved with other swaps and was busy with work stuff. Then after suggesting it on Crafteroo last week and getting a bit of interest, I thought I’d better get it sorted and blogged...
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So, if you’re interested here’s what you need to do …
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Sign up! Email me at info[at]incywincystitches.com with the following information –
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Your name
Your address
Your blog, flickr address, etc
A little bit about yourself (to include favourite colour/s and if you have any allergies)
Your favourite sweet/chocolate treat
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Sign up deadline is Tuesday 1st September. **sign up has now finished**

Partners will be chosen by me, then you will receive an email with your partners details on Wednesday 2nd September.
Please be aware that you may have to ship international, as this swap is open to all ;)
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Your parcel should contain –

Handmade button jewellery and/or accessories

(around £5 - £6 /$8 material cost)

You can make a set, a collection or just an individual piece of jewellery – it’s entirely up to you!
Any buttons can be used - new, vintage, fabric, ceramic, resin, crochet, etc … or a mixture of different button types.

Some craft supplies (for example, extra buttons or ribbons, beads, etc) and a chocolate or sweet treat :)

Mail your swap parcel by Tuesday 6th October
I'm guessing a lot of you, like me have little people at home at the moment, so I’ve given quite a long making time to allow you to get the kids back to school and get your craft gear back out ;)
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Link to swap button for your blogs - Link

And the swap Flickr group can be found here – Button Jewellery Swap 2009

How organised am I! lol

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I will leave you with a few of my Flickr favourites …

1. neutral bracelet, 2. Little Bird Felted Pendant, 3. Red Tortoise necklace , 4. English Rose Garden, 5. Silver Flower Vintage Button Necklace, 6. seablue ring bracelet, 7. Le Tweet in Blue - Fabric Button Ring, 8. UFO Earrings, 9. buttons necklaces, 10. NECKLACE FROM COLOURFUL BUTTONS, 11. Cherry Garden House Ear Stud, 12. Crochet Necklace

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… Oh and please tweet this blog post to spread the word ;)

Thanks x

felt buckets and brooches

2009-08-20T22:14:00.000+01:00

I had a few woolies which had gradually felted in the wash, so I decided to make up a few storage pots for a fair I'm doing next month.
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... And then made some felt button brooches from the left over scraps ...

Flickr images

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And just in case you live in the area, the fair is on the 12th September at Ulverscroft Manor, Markfield, Leics. More details here

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Oooh!

Thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew for my little feature last week! And to pennydog for including my cross stitch buttons in her 'Button It' treasury!!
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Button it!

Treasury chosen by pennydogaccessories

Thanks Kerry! x

More Granny Squares Received!

2009-08-08T21:28:00.003+01:00

Granny Square Swap
Izabela from blue fish handmade made me these 3 beautiful granny squares. I just love the colours – Thank you for the squares and extra treats Izabela! xx

Yay! Look at this....
... I got a little feature in September's Crafts Beautiful magazine!!

Big thanks to tiptop and kittyB for sending me some photos over ;) Click image to see more.

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Plus I've also had a little blog feature on Feeling Stitchy this week! - link here

Very happy!!

Shirt Dress

2009-08-01T21:06:00.006+01:00

I'm not quite sure how ... but I managed to get into town today to buy some ribbon, get the shirt dress finished and take some pics to blog!! Amazing considering the mood Em's been in the past few days!
She did manage to put it on today though. And actually had fun dancing round the garden in her new dress (for about 2 minutes!)
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I didn't really follow the tutorial as I found the shirt to be a different style, but the idea is the same with the shirt front being the dress back.

Me: Do you like it Em?

Em: Yes, lovely! A pretty princess dress ... But where's the pocket for my tissues?!

And, yes we have been through plenty of tissue boxes this past month! Both of us are streaming with hay fever at the moment. Poor Em has been put on nose drops four times a day, which she absolutely hates! Let's just say it's been a long few days here in the Gillespie household ... and we're still only half way through the drops! I could cry !!!

Anyway, it's all finished (apart from the pocket for Em's snot rags, which I will add next week!) and what a great fabric/shirt! Love it :) Thanks vVxx

wips

2009-07-31T22:03:00.008+01:00

Got a few pieces on the go at the moment so thought I add a few wip pics -

Couldn't resist going on holiday last week without my little sewing bag. So I decided to take some fabric and colourful threads to make a start on the Crafteroo 'Stitch It' project.

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Embroidered blocks - Inspired by some rainbow Flickr favourites
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Vintage Violet sent me up a shirt that she found in a charity shop so that I could have a go at this shirt dress tutorial over on craftster. I first saw this tutorial about 2 years ago, then Megan mentioned it on Crafteroo a few weeks ago and said she would send me up a shirt she'd found.

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So here it is half finished - (unfortunately Em isn't in a modelling mood today, so it's just a fabric picture for now .... which looks surprisingly like a shirt!)

Summer shirt dress for Em - just waiting to find some nice ribbon trim and then I can finish the straps off .... oh and for the sun to come out so she can wear it!
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A couple of holiday pics! ...

... be back soon with some pics of Emma wearing the dress! x

Flickr Favourites - Old and New

2009-07-19T10:22:00.001+01:00

Rainbow

1. Ring of stitches, 2. rainbow color wheel, 3. Numbers can be fun!, 4. Floral Vignette, 5. ♥ love grows up!, 6. Stella's rainbow dress

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Inspiration for the 'Stitch It' project over on Crafteroo - for details link here

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Granny Squares Received

2009-07-14T08:44:00.000+01:00

Granny Square Swap
Izabela from blue fish handmade made me these 3 beautiful granny squares. I just love the colours – Thank you for the squares and extra treats Izabela! xx

Yay! Look at this....
... I got a little feature in September's Crafts Beautiful magazine!!

Big thanks to tiptop and kittyB for sending me some photos over ;) Click image to see more.

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Plus I've also had a little blog feature on Feeling Stitchy this week! - link here

Very happy!!

Bake Swap Sent and Received

2009-07-13T21:20:00.001+01:00

Eek, it’s been a while!! Apologies for my absence, I've been having blogspot and laptop issues ... but I'm back now (I hope!)

Blottedcopybook organised a bake swap on her blog a few weeks ago. So here’s what I sent out to Von on Friday and received from Nikki on Saturday morning…

SENT – I used Meri’s blueberry muffin recipe from her blog. Mainly because I love them so much and they just seemed the perfect cakes for summer.

Blueberry muffins and fabric & button crafty goodies for Von.

Recipe can be found here ... best served warm with a big mug of coffee :)

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RECEIVED – I was paired up with Nikki from musingsofagirl and she sent me (and Em) the biggest box of goodies and handmade biscuits :)
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Citrus drop biscuits - click image to see what other goodies I received :)

I'll have to add the recipe to my blog when I get chance - they were delicious!
Thanks Nikki x

Garden Swap - Sent

2009-06-10T13:27:00.004+01:00

Nova has now received her garden swap package, so I can blog a few photos I took before I posted...

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Sketchbook -

Inspired by garden plans, I decided to make Nova a fabric covered sketchbook with felt applique trees and fench knot and bead flowers.

Felt and button tress with embroidered ladybird on the spine.
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More photos in my Flickr 'swap set' - link
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I really enjoyed doing this swap! - Thanks for being a great swap partner Nova & big thanks to Kerry for organising it x

New buttons, a penguin parade and some lovely fabric!

2009-06-08T12:47:00.002+01:00

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New buttons at incy wincy stitches -

I’ve been looking into getting some unique handmade buttons to add to my website for some time now … and I didn’t have to look far! Check out these beautiful buttons from two Crafteroo members, Gill and Glue&Glitter…

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Laura from Glue&Glitter made me some ‘hello’ buttons a while back for a mini quilt I was making and I just had to buy some more for my site. Check out her cute Matryoshka doll set plus many more here.

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Plus Gill who I worked with on the Crafteroo Combined Challenge makes the most wonderful polymer clay buttons … there big, there bright and I just love them!

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Both Laura and Gill's buttons would make great card embellishments or could be used to customise clothing, accessoires etc...

New Buttons - www.incywincystitches.com/page27.htm

Sets shown here - 1&3. Matryoshka doll set and spotty tea cup set by Glue&Glitter, 2. Polymer clay heart button set by Gill

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Penguin parade
Emma’s playgroup is having a summer fayre next Saturday, which involves a little parade around the village followed by lots of stalls and activites at the primary school. Playgroup has decided to dress up as penguins this year and here’s the mask that Emma helped make on Friday.

I’ve also modified Em’s Halloween cat costume into a little penguin suit with fluffy wings! I’ll add pics of the full costume and parade at the weekend.

Patchwork fabric -
I brought this gorgeous patchwork fabric from John Lewis yesterday, which I’m going to turn into a summer quilt for Em’s bed. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. Each square is about 2”, just imagine how long that would take to stitch!

Now, I’ve only ever worked on tiny quilts before so this is going to be a bit of a challenge for me as I’m making it to fit her single bed. Plus the seam lines aren’t exactly straight, so I’m not quite sure how I’m going to do the quilting stitch? I think I’ll try to ‘stitch in the ditch’ as much as possible, but it’s not going to be very straight! … But maybe this will add a bit of character to it?

I actually have a few quilting questions, if anyone has any top tips … Do you pre-wash your fabric? I’ve read many tutorials and books where some do and some don’t!? - Do you pre-wash to avoid shrinkage? Or wash after to give it that puckered up/aged look?
Also, I usual lightly thread tack my mini quilts to hold the top fabric, wadding and back fabric together whilst I machine stitch, then remove the stitches after. But it will take a very long time to tack a quilt of this size! Would you thread tack a piece this big? or just use pins/quilters safety pins?

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Right must get back to my orders and catch the post… ttfn. x

Swap Mad!

2009-06-01T20:09:00.008+01:00

Yes, I think I've got the swap bug this year! It seems as soon as one has been posted I find another one I fancy getting involved in. This time it's the Granny Square Swap over on Spans' Stitchin's blog - http://spans-stitchin.blogspot.com/

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Now, if you've always wanted to try crochet but have never actually given it a go this might be the swap for you, as Hannah has added some granny square tutorials and instructions on her blog to help first timers.

Really looking forward to getting my hooks out and doing a bit of crocheting whilst sitting in the sunshine :)

Garden Swap Received

2009-05-31T21:09:00.003+01:00

I received my 'Garden Swap' goodies from Nova a few days ago. Click images to see bigger pics.

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Lots of wrapped goodies...

Button flower bouquet...

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Lots of lovely goodies...

... including lots of chocs, some cute wooden animal buttons, a make your own frog kit, handmade soap, a bbq recipe book, beautiful button flowers and a fabulous felt pincushion flower :)

Button flowers
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Thanks Nova :)
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I posted Nova's parcel off today, so will add some pics once they have arrived.

garden swap and an award

2009-05-07T21:23:00.002+01:00

I made a start on my garden swap project last week and thought I'd link to a few pieces I found on Flickr whilst looking for some inspiration. I've added a little sneak pic of what I started stitching over on Flickr too - link

1. Sumptuosity Love Bug, 2. Grow pincushion, 3. Untitled, 4. APPLE TREE IN THE FIELDS - SPRING hand embroidered original wall art, 5. ♥ love grows up!, 6. Lovisa's garden, 7. Spring bird, 8. kingfisher & bullrush

Award!

Thanks to vintage violet for my 'Friends' blog award <3>

Now, I know we've never actually met but when you spend as long as we do chatting on various sites such as Crafteroo, twitter, facebook, flickr etc... well you kind of feel like good friends - Being a work at home mum can be a little restrictive on your social life at times, so it's good to have these special friends on the net. Thanks Megan.x

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Felt heart brooch by maximum RABBIT designs

Now I have to pass my award to eight of my bloggy friends - some who I've met in real life and some that I hope to meet someday...

cloudhopping

lucykate crafts

ethel&edna

gone to earth (aka primrose corner)

oh, and I'm sending the award straight back to Megan too :p
x
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And finally, I just had to show off this little set that blottedcopybook made for some friends of ours who have just had a baby boy. How cute!! Von used an elephant pattern around the handle hat - she's so clever! Click here to see larger - link

And the winner is ...

2009-05-02T15:50:00.004+01:00

... Number 7 - Amy Lane!!

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Well done to Amy! - You've won all those fabric button goodies! Send over your address details and I will get them in the post.

info (at) incywincystitches.com

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Thanks to all that took part and for all your lovely comments. x

Blog Giveaway

2009-04-25T16:21:00.002+01:00

200th Blog Post Giveaway!!

To celebrate my 200th blog post I'm having a little giveaway. Simply leave a comment below and you could win a whole bunch of goodies - including one of my large fabric button brooches, a set of fabric buttons, a pair of button hair slides and some other crafty treats!!

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Just enter a comment (and your email address) between now and 12pm on Saturday 2nd May and then stop back on Saturday afternoon, when the winner will be announced. Good luck!

Letter Buttons

2009-04-16T08:46:00.003+01:00

Cross stitch letter buttons - featured on Feeling Stitchy !!

Happy Easter Finds

2009-04-12T08:26:00.002+01:00

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1. woolly easter eggs 2, 2. Easter Egg pin, 3. Happy Easter, 4. Happy unazukin easter!, 5. Another Easter Egg, 6. A Found Bird's Nest

Mini Quilt

2009-04-11T21:02:00.003+01:00

Mini make! Quilted nursery wall hanging for baby Dylan.

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Laura of Glue and Glitter made me some super cute speech bubble 'hello' buttons, which I just love! I've also brought some other fabulous button sets from her which will be on my website next week.

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Secret Easter Chick - I received my Easter Chick goodies this morning. Thank you so much to Corky for my beautiful fabric baskets and chocolate treats! We will be using the baskets tomorrow for our Easter egg hunt which we have been preparing for today (see below).

Eggs all painted and sparkly ready for our egg hunt tomorrow

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Wishing you all a Happy Easter. x

Time for a rest!

2009-04-08T19:44:00.008+01:00

I feel exhausted! In fact I don't think I've sat down for more than 10 minutes in the past few weeks! What with orders, swaps and getting stock ready for a local shop, I'm pretty much dead on my feet. So it's time for me to have a little break and spend some time with hub and Em, who are both off school/playgroup for the Easter holidays.
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Here's just a few pics of some of the stuff I've been making ...

Cross stitch button order now on its way to America
Large fabric button brooches
Fabric button bracelet
Fabric button hair slides

This is just some of the stock now available at Lilliecup Green over in Breedon-on-the-Hill.

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As always - more pics over on Flickr ... www.flickr.com/photos/incywincystitches
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And finally we've done a 'Secret Easter Chick' over on Crafteroo and here's the selection of goodies I sent over to Gill ...I've borrowed Gill's photo as I forgot to take pics before I sent it! :p

Felt Easter egg & fluffy chick with crafty and chocolate tweets!

Hope you all have a happy Eatser :) I'm off to put my feet up and have a cuppa. x

Time for Tea Swap

2009-03-27T21:02:00.005Z

Apologies but this is going to be a picture heavy post!
I received Anne's gifts yesterday for the 'Time for Tea' swap. It took me and Em a while to get all the wrapping open as she sent so many lovely goodies! It was like Christmas with Em getting over excited and me squeaking with delight!
Here is what she sent me... (Click image to see larger)

Beautiful embroidered quilt hanger

Reverse of the wall hanging and the scarf that Anne made for Em
Emma wearing her new curly scarf.

I was so shocked to receive such beautiful gifts, Anne has been so generous. Thank you so much! :)
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And here is what I sent Anne at the start of the week, with a few extra tea related goodies! ...

Fabric coasters

Embroidered tea brooch

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I found the cute teacup fabric on Etsy and it's the perfect size for buttons. So I've added some to Folksy for anyone who's mad about tea, like me!!

ttfn. Sam. x

Time for Tea Swap and Tadpoles

2009-03-23T10:14:00.001Z

Yay! I'm in a magazine :) Apologies for my last post being a little brief, but I was super busy on Friday! For those that didn't see my Let's Get Crafting magazine feature ... link here

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Swap - I'm involved in another swap! This time it's being organised by Blottedcopybook and it's called 'Time For Tea'. I will post pics later in the week once my goodies have arrived to my partner Anne from frayed at the edge. But lets just say I had lots of fun looking around for tea related fabric and notions on Etsy :)

We have tadpoles again! I'll be adding pics to my Flickr set as they get bigger. Mum hooked some frogspawn out of her pond nearly two weeks ago (image above) and now they have turned into busy little tadpoles :)

Let's Get Crafting...

2009-03-20T19:35:00.003Z

...magazine - issue 12

Cross stitch heart buttons (page21)

Cross stitch letter buttons. (page 52)

As always click images to see larger

These button can be found on my website and in my Folksy shop

Red Nose Day

2009-03-12T21:33:00.005Z

Well I can't quite believe we've made over £400 so far in the Comic Relief shop on Folksy ... & it's still full of beautiful items all handmade by members of Crafteroo.

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We'd love to make it to £500 or more for Comic Relief day, so please link to the shop and spend some pennies :)

www.folksy.com/shops/CrafterooShop

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Reminder - We are also still taking bids on our Combined Challenge piece. See post below for details...

UPDATE! 15.03.09 - We raised over £600!!! How fantastic is that :) Shop will be open for a few more weeks so please pop over and see what handmade goodies are still in the shop.

Huge thanks to Kerry for all her help . x

Combined Challenge

2009-03-07T21:17:00.003Z

Over on Crafteroo we had a combined crafts challenge, which meant we worked with a partner and combined both our craft mediums to create something unique. Which in our case was fabric and glass as my lovely partner was Gill, who makes the most beautiful lampwork beads amongst other things! We decided to combine Gill's lampwork beads with some of my embroidered felt balls (I should add that I didn't make the felt balls, they are from paperfish. I simply added the embroidery detail and seed beads) So I sent Gill my handmade pieces above and she came up with this stunning necklace...

WOW!

NECKLACE AUCTION for Comic Relief

Auction!!...This piece is being sold for Comic Relief, so if you would like to make an offer please see the details here. And pretty please email me (info[at]incywincystitches.com) with your bid. The piece will go to the highest bidder to be announced around 6pm on Red Nose Day, March 13th.

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~~You know you want it!~~ SOLD!! This auction has now ended. ;)

Lampwork bead and felt ball necklace with fabric pouch

You can see more of Gill's work over on her blog - www.hollingdaledesignsblog.com

Owl swap

2009-03-01T21:02:00.002Z

From this doodle page in my sketch book...

...to this...

Mr&Mrs Owl

Made for MissCrafty, my swap partner in Meri's owl swap.

I've added the pattern for this embroidery to the Comic Relief shop on Folksy -

Link

Pincushion and Folksy

2009-02-23T13:30:00.013Z

Pincushion made for my Mums birthday. Hand stitched felt with french knot ball and mother of pearl button detail.

Little bird buttons

I've been busy updating my Folksy shop with more button goodies, including these cute little tweets and animal balloon set (below).

Link to shop here: Folksy

Balloon button set - SOLD

Headband for Red Nose Day!

2009-02-19T20:40:00.002Z

I brought some lovely red nose buttons from the Crafteroo Comic Relief shop last week, so decided to make something with one of them to put back into the shop.

~~Red Nose Headband £5.00~~ SOLD - Perfect for little people who just don't like wearing red noses... Or in Em's case the red nose just won't stay on!

Hand embroidered felt with polymer clay nose button on a black felt & elastic hair band.

Em loves it, so I'm half way through making another one. But she has said she'd like an 'Oooh' mouth on hers?!!

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Gill, the lady who made these nose buttons, is my partner in the Crafteroo Combined Crafts challenge. I will post more about this in the next few weeks, but we're basically going to create something using both our craft materials, which in our case is fabric and glass! Should be fun :p

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Giveaway! Check out this giveaway on pennydogs blog - Choose your favourite listing from the Comic Relief shop and you could win a pair of beautiful moss resin earrings!

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Handmade Button Swap

2009-02-17T16:25:00.002Z

Here are the handmade buttons I sent to my swap partner Phatsheep ...

I've been wanting to post pics of these for weeks, but wanted to wait till she had received them in the post.

I went a bit heart mad! The swap post date was Valentines so I couldn't resist going for reds and hearts.

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You can see more pics of the buttons being made and swapped here in the Flickr group: phatsheep handmade button swap
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And a little extra gift which I included ...
Felt pincushion with hand embroidered felt ball.

Cute button ribbon (from paper&string) which I stitched onto the felt with a few tiny pink buttons.

Owl Swap

2009-02-14T20:22:00.002Z

I mentioned before that I joined Apryl’s Owl Swap, well I received my gift in the week from Miss Crafty - Wow! I was over the moon when I opened the box and found this little guy. He’s so handsome and I just love the chunky cord fabric she's used with the stripey recycled cotton sweater - just perfect!

I showed Em this photo I took when she got back from playgroup yesterday and she said, 'Why is he sitting on my stool? Is he going to teach me the alphabet?'

Hehe ... well he does look a very wise owl!

Also included in my parcel was a handmade fabric nest, ceramic owls, a super cute vanity pouch, mini bead jars, buckles and some yummy chocs!

... And this great little doodle, which I love lots!

Thank you so much Miss Crafty. x

Love is in the air!

2009-02-09T13:37:00.002Z

Cut Out + Keep - What a lovely surprise to find my robot buttons featured in the Cut Out + Keep newsletter and Valentines Projects page. - http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/

Valentine projects - Link

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Link here to download the 'robot love' pattern and see here for pattern details.

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Red, White & Green!
Some of my Valentine favourites from Esty and Flickr ...

1. Silver Love Heart and Pearl Pendant 2. paper hearts 3. Cant Get Enough of That Fuzzy Love Pendant 4. LOVE...Olive Green Fine Silver Enamel Earrings 5. Valentine Heart Decoration 6. Scented winged hanging heart

Comic Relief

2009-02-09T12:45:00.000Z

Pennydog from the forum has set up a folksy shop to help raise money for Comic Relief, with all the items donated by members of the forum. I donated a selection of fabric button goodies and had 2 sales over the weekend! Go take a peek ... www.folksy.com/shops/CrafterooShop

We are still taking donations so if you would like to pledge any handmade items please link to the details here on the forum.

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Love, Crafter...oo!

2009-02-05T12:30:00.003Z

'Love, Crafter...oo!' treasury put together by Pennydogaccessories.
Thanks Kerry!

Snow

2009-02-04T20:23:00.003Z

Lovely to have a few snow days here in the UK and what a lot there was! We had lots of fun on Monday building two small (Emma sized) snowmen, which Em and hub then turned into this super sized one...
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... Well he was a 6ft monster at 4pm, but by about 8 he was looking a little drunk! ___

This is great! ... Check out these snow creations on Flickr.
And a few more I've found today whilst flickering ...
Snow Dalek

Birth of a Snowbot

Homer

C is for... Wish I'd thought of that! Em would have loved making potato head snowmen ... oh well, had better just hope for more snow tomorrow :)

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05/02/09 - update! We had more snow last night, so today we were back out in the garden making more creations and some Mr Snow Heads ...

Snow monster - We turned the original snowman (above) into an even bigger monster!

Mr Snow Heads - & Em had fun making snow heads :D

Love buttons!

2009-02-01T21:40:00.003Z

French knot heart button

Button swap - I've been busy making buttons for the Handmade Button Swap over on Phat Sheep Textiles blog... and now I know who my swap partner is I'm going to make a little extra personalised gift to send over with the buttons.

This is just one from the set - I will add more pics once my partner has received them.

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Thanks for the links!

I've had quite a few links to my blog since I added the free button patterns, so thanks to all those people that have blogged me. :)

To see a list of some of the places I've been featured or linked recently click here

Here's a couple of links from last week...

Craft Gossip Blog: Valentine Robot Buttons

One Pretty Thing: Valentine's Day Roundup

Sheep and Swaps

2009-01-23T20:46:00.000Z

These 14 little sheep are now on there way to Chickadee's house. I actually found it quite hard to put them in the post this morning! I've had them sitting on my desk (1/2 finished) for the past year and have become quite attached to them. But I've been sketching down some further ideas which involve french knot sheep, so there will be more to come soon.

Swaps - I've joined up to 2 swaps this month ...

The Owl Swap which is being organised by Meri and a Handmade Button Swap (very excited about this one!) organised by PhatSheep.

You can still sign up for the button swap, so if you fancy joining in get over there quick and put your name down! I will post some pics as I'm sketching, stitching & creating...

Thank you for the inspiration

2009-01-19T12:06:00.001Z

So sad to hear that Tony Hart has died. I have many fond memories of watching him (and morph) on Take Hart and Hartbeat. By far my favourite shows as a child - A true legend and an inspiration to many. Thank you :)

www.tonyhart.co.uk

Robot Love

2009-01-17T10:05:00.009Z

Valentine Buttons!
The perfect embellishment for your Valentine card.

Hooray! Another free button pattern to print off - I've put them for buttons but the pattern can easily be enlarged and stitched as a bigger embroidery.
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I went a bit mad experimenting with the pixel hearts! ...
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28mm mr&mrs robot buttons/19mm cross stitch heart buttons
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Some of these heart buttons are making there way over to the Cuteable giveaway basket - So get over there quick and leave a comment (on this post ... http://cuteable.com/ta-da-the-big-cuteable-giveaway/4280) to be in with a chance of winning some lovely handmade goodies!
*this giveaway has now finished

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Link to pdf pattern - Valentine buttons

(Link will take you to my website - slimply click to download and open the pdf file.)

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How I stitched them...

28mm robot button - I've used 1 strand for the inside robot detail and 2 strands to give definition around the profile. For the heart use a 28 count fabric to fit a 19mm button.

... more free patterns here

Treasury - Crafteroooooh!

2009-01-11T12:02:00.004Z

Chosen by Pennydogaccessories.

French knot valentines card - Link

Thanks Kerry!

Free Embroidery Pattern - For Buttons

2009-01-09T10:56:00.002Z

Some tiny patterns for buttons!

Pattern fits size 28mm buttons (size 44 UK/45US) ... or larger. Download HERE as an A4 pdf file and print off. (Link will take you to my website - just click to download and open the pdf file.)
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Unsure how to transfer the pattern onto fabric? Simply use transfer paper or a fabric pencil to trace the design onto your chosen fabric.
My method - masking tape the pattern, then the fabric onto a window. Use the light to see the image through the fabric and trace the pattern using a transfer pen.

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Have fun and please link me if you make any, as I'd love to see them. Thanks x

Useful link - There is a great embroidered button tutorial over on Pimp Stitch, plus more free mini patterns! ___

Christmas Gifts and Embroidered Buttons

2009-01-06T11:14:00.001Z

Christmas goodies!

Just thought I'd show off some of the lovely presents I received for Christmas... (Above: Clutch purse by Cloudhopping)

Knitting Icons, Warm Fuzzies, Mmm ... vintage chocolate buttons (how can I possibly eat those!), Russian doll set, Sew hip subscription & a cute sewing rubber stamp set (Click image to see annotated).

Wasn't I a lucky girl! :)

I also got a lovely travel sewing bag, so I filled it with some threads and essentials and managed to get some embroidery done whilst away at me Mums last week …

Embroidered Fabric Buttons

More images - Blue Bird - Tulip

Winner! - Sheep Embroidery

2009-01-03T13:52:00.005Z

Thanks to all those that added a comment to be entered for my embroidered sheep picture. But there can be only one winner and that winner, picked out by Random.org is...

... Number 10 - Suzanne Vaughan

Well done Suzanne!! Email me your address and I will get your sheep in the post. x

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Happy Scotch Pancakes

In an attempt to cheer up a poorly Em this morning I made her favourite for breakfast - Scotch Pancakes - and I thought I'd share my recipe. Well, it's actually a recipe I got from a magazine ages ago, but I've added a few extras to make them extra special!

Ingredients

125g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 egg
pinch of cinnamon
300ml milk
1 tbsp caster sugar
butter, for frying
raisins or choc chips to decorate
Serve with maple syrup or jam

• Put the flour, baking powder, egg, milk, sugar & cinnamon in a large jug then mix with a hand-held blender until smooth.
• Heat a non-stick frying pan, add a little butter and then pour in small amounts of batter. *Once the top of the pancake has bubbled and set, flip over with a palette knife and cook the other side.
• Add a sweet topping and serve.
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*To make smiley face pancakes decorate with raisins or choc chips just after you pour the batter into the pan.
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Makes approx 20 small pancakes.
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I won't win Master Chef with this recipe, but Em likes them and that's all that matters.

This morning I used my new griddle pan to make some funny shaped pancakes, but I'd suggest only doing this with a decent non-stick pan as they were hard to lift out.

Griddle pan pancakes - Em called them snowflake pancakes :)

2008

2008-12-28T21:06:00.000Z

A creation from each month in 2008 -

Jan - french knot sheep, Feb - card hanger wip, March - Easter tree hangers, April - Embroidered buttons, May - website header - wip, June - twinkle , July - autumn blossom, Aug - banner, Sept - Christmas Robin, Oct - letter buttons wip, Nov - Crochet flower slides, Dec - Ceramic button brooch

... I really must sit and finish off my website header at some point!

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Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a very happy 2009. x

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... oh & don't forget my blog freebie!! (Link) I will be selecting a winner next Saturday afternoon.

Christmas Embroidery

2008-12-24T13:02:00.000Z

I've been making a few last minute Christmas gifts this week -

Festive Dog
Made using the Festive Dog pattern from Orange You Lucky! ...
Pattern and instructions -Link

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Hand embroidered dachshund with reindeer antlers and ornaments - so cute!

I'm hoping the person who receives this gift can take a better photo for me, as this one doesn't show the embroidery very well.

Holly Hair Bobble

Fabric button hair bobble with embroidered holly on red linen.

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Don't forget to check out my freebie post below....

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Merry Christmas

Sam. x

Freebie and some favourites

2008-12-18T20:34:00.011Z

Hello! ... It's been a bit mad here recently, what with orders and fairs and then Em being poorly with a sicky bug :( So apologies for being away for a while. x

Luckily things have slowed down for Christmas now, so I'm going to spend the next few days catching up on my blog reading and hopefully getting some stuff finished in my wip box.

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No 'baa humbug' here...

As it's Christmas I thought I'd do a freebie!! I was going to do some fabric button goodies, but this evening whilst looking at my flickr pics I suddenly remembered I have this sitting in my sewing cupboard collecting dust. So if you fancy winning my embroidered french knot sheep picture (which still isn't finished (no surprise there!) but will be by the time it reaches the lucky winner), just leave a comment below...

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This is actually my most popular Flickr image and was also featured on the feeling stitchy blog, so not bad for my first attempt at french knots!

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The finished picture will be mounted and gift wrapped.

Winner will be chosen on Saturday 3rd January *Good luck* x

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That's it for now. If I don't do another blog post before Christmas, hope you all have a good one. x

I leave you today with a few of my Etsy favourites - Some festive, some just simply beautiful...

1. Poppies Wall Wear 2. Meeting Mr Bear 3. Snowflakes and Charcoal Necklace 4. Cotton Fingerless Arm Warmers 5. Christmas Elf 6. Baby Orca 7. kelly pea buttons 8. Filigree & Chrysanthemum Ring

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ttfn. x

Thanks Meri

2008-12-09T20:37:00.001Z

I meant to post this last week, but Em was a bit off colour and I got a little behind with everything!! ...

I won Meri's blog freebie a while back and we'd arranged to meet up in October (I think!?), but anyway things never happened. And then 2 weeks ago we had a bloggy meet up at Nottingham ikea/Starbucks and I finally met Meri plus a few others (see below), and she gave me this beautiful bracelet!

I love it so much! - Thanks Meri xx

Bloggy meet up ... It was so nice to finally meet LucyKate, Meri, Katy and Leah. Plus Ethel was there, who I've met up with before and someone else I've met before ... but can't be named as she was off work sick!! ;)

It was a great day for Emma too as she got to play with Katy's cute little monkey and Leah's Dd. In fact I actually think she has an admirer now! … ginger monkey

Thanks again to Ethel & Katy for the lovely goodie bags ... We'll definitely have to meet up again soon.

UKhandmade

2008-12-02T20:03:00.013Z

Felt robin tutorial ...
UKhandmade's online magazine launched today and I have a little tutorial in the first edition! So if you fancy making a few felt robins for your tree this year link here to the magazine, which is now available to download, and you will find my tutorial on page 14.

Well done to everyone involved with the magazine, it looks fantastic!

Also be sure to check out the UKhandmade blog as they're having a goodie bag giveaway! ... ukhandmade.blogspot

Recycling jumpers

2008-11-21T10:45:00.022Z

1.pink bird pouch, 2. Felt bird brooch, 3. pretty felted wool handbag, 4. lavender, 5. cat, 6. Stegosaurus

All images taken from the 'made from recycled sweaters' Flickr group.

I've decided to have a go at jumper recycling! I had an old(ish) jumper that started felting, shrinking more and more over the past few washes in the machine. In fact I think if I'd washed it a few more times it may have actually fit Em!

So using my old pully I decided to make Em a little Christmas stocking filler from a pattern in the December Sew Hip magazine (page 88 to be exact). It's Amy Adams Mini Kitten pattern - so cute! Em had already commented about little 'Coffee' in the mag, so I'm sure she'll find home for my little one amongst all her other soft toys.

Hello little Kitty!

Kitty - wooly softie with felt applique and stitch detail.

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Want to know a bit more about felting and recycling your woolies then these links may be useful...

fuzzygalore.biz / treehugger.com / craftstylish.com

Christmas gifts and a birthday card

2008-11-18T13:20:00.010Z

I've been buying lots of handmade Christmas presents over the past few weeks with thanks to some crafters on Crafteroo and Etsy! :) I won't post any pics (yet), as they need to be kept secret from spying family members. But I just wanted to say big thanks to Cloudhopping & Chickadee for my beautiful custom orders which both arrived in the post this morning! x

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Also thanks to Vintage violet who made this card a few weeks back for my Nan's birthday on Saturday. How beautiful is this! -

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Thanks vV. x

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Rawlins ~ Sundays craft fair went really well, although I'm now suffering with a terrible backache from sitting by a drafty door all day! Thanks to all those that came to say hi ... It's always nice to meet other crafters, especially Crafteroo ones! ;)

Just need to build my stock up again now for the next fair on the 29th.

Treasury and more buttons!

2008-11-13T15:55:00.012Z

Treasury - Do you Crafteroo?

Big thanks to pennydog for putting together this Crafteroo treasury -

A small selection of the Etsy sellers on Crafteroo.

We're a crafty little bunch ;)

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Buttons

I had to add this to my blog - I just love it! Christmas decoration made by the lovely Vintage Violet ... More pics on her blog. But be warned she's a bit button mad, like me :D

Christmas Button Tree

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& more buttons

Been busy this week getting the last few bits ready for my craft fair on Sunday. I will get some better pics of these when the sun decides to come out, but for now here's a photo of some new button rings and cufflinks that I finished today.

Wish me luck for the fair on Sunday - Hope it's a busy day as I have lots of stock made up!?

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Over 70 handmade craft stalls, children's craft corner and Santa!

Craft fair details

Thursday Night Project...

2008-11-07T12:52:00.005Z

I linked ttnp in my post yesterday - Just thought I'd show off what I made last night...

This is all stock for craft fairs I'm doing over the next few weeks but the cufflinks will also be available on my website in the next few days - once I've taken a some better pics!

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Crochet flower hair slides with button detail.

Cute owl fabric button bobbles

Robot fabric button cufflinks

Fly me to the moon

2008-11-06T20:10:00.008Z

Rocket cushion - Finally managed to get a few decent pics of my rocket design cushion to add to the website - personalised cushions. This was part of my Thursday Night Project the other week so you may have seen some wip pics (as below) already. Fully lined and available in black or white fabric - see here for details.

wip - applique rocket design

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To see what everyone is doing for this weeks Thursday Night Project click here...
ttnp

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More buttons ~

New button set now listed on IWS ~ Mixed russian doll fabric button set

Twitter

2008-10-30T15:55:00.001Z

Thought I'd have a go at micro-blogging - So if you fancy seeing what things I'm getting up to you can find me here ... twitter
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Plus you can also follow Crafteroo here - twitter.com/crafter_oo

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More thanks ... to Lazy Giraffe & primrosecorner for tagging me and a big thank you to Snapper and the Griffin for my lovely award :)

Scoodie and another treasury!!

2008-10-25T17:08:00.018+01:00

New hat & scarf for Em (Or hood and scarf otherwise know as a Scoodie!) - Inspired by Pangolin's handmade Scoodie on the forum yesterday, I decided to make one for Emma.

Made very quickly this afternoon (!) from a tutorial found on just tutes blog. What a great idea for a little one who's fussy about accessories - keep it simple with an all-in-one hood and scarf combo, which could even be attached to the inside of a jacket to keep secure.

I think she likes it ;)

This was a test run with some cheap (over stretchy) fleece and I'm not 100% happy with the shape of the hood, but I'm loving the whole Scoodie idea and hoping it’s a hit with Em too.

I used a detachable hood removed from one of Em's old coats to make a template and then added seam allowance. The scarf is quite short to just cross cover Em's chest and I attached a button to keep it snug at the neck on cold winter mornings.

Snug as a bug!
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Treasury -
Wow - Two treasury features in one day!!
Rolley Robin - Cute robins from the UK. Chosen by Christmasclaire.

Thanks ClaireP . x

Catch up ...

2008-10-22T07:27:00.016+01:00

I've been neglecting my blog again! Only 2 posts so far in October ... what's going on!

Well here's a little catch up on things I've been doing, buying, crafting etc over the past few weeks...

Decorating ~~ Em's bedroom and new playhouse

(More pics on Flickr...)

Buying ~~ More cute fabric for buttons!!

Making ~~ Lots of fabric buttons...

Finishing ~~ The cross stitch button order from the ttnp the other week. But it was more like the Thursday, Friday and Saturday night project!!

& Preparing ~~ stock for craft fairs ...

Don't forget it's 'The Thursday Night Project' tomorrow - You will find the thread here in the morning.

ttfn. x

Oh but before I go .... huge thanks to Gillian for my award and to Chickadee, Chloe & Izabela for tagging me ;)

A Big Thank You

2008-10-14T07:54:00.008+01:00

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to Kerry over at Pennydog for my parcel of goodies that arrived this morning. I just love my new resin fabric button necklace!!

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Lovely goodies! ... scrabble tile pendant, fabric button pendant, bottle top resin fridge magnet and a bag of beads, which I'm sure Emma will make something with once she's back from playgroup.
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Kerry has also done some new product photos for me, which I'm very excited about!! & will show off very soon ...
Thanks Kerry. xx

The Thursday Night Project

2008-10-09T08:31:00.010+01:00

ttnp ... Kerry from pennydog started a challenge on Crafteroo a few weeks ago called 'The Thursday Night Project'. It's not really a challenge, just a chance for people to post photos of projects they're working on and show off what crafty things they're getting up to on thursday/thursday night.

& we have now linked this to a new flickr group which can be found here - http://www.flickr.com/groups/thethursdaynightproject

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This is part of my Thursday night project...

30 cross stitch letter buttons for a custom order

... and you can see what else I'm working on and what others are getting up to here on the forum ... ttnp
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Lime resin ring from pennydog accessories

And one more quick link before I get cross stitching! ... Pennydog who I mentioned above is in the early stages of writing a book about resin jewellery and she's looking for some feedback. So if you have a spare few minutes please pop over to her blog post and leave some comments - Thanks ;)

New items ...

2008-09-30T14:30:00.016+01:00

I've been listing some new buttons and bits to iws, etsy and Folksy this week!

Here's a few of the new items ...

Spotty Garden Button Set

Winter Wonderland Buttons

And I've made some more of these little fellows that I first designed last year. Felt robin tree hangers. I know it's a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but I needed a festive image for the Crafteroo Advent Calendar (more details about that here). So I made a batch of robins and then added a few bead and button strings to make the photo look all festive.

I'm doing a few Christmas fairs in November and December so I need to start building up my stock in preparation. I'm sure I will be totally sick of Christmas by the time it gets here!! Anyway these little robins are available from my etsy shop and I'll add them to my website later next month.
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I will also add details of the fairs I'm attending in the next few weeks. But if you're a crafter looking for tables ~ or fancy finding fairs in your area to spend some pennies check out the Craft Fair & Events section on Crafteroo. Alternatively if you've already got fairs booked up then please link them on the forum and promote your table/fair to potential customers ;)
x

Birdie Cushion

2008-09-25T09:52:00.007+01:00

Something a bit different - Personalised cushion for baby Lucy ...

Lucy button cushion - measures 30x30cm.

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And a little something for her big sister ...

Machine applique bird with button detail.
Embroidered fabric buttons - cross stitch letter buttons.

Boo Bracelet

2008-09-22T15:32:00.004+01:00

My BOO bracelet has been featured on cuteable today... http://cuteable.com/clinks-249/3542

Thanks Cuteable ;)

Cuteable ~ a Mon-Fri treasure trove of cute stuff for you and your home!