A few (of many) things I like from Folksy

The sun is having an effect on me and my work!  I have found that over the weekend I sat for most of the day, chatting with my mum and having a couple of drinks, whilst the children jumped in the paddling pool to get themselves wet before flying down the slide.  A lovely day, but once again very little got done.

I now have piles of make-up bags needing to be completed, some pinnies cut and ready to be sewn and a load of paper birds sitting on my desk.  Too much to do before next weekends Craft fair at Pendle and a stall at a couple of garden openings in the area... so....  instead of doing what I should be doing, I thought I would show you few of the items I have found on Folksy that I like.

This is Frank, a brooch from Bird and Bridge.

I love these buttons from She Draws.  How quirky?!!

One of my favourite lino prints from Zebedee ...

and finally (for now)... some lovely screen printed fabric by Summersville.

Please have a look at their shops form more of their lovely items.

Pinnies are not just for housework!!!

At the beginning of the month I sold this lovely pinny through my Folksy shop (hoorah!!!).  I love it when people like my goodies enough to buy them and it is more difficult to do so online.  People (including myself) tend to be more inclined to buy if they can pick things up, and I have had more sales this way.  Anyway, great excitement, a pinny sold online.... then I get an email from the sister of a lady called Florence who has a blog called Flossie Teacakes.  I love Florence's blog and the work she does, and apparently it was Florence who has pointed her in my direction.  She had asked for her recommendations and mine (quote) "was a design she has absolutely fallen in love with".  As you have probably realized, I was (and still am) very chuffed.  This is a relatively new venture for me, and things are moving slowly due to other commitments, so feedback like this is fabulous.  Florence's sister then informed my that the pinny was not for her, she is an editor, and it was for a gift for one of her authors, Anne Marsella, who wears aprons to write in.  They are her uniform for work, and she has a selection she uses strictly for writing.  Excellent.  I just love the idea of someone sat creating a piece of literature in one of my pinnies.  Anne wrote about her uniform in her blog here.  It is worth a read, it put a smile on my face.

I love this book

I picked this up from my daughters room earlier and thought I'd share it.  I love this book.  It has some very beautiful embroidery in it.  I bought it years before my daughter was born and put it on my book shelf to wait for my little angel.  

I picked a few of my favourite pages to show you.

It shows what they wear, including their shoes.

This is them preparing snow.  What a fantastic thought.... I love snow!

Here comes a storm.

Think of this image next time it rains!

If you are interested....  both the words and embroideries in this book are by a very clever lady called Belinda Downes.  A perfect pressie for any little angel.

Catching up

I am trying (my very hardest) to catchup.  I have had quite a few things waiting to be uploaded onto my shop and I have finally done some of it.  I managed to get a few more of my lovely cosmetic bags up a week or so ago, and now have more to do!!  I think that half the problem is that I tend to make only a small number of anything, which means more work for me when it comes to listing them!  I think that these ones are my favourite so far.  I love the mushrooms.

My sister went for one of these...

... and I have put one of these to one side for myself.  

I have also managed to list a few more pinnies.  I noticed I only had one left in my shop so thought I had better do something about it.  I haven't made many just recently as I have been way laid with various things (a couple of orders, but fiddling with bag designs mainly!), but have loads of fabric waiting to be transformed.

You can buy these or look at some more of my lovely things in my Folksy shop or in my Etsy shop.

Best get on with some work before school is out!!!  Happy Tuesday everyone.

My type of washing

I just love this sort of washing!!!  I have some beautiful pieces of fabric waiting to be turned into gorgeous pinnies, and I am dying to make them, but they are going to have to wait just a little longer....    

NB: This is not todays washing.... today I have clothes in various sizes on the line... and a load of sheets in the machine... drying before being added to my never ending ironing pile!

Little stitches - making juggling bags

Before half-term me and my daughter decided that over half-term we would make her daddy his Father's Day pressie. I thought that something to juggle with would be a good idea as both the children love to watch him juggle, and I hate the fact that he uses the fruit to do it with!!!

We used: scraps of fabric, embroidery thread, lentils and plastic food bags.

This is what we did:

My little girl chose the fabric that she would like to use and the embroidery thread she was going to use for each one. I then cut out squares measuring 12x12cm using pinking shears. She then got to work. I was on hand and actually ended up putting holes around the edges so that she could see where she needed to stitch (she is only 5 - sorry nearly 6 - and doing this this provided a good guide for her). She stitched around 3 of the sides (leaving the 4th open for the filling).

We then measured half a cup of lentils and wrapped them securely in a plastic bag (making sure that the lentils would fit into her juggling bags first).

She then sewed the gap and I secured the end.

By the end of the week we had 3!!!

Hopefully now the fruit won't get used....

...and I always know where some spare lentils are if we run out!!!

Sad Samlesbury Sunday!

A disappointing day at Samlesbury Craft Fair last Sunday. I had gone feeling quite positive. I had made up a number of my cute cosmetic bags that have been going down a storm, but there wasn't really anyone to buy them. I had a lot of positive comments from both those who did call by, and other traders, but it just wasn't happening. It makes me feel better when it is everyone though. The people that did come just weren't spending. This was my stall at the beginning of the day..... and unfortunately it wasn't much different at the end!!

I did however managed to have chat with a few of the people I had previously met.

This is Soapure a soap company based in the Ribble Valley. The lady that runs it is lovely and her soaps just smell devine. She now has a shop on Folksy. You can buy her lovely smellies here.

Charlotte from Silvermousey was also there with her fingerprint jewellery. She also has some lovely anodised aluminium jewellery (which can be found in her Folksy shop here), but has been focusing more so on the fingerprinting side to her business. She has been busy setting up a website for this, you can have a look here.

If you are wondering what happened to the fudge..... I helped cheer up some unhappy traders who needed sugar hits to put smiles on there faces.