Front Page News!

Firstly I must apologize for my absence (once again), every time I write a post I make a mental note to do more, and then 'things' take over!  Things are pretty busy here, which is fantastic, but it does leave me less time to share stuff with you all :-(.  If you do want more frequent updates, I do tend to post what I am doing on facebook.  If you haven't been over to see me there, please do pop in say hi, and have a cup of tea and a piece of cake while you are there!

I have had some lovely news today.  From Britain With Love contacted me to tell me that I am on the front page as they have featured my Family Tree in their Editor's Pick.  Yippee!!!

 

' FromBritainWithLove.com is an online magazine and directory dedicated to showcasing Britain’s most talented designers, craftspeople, producers and retailers. From gorgeous handmade gifts to delicious locally sourced food, original designer fashions and unique pieces for your home, every fabulous product we feature has been made right here in Britain.'

If you haven't already visited the site, please do.  There is a fantastic collection of goods produced in the UK by small businesses.  Please support small businesses!

Since being commissioned to make one of these Family Trees in March, they have kept me very busy.  These are two that have already been given as gifts that I can now share with you.

Apologies for the dreadful photo.  I had little time to do this and get it
posted to the US  in time for Fathers Day, so it was taken at night!

I have also been working on Memory Trees in this style, but with dates of events on.  There is a gorgeous birth date one that I am dying to share with you, and I have also done one with a wedding date for a 1st wedding anniversary present (which is paper!), and have 2 more waiting to be made as wedding gifts.

It is so lovely that people like them so much.  Here is some feedback that I have had:

"love it, love it, love it :-) x"

"The Family Tree is absolutely beautiful - thank you. It will make a very unique and personal birthday present for a very good friend. Thank you for making it and sending it so promptly and for your outstanding communication every step of the way."

"This tree is so beautiful! It is even more amazing to see it in person than the picture. Leonie was so gracious to work with me to get this done quickly and shipped to me in time for Father's day. I love it and I can't thank her enough!"

"It arrived this morning - totally delighted, you are very clever."

If you would like to have a look at more of my papercuts, you can find them here.

Right, I'm  off now I have a papercut that I must finish as I also have some Foxy Loxy wash bags I need to make up in the next couple of days! 

If you are interested in having a Family Tree, or a Memory Tree made for you, you can find more details here.  Please do get in touch if you have any queries :-)

A holiday in sunny Skeggy... and an escape to Lincoln!!!

We had planned to go camping this week, but last Saturday after searching the internet for decent(ish) weather in the UK, and a couple of glasses of wine, we decided that we would snap Butlins up on their offer of cheap accommodation and head off to Skegness!  When I told my family they really did think I was joking, but no, it was booked.  Am I pleased we went?  Well yes... I will never return (!!!), but despite it being difficult at times, the children had a great time and we had time to play with them, which was the plan.  We were also very lucky with the weather, it did rain, but for short periods, and we managed to keep dry for most of it!

On day one, the weather was dry, so we escaped to Lincoln.  A fabulous, and beautiful city that I would love to spend some more time in.  

We visited the castle, experienced the prison in the grounds, and saw one of the original Magna Carta's.

We had also planned to go into the Cathedral, but unfortunately the cost was a little too much after being in the castle, so we admired it from outside instead.  A truly fabulous piece of architecture.  Just look at some of the stone work.

We did a lot of walking!  We saw lots of gorgeous streets...

... stunning buildings... 

... and amazing doorways, and windows.

The Fairy also got a bow and some arrows, and spent hours practising (the mirror in our 'apartment' was covered in sucker marks when we left!!!)

So, you are wondering where the pictures of Skeggy are?!!  There are none!  We drove into the town, and back out again, deciding that we would rather be running around on the beach at Butlins than bustling with people and hotdog stands!

A fantastic decision, and we managed to get back just before the heavens opened!

We also had fun at the little funfair on site (most rides were free) and the water park was fab (it'll be even better next year as they are redeveloping it at the moment!!).

But...  I would have preferred to have been in one of these!

Tutti Frutti Wrapping Paper

Thought I would just share with you some of the images of the wrapping paper the children from my Make and Do group at a primary school made.  I knew that they had been doing a healthy eating topic at school, so it was only natural to tie this in and create some Tutti Frutti wrapping paper.

In the first session we look at various fruits that had been cut in half, and the shapes we could see within them.  They then made some simple line drawings of them and chose one to transfer onto their polystyrene sheet (the smooth side of polystyrene pizza bases are perfect for this).

In the second session, we looked at how they would place their image on their sheets.  Some opted for a random pattern whilst others did a repeat.  This is what they created.

I've had a great time, and I'm back for the next bit of the term to do some more work with them.  I'm really looking forward to it.

The foxes have new homes to go to!

Okay, this is the result of the Foxy Loxy giveaway that I started on my facebook page and have had to finish here due to fb rules I wasn't aware of (see the post below).

Anyway, this is the outcome... 

After a little shake in the builders hat... I removed the plastic
inside so that none could hide!

I placed a piece of paper on each of the bags...

... and then opened them up!

The winners were for the Foxy Loxy purses were Hannah Barett, Claire Louise Richards and Michelle McCulloch.

The Foxy Loxy Washbag is heading off to Dawn Bevins Design.

If those people could contact me and let me know where to send the little fellows, I'll wave them off!

I have activated a 15% discount code that will be available for everyone else to use in my shop until the end of the month.  Just enter FOXYLOXYMAY2012 at checkout.

Thanks to all those that entered, and I apologise again for the hiccup! 

Aghhh!!! FB Competition Crisis

As some of you may be aware, I had set up a giveaway on Facebook.  Unfortunately earlier today a friend of mine sent me this link that says facebook can close down your page if you hold competitions, so regrettably I have had to close it.

However ...

 

... I do still have a bag and three purses that need new homes, so my plan is to put the names of all those lovely people who have been over to my facebook page, left comments and shown their support, into a hat (I think the Tinkers building hat would be appropriate for this as we have Busy Builders at our house at the moment creating us a lovely bathroom).  This will be my job for this evening as I now have to get my stuff ready for the Make and Do Club I do at a local school each Thursday after school.  I'll let you know later what the outcome is.

I'm really sorry about this, in the future any other competitions I have will have to be done on here.

Thanks for your understanding :-)

Foxy Loxy Giveaway

I'm having a Foxy Loxy giveaway.  I have three purses and a washbag to giveaway.  Pop over to my facebook page to find out how one of them could be yours!

Doodlecut1

More often than not, as soon as the little Tinker and the Fairy have been fed, watered and put to bed, I make my way upstairs to my attic studio to work on Loula Belle At Home products, and as I have a number of new stockists, I have plenty of work I could should be doing!

However, as much of my time last week was working on art projects with groups of young people, I allowed myself to come upstairs and do something creative for myself (unfortunately a pretty rare occurrence).

Out came the scalpel and one of my notebooks where I had drawn a doodle during the Easter period, and this is what happened!

I chose some lovely paper and re-created my doodle, then I got cutting!

This is the reverse side of the finished piece,
the side I was working from.

As I work I like to flip it over to see how it is coming on!

After 8 hours hard labour (I did have to break it up with a nights sleep!), I had finished.

Reverse of finished Doodlecut1

I find that mounting papercuts is really stressful.  People have said to me that they look like lace... they do, but they are so fragile.  Although it says on the tin of the glue that it is repositionable, it is not.  Once it has touched the mount board it isn't coming off without disasters!  

After steadying my nerves, spraying glue and attaching it to the mount board I allowed myself to breathe once more (good job it doesn't take too long to do!!!) and popped it in a frame to see how it looked.

This is now for sale here.

After indulging myself in some papercutting, I then received another order for one of my Personalised Family Tree papercuts, so I had another opportunity to pick up my scalpel!

If you are interested in having a Family Tree made for your family, or to give to another family, you can find more details here, or you can contact me.

I hope that you have a fabulous weekend.  I will be taking tiles off our bathroom and shower room (which are tiled all over) ready for the builders who are coming on Monday to knock a wall down!  Agh!!!