Art Award

So I have been given an award from the lovely Andrea at Indigo Blue, one of my favourite spots for lurking. It is an art award




The Award originally came from Arte Y Pico's Blog and has been carried forward again and again. The rules are simple

• Post the award on your own blog with a link to the blog it came from
• Indicate its original link and link to that site. (Arte Y Pico from Uruguay)
• Pass the award on to your five favourite bloggers - people who inspire and stimulate.

So the award goes to the following

Ali : Domesticali is such a fantastic read. Updated so regularly (unlike me recently) and really funny full of crafty and homey stuff. If you havent found her site yet. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN.

Creative Mother Thinking: Suzanne has a fantastic blog which has craftiness running through it as well as thought provoking pieces on social justice and insights into her life as a mum and music teacher. It is brilliant.

Marmadaisy : I love Anna's blog. the photos of her home are breathtaking, her crafting is beautiful and her posts are plentiful and witty.

Lucy Locket: Her posts are always fun and interesting and worth the read. Photos are always lovely

And of course last but in no way least

Lisa at U-handbag. This is the site that inspired me to make bags. Lisa gives tutorials and advice willingly. HEr shop sells fantastic goods and her blog is as my 5 year old would say SUPER DOUPER

Thanks again Andrea for a lovely award, it has inspired me to get writing blogs and posting pictures again

see ya chaps

Woo hoo i am off here today, well in about half an hour. For a overnight stay with a few girl friends for relaxation and NO CHILDREN. I dont even want any treatments done, i want to sit, read, have a cup of tea listen to my ipod and not be interrupted by requests from a 5 year old and a 1.5 year old. Bliss

All wired up

So as promised here are the photos of my first attempt at knitting with wire. Actually sounds like it should be a reality show on the telly doesnt it. Taking photos of jewellery is actually harder than photographing bags but i had a go anyway.

The bracelet is actually just made out of plain knit using a 28 guage jewellery wire which has then been folded over 3 times and sewn to give it thickness. The outlining beads on sewn on at the end. To have a beaded effect running all the way through it the beads would be added on as you go.

I have purchased a french Dolly to knit a long wire rop with which i can then either stuff with beads or silk cord to form a chocker or bangle. I am really excited by this actually. I think the effect of the wire is stunning and different from the normal beaded jewellery. Please let me know what you think.

Disappearing act

I havent posted for ages and ages. It has been an incredibly difficult couple of weeks, i wont bore you with the details, but it has meant that i havent had the time or the inclination to write anything. Things seem to be on the up now and i hope to be posting photos of my new project very soon. I will be collecting my light box from the post office today (hopefully as i have lost my little note from teh postman) and will be taking photos tomorrow.

I have had a little break from sewing (only little whilst i got my head sorted) and have been knitting jewellery with wire. The aim is to have both jewellery and bags in my etsy shop. I am so pleased with my first attempt which i hope to have finished today. Tomorrow i will have to start working on bag orders that have taken a back seat.

So hope everyone is ok and i intend to be posting more frequently soon.

The lightbulb effect

My friend Cath, who is a fantastic photographer was bought a light lox for christmas from her husband. She has since taken a photo of a bag I made for her last year and look how good the photo has come out. The bag looks much better here than in my poor attempt. The suede fabric looks amazing (even if i do say so myself). Off to amazon now to a buy a light box.

Its finished

I am stuck at home with a sick child - fever all weekend and turns out to be yet ANOTHER bout of tonsillitis. So going slowly insane as i am really not very good at being in the house all day, especially as Martha seems to have developed a wheeze.

On a good note i have finished the nappy bag. It was a big job. The sewing itself was all quite straightforward, there was just a lot of it. I have yet to make the changing mat, but as the only terry towelling cloth i could find was in John Lewis at £17.50 a metre, I have decided to have a rummage through my own towel collection and see if i can not cut something up. £17.50 can you believe it. I could buy a couple of new towels for that from the next department.

The amount of fabric involved in this project is phenomenal and so quite costly. 3 metres of fabric for the lining, 2 for the exterior plus canvas, fusible interfacing and the previously mentioned Terry towelling

The bag (above) Phone pocket below

Each pocket is interlined and it has 2 bottle pockets on each side

I am though really pleased with the result and Naomi is over the moon. It was a rush job at the end and i spent much of Saturday and Sunday holed up in the sparing room frantically trying to get it finished. Naomi and baby Michael had to be rushed into hospital on Saturday as he had lost too much weight, so i thought it would be a nice cheery present for her yesterday. mum and baby are fine and my brother is doing a fantastic job looking after them all. However due to the last minute rushed nature of this bag, the photos are a bit crap. I finished the bag at 2.55 yesterday afternoon and had to leave at 3.20 to go and see them in hospital. Andrew bless him sat and cut all the loose threads from it which is a job i just hate doing.

So onwards and upwards in a crafting way. My friend wants to a knitting bag so i am working on that this week, following the tutorial on U-Handbag

So sewing again

It has taken me so long to get back into sewing since Christmas. There seems to have been so much to do and caffeine/sugar/carbohydrate withdrawal have meant that i have not been a particularly nice person recently.

So anyway i am now getting stuck into making the nappy bag for Naomi, mum of my new nephew Michael Dennis. I would have started it earlier but i have a superstitious streak running through me when it comes to babies and i never ever want to tempt fate. Does that make sense??

Anyway i am using this pattern which i was lucky enough to win in the Amy Butler sewing competition.

I would show you photos of the fabric but it is now out of production so i don't seem to be able to get any. It is taking about three days to cut out all the pockets and fabric etc etc. I am hoping to have it finished by the weekend.

Healthy eating update - 8lbs down and 2 inches off the waist.

Enjoy the sunshine (if you have it of course)