Handmade Monday 41

Welcome to another handmade Monday! This week I have been again catching up on swap making. I have finished my makes for the decoration swap, and I am just waiting on getting some material from Cotton Patch to finish off some bits for the advent swap. Not long till I have to send off my boxes of goodies, which also means it’s not long till CRAFTfest opens! So after buying some jewelry from the vintage fair last weekend, I set to making some fab bookmarks following a tutorial I found on Pinterest.

I bought some ribbon clasps and some jump rings from The Ribbon and Bead shop and after less than 10 minutes I had turned the bits of jewelery into bookmarks!

After a busy day I ended up having to take the photos in the dark, so they’re not great pics, made worse as the light bulb fell out of the light fitting whilst taking the photos! After moving to another room to try to get better light, the cat followed me, She always has to be where I am!!

I will be adding the bookmarks to my CRAFTfest stall. Here’s a sneak peek of some of the other things I will be selling.

Please help me and the other stall holders by telling your friends and family about the event – 26th and 27th November, all stalls are online therefore it’s so easy to complete your christmas shopping from the comfort of your own sofa, whilst supporting handmade products!

Whilst we’re talking about supporting good causes, I just wanted to mention Team Hannah which I read about on Penny’s blog. Please take the time to go and read about Hannah and what she is going through and ways in which to help her raise the money she needs for her operation.

If you want to top up on your craft fix for this week, pop over the Wendy’s blog and see what everyone else has been up to for Handmade Monday.

Sarah x

Reasons to be Cheerful…

It feels like ages since I last posted! I have been so busy with various bits and pieces and sadly missed the last handmade Monday, mainly as all the things I am making at the moment are for the advent and decoration swaps, so I have to keep it all secret! After reading Penny’s blog over at Planet Penny, I thought I would join in on her linky – Reasons to be cheerful!

I am writing this on my second day of being off work, definitely one of my reasons to be cheerful! I took yesterday off to learn how to knit over at The Make and Do Studio. My friend Nic had also signed up, so at least I can pester her when I forget all the different stitches! I found that the memories of knitting as a child came flooding back, however I think  I did make up some stitches all of my own! I finished the day off with a lovely walk with Nic and her 2 springer spaniels and then met my mum and dad for a lovely Pub dinner out at the Glasfryn in Mold, North Wales – I would highly recommend it, the food was yummy!

My second reason is that with being off work today, i have been able to catch up on a bit of crafting, making more swap gifts and catching up on taking photos for my CRAFTfest stall. I really wish every day was like this!! I have also been able to catch up on reading some blogs. One I particularly want to mention is Sewabee. Vicky is currently nearing the end of a year challenge of not buying any clothes, bags, shoes etc and each month she donates money to a charity close to her heart  - Oldham Cancer Support Centre. She is celebrating finishing her challenge by organising a Frock swap in December, I am hoping to go and take some of my things in the hope of swapping for somebody elses! If you live in the Northwest why don’t you get a ticket (only £10 each!) and come and join the fun!

My last reason for being cheerful is that me and Nic are going to Judy’s affordable vintage fair in Manchester on Sunday. I am beyond excited about going and can’t wait to see what bargains I can find! I am hoping to pick up some bits of china, maybe a dress or 2 and some things for my advent swap.

Please pop by Planet Penny and see what everyone else has been up to, it’s so nice to see that as it’s getting colder and darker there are still reasons to be cheerful!

Sarah x

Handmade Monday 38

Welcome to another Handmade Monday and the last of my projects for my 30 day challenge, where has that time gone?! As I mentioned in last weeks post, my last project is taking longer than I thought so I can only show you where I am up to so far. I have been following a tutorial from Moda Bake shop on how to make a Floor cushion using a jelly roll. I have adapted the instructions slightly as I only had 20 strips in my roll to use, after cutting them diagonally in half I am slowly piecing them all together and have done about a 1/4 of the cushion so far.

Two weeks ago joined the Liverpool Sewing Club, giving me the chance to meet other lovely sewers and also have 3 hours of uninterrupted sewing time. I have therefore decided my Jelly roll cushion can be my take along project. I think if it wasnt brown and in more interesting colours I would enjoy doing it a little bit more!

In other news I have been busy creating lots of lovely things for my Christmas swaps. I have almost finished getting things together for the decoration swap with Amy and I have made 7 out of 12 things for the advent swap with Emma. I am going to pop along to the affordable vintage fair with Nic at the end of the month and hope to get a few more bits and pieces then. Would love to share with you all the things that I have been making for the swaps but as it’s all a secret you’ll have to wait till they both open all their parcels in December! i have also been busy making bits for my stall for CRAFTfest at the end of November. I hope to get some bits onto my Folksy page soon!

Why don’t you go and see what everyone else has been up to for handmade Monday over at Wendy’s blog.

Sarah x

Tilly Mint’s Day Out

Today I spent the day with Nic, Gary and Mike at the Rapha Supercross race in Windermere, watching Gary in the senior race for the Northwest cyclocross league. It was such a beautiful sunny day although extremely muddy!

We had great fun watching Gary race and took lots of photos. One guy did the whole race without a saddle (not sure if this was on purpose or not!)

Since the race was in Brockhole park there was a visitor centre and shop which I had to look in!! I found some lovely things and bought a Christmas present for my mum.

I also found some bits for my advent swap so will have to keep that bit secret! I also got some great ideas for future projects!

On the way home we stopped at a farm shop and tea room, had a lovely browse around and even saw the cows being milked!

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this sign…

And so we came to come home and found the car wouldn’t start! After a comical experience of me attempting to push start the car Mike recruited a passer by to help, with me at the helm we got it started and headed on home. A lovely day was had by all. Just hope at next weekends race the weather is just as kind!

Sarah x

Christmas Swap

Not wanting to give too much away, but I received my orders from Seamstar and Blooming Felt today and I just had to share the loveliness of all the lush fabrics and felt! So excited about making lots of lovely things!! Here’s a photo of a selection of what I am using to do the decoration and advent swap!

Sarah x

Ladies who lunch

So after a busy weekend I thought I would share with you what I have been up to! On Saturday I met up with some friends who I have known since starting secondary school. The girl who was hosting gave us strict instructions that the theme of the afternoon was Ladies who lunch and that we had to wear a dress!