Photo Light Box

My fabulous husband built me a photo light box.

This little gem should make editing pictures much easier and quicker.

He included a hole in the roof so I could take overhead shots.

And this is what an un-edited picture looks like

He based it on this tutorial, that we downloaded from this blog. We did make a few adjustments. Instead of foam we used painted hardboard because it was readily available and because we thought it might be more durable. White masking tape was impossible to find, so the only alternative we could find was white electrical tape.

I think I need stronger lights but I will have to hunt them down. Hopefully this will make the editing process more straight forward. Thank you brilliant husband.

I want one of these so much

If you remember not long ago I wanted one of these

So today I log into my email and discover this
The new Polaroid Two, a 5.0 Mega Pixel instant digital camera. I nearly bought it on the spot. This will definitely be coming home to live with us, and hopefully soon. I hope it is as much fun as the PoGo printer, which has provided much amusement.

Strange things - happy kitten

A strange thing happened on Thursday.... I just chilled out. I know how weird was that. Work was good - kids are doing exams so they have study leave in the afternoon and teachers have marking leave. I came home and did very little. No sewing, no photography, just surfed and had a cat nap - oh I missed those. My sleep levels are coming back up to minimum from critical and that makes all difference.



The weekend will continue this way and I will hopefully get caught up on some TV.

Etsy Favorites

I need to stop adding things to my Etsy favorites.

For those not yet aquainted with Etsy, favorites and hearts, it's sort of like a wish list. You see an item and you can add it to your favorites (sellers also), so if you want to go back and buy the item it is easy to find. The seller on the other end gets a heart, to tell them they are liked :0) {Apologies to those who know}.

The reason why I need to stop is I want to buy all my choices - mostly fabrics. I have been trying to hold back on buying more material as I have loads (& loads &loads), but I am really struggling.

See why...... I could just a litlle bit of this and just square of japanese fabric.

Craft Fair - An update and a ponder

As regular readers will know I was attending a craft fair at the weekend. It was situated in the lovely grounds of Mount Stewart, which is a national trust property. It was an outdoor craft and garden fair, with the option of trading in a marquee. I opted for a marque stall.


To say the weather didn't work in our favour was a little of an understatement. It rained most of the first day and when it wasn't wet it was so windy, we thought the marquee might take off. This did not encourage visitors. The second day was so cold in the morning it was like a winters day in November, certainly not like a day in late spring. I spent most of the morning wrapped up in a fleece and my waterproof coat (even my husband was cold and he's a polar bear), clutching coffee. Of course our thermos flask decided it wasn't going to keep the water warm, so many trips to the coffee stand was required. It did eventually brighten and warm up a little.

Trading on both days was slow for all, with some of the traders complaining it hadn't been so slow for over 7 years. I would admit that although my bags would be considered a luxury item, I sold enough to just about justify being there. I did meet lots of lovely people (& many pretty dogs). I made a few contacts and even got an invite or two to a few other craft fairs.

It is one of the big problems about doing a craft fair for the first time, you don't know what to expect or what products will sell well. I feel that after people had paid a hefty £7.50 ($11) to get in, they wanted to look around and only make smaller purchases. I did go home on the Saturday night and make another 10 mini clutches to boost that group, which sold well.

Whether I would go again or not, I'm not sure. I don't really want to misjudge it on one wash-out of a weekend but I did put a lot of work in preparing and I'm not sure from that point of view if it was worth it. I am left with a lot of stock, which while it will not go to waste and many pieces have already been listed in my shop, is unusual. I don't usually like to have so much of my resources tied up in stock. Upside is I have already had a little rush of sales.

A return to Mount Stewart is one that I will have to ponder over for a while.

Etsy Finds - Umbrellas

All it has done here lately is rain (including the whole weekend of my craft fair, but more of that later)..... & while that is not unusual for Northern Ireland, the type of rain we have been getting is a little odd for mid May. It's the sort of rain if you get caught in it, you feel like you have had a shower with your clothes on. So this recent odd weather inspired this week's Etsy Finds - Umbrella's - a girl (or guys) best friend.

This pretty scrabble pendant is made by intelligent design and has a nice summery appeal to it.

This lovely cat print by artractions makes me think of Mary Poppins, wouldn't it be great to be able to travel by umbrella - no more traffic. Check out their fab notebooks as well.

This cheeky little pin by Kelly Zarb is called Rain Go Away and is how we all feel about the rain.

This super cute little zip purse made by Madame Cupcake is made with lovely Japanese material.

I have this lovey colourful umbrella fabric, makes lovely bags and always begs for the comment "rainy day purse", it is available from karaku

Hippo-tastic

My little hippo mini clutch has been included in a fab treasury by sassybellewares

Etsy Finds - Dog Cards

I just love these fab little cards from Kangaroopals, and I think I shall have to make a little purchases in her shop.



I think these, by FireHydrantPress, are a great idea for dog owners because we often talk about "someone being someones owner", often because we forget to ask or just forget the human name but remember the dogs name.




I just love this fabric and had it on my favorites list for an age but never got round to buying it and then it was gone. I think Muddipuppy has made use of this fabric and it would make a lovely birthday card for a dog lover.

Craft Fair Target - update

I am about 15 bags short of my bag target with 5 days to go. Totally do-able. I do, of course, still have lots of frames to attach, tags to punch, shopping bags to stamp .......oh yes and a day job to go to and sleep to fit in. Wee buns, a bit like this bag.

Any excuse to post a picture and I just love this fab little cupcake number.

Things to get done soon

These lovely zips arrived a couple of weeks ago and I am looking forward to having a go a Liesl Made zipper tutorial

I have to admit that zips scare me, but Liesl assures me they are easy, the proof will out on that. I just need to keep my mind off them for a little longer. I will be showing a few other things that I have waiting to be looked at when I have some time, over the next few days.

My Creative Space

This is my current creative space, in preparation for a major craft fair. There is frames and bags everywhere. Every little hole has bags jam packed in.

This is my *tiny* fabric stash, it's not in a great place but it keeps it out my way. The little workhorse, which is sounding a little cranky these days.

A pretty little collection of threads. I like the colourful ones visible.

This current state will be short lived and I have major tidy plans in the very near future. For more creative spaces check them out with Kirsty.

Love in Letterbox

The big thing that I love about having this business, is all the lovely things that pop through the letter box on a regular basis.These lovely stripes from the Ligthening Bugs range came from Materialgirlchic, this is my second delivery from these guys and they are well worth a visit for good value fabric and great service.


I also got another little Moo package. I use their text minicards as hanging tags. I just love their good quality products.

Etsy Finds - Horses

I love horses; I had a couple as a child. My lasting childhood memory is of being in the toy shop when I was about 3 and being asked what I wanted from Santa. I said I wanted a rocking horse. Unfortunately Santa that year got mixed up and delivered a silver cross dolls pram (!) instead. I never played with that pram, it still has snow white wheels. Needless to say the next year he got it right and I got my full sized rocking horse. I loved him and brushed him daily until the real thing arrived a few years later. My pretty rocking horse is in storage until it is needed for another little girl to love and sit on.

So when I saw this fab handmade rocking horse from HIPo Necessities I was quite smitten.

This made me go on a little search and I found this pretty pony by donkeypony, who's banner I just love.


I am often asked about horse fabric for bags but it is hard to find. I did buy this little bundle from Fabricpalooza a little while ago, but I haven't made anything with it just yet.

I also have my eye on this fabric from JamsaBon which is just lovely.

Sewing Crazy

I have been sewing crazy over the last 2 weeks, there has almost been "smoke" coming out of my sewing machine, thankfully not real smoke.

My bag total for the craft fair now stands at 142 plus my shop stock. My spare bedroom has once again turned into a bag holding area, although my kitchen, isn't as bad as in the run up to my big Christmas fair, as it's not quite a fabric warehouse...yet. I still have some bags to sew, but my stress levels have dropped because at least now I have enough bags to take with me. I have made some truly fab bags, sadly most will not reach my shop, for a while at least. I have taken a note of the really lovely bags so I can recreate them.

I am almost at my sewing capacity, although with every sewing-thon I do, I find new ways to improve my sewing technique and stream-line my process. Some people have the view, that "mass production" of handmade things steals the creativity, I find quite the opposite. I often get a bit stuck in a rut of working with materials that sell well, but when I am making larger amounts of bags I am more inclined to dig deep into my fabric stores to get variety. I also match fabrics in more interesting ways.

Well back to sewing, and then maybe if i'm lucky some sleep.