Pretty Wedding Orders

I recently shipped out a fab custom order of bridesmaids clutches. When I saw some of them nestling together on my new fabric shelf I snapped a quick photo.

Yummy-ness.

My Creative Space

This week my creative space is all about inspiration. This piece of ribbon was on a gift I give my mum. I purchased her birthday present and got it wrapped in the store and they tied the bag with this ribbon and I fell in love with it. My family are completely used with me looking longing at ribbon and wrappings now and I don't even have to ask if I want them, they just pass them directly to me. I can see this on a little mini clutch but just haven't found the right material for it.
I love this fabric combo and I am looking forward to making something lovely with it,maybe for me.

For more creative spaces pop over to Kirsty's.

Exciting Places

It is amazing where a day can lead you. Today was planned as a lunch date and catch with a friend who has just come back from some grown up back packing. I had arranged a playdate for my hubby so he did not feel abandoned as this was the third day in a row I have a girlie lunch date.

I went to pick him up from having coffee with my brother and he told us, that he and his partner - Sally the Artist - were going to the play resource centre and did we want to come along.......did i want to come along - silly question ..... I have heard people talk of this special place you need a card to get into and of all the wonders it had inside. So of we went on an adventure.

I will try to explain what a play resource centre is: it basically has two parts. One part is a shop with lots of craft bits - more of this later - the other half is full of free (yes free) resources. There were things like corrugated plastic, giant sheets of cardboard, silver and gold card...... then there was odd things like thread cones, waxed paper, old seat belts. It was just paradise, it really was a find a box and dive to the bottom and see what you find. These things are free because companies maybe make cardboard for sweet boxes and there is a misprint, so instead of throwing it out or paying for it to be removed they donate it for artists and youth groups. It was fantastic.

The shop side was equally as fun, lots of craft resources for you to buy - I came home with some paper fans, a big block of mutli-coloured felt, a giant bag of buttons and some ribbon. I was just so excited to finally find someone with an access card I will have to go back for another nosey soon. No pictures of the centre I'm not sure that's allowed but here's what I got from the shop.

I haven't decided what I will use any of these things for yet, but that's what I love about craft shops. You can go, like things, bring them home and then it hits you.

Lazy Summer Days

I heard on the radio today that the summer has passed us by in Northern Ireland. I was a little surprised by this comment as I thought we still had a full month of summer left but then again the radio was also complaining a few weeks ago about the heat wave we had in June :0)

Anyone who is familiar with Northern Ireland knows it rains often and a lot and it's been doing that to monsoon standards of late.I have to admit the rain is something I love about living here, weird I know - It gives us a rich green landscape, hence the term the Emerald Isle.

You may well ponder the path my thoughts are leading.

I often just let the days float past in the summer.

I know I should be sewing as much as I can, preparing for Christmas, but I like to chill out. Sometimes this is drinking coffee with friends (decaff of course), meeting my mum for lunch and a spot of shopping or just watching some of my favorite TV. Lately I have been doing rather a lot of all of the above. It's great but I do hear the sewing machine calling. More later, but for now back to a box set of "Sex and The City".

Etsy Finds - Bookmarks

Throughout my house I have lots of lovely hearts hanging around here and there. So I fell in love :o) with these 2 lovely bookmarks (or book thongs) as soon as I saw them.

This love book thong is made by Alainndesigns, there are lots of lovely bookmarks in her store.
I really liked this ribbon book thong made by Beadz4BookWormz's because it can mark 2 places at the same time and it is made with beautiful ribbon.

Lovely treasuries

SweptfromtheSea included me in their treasury on Etsy.

My Creative Space

After a short (!) sewing hiatus, I now have a long list of custom orders to complete, like yesterday. As a result so I have been confined to my cutting area, which occasionally doubles up as my breakfast bar :0). It is a perfect space as it is large enough to spread the material out on and is just the right height to work at.

Ready for the next steps of ironing and attaching interfacing, then to the sewing machine.

For more creative space, nip over to Kirsty's

Rest

You don't really realise how hard it is to work full time and run a business. I finished work for the holidays (7 lovely weeks) and immediately felt like I had been hit by a steam train. I suppose it doesn't help that I work with kids and all the germs they bring with them. Lots of sleep and a bit of Internet shopping, was required and I am starting to feel human again.

New Bag

I have been toying with the idea of making a tote for a while. They are the most useful things, great for magazines, shopping or just for all those things a girl needs for during the day. This is my first attempt.

I am thinking of introducing these for Christmas craft fairs.

Lovely fabrics

Usually when I buy fabric I never buy more than 1 yard, unless I use it for linings.

These 2 fabrics are some of the exceptions.

The top one is Disco Dot by Michael Miller. I just love it in ink and have reordered it several times. I do have it in a variety of colours, and each one is fab and vibrant.

The bottom one is a strawberry damask. It was one of those unbelievable finds. It retailed at over £50 per metre and I managed to get it for a fraction of that price. It was a bargain (relatively) and I got over 7 metres. I love it and dread the day I have to use the last bit. When it gets close to the end I may just hoard to for personal use, but then I do hate using the end of any fabric.

Check out what they look like when made up into bags here, here and here

My Birthday

It was my birthday on the 29th of June. As usual I was very spoiled and got lovely pressies from everyone. Here are a couple of special ones.

My other half give me a Pandora bracelet. It is like a charm bracelet but instead of the charms dangling down the bracelet goes through the centre of the charm. You choose whatever charms you want, so my fab husband picked a handbag and dog to start with. I wonder why??? :0)

I have a little collection of jewelled charms I wear around my neck. My mum added this little beauty to my collection. It is an emerald bunny set in white gold. I already have a snail, a turtle, a starfish and a fish. Unfortunately this one will be the last in my collection as the place I got them from is no more.
My sister-in-law bought me a stylish pocket measuring tape in pink leather, a must for all sewers.

BTW jewellery makers must have a hard time photographing their items, because it was challenging just getting these slightly iffy pictures.