It's starting to feel a lot like christmas...

I have no idea how many days to christmas, what I do know is that the shops are in full flow.

As is tradition when I am off for half term, my mum and I go to Alexanders of Markethill to look at their decoration displays. I took many photos on my phone to share, unfortunately my usually reliable phone has not entirely co-operated. So here is the "best of what I saw", please excuse the odd one that is not super focused.

Happy Halloween

The question that comes to mind is why??

Have a great night

Colours

A feast for the eyes

Thought for the moment

Sometimes in life one needs to reflect, accept and make changes. Being honest with yourself isn't always easy but often necessary. Oscar Pistorius

Black with white or White with black?

Saw this and it made me think madagascar. What colour is a zebra and what's with the funky dots???

Craft fair make over

My lovely OH has been hard at work in his workshop to make me some display props. We have talked about it for ages and he finally squeezed some time out to get his hammer and saw working. The finished product was a made-to-measure shelf and a bag stand for my new printed tote range.

When put together the bits and pieces worked well....... and the craft fair, well not much to say.

The marquee had a frozen roof which defrosted during the day in a series of drops everywhere. There were plenty of people there but I fear they were saving their pennies. While I did ok, craft fairs are hard work these days, everyone's being careful. And so on to the next one....

Spots and stripes and all things nice

I am a major fan of spots and stripes, but when I saw these pretty stars I knew they were a must have. I have found it hard not to put them in every bag I make.

Almost ready for tomorrow's craft fair, all I need to do now is sleep.

At last some sewing

It may sound, that most of the time, that I don't like sewing but the reality is that I love to sew. I just find it tiresome occasionally. It's a combination of working full-time, a 2 hour daily commute, a horse and a husband, oh yes and a little bag business. There are only 24 hours in a day and I like to sleep about 5 (!!) of them.

Once I touch some new fabric I feel my mojo return and the creative juices flow. That and the pressure of up coming craft commitments. So tonight I topped up some stock for the weekend, 7 pretty little mini clutches just waiting for frames.

It makes me smile ....

Dogtoberfest is a trend that seems to be sweeping the US and Europe. Little dogs dressed up as hot dogs. I'm somewhere between loving and hating it, but it sure does make me smile while I avoid the sewing machine.

Time marches on

It has been ages and i've missed the quiet thoughts. Life is, as always, moving at hyper speed. The summer was spent with my lovely horse and as the seasons changed I had to start sewing and craft fairs abound. I blame my lack of chat on this flipping ipad, which is super blogger unfriendly. I hope to post more soon but I will leave you with this cutey.

On my list

Like all fabric addicts, I have a list. "The list" contains fabric I want to buy for me. Cost is not a high consideration but eye appeal is. Some times fabrics linger unpurchased for ages and other times they fleetingly appear just to be scratched off when they arrive at the door.

I am a more considered fabric buyer these days. The must have feeling is more controlled and I normally :) allow a cooling off period. Two fabrics that I am currently deliberating over are

Typewriters in gold - Ruby Star Shining fabric by Melody Miller for Kokka fabrics.

&

Cars in red - Japanese imported fabric designed by Etsuko Furuya for Kokka Fabrics

I like these twp for different reasons - the typewriters just appeal to my senses, I can see and feel the little clutch they would make and I can envisage the excersions it would take it on. The cars .... well I love cars but more than that I really like Etsuko Furuya's line and Kokka's product, for it something more practical - a zipper maybe but for what reason?????? I may just have to buy and let them arrive and inspire.

A mid year craft event

I don't usually do big events at this time of the year and lately with all my other commitments I am snowed under but I decided to apply and I have been accepted to exhibit at Focusfest. 

It is a two day event that is aimed solely at christen woman. They have a craft hall and that is were I will be for the duration of the event. It runs on the 8th &9th June 2012

I have included some info for anyone interested and a link to their website.

Focusfest woman's conference sees women from all over the globe coming together to worship, fellowship and be ministered to. A gathering of ordinary women on an extraordinary quest. Focusfest was founded in 1993 and has become Northern Ireland's event for women, drawing women from the age of 16 to 90 together.

Now all I need to do is find a few hours(?) to sew......

Ultimate Cuteness

This picture embodies cuteness. A dog breeder in Germany,is now the proud mama to 27 puppies. Her two dogs give birth within a week and produced a bumper crop.

I imagine feeding time will be a bit manic in the future, but for now it's all about the nap

Lovely little yums

There is nothing I love more than one of those emails that has delightful goodies enclosed. As a lover of all things animal who could resist these designed by Mary Kilvert and available from Hulu crafts.

Saw this and loved it

I saw this and loved it. It's called The Little Printer and it's from Berg Cloud. It's promoting the use of paper. No, I hear many cry, we are not going back to that old fashioned outdated media. I have to say I really love paper, I'm still a stalwart of the physical book, no kindles here.

The thought of being able to print my to-do lists, suddenly means my smartphone is more useful. Now I can I type things up on the go and then print them out and tick them off.

I can print out a daily puzzle and complete it at my own leisure,

I also like the styling, I'm tired of ultra thin, soulless gadgets, this product doesn't take itself too seriously.

Love it.

Read more about it here

One year ago

One year ago today my baby arrived. He was much wanted and searched for.

I want to say the last year has been a bed of roses but it hasn't been plain sailing. There have been many lows but also many amazing highs.

He is always there with his ears pricked and head hanging out. He greets me with a deep whinny every time he sees me. His big brown eyes are filled with love.

He would mug me for a carrot, loves to get out and roll and get as dirty as possible, he tries to use me as a scratching post on a daily basis and loves getting his white star rubbed.

For all the challenges he presents I adore him beyond belief. He's my best mate, listens to all my problems and so I'm glad I named "The Accountant" -Buddy, causes that's what he is.

Lap Quilt

Here is my first proper go at a quilt. It's was a lap quilt for my mother, who sits up late at night doing the crossword. It was part of her Christmas present and was finished just 2 days late for Christmas (which I was very impressed by). I took the easy option of "just" sewing together a charm pack.

I had been toying with the idea of making a quilt for a while and I thought this would be a perfect starting point. I will admit that last year when I was first thinking about it, I became quite very dishearten by some peoples attitudes to "just" sewing a charm pack together. I have never approached a project like this so by using a charm pack I knew that all the fabric is the same size and my dodgy cutting did not have an influence. There was also a negative vibe that it was cheating as there was no choosing fabric and putting themes together. I respect designers and I think they have a good eye with respect to what works.

I found it a huge learning curve, my sewing machine pulls dreadfully to one side, so my stitching in a ditch is squinty. I attached my binding very late at night and one of the joins is on the outside. When I pointed these imperfections out to my mother she said she didn't see them until I showed them to her. It was just for Christmas but I notice it hasn't been packed away, so I think she is very taken with it.

A few other things I learnt from this project

1.Moda plain Jelly rolls are fantastic. Yes they are a cheat, but gosh are they handy. I used one for the sashing and the binding.  

2. Pre cuts are not the most cost effective way of making a quilt (which is an understatement but there is virtually no waste) but they are great for easy of use and give a great variety of co-ordinating fabric in the finished piece. 

3. That it doesn't really matter whether you just sew a charm pack together or you log cabin or you paper piece, the person who gets it will love it just the same. So I would say to all who are toying with the idea of having a go, just do.

Yummy & Useful

As promised the product of my new aims. A perfect little zipper, handy for all those things that lurk at the bottom of a handbag. I had to get that little pink coat in. Delightful.

Crafting Aims & Things Learnt

I don't like the term resolutions, so I'm going for aims.

I aim to cut  new fabrics when they arrive, and not leave them sitting.

Something I learnt from last year - I need to sew more for myself. Not just personally but also as gifts for the people around me. Sometimes when we start to make things we forget why we do it. I make bags because I love fabric. I love the look and feel of fabric, I love the creativeness that has went into the design process and mostly I love the colours. I am a fabric magpie.

So with all this in mind I bought this, it was the little dog with the pink coat that made me do it, as if I need an excuse.

Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries

Now I do have a bit of this fabric already but I wanted enough to do a few things with it, and I feel a bit precious about using some fabrics.

Check back tomorrow for the finished piece.

Chemistry

Some may know that my day job is that of a chemistry teacher, so imagine my amusement at the new moda range by Cosmo Cricket called Chemistry, better still it's all about hearts something I'm very fond of. I feel a purchase coming on and I even have a project in mind, more to follow on that one.

(Excuse the somewhat basic nature of some posts i.e photos only at the end etc

Blogger + Ipad = "interesting"

but I'm working on it)

Long Breaks

After a while all of us get to the point when we have too many balls in the air.

A season of making bags, working, horses and Christmas left me no time to sleep never mind blog. A week or so of down time and some sleep have hopefully got me slightly back on track. I learnt so much last year, one thing was priorities and another was I need to spread the work load, but more of these over the next few weeks. I thought I would include this picture I found on Lisa Ellis blog when I found when looking for a picture.