My Creative Space - fabric!

I am taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather we are having in the UK at the moment to take my Creative Space outside. I am cutting enough fabric for 130 chickens and it is taking it's toll on my arm!! At least I can enjoy the bird song and sunshine while I'm at it :)

For more Creative Spaces check over here. And as I cut out lots of straight lines do you think I would be better off using a rotary cutter? And if so, which brand would you recommend?

New hair

Anya had her hair cut the other night by our good friend T. She had wanted it cut to her shoulders since before we went to America but I asked her to wait until we got back. She still wanted it cut short so I let her.

She has at least half of her hair cut off and loves it - she keeps swishing it round and going to look in the mirror :)

New sewing machine

Well, like most things in this house, it should be 'new to me' :)

Matt's Great Aunt no longer used this machine, knew I liked sewing so sent it up from Devon for me!

She is a fairly basic model but does what I need her to. It took me a while to figure her out as the threading is completely different to Janine (the Janome).

Janine will be heading to the sewing machine spa for a few days to get her in tip top condition but Conseula here (for that is her name) will take up the slack quite nicely.

I'm thinking that she would quite like a mini makeover but we will see how I go with getting on top of work before I start messing around with prettifying Conseula :)

What I will be working on today

I will be turning as much of this pile of fabrics as possible into gorgeous (and exclusive) chickens for Dorothy and Theodore.

Don't forget that you can get 10% off any item at Dorothy and Theodore up until the 30th of September by using the code 'launch' at the checkout :)

Chicken photoshoot

The chickens awaiting their photoshoot :)

Charity shop finds

I went to Skipton yesterday to see a potential stockist (she is interested! Wheeeee!) and I had a little time left over to visit the charity shops. Before going I had mentioned to the charity shop gods (they exist people!) that I would quite like some nice things to bring home to my family and they obliged me :) Want to see what I got?

Two books about Walter the Farting Dog for £1.99 and £2.49. The girls will love these :)

A trio of playmobil figures for 70p!

This book intrigued me and has a whole chapter about buttons which is why I bought it for £2.

A magazine to chop up for 30p. The chopped out images go into my inspiration/ideas book.

I also got this fabulous skirt - it's a thick jersey type material but doesn't cling, if that makes sense? The stripes go the 'wrong' way but to be honest if you are a UK size 16 then you are going to look like a UK size 16 no matter what you wear! And the best bit?? It's reversible!

It's blue striped on the other side with a pink stripe at the bottom and at the top :) It's from Seasalt originally where skirts start at £39.95 so I'm thinking that the £3 I paid was a good deal!

I also got some things for the girls for Christmas but don't want to show them here as the girls sometimes look at my blog :)

My Creative Space - daydreaming

I won't actually be in my Creative Space today due to picking up a new car this morning, visiting a potential stockist this afternoon and attending a zine meeting this evening - busy day! So whilst driving to all these places I will be daydreaming (whilst paying close attention to the road of course!) about my front garden.

This is my front garden - there isn't much space as we live in a traditional Victorian house but I am determined to try and grow some things in there to eat. Eventually I would like a raised bed against the little wall on the left but that will be a long term goal. First I have to figure out what I want to plant, what we will eat and what will grow in our clay soil. Tomatoes don't grow well here and we have the worlds largest slug population in Burnley I think!

There are quite a few established plants that I don't really want to get rid of but we will see how that goes.

I have quite a bit of wasted space where pots could go so I will be researching what will grow well in pots. It's good to daydream!

For more Creative Spaces go here.

Nodding animals

My sister recently got rid of her car and gave me her nodding Scottie dog and nodding Kiwi :) To say I was thrilled was an understatement - Matt not so much! They decided to hide in Taz the campervan.

Here they are looking out through the front window (it was a rainy day!) They seem happy in their new home and have been pictured playing in the lei. I'm sure it's the law that every VW campervan must have a flower lei :)

Mmmmmm - vintage linens

Today I am rummaging through my big box of vintage linens and choosing some that will be turned into Nana chickens - want to see which fabrics I have chosen?

The light is a bit odd today so the colours of the embroidery doesn't show up well so trust me when I say that they are very pretty :) Some of these are being made to take to a potential stockist on Thursday and the others to stock up my Etsy shop in anticipation of something that should be happening next week - I will let you know if it does and if not then I will have plenty of stock for Christmas buyers!

Half Price button brooches

These brooches are now half price in my Etsy shop sale section.

And these ones are available in my Folksy sale section. They look great on winter coats :)

New Skills Festival

You may have noticed the big 'New Skills Festival' banner on the right that has been up since the start of September? It is being run by Jo over at A Bit of This and A Bit of That and today it is my turn to share some skills.

I have shared my tutorial on how to make your own padded envelopes from upcycled goodies so feel free to pop over and have a look. Thanks for hosting Jo and make sure to keep an eye out as there are lots of skills being shown off over there!

My Creative Space - yet more chickens!

As like last week my Creative Space has been the same for the past couple of days but instead of a quilt it has been chickens :) I am stocking a new website called Dorothy and Theodore which is baby and child oriented and my chicken doorstops are a big part of that.

It launched today and has been very well put together. They are going for a much sleeker way of shopping and I only have one product on there with options to choose the fabric you want which does make it easier for the customer to find exactly what they want without wading through pages and pages of stuff they don't want! I'm going to show you the other fabrics available to buy there - all are exclusive to Dorothy and Theodore so you won't be able to buy elsewhere!

I only have 5 fabric options at the moment but have a nice pile of new fabrics waiting to be turned into chickens and all will be exclusive to Dorothy and Theodore. It's rather exciting to be able to offer an exclusive range! Oh and some (like the red,green and blue) are limited edition - I only have 10 of those available so if you spot something you like then grab it now :)

More Creative Spaces over here.

Cockscombs

I got one thing ticked off my list after all :)

Saltaire!

Some photo evidence of my stall :)

The overview of my stall - nice and bright and full of stuff! I hung the quilt up behind the stall as that was the only place for it but it looked a bit rubbish just hanging there. I do have a wooden airer for it to go on but it wouldn't have worked with just one quilt on so I am leaving that for when I have more quilts - maybe for my next fair in six weeks :)

Some of my chicken pincushions/paperweights - there are some new ones in there but hopefully they will be revealed 'en masse' later in the week.

More bits and bobs :) The badges in the bowls at the front left proved very popular again as people could rifle through for which ones they wanted rather than a picked selection from me (which is what goes into my shops)

And the chickens. They had a lot more interest this time round with lots of people taking cards when they realised I have lots more fabric at home :)

I met some lovely people (stall holders and customers alike) and I really enjoyed it again at Saltaire. Roll on May (if I get selected!)

2 posts in one day - better known as the big quilt reveal!

I have finished the quilt!!! Before I show pictures I want to thank those of you who commented either here or over on Twitter about the quilt in question. Thanks :) I have made up my mind about the price I want for the quilt and I hope that when you see the pictures you think it will be worth the £65 I have decided to charge - do let me know :)

Each animal and some of the trees have been quilted round - the smaller shapes have been left un-quilted due to time constraints and personally I think there is enough quilting on it. The last picture shows the backing fabric I chose too which has nice green, blue and beige stripes. I might make another of these with a different backing fabric - I have a nice pink and red spot that would work well!

I'm hoping it will get lots of attention at Saltaire tomorrow and may even sell. If not I know which baby it is going to!

Saltaire Arts Trail

Tomorrow there is a one day only special makers fair as part of Saltaire Festival Special. I will be there along with lots of other fabulous makers and designers. It's being held in Victoria Hall which is very easy to find if you don't know Saltaire so come and visit and say hello :)

Oh and as Rachel Lucie advises, get there early as most things are unique and once they are gone, they are gone!

My Creative Space

My Creative Space today has featured the same thing for the past few days and will do for tomorrow too. I am making a quilt to take to Saltaire with me this weekend. I had hoped to have a few ready to go but that just hasn't happened and won't happen due to the fact that I hand quilt all my quilts! So I will be taking a 'display' quilt* just to judge peoples reactions to it - I have made plenty in the past but just as gifts. Want to see it?

You might not be able to see from this picture but I am hand quilting around each animal and that is why it is taking me so long. It feels right though for the material and I think quilting in straight lines just wouldn't work with this fabulous material.

What I am having trouble with is the price - I initially thought £35 but that seems very cheap for the amount of work that has gone into it so far. I have no illusions about claiming back money for all of the time spent on it but I would like to get paid for some of the time! It measures roughly 118cm by 80cm (it isn't finished yet hence rough measurement) and it would be the perfect size for a cot or doubled over in a pushchair/pram. I'm thinking more towards the £45-£50 mark. Would you agree and if not why not?Also please do be honest - I won't be mad!!

*It will be for sale too not just a 'display' quilt :)

Celebrate September with a mug :)

I asked the girls to grab me a mug out of the cupboard for my morning cup of fruit tea and Tara dug out my September mug 'as it is September Mummy' Can't fault her logic!

And a quick snap of breakfast time - complete with open cupboard door in the background! No posed pictures here this morning!

The last Easter egg

I used up the last Easter egg (melted) last night on the top of some buns I'd made. Want to see?

The one below has just been eaten for my snack and was delicious!

Yum!