Gifts and Prizes

The Assistant Head at the village school where I work part time retired on Friday, so I made her a little something, Happy Day from Sub Rosa ~ chart here ~ ( Happy Day for the Assistant Head that is, not for the school!), stitched on a 40ct linen from The Crafty Kitten, of which I was sure I would remember the name when I threw out the packaging. 
Guess what? 
Yep. 
Forgotten it. 
It is stitched using Carries threads in Peacock, Sapphire and erm, Slime. Horrible name, lovely colour.
I added some buttons and dyed lace instead of the border parts of the design; I'd like to pretend it was inspiration, but actually it was because I ran out of time; and finished it with the same lace and an organza bow. It's backed with the blue silk dupion it's shown on.
And yes, it should have been the April Challenge for Needlecraft Haven, but better late than never.

I also recieved an exchange gift this week (VSCyberstitchers, I showed the sent gift last week). Linda sent me this wonderful project pouch and matching biscornu.

And here is reverse of each of them, together with the contents of the pouch, some thread cards, pearl headed pins and lovely thread all in matching shades of apricot, lemon and green
Thank you Linda, they are gorgeous.

In May I entered a draw as part of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway and was lucky enough to win a piece of sewing themed Subway Art from Heather Kojan at Quilt.Cook.Keep.
David got around to printing it onto canvas for me the other day, and here it is all stretched and mounted on my study wall.

It was Carnival Week in the village last week Eloise and Naomi entered as Harley Quinn...

and Clark Kent respectively. 
(recognise the jeans Linda?) For some reason the judges judged them as a pair, which strikes me as mixing genres, but then I'm pretty sure they didn't actually know who Harley Quinn is. Either way they must have liked them because they came home with the trophy for Best Dressed Collector.

An exchange and two bits of upcycling

Here is a little hardanger needlebook I made for the VSCyberstitchers July Exchange.
Shh. It's a secret where it's going. 
The design is by Kay's Creations, I've had the chart quite a while and an internet search brings up nothing so I'm not sure if she is still designing. 
I used a piece of Belfast linen from Crafty Kitten in Midnight Skies, and Kreinik Silk Serica and Bella (my favourite fibres for Hardanger), added a few Swarowski crystals and lined it with silk dupion. I hope my mystery recipient likes it.

Naomi has been eyeing up some lace shorts. 
They are not cheap. 
This pair was. 

• Take one pair of jeans from the charity shop. 
• Chop off the legs and save for future, as yet undecided, project. 
• Pin some vintage lace round the raw edges so it overlaps the raw edge. (This was some I found in the bottom of my aunt's sewing box, it seems to be the hem from a 50's/60's lace coat dress that had been shortened). 
• Machine zigzag in place (zigzagging will help stop the denim from fraying further)

I added a tiny extra scrap of lace to the pocket at the front, and stitched one of my enormous collection of vintage crochet coasters to the arse pocket*. These have been officially labelled as cool, so I must have got something right ;D

The other upcycled project started life as a vintage pillowslip. (Well, technically I suppose it started life a s a nice crisp new pillowslip, but you know what I mean) The funky retro graphic came from The Graphics Fairy ~ a great source for vintage copyright free graphics ~ I printed it out onto photo fabric (found on EvilBay), appliqued it to the front, and popped a little vintage button on each corner for fun.  I cut a little bit off the top of the pillowslip, made a casing and threaded a manky old shoelace  funky vintage drawstring through and ta da, a nifty laundry bag for Eloise to take away to college in September. 
Now I need to explain that the idea is not to mail it home when it gets full...
I'll be linking this post up to Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes and Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy.
* Blogger does not recognise the spelling of the word "arse", mind you, it doesn't recognise the spelling of the word "Blogger" either...

Petals and Buttons

My apothecary rose seems to like the damp weather we've been having and has been flowering its little heart out, so when I saw this post at Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse I knew I had to have a go.

Here is my litre of rose petals (in my lovely retro roosterware jug)

And here is the finished Rose Petal Jam. It smells just like Turkish Delight, which, I suppose, is exactly what it is, only runnier. I'm going to have to bake some scones now to go with it. It's a hard life ;D

I can't show any stitching at the moment as everything is for exchanges or gifts, but I have been playing with vintage buttons again (I blame Pinterest!), and this time I've made a couple of tiny bouquets using old crystal salt cellars as vases. 
Linking this up to Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes
The salt cellars already have holes in the lid like little baby rose bowls so all you need to do is stack the buttons into pleasing piles, thread a length of jewellery wire up through one side of each pile and down through the other and twist tight to make a "flower", then thread a flower through each hole in the salt cellar lid, twist all the stalks together underneath and pop the lid back on the jar, (I filled the larger cellar with more buttons but the other was too teeny tiny to fit any though the neck). Ta Da! A sweet little showcase for some of my buttons, much better than keeping them hidden away in an old Quality Street tin.
Who am I kidding, I couldn't fit my button collection in just one Quality Street tin... 

Sad Kilner Jar is Happy

Remember the sad Kilner jar from last week?
I took your suggestions on board, and now he is full of jolly buttons and bows and has a pom pom trim collar. Much better!


It is opening day for the Summer Exchange on Needlecraft Haven

I received this beautifully stitched citrus coloured Hardanger pincushion from Rachael. 
(The colours are bit brighter and more zingy in real life.)
Thank you Rachael, I love it.

I sent this felt corsage and  biscornu pincushion to Angie.

In other news, I've been doing some knitting. This little bolero is for a friend who is expecting a baby girl.
I did the newborn size and it looks so tiny, still I suppose newborns are tiny...

Craft Wins, Craft Fail and Thrity Upcycled Goodness

So, I was trawling the interwebs yesterday and I saw this tutorial  at Positively Splendid, for a pleated ribbon cuff. The tutorial said it took less than an hour. 
Challenge accepted.
Actually it took 45 minutes including 2 minutes hopping round swearing when I ran the needle under my finger nail, and 10 minutes looking for the perfect buttons.
I'd call that Win #1
(The original cuff  is decorated along the middle with diamante trim, but my ribbon already had that lovely saddle stitch detail in the centre which I didn't want to hide, so I left that off, and added a couple of vintage buttons instead. Oh, and I reversed the direction of my pleats at the centre point instead of having them all go the same way.)

Win #2. My new washer pendant. I love how this came out.
Tutorial time (no pictures, because, honestly, it is too simple to need them)
You'll need:
One 1" washer
Four hex nuts
Hemp twine
Two lengths of suede thong ~ one the length you want the finished pendant to be and one about 4-6"
Two cord ends and a clasp
Craft glue


Smear your washer with a little craft glue and wrap with the hemp twine (think making a pom pom with a card circle). Don't cover it too tightly, you want a little of the metal to shine through. 
Leave to dry.
Take your shorter length of suede, pass one end through the washer and then thread a hex nut onto both ends and pull up snug (it should be quite a tight fit, it helps if you cut the thong ends at an angle). Now thread a hex nut onto each end seperately, slide up to desired length, knot the thong ends and trim off excess.
Take your longer length of thong and pass through the opposite side of the washer. Thread your final hex nut onto both ends as before.
Finally add a cord end to each end of the thong (I like to add a dab of glue as well for security) and attach your clasp and voila!
Simples, as your friendly local meerkat might say. Linking this up to Think Pink Sunday on Flamingo Toes

And now, to show that things don't always go according to plan, a craft fail. I've been admiring all these kilner jar finishes on other people's blogs, and one of my vintage embroidered tray cloths had suffered a minor altercation with a bottle of port, so I rescued an unstained portion and made this pincushion jar. 
Oh dear. 
This did not come out like I'd planned. It just looks sad and unfinished. Any ideas for salvaging it?

And the thrifty upcycling? I was in a charity shop a week or so ago and  found this rather gorgeous Monsoon dress. The fabric was beautiful, and the hem was entirely finished with this adorable beading detail
and it was about three sizes too big. Honestly it fit like a marquee. I could have held a circus in it, but you know me, it had to come home anyway to see what I could do with it. (Much to the woman in the shops dismay when I said I was going to cut it up, I might add). 

Anyway a litlle snipping and stitching later (and a few choice words when I realised I'd made the casing about a nanometre too narrow for the elastic I had), and I've got this floaty new summer skirt.
Now if only we had a summer...

Prepare to say "Aaaawww"

Well I did warn you. We got kittens!
This is Loki,
(aside: when we first saw the movie Thor, Eloise and I looked at each other and said "Is it just us or is Loki cute?", anyone who agrees might be interested to know that the BBC will be showing new versions of Shakespeare's plantaganet plays soon, and Tom Hiddleston will be playing Prince Hal/ King Henry)

and this is Jinx

this is a game called "Kill your brother's tail"

and this is "Pretend to be a meerkat until you get a biscuit".

Meanwhile in the garden I'm cultivating a better class of weed wildflower. This is a wild orchid (with convenient fly for scale!)

PS: "Hop" over to Milly's blog for a chance to win an adorable crochet bunny

Jubilee and other Joys

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am so over all the tacky plastic Jubilee decorations that have sprung up everywhere like a rash in the last week or so. I had grand plans for a spectacular yet tasteful Jubilee wreath for the front door, but time got away from me, so yesterday I improvised with some left over artificial ivy from Naomi's carnival float, a handful of crochet flowers, a few buttons and a bit of  Union Flag ribbon. I think its got a bit of a vintage vibe going on.

We've been basking in late spring/early summer sunshine here, and the garden is flourishing, highlights at the moment are the aquilegias, they are promiscuous little blighters, and seed themselves everywhere, (don't let this one's innocent white flowers fool you, it is a strumpet and is growing smack in the middle of my pieris)

and my azalea, which is kind of like being smacked in the eye with pink!

And finally, as they say on the news when they get to the frivoulous bit...
At a wedding we photographed last weekend, the Bride rocked a pair of red patent dolly shoes.
I was smitten. I had to have red patent dolly shoes.
(I know, me + shoes = weak).
These arrived yesterday (I <3 Ebay).
I haven't owned red patent shoes since I was about three years old and I just love them to bits, they make me totally and irrationally happy. I spent the evening skipping round the house in them going "I've got red patent shoes" somewhat in the style of Captain Jack Sparrow with his jar of dirt.

What makes you irrationally happy?