I'd like to introduce you to a new friend...

... in my first blog post for PaperArtsy over on the blog which I'm very excited about. .. please pop over and take a look  - not just at my project but at all the other great and inspiring projects that are on there.

This is the little friend in question - please pop over and say 'hello' - I think she's going to be a fun addition to the PaperArtsy family!

x

Oh dear!.....

... while I was trawling through many many photos looking for projects I had a niggling thought that I was missing/forgetting something... and this morning it came to me:

PAMM (PaperArtsyMiniMascot).. sits on a shelf at PAHQ keeping an eye on the elfs, and sometimes he's let out to go to the craft shows where he sits on the PA racks.

Smart little chap - I should really make him a litte JOFY friend soon....

Its not that I've been overly busy... just a bit here and a bit there and lots of things going on in all areas... that why I've not been here so please excuse the absence..

So what has the 'here and there' been all about?

Well we've moved into our new house and we're still unpacking boxes - well, to be honest with you I'm not unpacking them as much as moving them about from one room to another! lol (they're currently in the 3rd bedroom where I can close the door and ignore them for a bit longer :o)  )
The house keeps throwing up interesting findings - under most of the floor coverings is a layer of newspaper (insulation 1960s stylee?) which is normal but in the bedroom was so exciting as the newspaper print had transferred onto the wood!!!! (insert excited squeal here)  I wanted to varnish over it and keep it, but sadly I was out-voted... its a snapshot of August 1960! lol  very cool!

A lovely weeked was had by all that went to the Craft Barn's extravaganza a couple of weekends ago - I really enjoy being part of these weekends.. this time I was flexing my die-cutting, bunting making, fabric cutting craftiness.. thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello- it was nice to put faces to some of the twitter peeps I've met :o)

 I combined Sizzix dies with Spellbinder dies to create this line of bunting - these are great dies (and I can't wait to combine them with the latest PaperArtsy dies - more about those later).

The card above uses Sizzix Mover & Shapers dies - love!!

This simple calico bunny makes me smile - The Craft Barn sells plain Calico animals and shapes (by Rico Designs) and so I made a 'critter' version with it. cute.

OK, onto the newPaperArtsy stamps I mentioned - 5 fabulous haberdashery sets, here's just one of them:

I love all of them - but this one especially as that's my sewing machine! :o)  Mr PA took photos of it and turned it in to a stamp - how cool is that!  Go over to the PaperArtsy site to see the others - they are really lovely....

The Olympic Torch came through our town because Hadleigh is the venue for the Mountain Bike events(and it came through Southend because of the dive centre etc).

It was really quite exciting - the whole Torch Relay has been so well planned and organised.. great to see it (briefly! lol definitely worth standing in the drizzle.)

I think that's enough for now - I'll leave you with some more fabulous flowers - not mine - these were planted (by the council) in beds on the local cliffs - so beautiful and they were so fragrant, and the orange/pink ones were stunning...

Take care.

Teaching, Demonstrating, Working... its all fun to me!

... and this coming Sunday - the 29th - I'll be having fun at Birds in the Barn near Colchester - check the website for details..

please come along and keep me company - it'd be lovely to see you and I'll be working with some of the lovely products the shop has...
I'll be wearing my painty stitching hat!

ACP Week 7 part 3: What no paper!?!

No not a single scrap - today's project is completely made of fabric (well it is fabric week!) making up for the minimal amount of fabric on yesterdays piece.. lol

I love to sew projects! There is something so traditional about it... I wanted to add more layers to this piece but couldn't find any more red fabric in the box under the desk... so I stopped.  Then I started another project and while looking for ribbon in a set of drawers I found red fabric - lots of it -spots, checked, plain!! how frustrating is that! lol
Nevermind, I'll save those fabrics for another day... another project...

I completely forgot to add this picture at the start of the week - flowers from my 'valentine' and love how they fit with my red black colour scheme.. gorgeous colour.

and the other good thing about these flowers is that they are 'cat proof'! Bertie chewed the end off a leaf and promptly spat it out (classy cat) and wandered off... yay...
shame can't be said about my beautiful Hibiscus which he chews on a daily basis... naughty puss

ACP Week 3, part 4: Crowns

My last post featured my 'Queen' apron - which by the way is still pristine :o)   The crown was die cut from a square of denim... the waste of which got me thinking - it was still a perfect complete negative of the crown and so, not liking to see things go to waste....

I've used it to embellish a bag - love this muchly - very happy with how it turned out - and it makes me smile as the check fabric is one of hubby's old shirts (he loves a check shirt!)- he's well 'trained' not to throw out his old shirts and jeans- I have a plan that one day I'll make a quilt or something out of all his checked shirts.. (its on the list in my head of 'projects that I'll get around to eventually')

The motif is bondaweb'd and then machine stitched to the bag - working around the edges and adding some colour - and of course adding some buttons.

Its a really simple bag that'll come in useful for carrying books, magazines or craft stash!

This is the last of the crown projects - tomorrow it'll be something beginning with D and another colour to go with Grey...

Hope you're all well, thanks for popping by.

ACP Week 3, part 3: Queen of my Craftroom!

I am the Queen of my Craftroom!  Obviously this is said with my tongue firmly in my cheek - its not as if I sit at my desk wearing a crown or anything! But if I can't be Queen in here where can I be??

I may have stopped short of wearing an actual crown but I have made myself an apron with a crown motif...
I've kept the design quite plain so that it is practical...  it looks very clean doesn't it - can't see it staying that way for long! lol (though at the moment I really don't want to get paint or anything on it - maybe this could be my sewing apron...) 

The crown is a die cut (sizzix) - I really like using dies with materials other than paper & card.  The die went through this denim really cleanly.  Love it.

A this'n'that catch up.... Part 1

... so lots of little bits and pieces going on & being made/created and I've been a bad blogger and only been putting things up on Twitter - cos its so quick! 140 characters and its done... but that makes my blog a bit dull for you lovely peeps out there who aren't on twitter and so stop by this blog (and to be honest with you I'd get more done if I wasn't on twitter lol) - and I'm very grateful to you for popping in.  :o)

Right here's the this'n'that round up:

It was my lovely god-daughters birthday last month so I made her a bunting banner with her name on it..
It started off life like this - a lovely little dress that I bought at the charity shop (reduce, reuse, recycle!), washed and ......

 

....ta-daaa!!  its now very cute bunting for a very cute girlie. Her favourite colour? yep- pink! of course! lol

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I've started teaching a few classes at Hobbycraft in Chelmsford, only a few, its good fun... different style and products to the other classes I do.
First class was a 'Die-Cutting' class aimed at people considering buying a machine or who had one but wanted to know more.  It was a mix of demo'ing the machines (cuttlebug & bigshot) and teaching.  2 hours of fun. Lovely ladies who went home happy (and inspired) - job done!
Here are a couple of the cards we made:

I'll be doing a couple more classes soon - I'll keep you posted.

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I haven't bought stamps for a while but in the past few weeks I seem to have bought loads a few - some I've bought just because they're soooo useful - like these from Papermania - big numbers.. You don't get plain numbers like these very often do you? they're about 3 inches tall - really versatile - just the outline - great for journaling, paper piecing etc. I bought all of them (£2.00 each and buy 2 get 3rd free! kerching! love bargains like that)

so i settled down on the sofa and just doodled inside the numbers - just to see how it felt, how easy it would be to fill the numbers with just black ink. like these a lot - just good simple BIG numbers.  I'm sure there are lots of other filler patterns but they're for another day....

Thats all for now - thanks for stopping by - please 'follow' the blog - its nice to know who pops by & it'd be nice to visit your little corner of www.

xx

When is a tshirt not a tshirt??...

... when you've read the latest copy of Molly Makes ( @mollymakes ) and it inspired you to turn it into a scarf!! (and possibly wrist warmers/cuffs):
Before, tshirt's nice but was going to charity shop as sleeves were a bit short (you know that point when they're not 3/4 length and not quite full length (annoying!!))

After, cut up as per instructions - can be worn once around neck, or twice... not too bad for a first attempt!

no tshirt is safe! lol  I was left with 2 arms from the tshirt which I'm thinking might make nice wrist warmers - bit of gathering, some buttons.....

Fun, Fabulous, Fabric & Whoosh!

The holiday is over, the moving boxes are unpacked (well, the ones we need), and so its back to work - which is no real hardship because I love what I do!
I have a few new things planned (more about those later in the week) - the first of which is a four week course I have planned at the Whoosh! Centre in Chelmsford called 'Fun & Fabulous Creations in Fabric'.
To give you an idea what its all about:

'Do you have a tin of buttons, a fabric collection or a box of bits 'n' bobs? Then this course is perfect for you! Get ready to design your very own handmade creation as a gift, something for your home, or a garment to be worn.

We will 'reduce, reuse and recycle' by altering existing pieces and up-cycle fabrics by using your saved bits 'n' bobs to create new items decorative and practical items. Don't worry if you don't have anything already to recycle, we'll have some exciting pieces for you to work with! Expect sewing, gluing and even some painting to inspire your creative streak! Suitable for men and women of all abilities!'

The course is about taking what you have and making something new out of it- upcycling, revamping it. 
Sounds like fun to me - I'm really looking forward to it.

First set of classes starts on Wednesday, 1 June 2011, 14:00-16:00, 4 weeks.
Second set of classes starts on Saturday, 11 June 2011, 13:30-15:30, 4 weeks.

There may still be some places left so if you're interested in coming along give them a call on 01245 256079, or go to the website: http://www.whooshcentre.com/.