At Last! Something New...

It's been a while! I feel a bit like I'm wading through treacle at the moment. Everything seems so much more work than usual and I don't seem to be satisfied with anything. I have at last got a new pair of knickers ready for listing. I decided to make these knickers extra special so I have made a little matching pouch to keep them in...

The pouch's lining matches the knickers and the illustration is original and hand-drawn.

If you have suggestions for improvements for anything (photography, banners, products, names...) hit me with them, you will make me really very happy. I'm a bit lost at the moment so any guidance will help me get back on track.

Upcycled Purse

As seen in the last post, here is the purse I made for my friend Olly from Wollies.

It's made from plastic bags and vintage pillowcases. A nice bit of eco-friendly craft.

I'll be making some more of these purses soon. If you are interested in owning one let me know!

I'm off to Ireland for a few days and I'm fairly sure I won't have internet access. So have a good week and I will finally show you those new knickers when I'm back!

Let there be light (so you can see some things the postman brought me)

I woke up this morning to a day I had dedicated to photograph-taking, only to find that the week of lovely sun was over. Some lovely people on twitter (I really do have to eat my words, twitter is brilliant) pointed me in the right direction for creating a light-box. A Blue-Peter style hour later and I was the proud owner of a handmade mini-studio.


So here are the results... a few things I received in the post recently:

Some labels to make my Pretty Green items prettier and more professional.

A beautiful haircomb by Hopelessly Devoted. I've been wearing it everyday since!

And here you can see the fruits of my labour. I need to get a lamp which will stand a few more watts, but otherwise I'm very happy. You can also see a sneek-peek of my next post!

Custom Knicker Upcycling Service

Thanks to a lovely comment from Laura @ Glue & Glitter I was inspired to start my own

**Custom Knicker Upcycling Service**

Here's the idea...

If you have:

a favourite dress with a massive stain

a tshirt which doesn't fit anymore

a curtain which is missing it's pair

a charity shop bargain with an amazing print, but no idea what to do with it

or any other piece of much loved fabric lying aroung which no longer has a use... don't throw it away unnecessarily.

Send it to me and I'll give it a new life by transforming it into a custom-made pair of knickers!

Visit my folksy or etsy shops for more details!

Glue and Glitter

I recently made my first proper etsy purchase. I had bought several supplies, but never something indulgent and beautiful for myself. This is the necklace that I bought. It made me giggle and I love the little chain for the receiver. I think I might have the etsy bug... I loved the personal touch to buying something which you knew someone had spent time over. It's like buying yourself a present!

It's made by the wonderful Laura @ Glue and Glitter. Laura also tagged me on her blog to answer some questions about myself. As I recently listed my favourite things for the Kreativ Blogger post I won't bore you with too much more information about myself, but thank you very much Laura for thinking of me! Instead I shall just give a 'Best Of' of the answers I would have given - you can guess the questions...

Cats

Neither tea or coffee... I'm not good with caffeine.

Big clumpy purple patent DocMartins

Bonfires

Biting my nails

German

The street cleaning machine

Pan-teas

Sorry more puns! I couldn't resist, tea seems to lend itself quite nicely to cheesy wordplay. So the mystery is solved after my tea-ser the other day. I have made a teapot adorned pair of knickers!



I couldn't resist this print. It used to be a table cloth and now this beautiful vintage fabric has found a new home as a divine pair of pouffy panties. I am not normally one for full-on pink so I added this Tartan bow to add to the Britishness of teapots!

This is a one off design, but I think I will be experimenting more with this fabric. I love it!

You can buy this pair at my shops which can be found on the right of the screen (choose your currency). Or click here for a direct link to my favourite site.

Insert 'Time' Related Pun Here

Oh dear this blog is started to get as cluttered as my life... too many unfinished projects. I keep promising to show photos of something finished and then I get distracted and the next post is completely unrelated....

I'm afraid I haven't changed just yet and so here is another disorganised post. I am hoping my life and consequently my blogging will get itself in order soon.

I have just finished a nice little project which I have been mentally working on for a while. A while ago I found a lot of old French fashion magazines hiding in the back of a funny little antiques shop. They are absolutely fascinating and so inspiring. Some are in a beautiful condition and I just look at them in a caring, aren't I lucky to have such lovely things to look at kind of a way. However I'm not one to have much time to look at things properly so I have used some of the less pristine magazines to decorate items of furniture so that the images can be appreciated daily.

I covered a mirror and some shelves and was really pleased with the effect. As the paper is quite thin it decoupages really well. Here's that mirror...

This time round I worked on another antique shop purchase, a clock. This time I decided to go about things properly and plan everything before, finish off everything neatly etc... I am very pleased with the result. I have rather relunctantly decided to sell it as I think other people should be able to have a bit of twenties french chicness in their homes, but I do keep imagining it in my new dream kitchen... However I think I should focus on finding the new dream appartment first!

So here are the pictures....

An in progress shot (sorry no before pictures, that would have been far too organised... although look I put down floor protection like a sensible adult)

And here is the finished article...

Some of the magazine pages are so funny, I particularly enjoy the adverts... creams for a saggy chest (complete with pictures) and remedies for hairy lips. Nice to know that the lady of 1924 had the same beauty concerns as we do today. Here on the back of the mirror you can see an advert for a flatter stomach and clearer skin...

I'm actually really pleased with the back, I finished it off properly and it makes me feel a bit proud when I look at it. I think it's these little details that I want to work on with PrettyGreen, recycled (or upcycled sounds a bit nicer) doesn't have to look like a design compromise.

Well there we go a very rambly post, but more pictures than usual, so if you're anything like me you'll just have looked at them! Maybe next time I'll show you where I've got with my embroidery projects, but I'll have to finish them first...

Birthday Presents

I've been making a few knitted and crocheted presents for friends recently.

This bow is from knitorama. The people who wrote this book have a shop down the road from me. The books they write are very funny and include useful things such as baguette holders and a knitted bikini. I made this bow into a brooch, but I'm thinking of making lots of bows in different colours and putting them everywhere.

This moustache ties round the back of the head. It was inspired by this pattern, which I had already made as a present for my boyfriend. I haven't got a picture of the whole balaclava yet, but he wore it when he was playing at a gig the other night so maybe someone will have taken a photo of it in action! Back to this moustache... I didn't manage to get a photo, but when you take the moustache off the daper gentleman on the card you can see his pink cheeks!

On a completely different subject, I should have at least one new item for my etsy shop this week so keep a look out...

Knickers!

I was in France last week and while I was there we visited a really interesting little shop. It collects left over items from factories and sells them on at ridiculously low prices. I want to find something like this in London! I bought all of this for less than €5...

I spent the day drafting a pattern and used my finds to make a pair of knickers. I have never made anything like this before and although there was lots of swearing and unpicking I enjoyed it a lot. The pair I made were a little small so I will be reworking the pattern and definitely trying it out again.

This (unworn!) pair can be bought in my etsy shop

Etsy Shop

I've been meaning to start selling stuff properly for quite some while. Last night a name for my 'shop' finally came to me and today I have made an etsy shop where I'll start selling stuff. I hoping to set up a stall in East London sometime soon, when I've made enough stock.

I wanted to sell stuff that had some sort of common link. I really enjoy working with found items or recycled materials and my inspiration comes from trying to make them usable again and also prettier. Hence the shop name...



Here's the link, I will hopefully be adding more items in the next few weeks: http://www.prettygreen.etsy.com/