The Great British Sewing Bee!

Oh my how excited am I!! The long awaited Great British Sewing Bee is due to air in March.

 

The book is available for pre order from Amazon for just £12.00. So that is going in my basket then!I think sewing is an amazing craft and so pleased to see a whole series dedicated to it. Am hoping to pick up lots of tips along the way. I can see this staying on my sky + for ages.

Lolo xx

 

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Pinterest inspiration for my craft room

Spring will be here soon and I am itching to spruce up my craft room/office. Although it is not that bad in there at the moment it is over 7 years since it was decorated and is looking a little tired around the edges.

I love the natural feel in this photo. Planks of wood for a desk, great idea. I could just attach these to the top of my existing table tops with the bonus of making them slightly larger than they are now. Hmm, something to investigate with my local timber merchants me thinks.

 

Stunning colour! Quite fancy recovering my dark grey office chair in this colour. Could be a bit of a challenge thought!

 

Very organised and very pretty with pastel pink accents. Possible alternative to the blue.

My idea of storage heaven! Clean and relaxing, I just feel so much calmer when everything has a place and it is white.

Aren't these just divine! Beautiful blog and a kind lady has posted the crochet pattern in English in a comment. Thank you am definitely gonna try with some twine.

All of these photos can be seen on my Pinterest account where you can visit the lovely sites that they came from. To follow me on Pinterest click my button on my sidebar.

I am now off to do some day dreaming in my craft room and maybe come up with a plan of action.

Thank you for popping by.

Lolo xxxx

 

 

 

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My first foof for my iPad

I needed a project to test the two machines I had over Xmas so came up with my own version of the "Foof".  There are loads of lovely ones on the internet but I wanted to use a fabric of my choice.  So using my iPad as my template I cut out a long piece of grey felt, long enough to go around the iPad 4 times.  I then cut a piece of the interfacing half the length of the grey felt.  Now it would have been good if I took some photos of the process but I wasn't that organised so apologies.

Laying the grey felt out flat and then laying the interfacing on top in the middle you then fold over the ends of the grey felt to meet in the middle and encase the interfacing.  Hope this is making sense.  I then stitched the top of the felt to the interfacing where they joined in the middle taking care not to stitch to the felt underneath.  

Choosing one of the decorative stitches I sewed these along the top edeges of the foof and finished it all off by sewing the sides together using a zig zag stitch.

Not the neatest of finishes but my iPad fits great inside it and it is lovely and soft and cuddly.  I will find a nicer piece of ribbon to go round the middle but for now it will have to make do with this scrap of interfacing.

Going to make one for my iTouch next, it'll be a little mini me!

Hugs

Lolo xx

Janome Sewing Machines

I've decided to upgrade my current Brother sewing machine which has served me well for the past 8 years but I want something more than just the basic stitches.  I was lucky enough to test a couple of machines out over Xmas which were computerised models.  The main things that I now can't do without are the speed control, needle up/down and the stop/start button so you don't even have to use the foot pedal.

Janome machines seem to be very popular and their stitch quality is excellent and searching online I've found this machine currently on sale at John Lewis for £369.  Not cheap considering my old Brother was a mere £90 but I figure this will last me a very long time as there are lots of decorative stitches and an alphabet too.

It would be a really great help if anybody reading this has a Janome machine or do you have a machine to recommend with these sort of features.  This is a considered purchase for me so any advice will be greatly welcomed.

For info the two machines I tested were the Janome 30 stitch computerised machine and the Silver 200+ stitch computerised machine.  The Janome knocked socks off the Silver in both build quality and stitch quality, but the Silver machine spoilt me with all the choice of stitches making the Janome selection seem very limited and basic.  Hence the searching for a Janome with more stitch choice.

Lolo xx

Cat Box

So true, and so funny.  I'm pretty sure all owners of cats can relate to this post.  Buy them a bed, not interested.  Unpack a box, that'll do nicely thank you, oh and now you have to keep said box in the middle of the room for weeks as you don't have the heart to take it away from them!  

Lolo xx

Mr Selfridge

Can't wait to watch this tonight can you.  One of my favourite London stores, Liberty's being the other.  Starts at 9pm on ITV1.

Before that I have Dancing on Ice so nothing much getting done round here tonight then!

Enjoy.

My Inspiration for the New Year

No words needed!

xx

Goodbye Christmas...Hello New Year!!

It came upon us so quick and then went by in a flash, can't believe it was only a week ago today we were all sat feasting at my kitchen table.  Red and white was the theme inspired by a trip to Ikea, I even upcycled a load of toilet roll tubes to make my advent calendar.  Covered in dotty wrapping paper from Primark you would never know their previous life.

Last minute batch cards made for the office.  Nothing fancy, just some stamps from Docrafts Home Spun range and bit of twine.  I actually enjoyed making these and am planning to do more stamped cards.

Now it is onto the new year ahead and I for one am itching to declutter and clean which I think hits most of us after all the excesses of the season. There is also the return to the day job.................urrgh!  One thing I am not looking forward to, I want to stay at home and play all day!  Of course I will be fine when I get there and after a few hours be right back in the swing as if we were never away.

I wish you all a VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR and look forward to lots of crafty projects shared over the coming months.

Lolo xxxxx

50th Burlap Birthday Card

Wowza it's been a while!  My poor little ol blog has been severely neglected.  I have been doing some crafting just not got around to sorting the photos till now. 

Look at that number, it scares me a little I have to say as it's not that far off for me either, yikes!  Where did all that time go eh.  I really like the colours in this card, duck egg blue and kraft great combo.  The border on the little tag was cut with an Anna Griffin punch that I absolutely love.

 

Scallop square cut with Martha Stewart punch around the page and inked around the edges.

Waste not want not, even the little threads that I pulled to fray the burlap have a use as string for my button.

I'll be back with more soon, I promise.

Lolo xx

New Pink Petticoat Papers

Just treated myself to these little beauties from the lovely Liz at Pink Petticoat.

At the moment she has them on offer, both sets for £2.00!  I cannot wait to start using them.  Oh and you get these free, what's not to love!

Lolo xx

Polymer Clay and Stamps

It's only taken a year but I have finally gotten around to trying out what Kirstie Allsopp showed us all in her handmade christmas programme last year!  Better late than never.  I purchased some packs of Fimo White Polymer Oven Bake Clay from eBay a while back, think it only cost £1.50 a block so not expensive.  Here is what my first batch came out like.

They clay is quite 'stiff' but you just knead it for a few minutes in your hands and it soon softens up.  I rolled out small quantities to about 3mm thick, I did this using just a pen as I don't have a roller small enough but it worked fine.  Next I took some of my rubber stamps, you can use clear stamps as well just make sure they are good quality as some are too soft to make an impression, and pressed quite firmly into the clay.  I also tried using some buttons, you need to experiment with different types as some buttons don't work so well and just look weird.  

Next it was into a low oven, 120C, for 30 mins on a baking sheet or you could use a ceramic tile like Kirstie did.  Let them cool down for a while and then either leave plain, or decorate them with paints.  You can also trim away any unsightly edges at this point and sand them back if they are a little rough.  They clay is set when it comes out but is not like pottery, it still has some flexibility to it, almost rubber like if that makes sense.

Some close up shots. The images really do stamp rather well, better than I thought.

 I love this script stamp and as you can see I didn't clean it properly before using so am left with some ink residue.  Rethinking this I would now probably ink the stamps before using them and see what that looks like.  I freehand cut round mine but using cookie cutter shapes would be much better and cleaner looking, I was just too lazy to get mine out of the box!

Wouldn't this cute little snowflake make lovely tags on pressies or cards.  You would need a hole to put thread through which should normally be done before you bake them but if you have one of the Cropadiles this will punch through the clay real easy.

Since using this I've heard about another type of clay which is paper clay and cures by air drying, Martha Stewart makes some but is a bit pricey.  Have now found some on Panduro Hobby which is much better value, you can view what they have for sale here.

If you've been playing around with clay and have any useful tips I 'd love to hear from you.  For instance I did hear that using the Fimo Clay in your oven isn't particularly good for your food!  Is this true?

Thanks for popping by.

Lolo 

xx

Doillies, Butterflies and Bunting

Today I made a card for a colleague at work.  She is 22 at the weekend, so young, sigh.  Never seen her wear pink at the office so avoided the sugary girlie look and chose a subtle polka dot print in putty from my Pink Petticoat digital papers, which are lush I might add!

 Sentiment was added to the background paper before printing using Photoshop.  I love how you can really personalise stuff this way and be able to mix up the fonts.

 Bunting stamped using a set by Anna Griffin recently purchased from QVC and have to say it stamps like a dream using archival ink.  Triple bow made with seam binding and good old garden twine .

Paper doillies were stamped using a set from My Minds Eye purchased from Create and Craft, I am really loving their style of stamps and have made some more purchases since then. 

These butterfly stamps by My Minds Eye are so cute, just stamped onto some white cardstock and cut, attached with 3d glue dots and drew their bodies with a sekura glitter pen in soft gold.

Hope you like the card.

Lolo

xx

Tilda Angel with Bird

I finally got round to making my first rag doll from Tone Finnanger's Tilda range and have to say am just a little bit chuffed with how it turned out.  She comes in a kit form like the one above, the packaging as always is just as gorgeous as what is inside.

 Taking in the evening air out in the garden.  Oh dear poor birdie looks like he is hanging on for dear life!

Her hair isn't quite how it should be and one of her legs is a teeny bit shorter but I still love her!  The nice thing about these kits are the pattern pieces are full size, none of this englarging lark.  Even in her books the patterns are full size.

This is her full stretch and she as amazing 64cms tall, but she can't stand up though bless her.  I think I will be adding a loop to the back of her so I can hang her on my craft room wall.

That's better we can see little birdie now and he looks much better the right way up.  In her instructions the birdcage is sewn onto her hand but I have just tied the ribbon round her wrist so it can be removed easily.

Overall she was very easy to make and took only 3 hours to do.  This has now spurred me on and am now itching to make other things from her books which before now I have just flicked through and then put back on the shelf.  I am imagining a whole line of tilda dolls hanging from my walls.  Better get cracking then!

Thanks for popping by.

Lolo xx

Annie Sloan and Kirsty Allsopp

Just heard that the wonderful Annie Sloan paint will be featuring with Kirsty Allsopp in her new 'Kirsty's Vintage Home'!! Am beyond excited!!

Lolo xx

 

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Simple Sepia Photographs

Photographs, I love them, take them all the time, on my camera on my phone.  But only recently did I discover the sepia setting on my camera.  I've changed normal photos into sepia with Photo Shop but in all the years I have had my camera I never realised I could take them in sepia there an then.  I get there in the end lol!

 Some clouds and a fast growing Eucalyptus tree makes for an eery photo.

 Peeking through Jasmine.  A bit romantic.

My new little reading corner and freshly made over bench with Annie Sloan paint.  Need to cover the cushions obviously but that will be another project.

Just love how my pink flowery PJ bottoms take on the look of granny's vintage bloomers!!

Yes I am liking this style a lot and can see this being used to create photos for frames on my walls, I've never been one for colour photography.  In fact my niece will say I've never been one for colour full stop!

Have you recently discovered any settings on your camera that have lay hidden for years?  Would love to hear about them.

Thanks for popping by.  Lolo xx

Happy Birthday Mum

Twas my wonderful mum's birthday the other day.  The weather was good, she had a lovely day out with her own mum and my sister followed by a family meal in the evening with all of us.  Presents and cards were given and we all watched on happily as her little face lit up with glee on opening them.

This card was to my mum from her mum.  To be honest I was struggling to come up with a design and ended up chucking a load of bits together from my scrap box. 

Mostly Anna Griffin products plus a paper doillie and some flower heads cut in half.  I got these fabric flowers from Wilkinson for a couple of pounds and took them apart which has given me loads of flowers to use.

As you can probably guess this is her card from me!  I adore this paper set from Papermania it is just so pretty and reminds me of Tilda.  

I love to corregate card and paper such a quick way to add some texture.  Embellishments were stuck down using Pinflair glue and have to say it worked very well, gave some dimension and is easy to use with the syringe that comes with it.  Got mine from Create and Craft, they have some good prices.

Doodle, doodle, doodle. Just can't stop and have progressed to little flowers now.  Where will it all end!!

Thanks for popping by.  Lolo xx