When creativity works, and when creativity doesn't...

Got a parcel at work today and it was the clock drawer knobs. As the antiquey looking ones are coming from America I figure they will take a while, so for now I've put them all on and can decide once they arrive. I think they are adorable!

A while back Katie showed me how to make flowers from ribbons. When I saw the bow maker yesterday, I thought I might as well give it a go, as my patience for doing it by hand was, shall we say, somewhat limited. Anyway, the bow maker (a simple rubbery piece of plastic in a 5 point star) is fab! It took me 3 attempts to get a decent one, but I was pretty happy with the result, and put a cute little button in the middle:

This evening, I gave my new Rob Ryan teatowel a good iron and framed it. I'm really happy with how it looks! 

 

I also attempted to finish off the dragon. To be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with how it's turned out. It's been really hard, and I've lost my patience with it a fair few times. It's completely on the wonk, and the right leg has given me no end of bother. I decided just to leave it and stuff it anyway, which did make it look a bit better. I then sewed on the arms and wings, but I'm still not happy with them. The quality of the stitches is pretty rubbish for me, and one of the wings is wonky so I'm going to have to unpick it and sew it on again :(

 

I pinned on the head to see what it would look like finished. I'm really happy with his personality...but for a perfectionist like me, I'm far from happy with it. Was so hoping to get him done soon so I can start a new project! Looks like I'm going to have to do a bit more work on him yet. Certainly don't feel I can give him to my friend as a present right now!!!

Rob Ryan and the Columbia Flower Market

Today Tom was off Go Karting with some friends, so I had decided to venture down to Columbia Road to the Rob Ryan shop. As I've mentioned before, I love Rob Ryan and was excited to find out he had a shop in London! I hadn't realised it was actually in the middle of the flower market! Such a fabulous atmosphere and on such a beautiful sunny day!

Of course I had to buy something (or some 'things') and opted for one his fabulous books 'This is for you':

I couldn't really justify a mug or one of his exquisite tiles so instead opted for an amazing teatowel. It's far too beautiful to use, so i plan to frame it instead!

After my visit to my current mecca i decided to have a wander around columbia road. There are so many beautiful shops; I could have spent a fortune. I then happened across a stunning fabric shop called Beyond Fabrics

I found some gorgeous fat quarters for £3.75 and had to buy them:

I was also a bit naughty and bought a few corsage making things. A plastic guider to make it easier to make them, and a corsage set - purely because I can then copy the pattern and adapt to make my own. They will undoubtedly never be as good as my friend Abbey's over at Doll Doll Dolly!

A lovely day; but I think it's obvious why I never have any money! Will be spending a cosy evening in with my cross stitch and a terrible movie. Heaven.

Imperial War Museum

This weekend I'm up in London at Tom's. Today we decided to get us some culture and head to the Imperial War Museum. We decided not to attempt the whole thing, but instead pick a few areas; we chose First and Second World War.

I'm particularly interested in how women were involved in the war. I saw this fab 'make do and mend' poster:

I also saw this beautiful 'dig for victory' embroidery. Stunning.

Of course I had to take away a small souvenir, so opted for the trusty postcard; perfect for my hypothetical memo board!

How to make a desk beautiful

I've been after a sewing desk for quite a while. I saw this beautiful one (all though I guess it's more of a dressing table) in Papillon (I think that's what it's called) in the Lanes but knew it would be ridiculously expensive:

Last weekend Tom surprise visited me, and we took a trip to Shabitat to see if we could find anything suitable. I love Shabitat. It's this crazy warehouse full of junk basically, but I always seem to find some great bargains in there! This particular time I stumbled across a very long desk for a meagre £10! Luckily it just fit in Tom's car so I was able to save on deliver costs too!

During transit 2 of the handles fell off, and rather than putting them back on I thought I could find some pretty ones! I really wanted some white porcelain ones with blue polka dots from Velvet, but unless I wanted to start sanding the desk down, it was obvious they wouldn't go. In the end I got on etsy, and found some fabulous designs across many buyers! These are the ones I ended up ordering:

I ended up being very naughty and getting 5 of the clock designs too....so i can either chop and change, or put them on something else!!! Will post more pictures once they arrive.

Justin Bieber cross stitch anyone?

Seriously those crazy cross stitch folk love a bit of Justin Bieber!

Even better, when looking for new drawer pulls I found these beauties!!! Hahaha

Yarnbombing for charity

Cocoon Knits in Hove are raising money for the Martlets Hospice by yarnbombing a bus. This basically involves covering an entire double decker bus in Brighton with lots of knitted squares! The great thing as well, is that after the event, they will break down the squares into blankets and send them to AIDS orphans.

Visit the blog to find out how to sign up!

Current Projects

I'm working on a lot of secret projects at the moment. I've just finished off two presents for my best friend for her birthday. Check out her tumblr for all the excellent stuff she makes!!

Anyway, her birthday is very soon...so I'll post the pics of the very exciting things I've made her once she's received them!!!

The other thing I've been working on is a dragon for my friend James. He's a massive dragon fan, so I thought I'd attempt a more complicated pattern.

I bought the pattern from DIY Fluffies off etsy. The great thing about this site is they send the pattern via email so you don't have to wait for it to be shipped!

I'm always buying so much fabric, that I try and use up what I have rather than buying new all the time. I decided to do the dragon in black and cherry patterned cotton, with red felt for the spikey tail.

The back in particular was a particular bugger but I got there in the end:

I've so far got all the bits done, and now just need to attach them all! Sadly, he's got a bit of a dodgy leg, but I'm going to try and finish him off by hand. Final pictures to follow!

Cross Stitch

Over Christmas I spent quite a bit of time at my Mum's. Obviously I didn't want to cart home a load of fabric to work with, so decided to do a bit of cross stitch. Mainly because I found this beautiful Emily Peacock design, that I just HAD to do.

It's going to take me a pretty long time to complete...but it's an enjoyable thing to do on my lunchbreaks and on the train.

I really love Emily Peacock's designs, they are so beautiful and modern! Researching her and other modern cross stitcher's I came upon this fabulous website called Urban Cross Stitch.

My colleague Harriett, bought one of the Banksy sets, which was pretty reasonable at £18 as all of the threads were included:

I'm particularly looking forward to their cupcakes and cocktail event!!!

Other friends of mine have got into the idea of cross stitch too. My friend Beth did an excellent "Cunt" cross stitch picture recently which you can find on her flickr account.

I've done a couple of other little cutesy designs lately, but to be honest I think I prefer cross stitch when it's using the traditional medium but in a modern way; bringing it into the 21st century.

Beautiful Picture

I really love Rob Ryan's designs, but at £300 plus for a print, I won't be buying one any time soon! Instead I decided to buy one of his cards and put my own stamp on it.

What I used:

• Rob Ryan card
• Beautiful patterned card from Hobbycraft
• Silver frame costing 99p from the 99p store!

Closet Monsters

I received this in the post today! Cannot wait to get making from it!The best bit is they are all made out of old clothes! Upcycling for the win!

I love buttons

I really love buttons, especially buying job lots on ebay!

Making Toys

Before I was born my mum used to make soft toys. She made me loads when I was a kid, I particularly remember having loads of pandas.

For Christmas I asked my Dad to get me a beautiful book on sewing quirky toys called Sew It, Stuff It.

My first attempt from the book was a dinosaur for my boyfriend's birthday.

He didn't turn out perfectly, but I quite like that about making things myself. It's not about perfection, it's about creating something yourself full of meaning and love.

Tom was pretty happy with the dino, and named him Hendrix.

My second attempt, was a lovely little horse. I've so far kept him for myself, as he's just so gorgeous. This is him before I put on the woollen mane:

And this is him finished. I absolutely adore this fabric!