These are a few of my favourite things . . .

Some of my favourite handmade, illustrated and hand-printed items I've collected over the past couple of years. I love the thought that a lot of the items I own aren't also owned by the masses and I love supporting artists and designers around the world. Of course, this is no where near all of the incredible handmade goodies I own, so I'll have to do a follow-up post in the future with more!

 From top left in a sort of.. wonky clockwise direction:

• My well-loved typewriter illustration bag by Ceridwen Design. This has been thrown around in my bag and in the washer so many times and it still has tonnes of life left in it!
• Super cute chasing foxes coasters by the ever-talented and lovely Caleighill. I also have one of her crazy-odd creature prints, 'Creature Hoarder' up on the wall and I love him so!
• Quite possibly the most beautiful and comfortable shoes I own, my Audrey sandals. Handmade here in the UK by eco-concious Cholesburys using recycled leather and a gorgeous vintage Liberty print.
• Layered wooden fox brooch by Martin Tomsky who has managed to transform his illustrations into these amazing laser-cut brooches and wall art. The rest of his work is totally worth checking out to really appreciate the impact and depth he manages to create with just one material!
• Hand screen-printed tank-top by Mon Shop. I picked this up from their stall at Camden Stables Market and seriously had to hold myself back from buying just about everything I saw there!
• 'Things We Found in the Field' pocket mirror from The Aviary.. I think I have like.. 4 of these all in different designs, they're all so pretty!
• Gorgeous barefoot sandals. I bought the pattern from Isamo Crochet knowing full well I can't crochet to save my life. Thankfully, a lovely lady from Mauritius crocheted these for me and sent them all the way to the UK for me! Lucky lucky me, I'll be wearing these on the beach this Summer!
• Just for fun, temporary butterfly tattoos from The Aviary. I originally bought these as a gift but they umm.. accidentally stayed in my stash here instead.
• 'Hello' Soap dish by Stone's Throw Ceramics. It's actually a spoon rest, but I bought it to use as a soap dish and now I've seen it with jewellery in, well I think I might have to buy another for my dressing table! When I first came across this I was actually browsing Etsy for something totally different - then this popped up and I had to have it, I love everything about it! Check out Susanne's Octopus mugs too, they are SO COOL.
• Last but not least, my go-to piece of jewellery that I wear pretty much every single day. My archery bow pendant from MisoPretty - I'd had my eyes on this for months and finally caved and treated myself! Archery has a special place in my heart since my grandmother gifted me my own bow many years ago. ♥

TUTORIAL - Felt Heart Garland

It's probably not the first time you'll have seen a tutorial for these super sweet heart garlands and it certainly won't be the last but I figured I'd make a shiny new one whilst I played! This garland is so easy you'll wonder why you haven't made one before and it'll only take you around an hour or two at most and the result is SO PRETTY!

You will need:

• Strips of felt in your chosen colours, I used 10cm strips of woolfelt from The Eternal Maker in Driftwood, Mediterranean Mist and Ruby Red Slipper and still had leftovers for other projects! 
• Thread to match
• Sewing machine
• Scissors / Rotary Cutter/ Cutting mat
• Beading thread (or any heavy weight thread, even fishing line!)
• Needle

Ok so first things first, we're going to chop down some of that felt. I started off with Ruby Red Slipper, I halved it to get a 10cm x 45cm strip (discard one half for now), then halved again so I was left with two strips of 5cm x 45cm, again discard one of these and halve your remaining strip so you're left with two 5cm x 22.5cm strips.

Next up we're going to do some sewing! Thread your machine with a thread that matches your felt and with one strip on top of the other, sew one of the long sides around 3/16ths of an inch from the edge. Because we're going to be cutting through this later you'll want to sew a second row of stitches so it's extra secure.

Now, this is where the magic happens! Remove your strip from the machine, open the strips and fold them back on themselves so you've got a long heart shaped tube! 

Cool huh? Next up you need to sew the bottom of your heart in the same way around 3/16ths of an inch from the edge remembering to stitch a second row.  Snip all your loose ends and lay your heart tube flat on a cutting mat. Using a ruler, cut your tube into 2cm slices.

Repeat with your remaining colours! I varied the sizes of mine, for Driftwood I used 4cm x 22.5cm strips and for Mediterranean Mist I used 7cm x 22.5cm strips. I also made another strip in Ruby Red Slipper this time 10cm x 22.5cm.

For the larger hearts I stitched a second row where the top of the heart forms at 5/15ths of an inch from the edge to give them a bit more shape.

Next you have two choices, to have a vertical or horizontal garland. I've shown both variations here for comparison! For the horizontal Garland, arrange your hearts in a fashion you're happy with.

Cut around 1.5m of beading thread, knot a loop in one end and thread your needle on the other, begin threading your felt hearts onto your needle and thread making sure to stay relatively close to the top of each heart otherwise they'll want to hang upside down!

Continue until you've got as many hearts on there as you like, tie a loop at the end of your thread and there you have it, one cute Valentine's Garland!

So pretty! For the Vertical garland, loop one end of your thread as before and simply thread your hearts from top to bottom instead! You could finish these off with buttons, beads or anything you like!

This tutorial was originally written by myself for The Eternal Maker and can also be found here on their blog.

Supplies, Vintage and Stuff!

It's been a crazy hectic time here these past few weeks! Since moving the studio again (and then again, after that.. phew) I've had to drastically down-size to make room for the things I really need and so have opened my very own supply store on Etsy with the intention of de-stashing my.. rather large stash! It's so hard letting go of some things but I know I'll probably never use them, and unfortunately 'probably never' isn't 'probably will' and thus I have to let it go. *sigh*. My inner hoarder is screaming at me to keep everything but I just can't!

Here's a little selection of what's on offer. From beads, findings, vintage sewing and knitting patterns, fabric, leather off-cuts and even vintage clothing! I'm very happy to find that there are people out there who want my de-stash stuff, and so long as there is demand, I shall deliver.

Happy browsing ♥

Create because you can, not because you have to.

We've just returned from a week in North Devon, celebrating a lifelong friend's wedding which was so so beautiful, pretty much everything was hand-made, with so much time and love gone in to every lasting detail it really was one of the most beautiful weddings ever - some images from the day can be found on the official photographer's blog here.

What with the wedding, days lounging on the beach until darkness, watching the sunset, fighting through crashing waves, walking for hours along riverbanks and through sand dunes with no real destination, upon returning home I've never been so inspired to create - I even found inspiration for a new dress in a washed up pile of rocks at Putsborough Beach (of which I've brought a few home as a reminder).. I'll be collecting fabrics for this over the next few weeks or so.

As for dresses, I actually started on a brand new dress today and have spent the last few hours playing with materials and my Singer, the living room looks like a fabric bomb has hit it. It's very much based on the dress I made for my wonderful friend in Canada which you'll find here.

Some progress shots?

I've been having so much fun these past two and a bit years growing my tiny little business that I completely forgot to slow down and take a break - even throughout my holidays I'd continue working..! I LOVE running my little shop, it means everything to me and I love all the people I've met who support me and make it possible for me to do what I love - over the last couple of months it's sort of exploded into something so much bigger than I ever imagined, every spare minute of my days and nights have been spent working hard on my etsy shop and bookbinding, I totally forgot about all the other things I love to do as well! 

Some of you may have noticed my etsy shop is currently in 'vacation mode' and will remain that way until at least the end of this week and possibly a little longer whilst I re-visit all the stuff I've not had time for like dressmaking, illustration, photography and generally being creative.

I'll announce on facebook / twitter once I've re-opened and if you really want to stay up to date, you can use the 'notify me' button in my etsy shop using the link above. 

Until then, never forget - it is ok to slow down from time to time. Don't miss out on the other great things life has to offer and always take time to create because you can and not because you have to. 

Happy creating - I'm off to explore my fabric boxes..

♥

My Beautiful Singer 185K

I picked this little gem up online at what I consider to be a HUGE bargain at just £20.00, I was slightly worried having bought it totally on impulse without even having a chance to test it out or even find out what model it was! With only one photo and no description other than the fact that it's a Singer and the bobbin was bunching I took a punt (but a justified punt at £20) and it appears to have paid off as she works wonderfully!

I have a bit of a habit of buying on impulse, and it usually means I'm about to embark on a journey of total money-wasting nightmarish-ness. When I picked this up from the previous owner she told me there was some bunching going on with the bobbin thread but she never got around to fixing it. I didn't test it out before I cleaned her up and oiled her but I'm pleased to say that she appears to be working perfectly and as so many others have said before, the 185K sews the most beautiful straight stitch I've ever seen! She came complete with table and what appears to be most if not all of the original accessories. The only issue I'm having is getting the bobbin to wind but I think it's just a case of buying a new tyre but I can use the winder on my other machine so it's all good.

The table does need a little bit of work but I'm hoping M will do something for me since he's a woodworker n'all but it's still totally useable! In the meantime, here are some photos. I'm a little envious of my fellow 185 owners in Canada or the US, as their versions (the 185J and 185) are a lovely green colour - I'm not too keen on the tan/brown of the British version but I suppose I can learn to live with it!

Check out the stitch to the right of the foot - beautiful!

Well, I'm off to find some fabrics and start making another dress like the Secret Garden Dress and Ragdoll Dress ♥