Fat quarters - a danger to the bank balance!

Last week I read on one of the blogs I've signed up to, about the Fabric Rehab. Now with a name like that who wouldn't be intrigued to go and have a look?

This move proved to be a very good/bad discovery as far as I'm concerned... depending on which way you look at it. Good - in as far as I loved most of the fabric they've got on this site, and Bad for most of the same reason as above. ;-)

Now just a couple of days before I was having a conversation with my friend, and I was saying that I was going to try to not buy fabric just purely because I like it, but only if I had something specific in mind (she did laugh at this notion, although not out loud). So true to form 2 days later I ordered a fat quarter bundle "Just because I liked it". No self control obviously.

So here is an image of what I bought... any ideas?

Hand made cards - what a laugh!

A couple of weeks ago my friend Jennifer put together a card making evening at her house, and of course I signed up straight away!

The fact that it was a night out with a couple of other mums, sitting around a table making cards, seemed an excellent opportunity to have a decent natter... and of course I was going to come away with a couple of handmade cards to show for it. ;-)

Jennifer dug out all her card making stuff, and I am not exaggerating when I say she's got A LOT OF STUFF!! From glittery thingies to beads and vintage paper. Shrinky paper that totally transforms in the oven to clay stuffies that get baked after you've designed (and "play-doh'ed" it) yourself. Needless to say I had loads of fun, and would be signing up for the next one as soon as she decides to schedule another.

I made a card to go with my sister's wedding present (see this post), and two generic cards that will go to some lucky recipients soon.

But here are a couple of images of what I made...
(don't snigger too loud, it was my first attempt at card making ;-) )

Bead flowers

I've been practicing making little flowers from seed beads recently. Mostly it's just been about getting my "wire technique" under control, as I am quite happy to admit that it was a bit haphazard to start with ;-).

Now I've got the first few items to show you, and I would really like to know what you think!!

The firsts ones on show are some little flower hairpins I've been making. I made the first pair for Alyssa (white ones) and then kept on going, experimenting with different colours and sizes.

I've given a few pairs away to some of my friends' daughters and some of Alyssa's friends at school just to try and establish whether other people like them too, and if I should maybe consider making them to sell at craft/school fairs... so your thoughts would be most welcome (and how much would you pay for them)?





This second one is something slightly bigger and I think was a bit to ambitious to attempt at first (at least until I had my wire technique under control), so the theory behind it is good, but I think I'll have to redo it. It's a bit floppy and not as neatly executed as I would have liked. ;-)
(The idea is for it to be a broach or a large hair decoration - I haven't quite decided yet).



And lastly... (for now at least)
is the little Sweet William flowers that I haven't quite decided what I'm doing with, but I liked the design so much that I had to try it in Red and White. so any suggestions welcome...



So I've got a couple of projects that I'm currently working on, and will be showing those off in the next week or so, so watch this space for updates.

Lx

A bit of a Baking day

On Friday I had the urge to "bake stuff", and as all my biscuit jars and tins are empty, it was probably high time too ;-).

I started off with a nice brown bread (with a sprinkling of oats for interest) which came in really handy at lunchtime as I haven't quite made it to the supermarket yet, and the cupboards where looking a bit bare...



and then I moved onto the biscuits (or cookies), whichever you prefer.

I started by making some wholegrain chocolate chip cookies to which I decided to add a couple of handfuls of chopped pecan nuts.

I love having nuts in cookies, it makes them even more crunchy. But I suppose it's a preference (and allergy) thing, as I have come across lots of people that don't... Mad I know!!



After completing them, I moved onto some shortbread biscuits in the form of buttons. They were coloured green, pink and normal which I saw on another blog I read (Forty-sixth at Grace), although hers looked ALOT better than mine!!

I left most of the "button making" to Alyssa and there was not two biscuits that looked even remotely the same in shape or in number of holes "for the thread". But then what do you expect when you leave it up to a 4YO??



I have now got a few jars full of biscuits again, but at the rate my family (especially my husband) eats them, I think it won't be long before I'll have to restock them again.



PS: As I know that my husband doesn't read this... I have taken to hiding some of them away so what you see is not necessarily all there is! ;-)