stripped

a little misleading but not by much.  I've had a couple of very glamorous weeks at burlesque class with my bosom buddies, Sigrid and Lisa.  The class is in Falkirk, and is taken by the very lovely, gorgeous and extremely funny Dr Sarah ''Gypsy Charms'' Vernon.  And it's fun and exercise in that it reminds me I have muscles somewhere, at least it does a couple of days later! 


So aside for my two and a half hours on a Thursday night, and being back at work, other things are also coming together.  Piper has started to sleep better at night more often than not, and when she does get up very rarely is she requiring me to stay with her!  Winner! :D


And I got the commission on the messenger bag completed!  So I'm feeling pretty damned happy today ... which is just as well, as I'm off the tabs! ;) 


Here's the bag 

And here's a shot of the boa I made (faux fur of course daaaaaaahrlink) and here's a shot of my practice make up! :) 

Oh ok, here's a pic of Piperdoo too ;) 

You may recall

but if you don't here's a link to remind you...


about Sigrid's overnight/weekender bags.  I finally got a photo of one, so here it is, filled with Sigrid's sewing gubbins :) 

I also made some pillows, or rather boudoir cushions today one a beautifully rich satin with a contrasting bow, and the other a black, almost hessian like fabric with it's own little faux chenille style heart motif.

I have been meaning to try faux chenille for a while and decided today was the day. I cut 7 little heart motifs from three varied pieces of cotton fabric in pink/red and a white based spotty pattern. I layered them up and then stitched them onto the backing at 1cm intervals starting at the centre and working out.  Then you snip between the lines of stitching and start to fray the strips.  I meant to tumble dry it to get it even fluffier but the red cotton started to fray far too well!  I still like the shabby chic appeal though.

I wanted to make a luxury appeal cushion too, but only had a small strip of the lovely plummy pink satin, so the idea to make a clashing bow was born.  The next time I would try and ensure that the 'bow' fabric was a good deal looser than the cushion cover itself. Live and learn eh? :)

Like A Bus

that's me and my erratic blogging, wait for long enough and a few posts run in at once!


It's been a funny old week, with the runny bum going around the house.  Luckily Piper doesn't seem to be too badly affected and it has skipped the other half and Stuart in the main, with Ewan and I taking the biggest hits ...


However, yesterday I felt like making something.  I got started with a large wheat bag for my Dad.  He's to heat up his knee before he does his physio exercises.  I made a huge piece of fabric but with a kilo of wheat in it. This meant that he can flatten it out quite evenly before strapping it around his leg.  I hope that once he's done, I can shorten it and it will become a regular sized hottie!  I didn't take photos though :(


I also made a start with the button field bag.   Nancy Dale of NEDbeads mentioned some coffee streusel cake and the idea intrigued me.  I just *had* to find a recipe and get to it.  I used this recipe I found, and it resulted in a lovely light cake contrasted by a really crispy crumble topping.  It was lovely still warm with a cuppa, but it was excellent with some custard as a dessert.  Ideal for a cold winter night. 

Today, I finished the bag, lining it with a contrasting duponi, which was left over from Sigrid's tote bags.  It made a lovely finish to the vintage cotton.  A secret surprise inside! 

I also received the ribbon I ordered earlier in the month for continuing the taggy blanket range. So I'm raring to go!

busy

Always seem to be busy.

I have made little progress on my quilt.  Sigrid has been over so much time has been spent on the bags (now complete - need pics!) and she brought over a jellyroll which she sewed up into a single quilt top.  It was fun, about half way through the roll the strips stopped alternating so there was a fair bit of scrambling to get the quilt to look balanced, but we managed it!

As a result of this visit I decided I'd need to practice my chosen quilting stitch.  Free motion quilting!  I chose some nice chintzy cotton, sandwiched it over a layer of batting and set up the machine according to instructions. The biggest hurdle my brain had was getting over not having to turn the fabric to make curves!  My tension was also out a little between top and bottom which I did eventually sort as can be seen in the final pic, but over all I'm pretty happy!

Lisa was also over last Tuesday and was working on some knitting.  I really must get to grips with cable knit for some soapy ideas I've had! :)  Sigrid made it away with one of Lisa's dies and my cuttle bug as she is doing a hexagonal (honeycomb) quilt by hand! I'd never thought of doing anything so challenging, as I don't love hand sewing, but must admit now I've seen it done the appeal of it!

I have decided that this year my crafting has to take a more diverse and serious role and as a result we've signed up for another fair in February in the town centre on Sunday 12th, just in time for Valentines!  We don't do the Valentines thing here, as we're pragmatic and homely souls, but for those of you who do, the Guide Hall behind the Howgate Centre between 12noon and 3pm will be the place to find some handcrafted indiviual items. 

Also I've put up a facebook challenge. It's a pay it forward thing, so I've promised to send out a hand made item to the first five responders on the post within this year.  I believe there might be a space left, and I'm not bothered if you aren't crafty and can't pay it forward in that way, paying it forward in kindness of another sort is always acceptable! :) 

I'm also going to take part in the craftpimp pinterest challenge, as well as their journal challenge for January though the month is nearly over! :o 

Nicola (Mrs Dawber! Not going to tire of that any time soon, sorry Nic) had this beautiful piece of button art on her pinterest board and I fell for it too.  I decided to make a little boodwahhh pillow in a similar, more simple design and I'm pleased how it turned out though I totally mismanaged the size measurements and had to fill it by hand!

I'm going to do another couple I think in the correct size now I have my blanks and mebbe even squeeze out some bags for little girls in a similar vein! :) 

Must remember to make Dad a long hottie too!   

*sighs*

Well, Christmas and New Year is officially over!  The family are thankful and replete from turkey once more and it's time to recharge after all those last minuted makes for presents etc.  

I hope you all got what you wanted from Santa and that you had a fun filled time :) 

Having done so much before Christmas including my first sale where I sold items other than jewellery, I thought I'd be taking a rest, but had resolved that this year I would start, AND finish my first quilt, as Piper's vintage one has started to come apart as the fabric itself is fraying.  I do want to patch it but I figured if I had the experience of building a quilt from scratch I would be in a better place to understand what's needed to tart up the eiderdown that's as old if not older than I! 

So, I knew I had plenty fabric, just getting up and on with it would be the question.  During the festive holidays Sigrid came over and brought with her her vintage Pfaff sewing machine, fabric to make some tote/weekend bags and surplus fabric which she was generously donating to my sizable stash! I couldn't believe how lucky I am to have a friend like her when she told me that she's happy for me to keep her machine here, so I can use it whenever I need to!  

It was invaluable when stitching this dog collar.  It was done for a swap on Bead Buddies, for Cazz, and more specifically her pooch, Riley. It's woven webbing covered with cotton fabric and the buckle/clips are polypropylene and were a b*tch to make the right path! But so very worth it as Cazz and Riley love it.  Not bad considering she's in no way royalist or olympic loving :) 

I also made this taggy blanket for a friend whose baby has arrived almost ten weeks early.  Luckily both Mum and Baby Evie are doing grand despite the rather scary start!

Part of the fabric Sigrid brought was a fat quarter pack in chintzy pale pinks - immediately I set to work (in between helping with the weekender bags) chopping up the fabric.  I envisaged making a trellis effect with rectangles of patterned fabric surrounded by a plain framework.  I had a brainwave to use a flat sheet for the inbetween bits and the back and have also cut a butterfly appliqué for the plain side for a bit of interest.  

  

  

Today, was the day, I could delay no longer. I made a band the width of the quilt as my first ''block'' and started by piecing a band to each rectangle of pattern fabric.  Ironed it.  Took two completed strip/rectangle combinations, pieced them together.  Ironed it.  Did another combi of two, Ironed them until I had four. Ironed them.  Put two together.  Ironed it. Put the other two together.  Ironed it.  Put it all together.  Ironed it.  Took a long strip, ironed it to the newly pieced section.  Cursed a lot when I spotted my deliberate mistake.   Ironed it.  Ironed it some more.  Ironed it again for luck.   Put it away before I burned it with the iron!

 

I've stopped for today
But I shall try to do a little more tomorrow! :) 

Skin care

I've always been blessed with fairly okay skin, certainly softer and less wrinkled than I deserve after a life of not actually looking after it, but recently I've been plagued with dumb spots and general dullness, so I decided to try an oil based cleansing routine. 

I have an atypical T-Bar skin, dryish on the sides, and a greasy forehead, nose and chin combination that isn't unusual so the idea of plunging oil on my face was one that filled me with trepidation.  I'd definitely recommend it though, only two days in and this 'at-home facial' has left my skin feeling fuller, more taut yet softer and it has a nicer glow while retaining a mostly matt finish!

I decided, for my own edification, as well as anyone else who's watching, to conduct an experiment so after two days I look like this

Please ignore the enormous plook on my forehead, the one at the side of my right eye socket and the scarring of a very recent cold sore on my lower lip.  I'm hoping with this regime it may eradicate this all together!

My daily routine consists of massaging in a small amount of a mix of sweet almond and light olive oils, then steaming with a (very very) hot cloth (as many applications as you feel the need for).  A few hot, 'squeezed out til it's dry' cotton wool pads are then dabbed on all over the skin, with another 'hot as you can stand it' wrung out cloth applied over the face, finished off with a 'cold as you can stand it' cloth - It is recommended that the water is changed out regularly, so I refresh the sink between the first cloth and the cotton wool, and again before the final hot cloth.  It takes about 5-10 minutes all told, and my skin tingles, glows and 'pinks' like a cooling engine for about an hour afterward, and never feels greasy. There are no chemicals, scents (though you could add an essential oil if you liked) and there isn't any requirement for additional toner or moisturiser!

This is day two, and I'm amazed at the results, and have swapped the 'first thing in the morning' for a later in the evening regime.  In the morning I just dampen a cotton wool pad and dab at the sleep and anything else that looks tatty, with the evening getting the full attention.

The idea of blogging about it is twofold, I may actually manage to continue this as planned on a daily basis so it becomes routine, and I may encourage others to try it! 

Normal Service

will resume shortly!  Well, what passes for normal around here.  Still working, getting a bit of hassle back and forth, and reaching the end of my tether!  Piper seems to pick up one thing after another at nursery and after walking down with another couple of messmakers one of whom had a stinking cold (mummy informed me she was fine, she's on antibiotics.... *eyeroll*) she's off nursery again! 

I've been crafting my socks off to try and build up stock for a fair on 10th December, at the Dobbie Hall in Larbert - Sigrid, Lisa and I are trying our hand at getting ourselves out there! Having done this in the past with only jewellery I admit that I was a bit hesitant when Lisa proposed this ... but now, I'm excited, as well as anxious as a very anxious thing suffering from a panic attack!

I made a prototype crayon roll which will be a Santa present for Piper, as the design needs a good tweaking before I'm happy with it.

I have mosaic and button covered photo frames, fridge magnets, pomanders, phone pouches and bags to sell - and was thinking of having a bash at some handscrub as well, but we'll see.  I will also make some tablet, as I am making some for the nursery as well as some for work! Today, I finally popped some crayons out their moulds.  I was indifferent about the results as the crayons I'd used weren't the best quality and as suspected, the pigment separated from the wax ... however, once I'd rubbed my hands with a dab of olive oil and massaged it into the crayons I'm rather pleased with the finished articles! :)

A bientot! :D