A bit of sparkle and polish...

Things are happening in the Feltgirl world.

My website is having a bit of a polish so it's lovely and sparkly. I have listed some new goodies too, like these and this, which is just one of the best inventions for us crafty people ever!

It makes applique an absolute dream!

I am also working my way through some commissions, one of which is something I make quite often, personalised bunting, and which I've decided to list in the shop in the very near future. They are fun to make and look bright and cheerful - like this one which is a present for a lucky little chap called Monty.

Leaves and flowers....

I haven't been a very good blogger have I?

Well, time for a new leaf...or two...

It will soon be my favourite time of the year:- time for new stationary for school, leaves to turn gorgeous colours, bonfires, fireworks, and scary costumes!!

I LOVE autumn!!

And I know all of you who love the summer will be groaning, but there's something about misty mornings, red and orange leaves, and bonfire smoke in the air that makes my heart race.

Oh, and here's a little peek at my current WIP - it for a commissioned box for flowers for a wedding. I started with the flower...

New new new...

I have been busy this morning updating my Etsy shop with some delicious colours of bias binding and some cute small and large ladybird buttons:-

I have also got hold of some Bondaweb in a useful width - 44cm and am selling this by the metre. Unfortunately the photo of fusible web is not so pretty so I am letting you have a peek at the stripey buttons instead! xx

are these big enough?

Another of my finds - 2.5" buttons in gorgeous colours! I went a bit mad and bought small - 1.5", medium - 2" and the gigantic 2.5" ones. Couldn't resist!

So now I've been a good Feltgirl and put them straight in the shop and on Etsy right away!! I've spent the morning downloading photos and trying to take stock. This afternoon was spent watching my penguin daughter in her school play. More finds tomorrow!

very bad blogger!

Well, I've obviously been far too busy searching for fabulous new things to put in the shop to keep up with the blog as much as I should! What a bad blogger!

Anyway, the good news is that I have used the time wisely and found these:-

wonderful jumbo ric rac in gorgeous colours. Then I found even more colours to add to the standard size ric rac - the shades are beautiful -

I especially like the baby pink and the sunshiney yellow. Now I know just where I want to use those.......

All available now on the website and in my Etsy shop. Have fun!

New arrivals!

What a busy bee I've been!!!!

First a lovely new delivery of my larger felt. I do love it when you can see all the colours together in a random way. Like a rainbow quilt of felt!

Had lots of fun unpacking and stacking on shelves, feeling very industrious.

Then, more treats, had a really buttony afternoon, counting, positioning and photographing the new buttons. I have been waiting AGES for these and at last they are here in all there glory. Indulge yourself looking at the sheer button-ness of them.....

Posting delay and a problem with glue!!!

Well, what about my definite plans to blog, if only in a small way, regularly and often? 

Where did February go and how come it's nearly April? 

So, as with all my resolutions, I will make another start.  Make more lists of things to-do, which look remarkably similar to previous lists, and try again.

I am actually eternally optimistic. One day, for instance, I will walk into my house, and there will be flowers arranged in pots in nearly every room, there will be no dust, everything will be in a logical and well thought-out place, and when the sun shines through the window there will not be hundreds of marks on the glass. 

Ah well, for the moment, I am at the bottom of a thousand steps on the way to domestic bliss.  In reality, we have no carpet on the stairs, since in a reckless moment, I took an active dislike to the old-fashioned patterned carpet that we had put up with for seven years and ripped it up.  Now we have several interesting layers and patterns of paint on each tread, as well as floating dust and the odd splinter that we keep treading on.

It looks exactly what it is - a work in progress. Like the whole house, like my life.

I do like the journey though, I like to work towards something, need an aim. 

Can't help thinking my aims need to be a little smaller, so I can actually have a sense of achievement - conquer ten feet high ironing pile could be one, or put ten items in my shop, little steps rather than my usual - get organised!

So, small steps it is then.

Oh, yes and I mentioned glue..... I have been having an ongoing battle with glue.  Suddenly and without knowing why, the glue I use for my jewellry, stopped working. This is how I ended up last week spending a day in bed - my sewing room is not very large and the window is difficult to open. I also, in order to keep the kittens out, have the door shut.  It wasn't until I recovered from dizziness and a massive headache, that I realised it was the time spent locked up with the glue!

This morning, in a well-ventilated kitchen, I conducted experiments as if I were back at school, I tested 12 glues and made 2 items with each, then tested them. Above is a photo of some test ear-rings.

It was fun but it meant I haven't actually sewn anything today - yet again!

Have now identified 4 glues which seem to work fine. 

Then gave up and did half the ironing whilst watching 'Mr Blandings Builds his Dream House' - love that film - just want to be Myrno Loy!!

Ta ta for now! Back to glue tests.

Birthdays galore!

February and March are the birthday months in our house.  4 out of the 6 of us have birthdays within 7 weeks out of 52!

It is amazing to me that I am grown up enough to have a boy who turned 15 this week.  More amazing still is that he is now nearly 6 feet tall!!

I made a chocolate cake for his special day - which tasted better than it looks! Had a bit of a problem which the icing - the giant buttons kept sliding off. However, the birthday boy didn't seem to mind. 

Charlie and Lola are now 8 months old - why is time speeding by? Is that a sign of age too? The weeks are just flying by - can't believe it's nearly March. What happened to January and February? 

Back to the kittens - they love each other as much as ever - as the hug shows. Ahhhh!

like mother, like daughter....

 

Just had to show you this - now I have my new all singing, all dancing Bernina, I gave my (still fairly new) old sewing machine to E.  She has sat night after night, making little bags for each of her brothers. She has appliqued little objects that are appropriate for each one - a shark, a heart, a name, and she has carefully cut and stitched each one with sooooo much love.

It brought a tear to my eye. 

It also reminded me why I wanted a new machine.  Between us, we had to re-thread the machine about 12 times.  She certainly kept her temper better than her mother and it doesn't see to have put her off.  She's now requesting a 'sewing place' and some drawers to keep her bits and pieces in, oh and a pile of assorted material...... I know only too well where all this leads..... and I'm saying nothing.

How lucky am I?

Wow! I have a son who consistently throughout the evening asks me if I would like a cup of tea (does rain fall from the sky?) and tonight, decided he felt like making a carrot cake and would that be alright?

So, here I am, eating cake and drinking tea. 

Oh yes!!!!

PERFECT BIRTHDAY!

One very lucky girl in our house had a ninth birthday yesterday - apologies for this being a day late but got carried away with birthday stuff!

How is this for a 'perfect' day for a birthday?  First, it snowed so much that her school was closed so she got to open her presents leisurely instead of the usual hurried one-eye-on-the-clock that is normal.  

Then she get to make the biggest snowman she has ever seen (with a little help from her Dad).

 Then her mum actually manages to make a cake that doesn't a) burn  b) refuse to rise or c) stay soggy in the middle and (with a lot of help from big brother) it gets iced to look like the Teddy Bear she requested. 

She has all day to play with her new toys and after all this excitement, practically takes herself off to bed on time!  I'd say that was as pretty near perfect a day for a birthday as can be had. x

In defence of felt..

Okay, so my sewing room is full of felt, and juicy bits of ribbon, and tempting tiny buttons which maybe goes in some way to explain why every time the door opens, our two  kittens rush past me and try to hide so that I won't know they are there. 

There follows ten minutes of me trying to excavate them from under the chest of drawers alternating with 'ignoring' them so that they'll appear. 

Well, in an effort to keep them out, I have developed a habit of 'whooshing' through doors (this is a technical term which means squeezing quickly through the open doorway whilst simultaneously shutting the door behind you). 

Yesterday this went a bit wrong - I kept Lola, our female kitten, out with one foot, and scooted through shutting the door. I must have shut the door on Charlie's tail because I was suddenly leapt upon by a furry ball of fury. His hair sticking out all over, a growl in his throat, he attacked my leg with claws and teeth!!!! until I let go of the door, then he shot by with a thunderous growl. 

So you could say, I have been wounded in defence of my felt.  

Charlie, by the way, was fine and has recovered his regal poise.  I... am still limping. The felt is undamaged. 

new website - hurrah!!!!!!!!!!!

I have at last set up a new website - www.feltgirl.com

where you can buy directly from me. You can of course also see my stuff on Etsy, Folksy and Dawanda but I will be putting much more stuff on the website. 

You'll have to forgive it's early feel - I will be putting more stuff in the shop daily. 

Discovered lots of fluff and dust in the hallway as we came home from school pickup so just have to get the hoover out (if I can find it!!!!!)

Never fear though, shall dodge the tub of ironing and get straight back to the sewing room asap!!

Above is a picture of just one of the lovely new items I have under sewing accessories. Can't wait to start using mine!

more felt and some beautiful pins

Today was great - I got a huge delivery of felt and decided to make up lots of packs and get really organised. 

This is the box - exciting or what?!!

So I counted it all and then started making packs for my 72s, 40s and 30s, wrapped them in tissue and labeled them and now I feel sooo organised!

Also delivered are my gorgeous new pin wheels - hearts, flowers and leaves. Can't decide which I like best. Going to put them in my Etsy shop.

Now the whole point of getting organised is to have more time to create stuff. So tomorrow, I intend to get on with some of the ideas buzzing around my head.

felt, felt, felt!

Today has been spent doing one of my favourite things!  Sorting and photographing felt. Yes, I got to choose gorgeous colour schemes and take photos!

After several requests from customers, I finally got round to making up packs of felt by colour. And they look wonderful.  For those crafters who love their felt, they are now in my Etsy supply shop.

I do love dealing with felt, something to do with the feel and the colour......

Sorry, just drifted off there...

Now I have to get on with a custom order tea cosy. Does life get any better?

new beginnings!

Wow! Okay, so now I've branched out and I have a blog.

I intend to link this to my Etsy goings-on and blog about latest creations and happenings in my crafty world.

Very exciting!  

Also very exciting is the first sale of my latest new products - the polka dot ear-rings and cufflinks - I love them so much - but then I AM a little button obsessed!! Okay a LOT but they are so cute - check out my etsy shop!

I also had 3 parcels come today - I just love getting things in the post - only one was even more exciting than normal because I had completely forgotten they were coming so it was a lovely surprise and in one of the parcels were the above buttons...just gorgeous!