one, two, three... tea!

A quick solution to plug a gap while I finish off the last King Charles Spaniel, 3 tea time themed cotton reel pincushions...

I have only made a couple of these recently, so it was a case of having to remind myself how to do it as I went along.  Do you ever do that? forget how to make your own designs?

I was sat for a while with a circle of card, wondering where on earth it went!

It's a base (obviously!), but for a while my mind just went blank.

The pincushions are in the shop now.

Retro Cat,

will be on Etsy shortly.

I haven't made a cat for a while, obviously needed some practice.  I initially photographed the cat before realising I'd forgotten to add the whiskers!

To book, or not to book?

That is the question I'm pondering today.  It's probably long overdue, but if I'm going to do another craft book, I need to pull my finger out and knuckle down to writing that book submission.  There are ideas, but in all honesty, writing a book is a long job, and I need to weigh up the return against plans like PDF patterns, or even kits.

In the meantime, I'm going to add a few pieces to the Etsy shop later,

a new retro Owl,

the other retro Owl I made a few weeks back,

and an Otter.

Miss Russ,

A friend of mine has just opened an Etsy shop (and about time too!) as an outlet for some of her limited edition art prints.  I've know Amy (yes, another Amy) since we were both about 4 years old as we both went to the same primary school, and then the same art foundation course.

These two are some of my favorites,

You can see more here and also at Amy's official website.

- - - - - - - - -

My Etsy shop is now topped up with books and for those in the UK who prefer to go through a UK site I've put some on Folksy too.  Don't forget to join the Flickr group and load images if you make anything from the book.

10 signed copies...,

now up on Etsy

which means if you are in the UK, you can have your book now rather than waiting until May!

First 3 orders will also receive one of the handmade conkers as a free gift!

Blues,

You know how we tend to have certain colours that we favour wearing?  Until recently, mine was always brown.  I wore it all the time and have lots of it in my wardrobe.  But now, I am starting to veer towards blue.  Blue has generally been a colour I avoided, except for denim (as in dark jeans, not 80's style pale denim jackets), but now I am embracing it in a vast array of shades and hues.

Given that over the past 2 weeks, the UK has been plunged into a bit of a cold snap, the one thing my wardrobe was lacking was a blue (or blueish) scarf.  One thing my craft room is not lacking, is tons of felted woolens...

so, here you go.  A pile of squares and rectangles stitched together, with a few buttons to jazz it up,

and we have a scarf.  A very snug scarf which I even wear indoors.  Both Lucy and Luke have asked for one.  I might even be tempted to stick a few up on Etsy.  Could do with clearing some space amongst my woolens stash!

The Etsy 'Autumn' range...

...is coming!

There are some softies, cotton reel pincushions and this decorative pillow...

You've seen sneak peeks of bit of it before.  It's something new I'm trying out, so for now, there's just the one.  It truly is one-of-a-kind!

With a miniature Fox softie and

some hand embroidered words.

Once the kids are in bed, I'll start uploading the range to the Lucykate Crafts Etsy shop.

edit :: slight delay due to poorly child, we've had a night with the sick bowl!

Preparation,

A couple of weeks ago, I very quietly placed a new item for sale on Etsy.  I'm offering the embroidered envelopes as a bespoke, made to order item.  I wasn't sure how this would be received, but am pleased to say one has already sold...,

it's been a while since I've made one of these and preparation is the key!

There are a few other items being prepared here too.  Over the coming week I'm hoping to add a few more new items to Etsy, a little range called 'Autumn'.  There are a few cotton reel pincushions, a couple of Softies and a embroidered pillow, all featuring autumnal fabrics and colours.  There's just a bit more sewing and photography to do first...!

Pins & needles,

I've been (finally, after what has been a rather longer gap than intended!) putting together a few items to put up on Etsy,

 and first off the press are some cotton reel pincushion,

 which will be making an appearance soon when I have more time (and better light) to photograph them better.

 Until then, I believe I need to pack an overnight bag.  Tonight I go to bed as a 39 year old, clinging on to her 30's.  

Tomorrow, I wake up 40.

EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Etsy Labs, and a monday craft night...,

Firstly, thank you for all the encouraging comments regarding the fox.  I feel embarrassed now for being perhaps a bit over critical of my own work!.  We've been away over Easter weekend visiting family, so crafting has been thin on the ground, ok non-existent!.  But, I did come home to this unexpected piece of news...!

Etsy hold craft nights, in Brooklyn NY, on a monday evening.  On Monday 13th April, Heather Ross was scheduled to be running a class, but due to unforeseen circumstances, had to pull out at short notice.  So, what do you think they did instead?, ...made toadstools from my toadstool tutorial!  How cool is that?!  There are some photo's from the evening on Flickr.

Since we are still in the throws of the Easter school holidays here in the UK, I am feeling my crafting is in need of a kick start.  So, as tonight there is no 'Lost' or 'The Apprentice' on TV to distract me, I'm going to join in with the Crafteroo thursday night project.  For those who don't know what Crafteroo is, it's a new-ish, rapidly expanding UK based online craft forum, I am the Editor of the craft business board, go take a look!

Just a quickie...

Etsy shop update going on...

have just listed the poppy & vase and a couple of cotton reel pincushions today, 

more to come soon!

Cats & birds,

Thank you for all the feedback on my last post, it is a real shame that this kind of reaction to a home made gift is so common!

Nevertheless, onwards and upwards, that's what I say to it all!

Am in the process of adding a few things to Etsy,

some birds,

and another cat and kitten.

After receiving an email the other day, I've added a Babel Fish language translator widget to the sidebar (scroll down), which will hopefully be helpful.  I've been meaning to add one for a while now, so thank you for the little nudge!

Next project is to make a few more of those cotton reel pin cushions which I'm quite looking forward to doing as I've still not really used my new sewing machine much yet, and it's calling out to do some sewing, and I loved making those.

Owls...

I will shortly be doing a little housekeeping in my Etsy shop, some things will be coming out, and going off to the 'Softies for Mirabel' charity auction, to make way for these...

With the school summer holidays approaching, I will aim to drip feed Etsy with some small items which I will announce here beforehand.

Thank you for all the lovely owl egg cosy comments, you are all so sweet!.  I need to set some time aside to go visiting everyones blogs.  I'd also love to see any egg cosies that have been made, check these out, here (scroll down) and here, I may have to start another Flickr group!.  And a big thank you to Craftzine and Whip Up who both featured the tutorial.

Well, Friday 13th June has passed, unlucky for some, but it should have been a lucky day for all (66!) toadstool swappers.  Please do let me know if there are any problems, however small.

You can check out all the toadstools made so far in the Flickr group pool.  Right, I'm off to do some 'Etsying'!

Scarry stuff...

We are big fans of the Richard Scarry books in our house...

Luke loves all the little characters and cars...

I've often thought that Huckle and Lowly Worm would make great softies...

(images from my latest charity shop buy, storybook £1.45)

and talking of softies, 'Pink' has arrived in the Etsy shop this afternoon!

EDIT TO POST

3 owls, 1 pink cat and 1 pink kitten SOLD, thank you!

Safety first...

After last week being a bit hit & miss, I decided it would be safer to enter this week by setting a few ground rules to life, and a check list...

1.  hair to remain attached to head  ✓

2.  tooth to be mended  ✓

3.  no more teeth to be broken (fingers crossed, but avoid chewy sweets as a precaution)

4.  avoid the headbutting of sewing machine (so far, so good!)

Next, a check list for crafting...

1.  finish the two commissioned applique cushion covers  ✓

2.  more pink owls for Etsy  ✓

3.  more items in general, in pink, for Etsy (well, they are still wip's, but well on the way)

4.  email all the Toadstool Swappers with their partners details  ✓

(however, if you have yet to receive these details, please let me know)

I also had the first issue from my new subscription to Selvedge magazine arrive, turned to page 15, and a couple of minutes later, had purchased this little tiny 'tweeter', so cute!

Pink kitten...

Pink cat now has a pink kitten!

(these two will be going into the Etsy shop soon)

Thank you to everyone who has signed up so far for the toadstool swap (there are nearly 50 at last count!), I will be in touch over the weekend with your swap partners details.  There is still time to sign up, the deadline isn't until Friday.  In the meantime, I've started a Flickr group if anyone would like to join (even if you are not involved in the swap, but have made a toadstool) and post images of your toadstools when they are complete.  I can't wait to see them!

Toadstools for Etsy

I really want to add some toadstools to my next range for Etsy. 'Pink' has been on hold as the fabric I have on order hasn't arrived yet, so working with what I already have in my stash, I came up with the idea of adding a butterfly.

In addition to the buttons on the top, I've embroidered seeding and some french knots,

and used part of a thrifted crochet doilie (or is it doily?, how do you spell that word?!) to add decoration to the stalk.

The butterfly is actually a brooch and is removable!

PS, Don't forget about the toadstool swap, deadline for signing up is Friday 16th May (see the previous post for details)

and the winners are...

courtesy of an online random number generator, are...

number 13, which is Kitty, 

and number 21, which is French Knots.

So, ladies, if you would kindly email me your addresses, I will take a trip down to the post office later this week.  As neither of you has expressed a preference as to which one you'd like, I'll wrap them up, and then write the addresses on, so it will be a surprise to all!

(I must, must, must, also sort out my 'PIF' gifts too, I haven't forgotten!)

Oh, and by the way...

'FARM'

has arrived in the Etsy shop

(and no, this is not an April fool joke, I promise!)