Personalised hoops

The last few weeks I have actually managed to do some new work!  It's a set of personalised name picture for children, presented in an embroidery hoop.  Having had a boy I really wanted to make some things that were suitable for boys as my work had always been a little girly.  I of course couldn't resist a girly flower option.

I'm really please with them , the rocket is my favourite. They'll be list in my shop soon.

Love Cushions

I was fortunate enough to manage to have a couple of weeks maternity leave without a baby, the first week was spent sorting the house, cleaning etc... but the second week I managed to do lots and lots of making.

The cushions in our living room were gorgeous and were made by my mother in law when we moved in but the fabric had gone bobbley, they weren't easy to wash were past there best. So I decided to make some new ones.  We had a lovely new multicoloured rug so I wasn't really limited to colour which was really nice.  I made 5 of them and I'm really pleased.  Think I'll be making some more soon and listing in my shop.  I really like the contrast between the sensible brown fabric and patterned fabric.

A friend of mine got married in the summer so I made him some cushions too. i hope they liked them.

It's been a long time.

I can't quite believe that I haven't blogged since March, but its certainly been a busy few months. I had a baby in May and before that we were busy trying to sort out the house for our new arrival. Isaac is now almost 6 months old, he is wonderful, but unfortunately is a bit of a party animal, so doesn't sleep much, day or night, so I haven't been having much spare time or energy, but I don't think any mums do.

I am trying to start doing a bit more crafting again. I did my first craft fair in almost a year yesterday and I have just started listing things in my folksy shop and taken it out of holiday mode. I have made a few new things, but need to take some photo's. So hopefully I'll get round to blogging at least once a week and start showing you what I've been up to. But in the meantime here's a couple of photo's of my best ever creation!

Crafty meet up's

Last night I met up with some crafty friends, who I hadn't seeen for a long time. I always find it really inspring to chat to other creative folk and hear what they have been up to. It is also useful to hear how they are moving their creative businesses forward and to hear their plans, especially as they are much more established than I am.

I also got a sneeky look at some new work. I love looking through people's sketch book and find it fasinating to see work in progress and hear how the artist is planning to develop their ideas. I saw some great stuff last night and I can't wait to see their finished work.

Unfortuantley I had nothing to show as I have not really done anything for months. But I did leave feel inspired to get my sketch book out and work on something new!

Plans and Frustration

I feel a bit of a frustrated crafter at the moment. My day job has calmed down for a few weeks, so I am finding myself day dreaming (and doodling) about all the things I would like to make. But then not having the time or space to do anything about it. I have not felt particually creative this year, so its nice that the ideas are finally coming. Most of my craft day dreaming involves making new things for the house, as its in the processs of being completely redecorated it would be nice to have some new things around the place.

I also need to have a big listing session in my Folksy shop, as I have a lot of new products waiting to be listed, but I need to take some new photo's first. And then its time to make some new things to sell. It would be lovely to develop a new range, but not quite sure what direction to go down. I really enjoyed working on my Pebble range last year and have had lots of very positive feedback, however this hasn't really transferred into sales. Ummm I have a lot to do, time to write a list!

Window Shopping

Work has finally started on our house, which is a massive relief after waiting 3 months since our burst pipe for work to start. But its a bit daunting as you never quite know what you are going to find when you get home. I am hoping that most of the messy plastering stuff should be finished this week and then they will move onto decorating.

I just can't wait to see it finished and to have my house back. The hardest thing at the moment is storage as most of the rooms have been effected its quite difficult to clear out every room and find somewhere to put everything.

I am desperate to have some creative time and really want to make some new things for our newly refurbished house, but sadly due to lack storage I don't think I will be able to find a space to work in for a few weeks. But I might go shopping for curtain material for our bedroom tomorrow, just need to decide on a colour scheme first.

So in the meantime I have been doing a bit of window shopping, so here are some beautiful things I would love for my new house. (I think I need a lottery win!)

This illustration by the very lovely Sue Bulmer would look great in my kitchen, I also love her range of tea related illustrations.

I am a big fan of lino printing and this is one of my favourite Folksy shops. This print is by Zebedee Lino Print by Zoe Badger, she has so many gorgeous designs it was a bit of a struggle to decide which one to show.

I've been a fan of Lush Designs for a few years now and one of their red fox lampshades takes pride of place in my dining room. I am loving their cream lampshade designs, its a bit more subtle than the one I have. In fact I love all of their range, especially these vegetable napkins.

I have loved these bird by Hannah Turner Ceramics for a while now and I think 3 or 4 on shelf would look lovely on a shelf in my living room.

Slack time.

I can't believe its been nearly a month since my last post, very slack indeed. But things have been really busy, especially in my day job and weekends have been pretty full too. I am also finding I need a bit more rest so when I do get some free I try and put my feet up and relax, when normally this is when I would be making things. Its quite hard to write what is meant to be a creative blog, when you are not doing much creating!

But I have been doing bits and bobs, but mainly as a way of relaxing. I have been busy embroidering some curtains for the babies room, they are not finished yet, but here is a peak and I have just started knitting another blanket.

I am hoping that I will get a bit more time to myself in the next couple of months, as I would really love a big creative session, as I do have several idea's I want to explore and several things I want to make for the house, but we'll see.