New Makes

It's been a crazy half term what with my new work responsibilities, university course and family life. I haven't really had any time for crafting but now it's half term and I thought it was about time I started making again.

I started with gingerbread men smelling of cloves perfect for the holiday season but to be honest I think they look a bit zombie like.

I then moved onto owls with buttons for eyes in various different colours.

And this morning I'm thinking of something new which will have a beaded keyring element to it.

Busy Life

My life has been so busy since I returned to work from the summer holidays that my blog has been sadly neglected. I've got a new role at school which is taking up a huge amount of time and I've gone back to university for the year which is involving a lot of reading and will also involve essay writing come the holidays.

As you can imagine that hasn't left a lot of time for being creative. I've had a few unfinished projects lying around and I finally managed to finish them yesterday. I love the colours, buttons and beads that are involved. What do you think?

Summer Holidays

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've been on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales then it was back to earth with a bump with the start of the new term and Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah). It's been a busy couple of weeks and I've managed to find 5 minutes to share some pictures of the makes and bakes.

I decided to start making some felt key rings, but this time I used beads instead of ribbon. I like the way they look.

Small and large hearts with matching beads

I also made a new house design.

I took these as presents for family when we met them yesterday in Birmingham.

I've also been making honey cake (for a sweet new year) and round challah (sabbath bread).

Crafting Journey

You may have noticed that I've lost my crafting mojo recently and that it's transferred over to the kitchen. I've had a lovely couple of weeks cooking and baking and I hope you've enjoyed the results of my labours. I love spending time in the kitchen as I find it really relaxing (apart from the washing up) and I produce something yummy from it. I made some chocolate chip oat cookies yesterday using a new recipe I found through the various link parties I've been joining - recipe to follow - but I just wanted to remind you that I also craft and my dd put together a beautiful collage of some of my creations.

All I need to do is make it through to the end of the summer term and then I'll have the time to start crafting again. I've just bought some lovely material as I found a new tutorial that I want to try so watch this space. I hope you have a lovely day and if you have the time, pop over the Handmade Monday where you will find lots more inspiration.

Matryoshka Dolls

It's been a very busy week here. Fourteen people to cater for the Seder meal on Monday night then work, work, work. School broke up for the holidays on Thursday and we've been spending time with family since. We watched Watford play in Friday - we drew in extra time and some choice words were said about the referee. Then off to Birmingham for the day yesterday and Easter lunch with the in-laws today. I did manage to sneak in a bit of crafting though which was then shared with all the family.

I drew this picture a while ago and it's been sitting on my bedside table waiting to be made into pattern pieces and then a new felt keyring.

I don't know about you but sometimes everyday life just seems to get in the way and pictures like this can hang around for quite a while before I do anything with it. Before the football, I had Friday morning free so I turned the picture into this..

And then this....

I made seven of them but four have been given as presents. I really like the way that they have turned out. They're filled with stuffing and lavender and I have a red one hanging from my backpack. What do you think? If you would like me to make one for you in the colours of your choice I'll be selling them for £3 each plus post and packaging. Just message me and let me know. For those in the UK have a lovely rest of the bank holiday weekend. Now off to make some more Matryoshka dolls.

Finished Owls

All of the owls are now finished so there are lots of colour choices.

I think these would look lovely hanging off a chest of drawers.

A group of owls

After I was asked to make some owl felties rather than brooches at the weekend, I though I'd cut out some more. I've been working on them and they're nearly finished. Now time to cook dinner.

Early morning making

Here are two of the commissions that I've now finished - two more to go.

First sales

I've been giving the things I make as presents and my mum has a whole range of owls for her bags but today I made my first sale to someone outside the family - I was so proud. I've been making various things for quite a while and in the back of my mind I've been building up stock so that I could have a stall somewhere but I haven't quite got round to it yet. To be honest, it's just nice to have a hobby that keeps me off the streets. So today, it was lovely that someone liked my things so much that she bought 5 items and someone else gave me a commission which I am in the process of fulfilling. The hearts were very popular and there was interest in the owl brooch I made a while ago.

New patterns

I've designed a new feltie - an ice cream keyring. I've made three so far...

and cut out enough to make five more

I've also been tidying up my pens and pencils and using up old tins - I love the golden syrup tin and the Christmas biscuit tin from M&S.

 and I've sorted out all the things I've been making into separate boxes. So, all in all, it's been a sorting day.

Cupcake keyring tutorial

I've been spending the past couple of days in between tidying and cooking making a set of cupcake keyrings. I thought I'd show you how to make them.

Start by cutting out the basic shapes

I always cut out more than one set. Make sure you use small scissors so you can get the shape right. Embroider one of the pink bases with backstitch and a contrasting thread (I used purple).

Add the purple topper and a contrasting button and sew into place.

Sew across the bottom of the topper with a running stitch.

Add the back and sew the three pieces together with a running stitch leaving one side of the base free so you can stuff it. Remember to add the piece of ribbon half way across the top.

Half stuff with stuffing then add some dried lavender and finish wi some stuffing.

Finish by sewing  the last section of the base.

A day in

The last couple of days have been spent in the house as I have two poorly children to look after. As we couldn't go out, it's been the perfect opportunity for continual making. The currys I made were gorgeous, especially the paneer curry which I had on two consecutive nights. I highly recommend the Prashad cookbook and it's always lovely to have time to potter around the kitchen.

I've been catching up in my sleep over the past couple of days with lots of early nights so I've been getting up early and catching up on my sewing projects. Here are some of them....

I liked the pink and black version so much that I decided to make some more....

along with some more cupcake key rings. All of them are filled with stuffing and mum and dad grown lavender and smell lovely. I've thought about moving on to fabrics and getting the sewing machine out but I find it very therapeutic sitting on the sofa doing hand sewing,

Unfinished projects

The past two weeks have been spent working but it's now half term so I've had the opportunity to finish some of the things that have been lying round. Here is a box full of finished projects...

For some bizarre reason I was up at 6am this morning sewing (even though there was an opportunity for a lie in). I also made a Harry doll. My nephew Harry saw the two dolls I made for his sisters and ordered one himself.

I see this doll on a Caribbean beach with the waves lapping around his feet (or is that my daydream?).

Owl keyrings

It's still snowy here but the journey to work was much better than I expected. We finished early today so we could all travel home safely and it meant I had time to finish the latest batch of owl keyrings. Here they are in their multicoloured glory.

Now I just have to get matching handbags for them!

Crafty day

Woohoo, I've got my mojo back. It's amazing what a couple of days of enforced house bound days due to the snow can do to my crafting. I've spent the day making some more owl keyrings. Mum came by this morning and liked them so much she wanted one for each of her back packs so I suddenly only had one left. Here they are all cut out and ready to sew.

I managed to use some off cuts for the beige owls. I also spent the morning baking for the week ahead. The usual flapjack

double quantity of course. It amazes me how much ds eats of it during the week. I also tried out a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies from the original green & blacks cookery book (which is why it's in the picture above). The recipe is supposed to make 20 cookies but I only made 15 (I think I rolled out the dough a bit thicker than the recipe suggested). Here's the recipe:

Cream together 75g butter or marg and 60g of caster sugar. Add 1 large egg (beaten). Add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and then 175g self-raising flour with a pinch of salt. Add a splash of milk so the dough is soft but not sticky. At this point mix in 100-150g chopped chocolate. I used Lindt chocolate as I had it left over from Easter and Christmas. Roll out the dough to 5mm thick and cut out with a round cutter. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade and bake for 20 minutes (I baked them for 10-15 minutes). Here's what they looked like.

I also baked another loaf of bread as yesterday's bread disappeared in one sitting. One off to finish the owl keyrings and maybe fit in a snowy walk.

Wintry Walk

I made slodge and fresh bread for lunch. Of course the children refused to eat the slodge (I imagine because it has vegetables in and according to them you can have too many vegetables, especially as a vegetarian!) so they just had the bread. The good news is that there's plenty left over for lunches next week to keep away the wintry chill. I'm really pleased with the bread recipe I've been using. I've made it three times now and it's turned out perfect every time. So perfect that it doesn't last much longer than one meal. The plans for tomorrow morning is to make some more bread dough so it'll be ready for lunch.

We managed to get the whole family out for a short walk this afternoon which I can tell you was a minor miracle. It looked beautiful outside...

We walked in the fresh snow, threw snowballs (and dodged them) and generally had fun. I made a new batch of ladybirds when I got back, this time in pink and purple. Here they are part way through

and here they are finished.

I'm really pleased with the way they've turned out. They were my excuse for sitting under the blanket before and after the walk and watching reruns of Miss Marple. So, marking done, fresh bread cooked, walk with my family and a bit of sewing done. The day can't really get any better. Hope you had a lovely day.

A Box of Ladybirds

It was my last day off work today (I'm back on Monday) so it was my last opportunity for a lie in and I did it in style - I read my book until midday! How decadent is that? I've still got enough of it left to read tonight. My MIL lent me the book - The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas - which I can recommend as a lovely light read. I've also finished the House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz which was very true to the originals.

But what about the crafting I hear you all cry. Never fear, I finished my ladybirds today and they look really cute. I also stocked up on food for next week and I'm planning a stock take tomorrow so I can plan the meals for next week. I always start the new year in this style and it never lasts but maybe this year will be different and I won't get home from work, too tired to be bothered to think about what to cook. If I've done the planning, I won't need to engage my brain very much. Watch this space.

Here is a box of ladybirds. They are all scented with lavender which was harvested from my parents garden. The harvesting was so successful that I think it will become an annual thing. I love to use things that would otherwise go to waste. I always save glass jars which I can then fill - with jam, marmalade, fudge, lavender, the list goes on. This year will be one of reduce, reuse and recycle, even more so than last year. I can feel that this year will be one full of possibilities. Thank you for joining me on me journey so far and I look forward to travelling even further on it. I know there will be moments when all I want to do is crawl onto the sofa and sleep forever (that happens quite regularly during the week which is why I rarely post anything during a working week) but I'm looking forward to trying out lots of new crafts.

Here's to a crafty new year.

Mushrooms

This is the result of today's crafting...

Now off to design some ladybirds.

Update - here is my new ladybird inspired by our trip to London.

Penguins

When we went for a walk at the beginning of the holiday, I saw a lovely window display in a local village with the cutest penguins.

They were my inspiration for today's crafting. I've made some penguin key rings in a variety of different colours. Here's the first one

And here are the rest of the family

All made while watching back to back NCIS. Now that's what I call a perfect afternoon. How did y spend yours?

Key Rings

I just wanted to show you what I have been working on over the weekend. It started as this...

and here is one of the finished key rings....

I'm really pleased with the way they have turned out. They have some home grown lavender inside them as well so they smell as good as they look. Off now to sort out the last bits of Christmas baking. Have a lovely, relaxing Christmas Eve.