Sewing and Toilet Roll - the solutions to a happy life

Unfortunately life has been a bit hectic in recent weeks so Tiddlybobs has taken a bit of  back seat but never fear, I am now back with more creative treats for you including a brand new Tiddlybits next week and some new photographs in my Morning Walks series.



Also, exciting news in Tiddlybobs camp - my boyfriends parents kindly delivered my sewing machine!! I CAN'T WAIT to start sewing up little projects and learning all about it. So far I have read the manuals and learned how to thread bobbin and the machine - wahey! I shall progress to actual sewing on an item of material next... baby steps folks, baby steps.  Isn't it super pretty? 




I have also been getting creative with household goods to make Hallowe'en decorations. Lack of money means none to spend on decorations so I had to rummage around but it's amazing what you can create with toilet roll, sellotape and black plastic bags. Well you can create bannister mummies.


Then grab some tomato ketchup, red food colouring and an Irish girl with messy hair and an over-exaggerated scared expression and voila! You have an awesome bloody hand stain on your mirror!


And finally, cut up a cereal box, fish out some red paint and grab a teabag and hot water. Put them all together and what do you get? Creepy signs written in blood that's what. 



Unfortunately after doing all that I had run out of time to do any more decorating but I was super impressed with everything I had come up with especially as it was all for free! Just goes to show what I can do when I try to think outside the box! 

Hope you all have a very Happy Hallowe'en and eat loads of sweets and watch scary movies!! 

Interview with Matthew of Bonfirecherry

Today is a very exciting day for Tiddlybobs! For the first time I've interviewed a creative business for the blog in order to inspire any of you out there who might be thinking of setting up your own. And who does this wonderful honour go to, I hear you cry! None other than Matthew of Bonfirecherry - the home of unique handcrafted prints & bags with fantastic designs. I came across Matthew's work on Twitter and fell in love from the beginning so I wanted to know more about how he creates his designs as well as how it all began.


I love the name Bonfirecherry – where did it come from?

The name originated from college 5 years ago. It was coming up to my final major project in my second and final year of Level 3 Graphic Design and I decided to produce a fictional t-shirt business had some great ideas for t-shirts but no idea for the name. At the time I was thinking of ideas for names, it was coming up to bonfire night and I came off the bus home from college drinking cherry coke, which I rarely have, and I spilled some of the cherry coke over my hand while going past a house which was having a bonfire and that is how Bonfirecherry came about. The logo as you can see I've changed a bit since. I was inspired by the cherry on a slot machine and the rest of the logo was designed by myself getting inspiration from neon lights. I did have plans to have the word cherry underneath the logo but I believe the cherry in the O speaks for itself.

An old mock up Bonfirecherry advert Matthew made in college

What inspired you to start your own creative business and how long have you been running? 

I was inspired by a college project to start my own creative business. After I finished studying I did not have the money or the job so I had to wait 2 years to get my first job to bring the fictional business from the ashes to reality, so to speak. I originally wanted to do produce a t-shirt business as I gained the knowledge and skill to produce my own range of t-shirts for people to like which I still have from college waiting to show them off to the world.


But like most things they change. During the time of getting a job, I started to dislike the idea of just producing t-shirts as there are a lot of printing businesses that produce custom t-shirts so I looked into what else I gained while in my time in college. 


One of the skills I gained during college was lino cut printing, the last time I produced a lino print was in 2007 in my first year at college when I was studying Art and Design where I produced a print based on a computer circuit book... trust me it didn't turn out well so well. I still had a notebook I had to draw/write down what I was doing during that year but thankfully I still remembered from memory the equipment that I needed and what I needed to do.

One of the first prints I produced was called The Mysterious Philosopher which was inspired by banksy and street art.



By the time I am doing this post Bonfirecherry would have been around over a year now.

You said you use lino printing to create your products. What are your top tips for someone just beginning to use this technique?

One of the tips when it comes to lino cut printing is it is not to worry about cutting yourself first time around it is normal and that you will be alright and cut yourself less and less after awhile. Another tip is to never rush and always carve in deep as you dont want your hard work ruined!


Where do you get inspiration for your designs?

I've been into art and design since college I've got tons of inspiration to choose from for my prints. My prints so far have been inspired by street art, steam punk and photography. 

Which is your favourite product that you've designed? 

My favourite product I've designed so far? Has to be my camera no.2 prints as I am a lover of photography among other things so these prints appeal to me more than my other prints. What happened to Camera no.1 you may wonder? Camera no.1 is the camera design I used on the t-shirts which didn't look right as a print by itself. 



Before I got the job to bring Bonfirecherry into being a real creative business I volunteered at charity shop for over a year to gain experience and one afternoon I was going through a book of old film cameras to sell and came around this Bell & Howard film camera which really caught my attention but at the same didn't have any money to buy it so only took a picture which I later found when I was looking through inspiration for prints. I finally bought the camera the prints are based on sometime during this year off eBay which made me happy. 

What is the best and worst thing about running your own creative business? 

The best thing about running my own business has to be that I have a way of getting the ideas out of my head onto a print for people to see and buy. The worst thing about running a business, especially a new creative one, is that it isn't going to be busy all the time there is going to be quiet moments. But hey life isn't that easy is it?

Regardless of the small bad things I love running my own business. I work a part time job alongside it so that keeps me going and I get to show people my unique prints.




I have written the following at the bottom of my website that I think says a lot about my work -   "What makes these prints unique? I can easily answer that for you it's my ideas, everyone thinks and interpret things differently :)"

Thank you so much Matthew. It's been great talking to you and I have loved getting an insight into your designs!

If you too have fallen in love with Matthew's designs visit the Bonfirecherry Etsy shop and shop tip your hearts content!

Don't count your chickens....

This weeks Tiddlybits carries on with the tradition of using things from around your house. This time it's egg cartons. I eat a LOT of eggs so now it's about time I stopped adding to the giant human waste pile and get creative with my egg cartons. Below are all the projects that are inspiring me, particularly the mirror, and as always you can find more great ideas on the Pinterest Board.



This is so beautiful and expensive looking that I still can't believe it's made from egg cartons. I found the tutorial on Better Homes and Gardens craft page. You could play around with different colours and if you don't have a mirror, you could use it around your picture frames.



I love this idea for an egg cup from Red Ted Art which is such a funny little idea for reusing your egg cartons. Might even think about making a duck one for your duck eggs!


This is a great gift idea of a herb garden in a box from Randi of Swoon. Easy to do and a gift that someone could have and use for years after you give it to them. I also love how she's packaged the gift. Who would have thought an egg carton could look so pretty?


I love these fairy light covers and that they completely don't look like they are made from an egg carton. Great idea for a gift too! The tutorial is not in english but the photos are pretty self explanatory. 

I hope these ideas have given you some inspiration and get the brain cogs turning. As usual please send me pics of any projects you try via tiddlybobs@gmail.com or twitter @Tiddlybobs and I'll feature them on the blog.


Around the World Blog Hop

I was tagged for the Around the World Blog Hop by Lisa on her beautiful blog The Quilting Bird. Thanks for the tag Lisa and for opening my eyes to Zenia's blog A Quilted Passion.

The Around the World Blog Hop is kind of like a chain letter except it's with blogs on the internet.  It's a great opportunity to meet and learn about other bloggers.  When tagged, the tagee has to acknowledge who tagged them, answer 4 questions and then tag 3 different bloggers. If you can't find 3, one will do (see the bottom of the post for my three!)!

So here goes...

What am I working on?

Currently I'm just gathering ideas for Christmas projects. I want to make a new advent calender and decorations for our tree. Also, because money is tight, I will probably making some presents for people so need ideas to make them look as expensive as possible!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?



I guess what features on my blog differs from the many other craft blogs out there because I am just a beginner. A lot of craft blogs out there are from the perspective of crafters who have an established product or products and are selling them whereas I am just figuring out and documenting the basics.

Why do I write/create what I do?

The aim of my blog is to inspire crafters of all levels to just get the glue out and make. I think crafting is such a joy to do and is wonderful for your mental health particularly nowadays when everything is so instant and rushed; it's nice to work with your hands and have to take time to complete a project.

In my weekly Tiddlybits, I put together a list of links to all the great ideas I come across on Pinterest in the hope that they inspire people to create wonderful stuff of their own.



This week I've also featured creative baking ideas as I also love baking and think that's another great with to get creative and might suit people who don't want to spend hours elbow deep in Papier-mâché!

How does my writing/creative process work?

For the posts about the crafting projects I attempt, I take pictures for every step of the project and then I will either create a step by step tutorial using the pictures and written instructions or if it was a relatively simple project, just let the pictures do the talking! I usually write a little about why I decided to take on that project and the lessons I've learned from the process too.

For the weekly Tiddlybits, I pick a theme usually sparked by something I've found in my house and I wonder about all the different things you could do with it. I then create a secret board on Pinterest and pin all the great ideas on the theme I find in there. Then I pick out 4 or 5 favourites and pop pictures of  them in a blog post with comments on why I think they're so good as well as links to the blogs/websites where they were originally posted.



For my new Morning Walks feature, I just take pictures when me and my boyfriend are out walking. I edit them in Photoshop creating a collage of the various photos and then upload that to Tiddlybobs. As the aim is just to inspire people I don't usually write anything in order to let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Who am I tagging?

It's EXTREMELY difficult to pick three as there are so many great blogs out there but these three are my current favourites! 

My first tag goes to Tinkered Treasures who's blog is so beautiful and cute especially the recent Girlie  Office feature - which I am now totally jealous of! 

My second tag is for Turquoise Autumn which is full of stunning photos and I love the Wilderness Wednesday posts. 

And finally, The Villa on Mount Pleasant  who creates the most stunning vintage interiors and gives me serious house envy. 

Fire burn and Cauldron Bubble

The aim of Tiddlybobs is not only to inspire your makes but also to inspire your bakes. I find it extremely fun to put a twist on a traditional bake, like my piña colada cupcakes (picture below), so I decided to make this weeks Tiddlybits all about creative baking. These creative bakes are all inspired by Hallowe'en so I hope they do give you some ideas for your party bakes for October 31st. 


If you do try any creative bakes after being inspired by this blog please do send me pictures  of them via Twitter @Tiddlybobs or to tiddlybobs@gmail.com as I'd love to see them! Also, please visit my Pinterest board for more ideas if none of these take your fancy. 


First up are these awesome ghost meringues from Smart School House. They don't require many ingredients so you can keep your costs down and also they don't take long so top marks all round for this idea!


So you've made pound cake before but have you ever made pound cake with a pumpkin INSIDE?? Nope didn't think so! This peekaboo pumpkin pound cake recipe a fantastic idea from Sandra Denneler at SheKnows


Unfortunately I can't find a tutorial for these awesome Voodoo Doll cookies found on indulgy.com. But here is a recipe for Gingerbread Men from NetMums so just whip them up and make up some different colour icing and get creative!


I love this monster cake from Makoodle. So simple yet so creative. You could also use different colours on the cake and eyes, play around wight he heights of the eyes or even put the mouth on the front instead of the top to make your bake truly unique. 

That's it for this weeks Tiddlybits! 

Happy Baking!

For the wonderful Annabel

My amazing friend Annabel is currently going through a course of chemotherapy treatment which she is being super brave and open about. She is blogging about her experience and you can read about  it here. She has also asked her friends to complete a serious of challenges to keep her uplifted during the course of this treatment which will last until Christmas. It's such a wonderful idea and I hope it really does help her through this difficult time.

This time the challenge was to create a Christmas themed pom pom so I have created this Christmas tree and I decided to blog about it in true Annabel style.



I followed this tutorial from One Sheepish Girl but as I didn't have pom pom makers I used this hand technique for the bark of the tree and then I used a tin can for the Christmas tree, to get a bigger pom pom. I then cut out gold ribbon to make a star and sewed all the bits together.

Annabel you are an incredible woman and I am with you all the way as you go through this difficult time. Huge love! xxxx

Go on - cover it up!

Life is a bit hectic at the moment so I'm only getting the chance to do small projects but a little is better than nothing! My newest project is a paper covered envelope.



I always keep a momento of the places I go to, e.g. cinema, theatre and museum tickets, but I have nowhere to keep them. Then my boyfriend gave me an envelope from a recent Amazon delivery and I thought it would be the perfect place to hold all my keepsakes. However, it needed some TLC so out came the glue and paper and a beautifully covered envelope was born!

 










Cut from a Different Cloth

It's that time of the year when the long sleeved t-shirts are coming out and the short sleeved t-shirt  is going away until next Summer or if it's seen better days, it's about to be thrown in the bin. But before you chuck it, stop and have a creative think. Maybe there's something else you could do with it?! And so in steps this weeks Tiddlybits with creative inspiration for all your t-shirt related crafty goodness!


The first thing you need to learn, before embarking on any t-shirt craft projects, is how to make yarn from a t-shirt. It's so versatile and easy to do too. This tutorial from Simply Crochet Mag explains how to make it and is super simple to follow. 


You can put your t-shirt yarn straight to work making these super pretty coasters with a vintage feel. The tutorial featured on Mom It Forward and is from Jenn at Endlessly Inspired - which is a blog I urge you to check out if you're looking for ideas for your next project. 


A more advanced project is to make a basket from t-shirt yarn using crochet. This great tutorial from Instructables will get you making tonnes of these in no time and as you get more confident you can upscale the methods to make bigger baskets!

Another great tutorial from these folks is this no-sew t-shirt bag. I'm a bit dubious about how much weight it could hold but definitely a cool idea and worth a try.


And speaking of no sewing, if you are not into all this yarn business how about you try this no sew pillow from Dream Book Design? It is so classy and easy to make - the perfect combination.


I hope that this weeks Tiddlybits has at least planted the seed of a creative idea in your brain but if not head over to my Pinterest board for lots more inspiration. 

Happy Crafting!