Interview with Scribble and Sew

Recently I came across a lovely business on Twitter called Scribble and Sew where children's drawings, paintings or doodles are turned into embroidered works of art as keepsakes, gifts or just to hang on your wall. They were running a competition to win a free commission and I entered and won!!! 


Amy, who runs the business, was super lovely to work with and super quick! Over the course of only a few days we and gone from agreeing the design to the beautiful piece landing on my doorstep. The piece was of a picture my niece had drawn. She had been bird-watching when I was visiting, and inspired by my illustrator boyfriend, decided to draw pictures of all the birds she was looking at. I thought that this drawing was the perfect project for Amy from Scribble and Sew to work on. She loved the idea and thought it would be great to put the birds in a tree too. Below is the drawing and the finished product - isn't it awesome?!





I loved Amy's work so much, I decided to find out more and interviewed her for Tiddlybobs! 

Amy is the owner of Scribble and Sew. She is almost 30 and has been married for seven years. As well as being a step mum she has two cats called Pickle and Pumpkin (cute or what?).

Amy, what inspired you to start Scribble and Sew? 

My Nan and Mum both taught me to sew starting with cross stitch samplers,  I have my first completed one, a home sweet home sampler by my front door. I always try to make or sew something for friends birthdays & christmas. It wasn't until, sadly in 2013, I lost both my Nan and Mum that it forced me to re-evaluate certain things and start focusing on doing more for myself and that is when Scribble & Sew went from a hobby to a little business.



What's a typical day for you when you're working on a new project?

Well I work full time so I fit my project's in whenever I can. It's brilliant that you can take it everywhere with you, on lunch breaks, while my daughter is at her gymnastics lessons, when I get in from work. My favorite time to embroider is with a big cup of tea and with Murder She Wrote on the telly, I'm a smidge obsessed with Angela Lansbury (I have her portrait tattooed on my leg!)

You create your wonderful designs using embroidery. What are your top tips for someone just beginning to use this technique?

My top tips...It may seem obvious but practice and lots of patience. It can take along time to produce a finished hoop. I would say to start simple just using back stitch to create solid lines then when you are comfortable with your stitch length you can move on to slightly more complicated stitches such as split stitch which is what I favour. There are such wonderful tutorials online and don't be afraid, you can always unpick.


Which has been your favorite project?

This is a relatively new venture for me and it came about from little embroidering portraits of wrestlers for my husband. I just thought it was a lovely way to show your child's work other than on the fridge And also I thought they would make lovely mothers day presents of for grandparents. I have two favorite pieces so far - they are a brilliant little rocket and some very cute little birds that needed a home, so I placed them in a tree.



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

The best thing about running my own creative business is being able to do something that I truly love doing and being able to create unique pieces that mean so much to the lovely people who ask for commissions.

And the bad? Hmmm, well I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing but not being able to run Scribble & Sew as my full time job - perhaps a little way down the road this might happen... fingers crossed.

I love running Scribble and Sew and it makes me ever so happy not just that I get to sew everyday but because I get to create wonderful keep sakes for lovely people. Children have a fantastic view of the world and I feel very humble to be asked to capture these little moments with a craft I enjoy. 


If you want to find out more about Scribble and Sew or if you think a custom piece would be the perfect Mothers Day gift then visit Scribble and Sew on Twitter or Instagram

If I only had a heart...

Valentines Day is just a round the corner Tiddlybobbers and it's a bit like marmite - people either love it or hate it! I, for one, love it! I think it's great to have a day to celebrate love and happiness but I do wish there was more of a focus on all kinds of love and not just the romantic kind. So, this year, try and tell your friends, family members and pets how much you love them too and let's celebrate love in all it's forms!! In fact I'm so excited I want to make everything heart shaped!! Below are a few ideas if you want to too!


How about letting nature know how much you love her by making these awesome heart-shaped bird feeders created by Alison at No Time For Flashcards? Birds will appreciate it and you'll get to wile away the Valentines day hours bird-watching - sounds like bliss!


But if looking at nature is not your thing, what about looking at some photographs? You could create a photo collage in a heart shape of all the people you love. I particularly love the overlapping design above from Hadley at Huffington Post as part of another inspirational list blog


Or why not invite all those people you love over for some cake and surprise them with a secret hidden heart! A brilliant creative bake recipe from I am Baker and one that definitely must be tried out!


And what is cake without a cup of tea? Try making these genius heart-shaped teabags courtesy of Her Imajination. It's a great tutorial - very easy to follow and beautiful pictures. 


And if there's something I love more than tea then it's books! This heart shaped bookmark is perfect  for those gorgeous times when you get to curl up with a great book and travel to your favourite far off world. This video tutorial below is from Lindsay at Craft Foxes and shows you how to make them. 



I hope you have a wonderful Valentines Day celebrating love in all it's forms even your love of crafting!