A very crafty birthday

I was super blessed this year with a wonderful birthday surrounded by all my fabulous friends who have made moving to London the best decision I've ever made. Not only that but everyone absolutely blew me away with all their thoughtful presents and not only that but I hit the craft girl jackpot!

I got the cutest new knitting bag which is exactly what I needed as my other one was bursting it's so full! 

I also got this great little kit for building your own bird feeder which is super handy considering I've and two bags of bird seed in my press for the last two years and should really get it out to the birds....

As readers of this blog will know, I love colouring in and I equally (okay, maybe a little bit more..) love Harry Potter and some genius has combined this two into the Harry Potter colouring book, of which I got not one but two!! I was also given lots of colouring pencils and pens which means I can start colouring straight away! HAPPINESS overload.  

Unfortunately, the lovely woman my mother did home help for passed away earlier this year but she left a legacy of a life of crafting behind her. So much wool, crochet patterns, material that she probably could have had her own shop. One beautiful thing she left behind was this unfinished embroidery project which my mother sent to me. It's such a beautiful pattern and I can't wait to finish it and turn it into a beautiful cushion which will always be a reminder of this awesome woman. 

 

My family and friends also did something wonderful with their present buying - they supported independent artists. The awesome print is from Emily Mc Dowells studio. I love the sentiment of it and it's a mantra I'm going to try and take into my life going forward. I hate getting things wrong though so it may take a while.... 

The calendar below is from the awesome The Native State which not only is one of my favourite instagram accounts to follow but also makes awesome inspirational arts and stationery. Be sure to check them out. If nothing else happens at least I'm going to be inspired next year! :) 

Not only did my friends support independent artists but they became artists and got very creative with their envelopes and cards. This card is probably the greatest card I've ever received. Handmade is the best way. 

And finally the pièce de résistance.....

Meet Phoebe! Although I love my old singer sewing machine, it's impractical if I want to attend workshops or bring it to another workspace as it's so heavy so my wonderful mammy and daddy gifted me with this shiny, new, lovely beast of awesome! I am so excited to get started and finally get making some actual clothes... well trying to, at least. 

As you can tell I am super set up for a crafty year so expect a lot more making and blogging in the New Year. 

Thank you to all my friends who gave me such thoughtful presents, craft related and non-craft related. You are all wonderful people who made me feel so special and loved. xxxx

Snowdrops and Daffodils, Butterflies and Bees...

My mammy, like most mothers in Ireland, is a tad obsessed with the Eurovision and particularly that 1970 gem of a song "All kinds of everything" as performed by the beautiful Dana. As soon as my nieces were able to sing she was teaching them the words and now they can sing it in their sleep! For ages, I've been trying to find her a gift related to this song but I couldn't find anything anywhere so, eventually, I decided to make it myself.

Using Photoshop (Oh yes, I've moved on from Microsoft paint!), I put together an image with the title as well as snowdrops, daffodils, butterflies and bees - that famous opening line! I then traced this template off the screen onto the fabric which was tricky but a bit of tape kept the fabric in place!

I then started sewing. I kept the stitches quite small and tight as I felt the small details of the images and font would be lost with longer stitches. I should have mentioned I know nothing about sewing and did not look up how to do any stitches before embarking not his project so I could very well be talking out of my arse!

But that was my plan and eventually I was left with this....

I then popped it into a frame from the awesome Oliver Bonas (sooooo addicted to that shop!) and wrapped it up using nature themed (obviously, I love a theme!) paper and ribbon.

This was in February. I managed to actually give it to my mammy in September. But it's the thought that counts right?

Return to Crafting

Hi all you Tiddlybobbers!

Sorry for the long absence but a lot of personal problems have kept me away from blogging for a bit. However, things have now begun to steady out a little so back to my craft desk I go.

I am lucky enough to have incredible friends and a group of them bought me a Hobbycraft gift card for my last birthday. I have spent hours on the site putting things in the basket and taking them back out and putting them back in again but finally I selected my chosen items and my box of awesome craft supplies arrived yesterday. 

Mmmmm... crafty goodness!!!

And it was just in time as today is the rainiest day in a long time so absolutely perfect for many cups of tea and lots of crafting. 

I've made a few projects today. I've become quite self-reflective in the last few months and have begun journalling. A bit part of that has been jotting down all the inspirational quotes I come across.

So I decided to bring this into our house and energize my housemates with an inspirational word on our wall. 

The wooden word is from Hobbycraft and was super cheap. I painted it in a lovely acrylic blue and popped it on the wall with Bluetac so now, as we descend our stairs every morning, we are inspired to do what we do best. 

The wall above my bed is very blank and I've been contemplating what to put on it for ages. I saw another wooden word on the Hobbycraft website and it instantly stimulated a project idea in my head. 

I painted the word in the same blue acrylic paint and then added gold glitter to some wooden pegs. I then hung some string with clear tape and hung up some clouds I had cut from white paper. Voila! A super cute way to brighten up my blank wall.

The final project involved my favourite crafting skill - embroidery. I bought a plain pencil case to keep all of my craft tools (pom pom makers, paper cutting knife etc.) in and brightened it up with some simple stitching and my favourite buttons. 

Feels so good to be making things again and I can't wait to post about more of my creations int he future. Sorry if I bore you to tears!

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. 

A Stitch in Time

One of my discoveries during my many hours on Pinterest has been Embroidery Art. I am constantly amazed by what people can create with just a needle and thread - the texture, the light and shadow, the beauty! It's outstanding and though I can only hope to achieve half the greatness of these artists I couldn't resist having a go myself. 

Tonight I created this scene based on the Irish Myth of 'The Salmon Of Knowledge' about a boy who gains all the knowledge in the world when he tastes part of the fish known as the salmon of knowledge. 

I must say I'm super pleased with the results for a first try. It's a bit messy and I could have planned the stitches better so the overall effect was more symmetrical but overall I like it. Plus the whole process was really relaxing! Next embroidery project here I come!