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?

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!