Folksy Friday!

Hooray - it's Folksy Friday!! This is my chance to have a good old rummage around the fantastic range of Folksy shops for my picks of the week. As I've spent most evenings this week sewing and patchworking I decided to use this theme. I was amazed at the range of patchwork items for sale on Folksy. I chose Quliting Demon's patchwork purse set as I thought what a brilliant idea as a gift for a crafty person! Lynwood Crafts brooch was just so pretty and very current, Bubs Bear's patchwork teddy is just adorable and Love from Debs cushion covers are so delicate and took a lot of work. Handmade from the Heart's pretty box is another superb present idea and finally Diomo Glass's patchwork lightshade, just so funky and great colours to match any room. Click on any picture to visit the Craftperson's shop, enjoy!! Di x

Local Independant Craft shops

Hello all, had a lovely time today rummaging around my local fabric/craft shop. The range of fabrics was fantastic - they also sell 101 things everyone needs from jewellery findings to googly eyes! This is a small independent and luckily is well supported as they could struggle having bigger craft chains in Bristol - support your local shops I say!! I remember buying material in there to make my school summer dresses so it has some history too. I could have spent a fortune, as it was I bought a fat square of pretty blue fabric, some buttons and some lace! I came straight home and made another heart for the collection, I had to use the bits I'd bought and this was the result:

This heart is also fragranced and has a lovely fresh citrus scent.
I must give up on the hearts now - I have lots of other items in mind to make - watch this space! Have a good day tomorrow all and hope the sun shines for you! Di x 

Beautiful Beer

Hi all, hope the week is being kind to you. I got back from beautiful Beer yesterday, what a fabulous place! It was so unspoiled and traditional - no arcades, no tacky shops, just quaint streets with real crafty shops with lots of hand made gifts on offer. The weather was just brilliant for us, we were so lucky and spent most of our time around the beach:

It's a pebble beach which was pretty painful on the feet, however this was more than made up for by the fantastic ice cream on sale! The water was unbelievably clear although freezing of course so we weren't tempted to swim but managed a paddle! I took some nice macro photo's of the pebbles which I'm hoping to make into some cards if I can come up with the right idea for them:

I could have sat all day sorting through the stones, I did manage to find one pebble with a hole which of course is lucky but it was far too big to bring home, plus of course it is now illegal to take beach pebbles...beware the Pebble Police will be after you should you try!
Back to some crafting tomorrow, enjoy the rest of the week everyone! Di x

Sweet Hearts

Hi all, hope you're all enjoying the sunshine as we are - it's glorious! I'm off to Beer in Devon until Tuesday so fingers crossed the weather stays like this.
I hope some of you managed a little go at Macrame! I asked the Folksters about it and a lot had done it in the past but it seems to be making a comeback, especially this summer in the form of belts and accessories - maybe I'll be ahead of the trend for once.
I made this sweet heart on Sunday and sent one out in the post the next day so hope they will prove popular. I found a box of 'Love Beads' which I had left over from the seventies believe it or not, so have sewn some of them onto it! I've a few more sewing projects to get underway so I'll start in earnest when I get back next week.
Hope the weekend is a fab one for all of you, I love the sea so will hopefully come back inspired to make lots. Di x

Macrame video

I am a Numpty - I completely forgot to add this video link to a You Tube tutorial on Macrame - this shows the first basic square knot, and how simple it is, give it a go...you know you want to!

Macrame

Hi all, I hope a good Easter has been had by all and lots of chocolate eaten! We had a mini Craft Club meeting on Saturday where I taught the others the basics of Macrame. Everyone picked it up, we are now deciding what projects to attempt - I'm all for 'bring back the 70's macrame covered wine bottles and plant holders'!!! We'll probably go for something a little more current like beaded bracelets but watch this space!
Following on from last weeks heart theme this is the lilac heart I made today and put onto Folksy. I made lots for friends and family instead of Easter eggs and they seemed to be well received so hope you like. Hearts are a big theme at the the moment in all sorts of home decorations, I remember making these back in the 70's dare I say, then it was all bright oranges and browns though!!! Enjoy the rest of your day, time for more Easter eggs for me - they do go off you know ;-)  Di x

Folksy Friday - Hearts

Hi all, hope you're enjoing Good Friday despite the awful weather! Well here goes, hopefully my Folksy Friday will work - having spent the week making fabric hearts I've stuck with the Hearts theme, all from favourite shops I have saved, I think all these items are lovely and I'd be over the moon with any of them as a pressie! Hope you enjoy! Dix