I'm sure you are all bored to death by now of all my chenille quilts. Luckily for me, I'm not. Or I wouldn't be making any money right now. They are selling almost too quickly for me to keep up. Here are the latest two, heading off tomorrow to Heaven. I really love the pink and grey, so very pretty.
The quilt for Miss M. Not quite finished. But she forgave me.
12 years ago today she was my creative space. As I looked into those baby blues for the first time, I couldn't believe I could create something so beautiful and so perfect. 12 years later I still find it hard to believe that I created that! Happy Birthday baby.
An abandoned project revisited and reworked for a certain someone turning 12 next week. shhhh... it's meant to be a surprise. Lets hope I finish it in time.
The other day I popped into Handmade Heaven where my quilts, and also my bunny, have been selling really well. It seems South East Queensland is really embracing this handmade thing! The shop has been doing well, I have been doing well, better than I had imagined really, it's a little hard to keep up!
Here are the latest quilts in their little display. When you go to Handmade Heaven one thing you will not be able to leave without is some fudge. Mmmm seems I forgot to take a photo of the fudge before I devoured it. Oh well, maybe next time!
Now this one is going to be favourite! One of my favourite things to do is bake. And I love baking gifts. They are a very cheap and easy thing to give and people really appreciate the effort you have put in. I often bake cookies or shortbreads and package them up in little cello bags tied with ribbon to give to all my work mates. I've done this for 3 years in a row, and they still love it! This is also a handy thing to have extras of for when the unexpected relatives or friends turn up on Christmas Day, then no-one gets left out! I just discovered this site that I am now totally in love with! They have every kind of cookie recipe you could imagine. They have stained glass window cookies, and candy cane cookies, they even have carrot cookies... for your horse! I used this recipe last year and made miniature Gingerbreadmen out of with a tiny 5cm cookie cutter. I highly recommend in Australia that you do all your cookie baking at night around Christmas time. The heat and cookie dough do not mix well!
Try these almond and cranberry shortbreads, they are delicious, and very easy to make.Image found here. The one thing I will be attempting this year (for the second year....don't ask!!) is a Gingerbread House. I found this tutorial on you tube, and it looks fabulous. I love the look of the Gingerbread Houses, what a great centrepiece for your Christmas table, even in Australia! Thanks for sticking with me for the last 7 days, hope you all enjoyed it!
I love making Christmas decorations. One year I actually made each family several decorations as their present. All packaged nicely in a little box, tied up in pretty ribbon. I also like to add a homemade decoration onto the packaging of a present as an added little feature.
I found a couple of sites with heaps of ideas for decorations. Try this one out. There was a very cool paperback Christmas tree.
There is also this site for decorations where I found this felt wreath. I really think I will be trying this one.
Try etsy for images you can purchase to make your own hang tags. I found these cute ones, and the beauty of these are that they are sent to you in an email and you can print as many as you like over and over. And how cute is this snowman pattern I found on etsy as well, gee, I really need to learn how to crochet!
I have a very big day planned for day 7 tomorrow, so come back then!
Now how about those quirky relatives? You know the ones. The ones that don't "conform". The ones that think Christmas is a just a way for retailers to exploit the common man and con them into becoming mad consumers. I've thought about them too. I found a great little site that has all sorts of crafts made from totally recycled materials.
There are these slippers made from an old blanket. I wonder how they would look in chenille?!
I've found some super cool stitchery patterns at Sublime stitching as well. The Zombies are my particular favourite for the non-conformist. Imagine those on a little zippered pouch or nintendo ds cover! So don't worry about those non-conformist's, have fun with them. I have also found if you type geekery into etsy, you come up with some pretty weird stuff as well! Give it a go.
So, does everyone have bets on to yet see if I can make it to day 7? Better come back tomorrow to see how I'm going!
I have decided it is time to close down my ebay shop. I still enjoy ebay, but I'm enjoying other things more at this point in time. I think from time to time I will still sell things on ebay, but for now, the shop will be closed. I thought for all my blog visitors I might do an extra deal. If you buy anything in my shop and mention my blog, I will give you a further 5% discount on your purchase. How does that sound? Just wait for the adjusted invoice. There is a bit of chenille in there at the moment and some vintage patterns as well as other stuff. Have fun shopping!
Ahhh, the babies. There have been a few new additions to the family in the last couple of years. My Miss 11 is no longer the baby. So what do you make all these babies? Image from here.
Great ambulance/car softie tutorial from Jodie here. All things Ric Rac Rock (hehe). Great for little boys.Image found here. I also found this great tutorial on making a crinkly toy. Great for both boys and girls. Or this tag monster. Super cute. Image found here.
I've also thought about what do you get the toddler-who-just-wants-to-be-like-mummy. I found this great tutorial for a rag doll via Craft Hope. Then how about match it up with a little dolly quilt. Tutorial for one here, or just wing it. Great once again for using up all your left overs from previous projects.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has more ideas, put them on your blog and let me know.
Come back tomorrow for day 5. I'm getting to the good stuff now!
It appears my sewjo may have returned. Not celebrating just yet. This week I have put together some more little quilts for Handmade Heaven. Who would have thought they would have been so popular! Very exciting times ahead I feel.
Pop over to Kirsty's and check out who else is playing this week.
Wow! Day 3 and I still have ideas! I've been thinking about some of the harder family members to buy for, the Aunts and Uncles. These, for me, can sometimes be the trickiest!
I have an old faithful Homemade Baileys recipe that I trot out in times of trouble. Those fussy Uncles that you never quite know what they might like, always appreciate the Homemade Baileys. If you can find recycled Grolsch Beer bottles they look fabulous with your Baileys and a swing tag hanging off. Very festive! Even your local $2 store has some small bottles with resealable tops on them very cheap.
Here's my recipe; Homemade Baileys 300ml thickened cream 1 can of sweetened condensed milk 1 cup of good Scotch 1 egg 1 teaspoon of coconut essence 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup
chuck it all in a blender and blend. pour into bottles with stoppers (recycled Grolsch beer bottle etc) keep chilled. lasts about 2 months in the fridge. Image found here.
Also great for the Uncles are homemade chocolate truffles. Recipe here. Packaged up in little cello bags or little boxes, they always look a treat. For those in Brissy, I recommend this place for all your packaging needs, they are fabulous. Now the Aunts. I have a lot of sewing Aunts in my family. If you've got some in yours why not whip up some pincushions for them. I found great tutorials here and here. I love recycling and using up bits of scrap fabrics from other projects so these projects are perfect for that. There is also a fabulous etsy seller who sells needlecases that would be just perfect for the sewer. Wow, shameless self-promotion there! If you knit, I found a heap of patterns for quick little coffee cosies on etsy as well. One here. These would be fabulous cheap gifts.
Well, I think that's all for today. Pop back tomorrow for day 4 of 7 days of Christmas, I still have plenty to come!
I've got quite a few cousins varying in ages and it can sometimes be hard to think of great, affordable presents to make or give them. Most of my male cousins are total geeks. What on earth do you get a geek that's in my price range! I found these fabulous little notebooks on etsy from Finki and thought they were wonderful. The right price, funky, just what every geek needs! I have also found a couple of tutorials to make some little notebooks, all using recycled materials, so check this out and this out. But for the price, I will probably go for Finki's! Oh, and check out her blog too. I have an almost 12 year old and female cousins ranging in ages from 17 to 37 and have wondered a bit on what to make them. Then I discovered scrabble tile pendants. How cool are these! Very affordable to make, especially if you are making in bulk. I found a tutorial here, and some great supplies here. Lots of etsy sellers have sheets of images already sized for you to cut out and put straight onto your pendants. Love it! You're bound to find the perfect image for the right person.
Still more to come on day 3, so check back tomorrow!
So, I have 4 nieces that are all very close in age. But I like to make them different things. I have blogged this cupcake purse before, but I just love it! I have this in mind for one niece. I have also found a great tutorial for a headband using upcycled t-shirts. These would be good for older girls maybe? And of course there is the old faithful notebook and pencil holder tutorial from One Red Robin. I made several of these last year and found the tute very easy. I even made one for Operation Christmas Child. I hope someone out there liked it ! Come back tomorrow for day 2 of 7 days of Christmas.
I thought it might be fun to have a week of Christmas in July while the weather is cool and I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.
This year my family is having what we have always called "The Rip Up"*. I have a fairly big family on my mothers side, and when I was a kid we had "The Rip Up" every 2 years. Now all the kids (my cousins and I) have grown and some of us have families of our own, so we decided this year to bring back "The Rip Up".
With lots of relatives from all walks of life ranging in ages from 6 months to 60, I thought it would be fun to try and make as much of the gifts as I can, which is also part of the reason I am already thinking about it. With around 40 people to cater for, I will have my work cut out for me! So, now to the reason for my 7 days of Christmas! I have been doing a bit of searching in the internets for helpful tutorials for quick and easy gifts. I have found plenty. I have also been searching for cheaper handmade gifts that other people have already done all the hard work for me. So I thought I would share some of these with everyone, so we can all start to get in the Christmas spirit. Yay! If you'd like to join in on your blog, let me know, it'll be fun! I promise!
So, pop back tomorrow for the first installment of 7 days of Christmas (in July), I'll try not to keep you as long as this post did!
*"The Rip Up" was so named for the ripping that was required when opening all the presents. No neatly opening presents for our family! You have to rip! I have fond memories of the extra large pile of ripped up wrapping paper in the centre of the room that small children would find themselves lost in.
Yes, I'm still alive! School holidays are almost done with so maybe I can get my groove back.
Following Christina's advice, I bought some fabric to tempt back the sewjo. Hopefully it works.
And these are what I bought. All Aunt Grace 1930's prints except the purple one, it's R.J.R Fabrics "Everything but the kitchen sink". Selvedges were attached to all of them, so it was a double score! Love the Scottie dog selvedge the most, I can feel that sewjo crawling it's way home right now! All purchased from this ebay shop.
As promised quite some time ago, here is a photo of my second place getter at the Ipswich show.
I entered her in the article made from recycled materials, and she is completely constructed from my chenille scraps. I love how she turned out and have plans on making more like her in the future.
I'm hoping that by making myself sew, my sewjo will return. I do love making these needlecases, hopefully I can find my sewjo hiding in the piles of scrap fabrics and felt.
What do you think? Keep an eye out for a shop update where most of these babies will be heading tomorrow.
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