A tale of crafty endeavours, garden battles and feline intrigue
Christmas Monster Mini-Hoops
Bit of a frantic rush to get these up tonight - I hate taking photos in the evening, I really struggle with the lighting (obviously!). I end up using several desk lamps and the daylight lamp I use for embroidery.
Christmas Jeremy is for sale here and Christmas Bob is for sale here.
Only the stocking photos and listings to do then I am done with Folksy Monster Christmas!
Christmas Jeremy is for sale here and Christmas Bob is for sale here.
Only the stocking photos and listings to do then I am done with Folksy Monster Christmas!
Southampton Uni Craft Fair
This is me horribly tired and frazzled after Naomi and I set up our stall at Southampton University Craft Fair this weekend, after much panic and not enough sleep.
I spent most of Friday and Saturday finishing the stockings, while my boyfriend made some fancy brackets to stop my noticeboards from falling over.
I sold Eduardo (hooray!) but it really wasn't the right demographic for our stuff. I suspect my monsters would get a better reception somewhere like Brighton, and certainly at smaller fairs, this one had more than 100 stalls. We were next to a cupcake stall and behind a gourmet marshmallow stall, so all the sugar helped with the extreme energy slump caused by sitting in a hot room for 7 hours while 1000 people looked at my monsters like they were deeply disturbing and I was a Bit Wrong....
Thursday Things - Music
I've realised this blog has only reflected my crafting, kitty-cuddling side and not my wearing black, drinking rum and watching punk bands in deconsecrated churches side. To partially remedy this, here are some bands I've been to see this year.
New Model Army (May, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms)
Wildhearts (June, Bournemouth O2 Academy)
Ricky Warwick (July, Southampton Cellar)
Culture Shock (October, Southampton Talking Heads)
Pussycat and The Dirty Johnsons (November, Southampton Firehouse0
Imperial Leisure (November, Salisbury Arts Centre)
New Model Army (May, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms)
Wildhearts (June, Bournemouth O2 Academy)
Ricky Warwick (July, Southampton Cellar)
Culture Shock (October, Southampton Talking Heads)
Pussycat and The Dirty Johnsons (November, Southampton Firehouse0
Imperial Leisure (November, Salisbury Arts Centre)
Crafty Christmas Tutorial Link-Up
Here are the other tutorials that were part of the Bug and Fishes Crafty Christmas tutorial link-up (in two parts so keep scrolling down past the second mosaic) - so many adorable things to make! These could keep you busy all the way to next Christmas...
Felt House Gift Tag Holder – I ManuFatti
Christmas Trinket Hoop Mobile – Carina’s Craft Blog
Felt Polar Bear Ornament – La Creature and You
Christmas Hoop – Claire Payne
Embroidered Christmas Mug Rug – Button Button
Polymer Clay Star Ornaments - Saraccino
Knitted Christmas Stockings Garland – Knit Me a Cake
DIY Christmas Ribbon – Adventures & Tea Parties
Embroidered Mistletoe Ornament – Bugs and Fishes
Scented Salt Dough Ornaments – Retro Delicious
Crochet Christmas Tree Decorations – Homemade@MyPlace
Christmas Cross Stitch Raccoon Ornament – Hugs are Fun
Polymer Clay Christmas Tree – Little Creatures
Christmas Wish-List Felt Envelope - Jumbleberries
Felt Christmas Tree Toy – Pinwheels and Stories
Let it Snow Embroidery Pattern – A Little Happy Place
Festive Wanderers Embroidery Pattern – Unexpected Kitty
Festive Felt and Fabric Coasters – Betz White
Holiday Ribbon Pillow – Mrs. Saint Nick
Felt Gingerbread Man Gift Tag – Grace’s Favours
Crochet Christmas Star Jar Covers – Dinki Dots
Edible Christmas Ornaments – Hydrangea Girl
Cross Stitch Christmas Trees – Made by Mrs M
Secret Love Letter Christmas Gift Tag – Crafts of Texture
Applique Love Christmas Card – Halcyon Threads
Christmas Mini Mitts – The Crimson Rabbit
Felt Reindeer Ornament – Pickle-Lily
Christmas Carousel – Aura Verde Crafts
Embroidered Christmas Stocking Ornament - Cocojude
Stencilled Christmas Embroidery Hoop - Angharad
First Ever Unexpected Kitty Embroidery Pattern!
I'm expanding Unexpected Kitty to include embroidery patterns, and here is the first one (am very excited)!
You can download "Festive Wanderers" for free here. If you make it, I would love to see it.
Do you have any tips on using metallic thread, other than "don't bother"? I used it as a single strand blended with white for the snow, which was bearable (ha ha) but the stars led to much swearing. I'd like to try Cosmo Sparkles thread as I've heard it's much easier to use than DMC, but it seems impossible to buy it in the UK.
This is part of a craft tutorial Christmas link-up organised by Bugs and Fishes. Later this week I will put up the details of all the other tutorials.
Update: look here for the rest of the Crafty Christmas tutorials!
You can download "Festive Wanderers" for free here. If you make it, I would love to see it.
Do you have any tips on using metallic thread, other than "don't bother"? I used it as a single strand blended with white for the snow, which was bearable (ha ha) but the stars led to much swearing. I'd like to try Cosmo Sparkles thread as I've heard it's much easier to use than DMC, but it seems impossible to buy it in the UK.
This is part of a craft tutorial Christmas link-up organised by Bugs and Fishes. Later this week I will put up the details of all the other tutorials.
Update: look here for the rest of the Crafty Christmas tutorials!
Craft Fairs - Panic! Panic!
I have two craft fairs coming up and no idea how to display any of my monsters. I've been frantically looking through Flickr for ideas - I have tried plate stands which looked nice but fell over easily and didn't make the monsters stand out much, even when I put them on different levels by standing them on old books. It would be lovely to have the old hinged shutters that I see in photos of US craft fairs, but I doubt there are many lying around in Eastleigh charity shops. I have bought some cheap fabric-covered notice boards, hinges and bits of wood so hopefully I can come up with something that won't collapse.
I've got plans for monster-related Christmas things - I think I have to spend every spare minute of the next fortnight sewing and hoover up all the tiny bits of felt next month....
If you're in the Southampton area, I will be at Southampton University's craft fair on 24th November and Tudor House's Victorian Christmas fair on 8 December.
I've got plans for monster-related Christmas things - I think I have to spend every spare minute of the next fortnight sewing and hoover up all the tiny bits of felt next month....
If you're in the Southampton area, I will be at Southampton University's craft fair on 24th November and Tudor House's Victorian Christmas fair on 8 December.
Thursday Things
Things I Loved This Week (or to be more accurate, earlier weeks as I was saving them up for after Halloween.....):
- Internet kitty kaleidoscope
- Ingeniously defaced exam papers
- Gracie's Garden Bazaar "Stitched Storybook Prettiness"
- You'll never be this cool - women of a certain age edition
- Colleen Wilcox's art - such gorgeous colours
Meet The Monsters - Maximilian
Maximilian enjoys archery and hanging around shopping centres in an intimidating manner.
5" hoop with appliqued and embroidered felt and floss "fluff".
His portrait is for sale here
Phat Quarter "Five" Swap
For the fifth anniversary of Mr X Stitch, this Fifth Friday Festival of Fabulousness swap theme on the Flickr Phat Quarter group was "Five".
This was probably the hardest theme so far for me, it took me ages to think up something. This is my piece for kirstymcguiness:
(because starfish have 5 legs/tentacles/whatever and wood is the present for fifth wedding anniversaries....).
I tried to just glue the wooden star buttons onto the hoop, but after a huge amount of swearing I wrapped the hoop in green/blue wool and sewed the buttons on instead.
This is Lizzibabe's piece for me - I love it!
You can see the rest of the swap pieces in this Mr X Stitch post.
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