Dinky Daisy

Stocking Fillers

2010-11-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note......I have some cute coin purses for boys which are reduced to £5.00 in my shop they would make great stocking fillers. If you would like one let me know, one is listed in my folksy shop but I have three available.

*Balloon are all sold out its the flying pants which I have left. *

Debs

I'm Back..

2010-11-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'm back :-) I have not been anywhere really, things just got a little hectic there for a while.

I was writing about all the things that I have been up to when I realized it sounded like those school essays 'what did you do in the summer holidays' great as a writing practice but boring to read so I am just going to tell you what I have been doing today the rest can wait.

Today I have been trying to photograph my christmas goodies for my shop everything was going well then it got a little dark .......... so will have to wait till another day.

Debs

Superheroes and their pants !!!

2010-06-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

For ages I have wanted to make some purses with pants on them....hehe I love that word makes me feel like a naughty child, anyway as I said pants on purses, sometimes ideas bubble around in my head half formed waiting....and then a series of random thoughts come together to form an idea. These new items were a combination of thoughts about,

Pants,

blue sky fabric I bought,

a documentary on Salvador Dali,

my love of superhero films,

and balloons,

Hope they make you smile :-) they have given me great joy in their making and all will be working their way in to my shops this week.

Debs

W.I.P Scarfs

2010-05-19T01:49:00.000-07:00

I am working on some new ideas this week, my local fabric shop stocks the most wonderful collection of dyed muslin, about 20 different colours in total every time I am in the shop I wander over and have a look trying to think up ideas for them.

It finally came to me last week while making a present for my Mum.....Scarfs the muslin is so soft and light and would make great scarfs for all the year round.

So far I have narrow hemmed a strip and washed it to soften it a bit more and am now appliqueing little colourful hearts all over.

Its going well at the moment will post a picture when its finished.

Debs

A good idea in principle !

2010-05-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

Went to visit my brother ( he is a wedding photographer) this weekend and picked up this beauty

My son and myself are clubbing together to buy it off him as he has just got a new one. My son is studying A level photography and hopes to continue it at degree level and I thought it would be a good step up for taking photos of items to sell, a good idea in principle the only problem is it scares the pants off me :-/ I do have a little knowledge, a GCSE in photography but that was the old film based system........help, where do I start !!! so many buttons and settings.

Debs

A disjointed week

2010-04-30T01:36:00.000-07:00

Its been a funny old week with out much time to catch up, I have been busy with a wholesale order and some new designs, my brother is getting married in June so I have started to think about getting a dress I am finding this a bit of a challenge as I am a jeans and a t-shirt kind of gal and dresses are a bit of a mystery ...and also I have had a health issue that needed to be dealt with ( I am ok :-) its all sorted now and everything appears clear ) just saying all that make me realize how busy its been.

Well its Friday now and I am looking forward to a nice long weekend with my family and a bit of
Rand R.

My Folksy Friday this week was going to be about more of my favourite things but I am going to be a bit cheeky ;-) and change it to reduced items in my folksy shop, its getting a bit congested and I just want to tidy up ready for some new things so here's your chance to get a DinkyDaisy item for a fab price.

This is just some of the items reduced to see more and prices go to my Folksy shop
It's also the last day of 15% off any item in my own shop (you will need the code new001)
Hope you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend
Debsx

Folksy Friday

2010-04-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

My wishlist .......and there's more so part two next week :)

Have a good weekend

Debs

Sweet childhood memories

2010-04-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

Watching my daughter last week outside making tents and tea partys in the sun, took me right back to my childhood.......long hot summers laying on the warm grass reading and making daisychains. As adults we get so busy and sometimes forget those simple pleasures. Yesterday the sun was still shining and the children were back at school it was my turn (just for 10mins) I lay on the grass in the sun it was heaven :-)

I have some new things making there way in to my shops this week inspired by this childhood memory.

Update on the cushion front, the yellow cushion I made survived the washing machine very nicely so I went ahead with my cushion plan and so far have made these couple in two sizes. I just want to make a couple more and then hopefully get them listed sometime next week.

hope you all are having a good week

Debs

Newbies on Folksy

2010-04-16T00:28:00.000-07:00

Had a little go at a Folksy Friday this week All these great items are from newbie sellers on FolksyAren't they fab :-)

I was inspired by Hilary's great tutoial on her CraftBlogUK site, she writes the best blogging tips and is really worth having on your must read list. She also has a shop on folksy called Haptree
Debsx

Experiments

2010-04-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

While the children are home from school i find it difficult to get any serious sewing done so I thought that I would just work on some new ideas and designs. I have been wanting to expand my range of products to include items for the home, I love cushions so started here, I really want to make some cushions up in this design

But started with something a bit simpler

the colours and construction are not quite right, but it wasn't a bad first attempt. Now the slightly scary bit, cushion covers need to be washed and i like to test everything first before selling, so my lovely new cover is now doing the rounds in my washing machine, fingers crossed x

Would love some suggestions on what designs you think would make good cushion covers :-)

Debs

Website

2010-04-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

One of the things I have been working on recently is my own shop/website, and I am pleased to say it is now up and running. I wanted a site that would be my mine port of call for anyone to visit it will have a full range of designs and lots of information about me, products, wholesale, contact, events and offers. Its taken a bit of work as I am not a computer wizz and have had to learn a bit of html code and buy my own url, I am quite pleased with how its turned out but would love some feedback.

To celebrate the launch of this new site I am offering 15% off any purchase from here between now and the end of April the address is dinky-daisy.co.uk and all you need to do is enter the code new001 in your basket and it will take off the discount. I will be adding more of my products over the next couple of weeks and if you would like to sign up and be the first to received news of new items and future offers just go to the News and offers link on the side in my shop.

Debs

The perfect man !!!

2010-04-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

I have just been away with the girls for the week and have had the best time ever :-) We went to the city of romance, Paris and meet a handsome man..........

and a favourite old friend

Hope you all had a great Easter :-)

Debs

The Winners

2010-03-25T01:33:00.000-07:00

Well time for the winners which were picked at random by my lovely daughter this morning.....Thanks

Gnomead

Kirsty

Tracy from Cinnamon Jewellery

Well done you guys and thanks everyone for your great comments it really means alot to me and sometimes its just what I need when feeling a bit unsure :-). I am having a day off today as I have a sneezey little girl home from school.

Debs

I watched New Moon .......I think I am on team Jacob, his hair is so much better cut short and he had much more of a presence in this film than Edward.

Hello :-)

2010-03-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Just finished my first week as a full time crafter :-) got lots to tell but that will have to wait as it's late and a sit down and a glass of wine is needed :-) items for my craft fairs are coming on well and the newest addition are these lovely lavender key rings

just give them a squeeze to smell the aroma I think they will make a nice addition to my stall. I loved making these so much I have a few spare so thought I would have another little giveaway, just leave a comment and on Thursday 25 March I will pick 3 lucky winners, good luck :-)

Debs

x

P.S anyone else excited about New Moon coming out tomorrow, I missed it at the cinema and to tell the truth I am excited.........

Getting sidetracked

2010-03-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

This week I can not seem to focus on one thing I started off making for my craft fairs, got to the needle cases......

and then started thinking about Easter and making some things for my folksy shop

now all I can think about is what lovely things I can make with these gorgeous fabrics I won from

M is for Make ( a great shop one I have bought from a good couple of times )

so many things bubbling around in my head, I need a nice cup of tea a deep breath and some lists and a schedule, I love lists they keep me sane.

Debs

Mother's Day card - Tutorial

2010-03-09T03:48:00.000-08:00

A Great little tutorial for a Mother's Day card.

Take some spotty fabric scraps, and using a paper template cut out a felt flower, then sew it on with a contrasting thread.

Once sewed on trim the fabric scrap and using double sided craft tape stuck it on to your card you can also make a matching gift tag in the same way :-)

Fancy this card and gift tag, buy something from my shop today ( then message me BLOG TUT) and I will pop it in with your item.

Happy making

Debs

Planning for craft fairs

2010-03-05T06:10:00.000-08:00

I have booked a couple of craft fairs this year and have been thinking about different things to make for them, I want to plan a bit better about what to take and have enough stock as one of them is a two day event, last time it was a last minute panic and I didn't enjoy it :-( I have noticed that the alot of visitors to these things are crafters themselves so Plan 1 make things for crafters and since I know about sewing I thought pin cushions and needle books where a good start.

Quite pleased with how they turned out and have listed some in my folksy shop to test the water so to speak, next the needle books :-)

What do you find sells well at craft fairs ?

have a good weekend

Debs

Throwing a tantrum !!!!

2010-03-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

I have come to let of steam, I have been working on some new designs I sketched out yesterday while in the garden and was really pleased with how it was going then discovered that I had just used up the last bit of brown felt I was using aaarrrhhhhh now I can not make any more until I get more felt ......I just do not know what to do now, I am lost :-( going to have to pack it all away and start something else.

Debs

A place in the sun :-)

2010-03-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy busy these last two weeks lots of sewing and planning, I have handed in my notice at work ( very scary:-/ ), signed up to not on the high street and committed myself to some craft fairs. Today I had promised myself some me time and what do you know as if someone was listening the sun came out and I spent my me time on my decking with a nice cup of tea catching up with some reading for the bookclub I belong to. It was bliss.......the best things in life are

free :-)

Hope you have mange to catch some sun too :-)

Debs

And the winner is...

2010-02-14T05:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Blackcatwhiskers you have won.......:-)

Thanks to everyone else for their great suggestions and for taking part will have another giveaway soon. I am off to do a bit of gardening as the weather here is quite nice today.

Debs

Thinking week.

2010-02-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

I have done a lot of thinking this week, my folksy shop has been really busy since Christmas which is brilliant and I am so pleased everyone is liking my new designs. When I started almost a year ago it was a bit of a dream to be able to sew all day and give up my part time job, well I have had to seriously think about it this week. This has made me look closely at my costs and whether I could make a living, no! was the answer, don't you just hate this bit of selling :-( I am going to have to raise my prices in my shops. It will not happen straight away, I want to give people a bit of notice so I thought 1st March and I am going to post a little note in my shops too, I think this is only fair.

Enough of that horrid business stuff and on to something a bit more fun, My GIVEAWAY ends tomorrow so if you have not entered scroll down this page to the 'What's your favourite ?' post and leave you answer.

I have still been sewing this week amongst all the thinking, I have been working on designs for mothers day, here's the first :-)

Have a good weekend

Debs

Wow..! :-)

2010-02-05T03:51:00.000-08:00

Thank-you everyone for the great response to my giveaway....I am overwhelmed and very hungry, there are so many great suggestions and I am willing to try sewing any type of cake so keep them coming. Its made me think hearing about favourite family recipes and them sounding so nice that maybe after this giveaway is finished I should organize some sort of recipe swap, what do you think?

And the cake sewing goes on this is me at 9.00 last night strawberry cupcakes where calling .....he he he

Debs

What's your favourite ?

2010-02-04T00:53:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves a bit of cake and a cup of tea or coffee, everyone has their favourite, mine is cheesecake, my children's is chocolate cake what is yours?...........well this is the theme of my first giveaway this year.

You tell me your favourite either though my blog, Twitter or message me though one of my shops and then I will randomly pick a winner on February the 14th, the winners favourite will be made up into a cute coin purse just for them :-) so go on have a go

Whats your favourite ?

Debs

Thank-you

2010-02-03T02:21:00.000-08:00

I just want to say a very big thank-you to Blissknits and Topfloortreasures, they both recently gave me a sunshine blog award which I was so pleased about. Thanks guys :-)

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world. The rules for accepting this award are:

Put the logo on your blog or within your post.

Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.

Link the nominees within your post.

Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award."

So here goes these are the lovely bloggers I am going to give this lovely award to :
I sew
Fairlygirly
Cinnamon jewellery
lupin
hen's teeth
patchworkpottery
kitty eden
snapdragon
dots and spots design
thecraftyfish
haptree and me
Widget and friends

I am leaving you with this cute purse I made at the weekend for a custom order, I was quite pleased with it and might make some for my shop what do you think ?

Debs

New Arrivals

2010-01-26T05:53:00.000-08:00

An exciting day here as my cute little lost bunnies I recently bought from the Widget and friends shop arrived safe and sound they were all a little bit nervous at first and a little scared of my cats, but soon settled in and started chatting away Pinky the leader of the little gang asked if she could have a bow on her ear as she had always quite fancied one, which was easily sorted, Olive and Red just wanted to know if we had any carrots, I told lots all ready for them. I showed them their den on my desk and they seemed quite happy, quite glad about that as yesterday instead of doing my chores I was making them a carrot blanket....he he he :-) here they are settling in and then a picture of them having a little nap, you know they come with their very own little sleeping bags.

Have a great day

Debs

p.s Bernard the birthday bear is now finished and in my folksy shop along with the tomatoes I was struggling with the other day :-)

Watch out there are witches about...

2010-01-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

There is some strange sewing going on in our house this weekend. My daughter has raided my felt stash and has been making halloween costumes for her sylvanians they are ever so good and I was very proudly going to show you a photo, but then I found these on my camera and I thought I would share :-)

By the way my son is not strangling Daisy, and here eyes are not normally that colour, I guess she was just getting in to the role of witches cat :-)

And here are my efforts I have been thinking of doing some coin purses for kids but wanted to do something different from the usual cars and butterflies so I went for vegetables ( I know I did say strange!! ) oh and there is a tomato to come but he is proving to be a bit more challenging.

Hope you all had a great weekend too :-)

Debs

Happy Birthday

2010-01-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

It's my son's birthday today, he is 15 years old....wow can not believe where the time has gone. He is my cheeky monkey, a happy creative and funny fellow and I love him so much

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

aged 9

Making birthday cake and being in the birthday mood spilled over in to my sewing today as well and an idea I have been toying with over the last couple of weeks started to come to life ....

From doodles to almost finished piece, birthday bear ( lets call him bernard ) just needs some freckles and some ribbon on his hat :-)

Debs

LOVE is in the air

2010-01-19T07:02:00.000-08:00

I Love spring and now the snow has pasted I can feel it coming ...

Spring to me means new starts and new plans, birds singing and plants popping though the soil, the warm sun on your face on a cold crisp day .........yes its coming and I am going to enjoy every minute.

LOVE is in the air

Debs

Happy New Year

2010-01-13T03:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New year to everyone, slowly starting to get back in to the swing of things, although the snow doesn't help. The kids have enjoyed it but I am ready for some nice sun shine and for my hands and feet to stop feeling so cool.

Got some new ideas for this year and have started by up dating my shop banners and avatar using my very basic skill in photo shop, I also have lots of new designs for my shops and think I am going to refine my shop items to a small range of cute fun appliqued designs, I still love to crochet and try new ideas but am going to keep this to my blog.

My cats not to sure what to make of this snow stuff

Bye for now

Debs

Hiding

2009-11-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

I have got to share this with you all as it made me laugh, Daisy my kitten, like all kittens often has mad moments running around like a looney well, this morning she was jumping on to my sewing table and knocking everything about while I was trying to work, It got very annoying so I shut her out of my room and tried to be strong even when she started crying to be let in. Half an hour later there was a knock at the door so I went to see who it was ( the postman with christmas goodies ) got that sorted came back in to my room and thought I would get started on answering e-mails, I was sat there thinking about how to word something when I spotted this

Who do you suppose sneaked in while I was answering the door......:-)

Oh dear !!

2009-11-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

My poor neglected blog, almost a month since my last post, and so behind on my christmas tutorials I think I am going to have give up on that one there is no way now I am going to be able to catch up

* feeling slightly embarrassed* if I find some time I will try and post a couple more. Thank-you everyone who left a lovely comment and I hope you are getting on better with your christmas crafting than I am, I have to confess time management ( as you can tell ) is not my strong point.

Moving swiftly on :-) lots of nice thing have been happening over the past couple of weeks, first I received a blog award from the lovely and very talented Monique at Blueberries in the fields, I am in love with her dolls and her blog is a delightful read and worth checking out, thanks Monique.

Next I took part in shedraws tea bag swap an inspired idea, my tea bag swapping buddy was Natalie from NatsNest and Natnat this is what she send me

a bumper selection of different teas to try some with a little recipe and a couple of her lovely cards, Natalie produces really lovely pictures using watercolour and machine stitching she also makes softies which are so cute, her shops are really worth checking out especially for christmas shopping .

Thank you Natalie. (she also has a great blog)

Have a good week everyone.

Debs

Christmas tutorial week 3

2009-10-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Christmas coasters

I like to give presents with a theme, a little collection of like minded gifts, these coasters are to go with bottles of wine and china mugs and a nice box of speciality tea. You don't have to make them with christmas fabric, but they work best with standard weight cotton nothing to thick as this makes the seams bulky and you end up with an uneven surface for your cup or glass.

You will need for one coaster a 10cm x 10cm piece of felt, wadding or double layer of sewin interfacing all work fine, a piece of cotton fabric 22cm x 16cm ( do not cut across the grain of the fabric) , sewing cotton.

On both sides fold over a 3cm edge on the 22cm side and press well with your iron.

Open out the fabric and fold over so the 16cm sides are together and sew, 1cm seam allowance, make sure you do a little back stitch at the beginning and the end.

Very carefully press open the seam, you do not want to iron out the lines you made earlier as they are your guide for the next step.

Turn your fabric the right way and then tuck in your padding using the ironed lines as a guide pin in place. Make sure your seam is in the middle this will be the bottom. Fold in the edges keeping all the fabric on the bottom of the coaster and using your fingers to flatten out the tucked in fabric.

Now sew a line 1cm in on the two tucked in edges, again a little back stitch at the beginning and end of sewing.

These are really easy to make and a great gift in sets of six.

NOTE; if you buy a skinny quarter of cotton fabric ( approx 25cm x 112cm) you can usually get 6 coaster out of it.

Have fun making these, hope the instructions are clear, they really are that easy

Happy sewing

Debs

You are quite welcome to use any of my tutorials for personal or fundraising events, but please do not reproduce the patterns or items for sale in shops with out first contacting me.

Have fun Debsx

Catching up

2009-10-26T05:08:00.000-07:00

Hello I can not believe its been over a week since my last post!! My life has been busy to say the least I seemed to have had a run of custom orders, meetings coming out of my ears and I have to say I was still feeling rundown after my cough and cold and was in bed by 9.00pm. Well its half term this week so no work, no school runs, no clubs, no meetings arrrrhhhh *deep sigh*. I am slowly catching up now, this week I am going to be posting two tutorials as I missed last week, really easy coasters and reusable present bags so look out for those on wednesday.

I will leave you with some new items in my shop:-) I so enjoyed making these applique little boys coin purses that I wanted do some girly ones aswell.

Have a good week Debs

Handmade christmas, folksy treasury

2009-10-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Notebooks, sketchbooks, journals are this weeks theme and would make a nice accompanying present to my pencil cases. ( tutorial on the side bar)

Top left and bottom right are from Susan Green Books made using speciality papers, leather and cloth and are a touch of luxury.

Top right is from Gooseberry moon she makes gorgeous cards as well, well worth a visit.

Bottom left is from Plain Jane Textiles, this little note book is handprinted in her own design, she also sell lovely handprinted home-wares as well.

Just love the fun designs from these next two :-)

Top left and bottom right are from She Draws these would make great stocking fillers and teachers gifts, she also sells great illustrated jewelry and accessories.

Top right and bottom left are from Asking For Trouble a great shop full of Japanese inspirited handmade stationery, art and gifts, check out her jammie dodger design, so cute.

Hope you find some inspiration here for your christmas shopping.

Debs x

Not my day !!!

2009-10-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Was going to write something interesting about my trip to see England vs New zealand , the international netball game in Bath last night , But I feel rubbish my nose is like a tap, my head is pounding and I have a sore throat and I am not the only one my poor daughter has it as well, have tried to soldier on but the time has come when bed is where we want to be :-) I leave you with some pics of a few mini pencil cases I listed today before it all got a bit too much.

Marathon christmas tutorial week 2

2009-10-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

Pencil case

This week it is a present for kids of all ages, by varing the colours this pencil case would suit first time scribbler right up to teenages and beyond.

This is what you will need 4 pieces of cotton 14cm x 26cm ( two for the front and back two for the lining), 30 cm nylon zip, stripes of fabric at least 2.5 cm wide, coloured cottons and My pattern printed on to t-shirt transfer paper ( you can find this in good stationers in the printing paper section). You can down load my pattern sheet here.

Cut out roughly the pencils on the transfer sheet and following the guide lines iron on to the stripes of fabric ( it is worth ironing the strips of fabric first to make sure they are flat). When cool remove the backing paper. Cut around the pencils again just on the out side of the black lines.

Position them on to your front piece of fabric marking with a taylors chalk ( you can not pin the pieces on as that leaves holes in the transfer). Then sew on the pencils one at a time, go slow and sew just in side the black line when you are approaching a corner use the hand wheel on your machine to get greater accuracy, also leave the needle down in the fabric when turning.

Continue until you have sewn all three on to your front piece.

N.B I always use a zip larger then my piece of fabric this way you do not have to sew around the bulkier end bits.

Lay your zip face down along the top edge of your front piece and then place you lining fabric on top, pin and sew using your zipper foot

Do the same on the other side then press open be careful not to iron the transfers.

Open the zipper half way and then open out the pencil case so you are pining lining to lining and front to back, the zipper must be folded towards the lining end, and pin.

Sew around the pencil case leaving the bottom edge of the lining open. I sew over the zip a couple of time, go steady and use the hand wheel if you machine stuggles with the layers.

Trim the corners and excess zip off, turn the right way sew the opening in the lining shut with zigzag or over lock if you have one and press.

And there you have it fill them with lots of lovely stationery, a great gift for christmas.

You can make them any size you want, I have made a slim one with just one pencil transfer on for my friend to keep just a couple of pens in her handbag.

Good luck any problems leave me a comment and I will try and help.

Happy sewing :-)

You are quite welcome to use any of my tutorials for personal or fundraising events, but please do not reproduce the patterns or items for sale in shops with out first contacting me.

Have fun Debsx

Handmade Christmas

2009-10-11T11:46:00.001-07:00

Following on from my quest to have a handmade christmas, every Sunday I will be featuring some of my favourite handmade items from some talented sellers over at folksy. This week its christmas cards here are my favourites.

These are hand pressed linocut cards designed and made by Zoe her shop is called Zebedee and she also sell gorgeous prints, I just love the clever use of layers, really like the prints if any of my family are reading this ;-)

So cute aren't they, these are designed and made by Emma her shop is Little Bird Too and these are my daughters favourite as well, Emma has lots of cute stationery in her shop, great for all ages, if you have little ones she has a great santas letter kit with lots of goodies in the pack. I am going to get a set I want santa to notice my letter this year, I have been a very good girl and would like a car.....

These adorable cards are from Forever Foxed, love the fun nature of these cards and the play on words, really individual a must if you have dog loving friends, I do so will be getting some of these.

Thats it for this week hope you feel inspired to have your self a handmade christmas too.

If you have any ideas for future themes or have a shop you would like me to have a look at just leave a comment, I love hearing from you all ...Debsx

P.S See you on Wednesday, this weeks make is for children and is good for using up all those thin pieces of fabric.

Christmas presents marathon tutorial

2009-10-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

Last year I tried to make as many of my christmas presents as possible, I enjoyed the challange and everyone who received a handmade gift was pleased, I started so late though( the begining of December)that I ended up having far too many late nights and was exhausted by christmas day. This year I am having another go but starting earlier, and I though I would share this with you.

Then I thought ( maybe I am mad!!!) that I would post a tutorial of all the gifts etc I make so you all could have a go if you want too. So every wednesday between now and christmas pop over to my blog and you will fine some ideas for handmade gifts, thats 12 tutorials.

This weeks number 1

is a christmas tree card, brooch and decoration, here are the things you will need.

You will also need paper and card.

We are going to start of by making the patterns.

The Card

using the smaller paper pattern you have made cut out one piece of felt embroider using a contrasting green floss in the design you can see ( it's just running stitch).

To attach to the card I have used craft double sided tape it a lot stronger and less messy. I stuck down the check binding first then the tree over the top.

The Decoration

Cut two felt pieces using the larger pattern embroider each one, cut a 4cm piece of the binding open out, then fold in half and sew down the sides making a little pocket, turn inside out and press. Start sewing the felt together adding in the check binding and string for hanging at the right places, before you have gone round completely add the stuffing.

The Brooch

Cut two pieces of felt using the smaller pattern, embroider one. Cut a piece of card smaller then the pattern and then sew on to the bottom a 4cm folded over piece of binding. sandwich the card inbetween the two pieces of felt and sew around. Then attach the brooch pin on the back.

Three pretty things to make, quick and easy, the brooch and decoration are great for teachers presents or make a few and sell at your school christmas fair.

You are quite wellcome to use any of my tutorials for personal or fundraising events, but please do not reproduce the patterns or items for sale in shops with out first contacting me.

Have fun Debsx

And the winners are....

2009-10-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

First of all I would like to say a big thank-you to everyone for entering.

The winners are;

QuillyNilly

Creativesque

songbeads

Picked randomly by my daughter... thanks

I am sure there will be other misfits in the future ( I am only human and prone to the odd error) so those who miss out better luck

next time, Now I will leave you with a couple of pics, mobile phone sleaves due in my shop today...

when I can get the lighting right :-\

P.S just posted better photos, so got there in the end and they are in my folksy shop now. :-)

Funny inspiration

2009-10-02T06:40:00.001-07:00

I find it very easy to be inspired by gardens and vintage textiles, but some times inspiration comes from the strangest places. This piece of mixed media art was inspired by my signature..odd isn't it!

While I was looking through old sketchbooks in the summer I notice that I used to sign my name with a sweet little heart on the end, now because I text and use the computer more I sign my name with a cross.

Hearts and crosses.

Anyone else been inspired by something odd, would love to now and see the resulting art.

Thanks for all the well wishes, my leg is feeling a bit better, but no netball for a couple of weeks.

Debsx

feeling the fool

2009-09-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

I have been playing netball now for 4 years, I love it but boy did I feel silly last night, while warming up for the first game of the season I felt a pop on the back of my leg, ooops.

I have tried to rest it as much as possible today by finishing off some crochet projects, I just need to find someone to take over cooking dinner duty, maybe be if I smile sweetly at my other half :-)

Big thanks to everyone for all the lovely comments about my misfits, shame I don't have one for all of you xx

still loads of time to enter.

Giveaway

2009-09-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

Could you give one of these lovely purses a home.

They are my misfits , one has a rounded bottom, one is missing my label and the other is smaller then I wanted, other than that they are well made and could be used for allsorts of things.

Interested well all you have to do is leave a comment, and then next Monday I will randomly draw three names. First name will get first choice etc. Even if you don't fancy them yourself they would make lovely Christmas gifts.

Good luck...;-)

Transfers and stamping

2009-09-27T11:33:00.004-07:00

A couple of pictures of transfers and hand craved stamps.

Trying to make use of all the doodles I do, these are from a set I have called fantasy flowers

I have loved carving the stamps, I found some ink pads that are suitable for fabric and only need to be ironed to fix them. I used rubbers for the stamps.

We went to see my brother on the weekend and had a lovely time, there happened to be a creative stitch and craft fair near by so an impromptu visit was in order. I have never been to this sort of thing before,( busy crowded places are not really my thing,) but I really enjoyed it spoke to a few very talented textile artists and bought fabric .....what did you expect, and some more fabric stamp pads.... hope you had a good weekend too:-)

OOops!!!

2009-09-25T02:47:00.000-07:00

A nice quite morning sewing....no that was not to be, Daisy has grown so much over the last couple of weeks she can now get to most places in the house and is in to everything.

Knocking things off my bureau

Stealing my cotton reals and zips and hiding them around the house. This was all good fun, until the distraction coursed a fatal accident..ha ha I was a little distracted by her cuteful antics and cut the corner off the purse I was working on..OOops.

I am now sulking in front of the computer with a large cup of tea wondering what to do with this disfigured purse, Daisy is asleep on my lap...

Don't you just love.....

2009-09-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Socks ,bright colourful and with cute pictures on, I love them. I spent a lovely morning the other day having coffee and catching up with a close friend and then a spot of retail therapy was in order, and these are what I bought ....three pairs of socks. !!

I have quite a few, 34 in total. My very favourite are my grey hello kitty with a sparkly red bow, they are slightly thicker than your average sock and are very nice and soft, It will be a sad day when they wear out so i just keep them for special days.

Slightly odd I know, but I am secretly just a child at heart.

Sneak peek

2009-09-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Over the holidays I had myself a bit of a visit to the past, I dug out my old sketchbooks and work from my college days, I was looking for some inspiration and courage. Recently I have felt a bit unhappy with some of the things I have made and after some helpful advise from friends I realized my work lacked a little bit of ME!. I needed to be braver. So I have been drawing, painting, craving my own stamps, making my own transfers and having a lot of fun. I would recommend this to anyone stuck in a rut have some fun, get your paints/pencils out and just PLAY...let your creative spirit out.

From of all this fun came some new ideas that I can honesty say reflect the shapes, textures, colors and designs that I find exciting. Here's a bit of a sneek peek of some items that will be popping up in my shops over the next week..... hope you like....

I'm Back..

2009-09-11T02:07:00.000-07:00

Well I am back in blogland, what a busy couple of weeks, getting the kids all ready for their return to school, busy setting up and organizing my work for an exhibition for new artists in hampshire libraries. My work is currently on display in Elston library Gosport, there are also lots of other fab textile artists in libraries all over hampshire so its worth checking out. As a result my shops are a bit low on stock at the moment, I have got some new items to go in over the next couple of days am quite excited about them. Will write a bit more about that in another post, but now I would like to introduce you to a new member of our family

Daisy

My new kitten, I have two other cats Rosie and Jasmine, but when my friend said her cat had kittens I could not resist.

Well Daisy is a joy and so tiny she can sit in the palm of my hand, she is almost all black a part from two spots of white, one on her chest and another on her belly. Here are some photos.

Meeting Rosie, tried to get jasmine as well but she is a bit camera shy.

Thank-you for all the lovely comments about my crochet watch straps, I haven't forgotten and hope to do the tutorial soon...Debs

Time for another tutorial

2009-08-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

I have been working on some crochet watch straps over the last couple of days, these were requested by my Mum and her friend after seeing one I had made for myself a while ago.

Really enjoyed making them and thought that the idea would make a nice tutorial. The crochet pattern its self is very simple so would be good for novices. So if you have a watch that needs a new strap watch this space, and I will post the pattern sometime next week maybe, a little giveaway as well :-)

A lovely sunday afternoon

2009-08-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

After a busy week with the kids getting out of the house while the weather was good , today we all needed a quiet day at home. Everyone was off content to do their own thing so I thought I would indulge myself and start my beaded necklace from Jean at talking beads, my mission was to try out a kit necklace she is think of selling and report back with my thoughts. Here's what came in the kit everything I needed.

I love beads but don't have alot of experience making jewelry so I was a little nervous but the thought of having a lovely necklace which I could keep spurred me on.

Well it was easier than I thought above is the finished necklace and I think I can be proud of it, in fact I really enjoyed it and would happily make another, so there you go Jean you have one happy tester.

And there's more feeling my creative juices flowing I made some birthday cards for family members this ones for my niece, thought it was the safest one to show. She is only six and am sure doesn't read my blog...much more important things to do....eating ice cream and playing :-)

Things I don't normally admit to....tagged

2009-08-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by the lovely chameleonite, thank-you. Check out her shop it's fab

Right down to the rules,

Link to the person who tagged you...yep done
post the rules, here they are!
Tag six people with a link, I'll do that in a minute
Let the victims know...oops I mean carefully selected friends...he he
let tagger know when your done.
And most important write six things about me..

Thats the rules now on to interesting facts about me....well... you can make your own mind up on that.;-)

I love to doodle patterns, constantly. Was going to add this next one as number 2, but it kind of goes with this... I love books, reading yes but also note books I buy them and hide them all over the house mainly because my family think I am strange and ask why do you need so many??
I play netball once a week my team is called the Poulner allstars, I also help coach children at our local netball club.
I am almost 40 two years away and am not looking forward to it.....:-(
I am welsh and proud
My son has autism and it breaks my heart everyday..
I secretly would love to be a cool singer in a rock band, but I can not sing.... shhh don't tell anyone

And I am going to tag

Hope you don't mind guys...Debs x

As promiced

2009-08-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here it is the finished bag and just as we were tidying up the sun came out...

tomorrow we are off for tea and a cake in our favourite cafe and may be a little showing off.....

Sewing with my daughter

2009-08-05T03:08:00.000-07:00

It's sewing day at our house

My daughter picked a pretty yo yo bag out of a book I've got and we have decided to work together on it, I am in charge of machine sewing and she is in charge of yo yo sewing

It's a good way to practice running stitch

Here is a picture of what we hope it will look like and the book it's from.

It's going well at the moment, she is on her 7th yoyo only 5 more to go...:-)

Hopefully have some nice pics later of the finished bag.

TIP... if you are sewing with children, the thread should only be as long as their arm this way they don't get themselves all tangled up.

Treasury on etsy again

2009-07-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

I was quite frustrated the other day when I couldn't post a picture of my treasury , and then I found that the lovely Emma had left a comment including a how to, so I had another go, here it is inspired by my longing to visit the beach and have ice cream.

Neapolitan icecream...mmm

Treasury on etsy

2009-07-25T06:27:00.000-07:00

My first treasury on etsy, lots of lovely crochet, just can't work out how to get a picture on my blog... anyway here the link check it out, some very talented makers out there.

Here's a picture of my dolls Emma and Poppy instead just listed them on folksy

My First Sale on Folksy

2009-07-23T03:57:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I had my first sale on Folksy I was so pleased, it was for this pretty make-up bag, the buyer Melshandmadecards was looking for presents for a friends 40th birthday. Today she has blogged about the presents she bought, I just want to say a big thank-you to her for being my first sale and mention that she makes the most adorable cards, why pay £3 in a shop for a mast produced card when you can get a lovely handmade card from Mel.

Work in progress

2009-07-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

Working on some new designs from my sketch book

Finished another doll, her name is Poppy.

As you can see I've been a busy bee, just got to take photos and list these items, not my favourite task, wish I had a magic nose I could just twitch and be done.

Vegetable bounty and a few recipes

2009-07-20T02:41:00.001-07:00

Lovely vegtables growing in the garden, the aubergines are my daughters effort and they are looking great. Courgettes are fab to grow the only down side is you end up with so many here are a few of my favourite recipes.

Roasted vegetable pasta

1 aubergine, cubed

2 courgettes, cubed

1 red pepper, cubed

garlic clove squashed but still whole

2 tblsp oil

1 jar of tomato based pasta sauce

Herbs

black pepper

Preheat your oven to 200c, gas 6. In a medium sized roasting tin toss the cubed vegetables and garlic in the oil, roast in the oven for 20 mins stirring occasionally to stop the vegetables from sticking. When the vegetables are ready, golden and soft, stir in the pasta sauce, 4 tblsp of water, if your pasta sauce has no herbs in it add some at this point, dried oregano works well. Return to the oven for another 10 mins so the pasta sauce heats though. Remove the garlic clove and serve with pasta or as a sauce with fish or chicken.

Other vegetables that work well are mushrooms and red onion.

Lamb Tagine

1 tblsp paprika

1 tsp of ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and ginger

500g cubed lamb

2-3 tblsp oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 pint of vegetable stock

400g can of chopped tomatoes

1 tblsp honey

2-3 courgettes, chopped

Place all the spices in a bowl and mix with the lamb until well coated. heat 1 tblsp of oil in a saute pan and fry the lamb in batches transferring to a warm plate. Next add some more oil and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Return the lamb to the pan and add the stock, tomatoes and honey, simmer with out a lid for 20 mins. Add the chopped courgettes and simmer for a further 15 mins until courgettes are soft and sauce has reduced and thickened. Serve with couscous.

Courgettes with garlic

2-3 courgettes, cut into half moons

2 tblsp oil

1 tsp garlic salt

Heat the oil in a frying pan add the courgettes and gentle fry for 10-15 mins, when they are brown and soft add the garlic salt heat for a few more mins and then serve.

This is my favourite way to eat courgettes great with gammon and new potatoes

Happy things

2009-07-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

I am having a lovely couple of days, the garden is looking great at the moment especially after a bit of rain, I have a lovely display of daisy's, I have a few different types but these Dog daisy's have to be my favourite.

I have finish Emma, am pleased with how she turned out and it all went smoothly (which isn't always the case when it a new design), just got to make her a label and she can then go in my folksy shop.

Also I was picked by the lovely Jean from Talking beads as one of her testers for a bead kit she is putting together, very excited about this I love beads and I get to keep the results.

And this afternoon I am being taken out for a cream tea by some close friends, could it get any better!

Dolls

2009-07-13T02:22:00.000-07:00

I love making dolls, It starts with a name and then bits of the personality start popping in to my head and a Dinky Daisy doll is born. Up till now I have made dolls just for friends and family and my daughter who has three, but she is nearly ten and I was told recently that she was to old for that stuff anymore. So I have designed a new doll in the hope that I can sell them at craft fairs and online.

I would like to introduce you to Emma she likes floral skirts, cardigans and summertime. she is a work in progress at the moment, here are a few sneak peaks, and I promise she will have some clothes very soon.

Destash swap

2009-07-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

Thank-you to Chiyo for my lovely destash swap parcel, have some ideas already, especially like the little padded hearts and gingham flowers. Thank-you also to kerli for organizing the swap. It's a lovely thing having parcels though the post..:-)

Framed or unframed

2009-07-08T03:30:00.000-07:00

I made this little embroidery this morning ( for a birthday card) , am quite pleased with it, the trouble is it took me a little longer than I usually spend on a card so am now thinking a little picture. But do I sell it framed, unframed, framed under glass or without. I just can not decide.... ?

And the winner is...

2009-07-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

As you can see I went for the very lastest in random picking technology.....

The winner is Jolicious, well done and thank-you to everyone who made a comment I loved reading them all. Debbie

A little note about the crochet abbreviations

2009-06-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of the abbreviations used in the tutorial below, hope they are helpful.

SS, slip stitch

dc, double crochet

htr, half treble

tr, treble

ch, chain stitch

Great how to here on all basic stitches.

Tutorial and giveaway

2009-06-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

As promised here is the tutorial for my crochet flower brooches, great for small amouts of yarn and vintage buttons.

You will need: Yarn (I uses double knitting wool and mohair), 3.00mm crochet hook, Felt, Button, brooch back, cotton thread, Vilene pelmet sew in or stiff card.

First make your flower there are many patterns out there and the backing method used here can be transfer to different flowers. Here is the pattern I use.

Making the flower

Make 8 ch, ss into first chain to form a circle.

1st round, 1ch, dc 20 times into circle, ss into first dc.

2nd round, 3 ch, work 2 tr into next 2 dc leaving last loop of each on hook, yarn over hook and through all 3 loops on hook,( this is tr2tog) 3 ch ss into next dc, do this 5 times, ss into ch on first petal

3rd round, change colour, working behind each petal, 1ch, 1dc into the base of first dc, 3ch, 1dc into the base of next dc, do this 5 times, ss into first dc.

4th round, working into the 3ch loop, 1htr, 4tr, 1htr, ss into dc, do this 5 times, ss into first htr, fasten off

weave in any loose threads.

And now for the back

Using a compass measure from the center of the flower to the V between each petal, use this to make the circle pattern for your felt and then a smaller one for your pelmet/card, cut them out and use them to cut out two pieces of felt and one pelmet/card.

Using one of the pieces of felt on the back of the flower sew on the button though the center of the flower. On the other piece of felt sew on the brooch back.

Place the pelmet/card in between the felt, sandwich together, sew round the edge picking up a bit of yarn and the two layers of felt.

And there you have it a lovely handmade brooch, use on clothes, bags, hats or stick on a plain card write happy birthday underneath and send.

And now the giveaway

Would you like to recieve these goodies, includes the brooch I made for this tutorial?? just leave a comment about this post and next wednesday I will randomly pick a winner, good luck and thank-you..Debbie

Solved!!!

2009-06-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

My daughter and myself have been road testing some crochet flower brooches for the last couple of weeks, only to find that the flowers over time just curl up, I thought may be to spray with starch but was a bit worried that it might leave some residue. Ohh what to do ?

Then Saturday while trying out my new yarns ..PING an idea, of ca

use I will use some of that really stiff interfacing I sometimes use for the bottom of bags, after a bit of fine tuning I had come up with a solution.

Spent most of sunday making these pretty brooches. Oh and had another idea they were so easy to make with this new method that I think I will attempt my first tutorial... so watch this space..

Beautiful yarns from Wharfedale Woolworks

2009-06-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

These beautiful hand painted yarns arrived though the post on Saturday, I had ordered them from Wharfedale woolworks, Kirsty the clever lady who paints these and other yarns was very helpful, I knew I liked the lemon and lime colour way but was unsure what yarn type, but after some helpful information from Kirsty, it was the 2ply silk that I went for and I have to say I am very pleased . The colours are just wonderful and the yarn is a joy to crochet. I made two button brooches straight away.

A Autumal one for myself

A lime and lime one as a thank-you... it's for you Kirsty will pop it in the post on monday

thank-you :-)

What to do

2009-06-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

Finished.... sometimes I get really inspired by a fabric, in this case three but when it comes to the big make!! the inspiration leaves me half way through this is so annoying and the only thing I can do is finish up put the fabrics away and hope it comes back some day.

So I've had an idea, I am going to try and keep a sketch book, I did years ago when I was an art student and it worked really well, maybe this will stop the sitting at my desk staring into space moments which are not very productive and some times soul destroying. ( ok maybe thats a bit dramatic).

Any way these are my efforts before inspiration left me, as you can see I only managed two of the three fabrics.

These are going in my Folksy shop

and these are in my etsy shop

Another first

2009-06-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged

Thank -you to Louise from sew scrumptious really enjoyed reading your answers here's mine

What is your current obsession?
Cardigans, sad but true

What is your greatest achievement?
My children

Coffee or Tea?
Tea always with a biscuit to dunk, sometimes in a cup and saucer

What’s for dinner?
Pizza on a saturday made by my fair hands, topping has got to be pepper, mushroom and pepperoni

What have you just made?
Tote bag with the brown floral fabric feature in my blog the other day. (will post photo's soon when finished)

What are you listening to right now?

ABBA greatest hits, but I must move on will have to look for something new.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Not a big ice cream fan, baileys haagen dazs

What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you?
Louise from sew scrumptious, love her blog, she left a lovely comment on my first blog post which was really appreciated, thanks Louise

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
South Wales where I was born, I have lots of family there I don't see enough of.

Which language do you want to learn?
Italian, would love to go there oneday

What’s your favorite quote (for now)?
It's my one weakness! (Larkrise to Candleford)

What is your favorite colour?
Green!

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
Jeans and my snoopy t-shirt. Oh that's two jeans then.

What is your dream job

Working on costumes for period dramas.

What is your worst habit?
Eating to much take away food, I try I try I try then a succumb, which ties in nicely with the next question

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?

exercise bike I need to lose weight NOW!

Do you admire any one’s style?
Don't know that one! will have to think

Describe your personal style?
vintage with a twist... Jeans with blouse and cardigan.. of course

What are you going to do after this?
Make pizza and get ready to go out, its saturday !!! huraay

What is your favorite fruit?
Blueberries

What inspires you?
Fabric, my garden, vintage clothes and period dramas.

Your favorite book?
The girl with the pearl earring

Do you collect something?
DVD's, I love movies.

What is your favorite smell?
roses or lavender

What are you most proud of?
My Family

How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up?
Never I get brought a cup of tea.

Cats or dogs?
Both, but I only have cats at the moment Rosie and Jasmine, I am sure they will feature in my blog at some point.

What’s your biggest fashion mistake?
Cardigans probably but what the heck I love them

Complete the following:Love is… Mr Darcy

What would you like to make next?
Rag doll, I have made them in the past as custom orders but they just take

so long, here's the last one I made for a friends little girl at christmas.

And I am going to tag, hope you don't mind;

Not many I know but I am quite new to this and these are my favorite blogs so far.

Something different

2009-06-11T05:50:00.000-07:00

Was looking at my shop yesterday thinking it needs something a little more grown up. Went on a hunt through my fabric stash and found these three beauties. I had bought them from my local fabric shop about a week ago. I love this shop not only is it local but its like an aladdins cave , they have a large out building with lots off very old stock and they allow me to go and have a rummage though it all (heaven!!) . This is where I found these three calling out to be sewn into something wonderful.... Mmmm maybe tote bags with some small crocheted trim ?.

New at folksy

2009-06-10T02:18:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all out there , this is my first post...and what better to talk about but another first for me , and some shameless plugging!!.

In the last week I have open my shop at folksy.com, when setting up your shop with folksy they suggest that you then go and introduce your self as a newbie in the forums, well I have to say what a lovely bunch of people I received lots of lovely comments and good wishes, and am now feeling much braver about the whole thing. thank-you everyone.

Here is a link to my shop and some photos of my work. folksy.com/shops/DinkyDaisy