Honey, I shrunk the handbag!

I knitted this handbag using Sirdar Eco-wool. Didn't bother with a pattern, just used a circular needle - 78 stitches, round and round until it was long enough, then cast off leaving 2 blocks of 9 stitches which became the handle. A little bit of wool left over so knitted a square to make into a pocket.

The plan was to put the finished item through a hot wash to shrink it into a felted bag.

And it came out rather smaller than I expected!

So now I have a cute, dinky bag, lined with cotton...

... just the right size for a lipgloss, some keys and a five pound note!

Definitely no space for raisins, colouring pens, cartons of juice, moshi monsters or wet wipes!

Knitting bag

This morning, in a flurry of housework avoidance productivity I made this.

The lilac fabric is some medium weight cotton I was going to use for some cushion covers, and the lining is from a vintage Marks and Sparks duvet cover.

It has a round bottom (just like me!!) so there is plenty of space for balls of wool and stuff.

And it's deep enough that even long needles don't stick out.

And after I'd finished it I realised that as a bonus...

...it is completely reversible! So you can have the scrummy vintage print on the outside.

Linking up with handmade Thursday at www.whitelilygreen.blogspot.co.uk .

More colouring in...

So now I have £40 worth of posh pens... and the colouring is going better!

I managed some blending on this image (a free digi stamp from Bird's Cards.)

And I've just made this pretty pink ballerina card with a digi stamp I bought at DigiStamp Boutique.

It was my first time trying to get skin colour and I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

So, all in all, I am slowly becoming obsessed with felt tip pens. I'm constantly thinking about what to colour next and making an even worse job of the housework than usual so I have time to mess about with my pens! 

Handmade Thursday; a little handbag

This is a little prototype bag I made for my daughter.

It is cotton on the outside and green felt on the inside; you can't really tell in the photo but that is a Hello Kitty button.

I made it last night, presented it to Poppy this morning expecting it to be cast aside. She is not overly fond of girls's stuff but the desire to carry things around her neck seems to override the pink, flowery aspect.

Anyway, she agreed to have a photograph...

...although she also insisted on choosing her own accessories!

Linking up with Handmade Thursdays at White Lily Green.

Colouring in; it's not child's play.

Last week, after much deliberation, I spent £16 on some posh felt tip pens - letraset promarkers (set 1) which are blendable permanent markers, much loved within the cardmaking community.

Of course I always expect to be brilliant at everything.

But this colouring in lark is hard!

I bought this digi stamp from digi-stamp boutique and printed some out. I was completely convinced that I was about to produce something amazing.

Hmm... not great... and these are two of my better attempts. 

But I do not give up easily.

Especially when I have spent £16.

So I tried again, and managed to colour in something worthy of making into a card.

And I have realised why I am having problems.

The pens are the wrong colours.

I obviously need the second set of paler colours as well.

Spending £32 in one week on colouring pens is not at all excessive.

Is it?

To be continued...

Age on a badge on a card

Just a quick post to show you my new card idea - the motif is a felt backed brooch for the birthday girl to wear on her special day.

Now off to find some fabric to make one for a birthday boy.

Curtains - the least fun sewing project ever.

"Oh, yes, I shall make some curtains," I said to myself. "They are basically just rectangles. How hard can it be?"

Really, very bloody hard actually.

There are all these conventions you are supposed to follow to make a pair of curtains.

The fabric should be at least twice as wide as your window, and ideally be long enough to drop below the windowsill.

That is a really ginormous piece of fabric.

There should be a left curtain and a right curtain.

That is 2 really ginormous pieces of fabric.

They should have linings.

That is 4 really ginormous pieces of fabric.

Patterns should match when you sew the pieces together.

Aaaaaaaarrrggggggghhhhhhhhh.

The pattern on curtain one, should line up with curtain two.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I am too creative to be bound by these rules and regulations. Sewing curtains is too dull for my artistic mind.

So my curtains are slightly wonky, in an artistically endearing sort of way.

And I will NEVER let the concept of making my own curtains ever enter my creative mind again.