Thoughts of a Giveaway . . .

Seeing that I'm mostly doing domestic stuff today (and I didn't think you'd appreciate photos of my laundry pile!!) I went out to see if there was anything inspirational outside. The only thing I came across was some little blue flowers peeking out in one of my much neglected plant pots. I love the colour of these flowers - it's such a vivid blue. In true Hebridean style, they're being bashed about by the wind, so sorry for the blurred pic!

. . . and here's something I'm finding inspiring inside

. . . some more Japanese fabric and this lovely book I bought last summer which I might pick up when I've got a minute, later today. It has some great practical tips on running a crafts business and although it's an American publication it's got universal appeal in its down to earth approach. I liked the interviews with Makers at the end of each paragraph. You can never have too many 'how to run a craft business' books, but at the end of the day it's mostly trial and error!

A week from today, next Monday, is my one year bloggiversary. I can't believe it's been a year! I am having thoughts of a Giveaway to celebrate so I hope to get a little bundle of 'tweedy' goodies together this week. We are on Easter hols at the moment and what I don't do this week won't get done next, as we have lots of lovely family coming up on holiday. But hopefully, by next Monday I will be blogging about a Giveaway - there I've said it now!! Yikes!

Hope you're having a Happy Monday!

Four Seasons

We're having a typically eratic day of weather here in the Outer Hebrides. It started off with snow, sleet and a smattering of hailstones - and has ended up in beautiful sunshine.

The next door neighbour's ram didn't look impressed either way - it's a sheep's life! I hope I can show some pics of bonny, bouncing lambs soon.

Have a nice weekend!

Something Old, Something New

. . . a fresh batch of tweedy butterflies, ready to go to the local Gallery shop (also available at www.tweeddelights.co.uk)

and for something new . . . fabric eggs (Harris Tweed and Japanese cotton), just ready for Easter:

I've been going a bit made with my Japanese fabric of late - but I love it! I have a few ideas in mind of different ways I'd like to integrate it with my Harris Tweed. These eggs are now available in my own website.

. . . and because I meant to add them to my previous post, here's the cute shields which 'Little S's' school pals painted to add to the Viking model boat. I think they're lovely!

Cheerio an Drasda!

our creative space . . .

How I wish I could show you lovely piles of beautiful fabric in nice, tidy shelving storage and a wonderful, spacious work space with everything to hand. Sorry, I was having a little dream there - now back to the real world!! (and the kitchen).

I've just finished making this stripey, red and white sail for 'Little S's' Viking project - yes, he's got me involved in it too! He came home from school yesterday insisting that his teacher (more or less!) instructed me to make one. I think he was exaggerating a little (like most 7 year olds do!)

Anyway, I managed to whip one up without too much hassle from a square of red felt and machine stitched white felt strips on to either side, so it's stripey on both sides of the sail. I was quite impressed with my own impulsive ingenuity! It was very easy to make. You can see in the foreground there, one of the little wooden shields - my 'other half' cut out individual wooden circles for all the kids in the class to paint in their own design. (The shields slot on to the boat with a little wooden hook on the back - very ingenious)

The red and white felt actually looks really nice against the natural wood of the boat, especially now it's been varnished. I'm going to post a picture of the finished model boat, sail and all, once it's finished, as I feel I've earned my small part in this great creation and soon I might even get my kitchen back to it's .... ahem .... former glory!

Meanwhile, I've been making some Harris Tweed/ 'kawaii' fabric 'Easter' eggs which I'll post later on, if I manage to do a second post!!

More wonderful creativity over at 'Kirsty's'.

Cute fabric

I was delighted to receive a little package of cute Japanese fabric in the post on Saturday. From Japan to the Outer Hebrides of Scotland in less than a week! It's a small world. I've had a notion in my head to combine the two fabrics after coming across some lovely 'kawaii' fabric on Etsy. I'm laughing at myself as I write this as this 'kawaii' thing is quite new to me. 40+ (ahem) years of age and I'm trying to impress my kids that I know what 'kawaii' means!!

Anyway, I couldn't resist trying out my new fabric over the weekend and came up with these simple little pin cushions. I've added them to my Folksy shop, where 'Morag' the rag doll has also been listed, and some cute fabric buttons which took me long enough to list!! Hebridean-time - talk about a slower pace of life!! Think I must be the epitome of that phrase : )

Cheerio an Drasda!

Nice Catch!

Couldn't resist blogging these lovely brown trout today! Sent the men-folk (teenage son is now falling into this category!) to hunt for some supper - credit-crunch and all that!! They returned with these lovely fellows, ready to be served up for a tasty, yet simple (my interest in the culinary arts seems to have faded of late!) supper. Grilled trout, cous-cous and broccoli - yum!

New-Look Doll

I'm so delighted that I managed to achieve my goal of embroidering the rag-doll's face (rather than the felt and fabric glue method which I'd previously used) that I had to show her off. She's a bit of a dolly bird and looks like a little girl who's raided her mum's make-up bag! A little more glam-puss than I had intended, she doesn't really look like she could don a pair of wellies in true Hebridean style!

But I'm really pleased that I managed to do it and may refine colours and styling as I go along with other dolls. I'm quite keen to get a 'look' for my ragdolls so that they're instantly identifiable as mine - whether this is the one or not . . .

I drew the face on the finished doll in pencil first, then stitched over the line drawing in ordinary black sewing thread. I filled in the eyes and mouth area with embroidery thread, just using simple satin stitch. I used one of 'Little S's' coloured pencils to add a little bit of blush and added a few highlights with white thread. A small step for man-kind, a huge step for me - hehe! I think the addition of embroidery really improves the appearance of the doll and adds a bit of quality.

I'll add a little Harris Tweed outfit (skirt or dress or maybe even a little kilt) and hopefully add her to one of my online shops soon. She'll probably need a cute Hebridean name now too! (I used a curtain lining type of fabric for the body of the doll which I found quite pleasant for drawing on and embroidering).

Here's to more dolls!!

our creative space! . . .

I'm currently sharing this creative space (otherwise called a kitchen!) with my 'Other Half' who is contstructing a model 'Viking Boat' from wood for 'Little S's' school project. (You can see it in the background, clamped together on the work bench). The door's open 'cos it was such a lovely day! (yesterday actually)

My sewing machine is up and ready for sewing a rag doll body which I've embarked on this week. Here's the original drawing from 3 year's back when I started making them . . . (was it really that long ago ???)

. . . and one of my finished dolls - this one has the addition of a woolly knitted jumper for extra cosiness! They all have woolly bonnets - well you need them in the Hebrides!

I'm planning to hand embroider the features of this doll, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes! More creativity over at Kirsty's.

Kindly Neighbour!

We were presented with a lovely big bag of fresh prawns today by a close-by neighbour. I was actually sitting beside her at the weekend at a school event when she won a stone of fresh prawns in a raffle! The prize was delivered to her, fresh today, and she kindly shared them with us.

Just thought I'd share that with you - it doesn't happen everyday! Back with some craftiness later in the week - honest I have been doing some!!

Cheerio an Drasda!

The First Daffie and Other Stuff!

I spotted this poor little specimen today in the garden being bashed about by the wind and rain! One of these miniature species which I don't really think is designed for our harsh climate - but it was holding it's own.

The ones on my kitchen table are a bit more sturdy looking. Some of 'Little S's' art work on the wall behind - I think this is a scary/funny Ninja type creature! I wouldn't like to meet him on a dark night.

This is him striking a pose in his classroom at school, where they are doing a project on Vikings at the moment - he seems to be throwing himself into the part!! He's bent double because the woolly cloak would fall off otherwise - well that's what he told me. I thought he was just mucking about - can't think why!!!

He's wearing various items they made for the project - all at the same time of course! (photograph courtesy of his school teacher)

Happy Monday : )

A Little Tidier!

I thought I'd add this pic to my blog today to show that I can be a 'little bit tidy' when I'm working! I bought these lovely wicker baskets a while ago to display my work at craft fairs, but they've come in quite handy to store my WIPs. I hope to be ready of these little critters soon so I can embark on some new work.

I have some rag dolls in mind, which I haven't done for a while - I'd like to try my new found 'basic embroidery' techniques on the faces as a little challenge for myself. I've found some of the 'art dolls' on Flickr really inspiring and I've started seeing 'rag dolls' in a new light altogether. It's all an educating experience for me!

Bye for Now!

my creative space . . .

I'm on the playmat again which is a bit unfortunate from the point of view of taking photographs! It's a bit difficult to see where the Motorway begins and the Roundabout ends, in between tweed off-cuts, reels of thread, templates . . . etc. But that's my creative space!! Going by previous comments, it's a truly cross-continental mat - which is lovely to know!

In the pic there are:

(1) fabric covered buttons waiting to be packaged (they may be waiting a while going by my previous track record!!),

(2) some freshly cut Harris Tweed check/plaid butterfly bodies and some colourful tweed waiting to be cut into butterfly wings

(3) . . . and my favourite mug, which I shouldn't be using 'cos the handles cracked and I'm just asking for an accident to happen - serves me right if it does!! (but I love it).

Here's a finished butterfly/bug - just right for little hands (or big ones!) to hold. The ones above are destined for the Gallery shop which kindly takes my tweedy creations!! More creativity over at Kirsty's blog.

Colour Inspiration!

I really want to sit down today and play around with these colours and fabrics. They were accidentally arranged together on my settee, just waiting to be magically transformed into something gorgeous (an appliqued handmade card possibly). However, I don't have the time just at the moment so I'm posting the picture to try and satisfy my creative urge!! (and to remind myself about my plans for them!)

Maybe this weekend : )

Spring in the Air!

I woke up to a beautiful Spring morning here in the Outer Hebrides today - but as we're prone to having four seasons in one day here, it almost looks like snow now!!

I managed to squeeze in making some of these scrummy fabric buttons yesterday. I'm on a bit of a drive at the moment to have days strictly set aside for my crafts, domestic stuff and of course my part-time office job. You've got to make time to create - right??!

If I manage to get them all packaged up they may make their way to my Etsy shop to add a bit of colour!

Hope you're having a nice day.

(Ooops -sun's out again!!)

Wild, wild West

It's gorgeous here today in the Outer Hebrides, and since I don't seem to have the impetus to do any crafting, although I do have the opportunity (kids have all found something to do with their pals) I decided to make the most of the good weather and take a refreshing walk to clear my rather befuddled head.

Took the camera on a brief plod out the road and only realised that the 'sepia' setting was on after a couple of pics, so I decided to leave it on for a slightly more interesting effect. The resulting images remind me of something from the Wild West, hence the title. Probably not far from the truth, I live in the West and it can get pretty wild!! Seemingly tomorrow in fact, so it's just as well I took some pics today!

I like the nostalgic effect that the 'sepia' setting gives the photographs - ahhhh, these were the good old days, eh?!

Have a nice weekend : )

The Finished WIP (and some cakes!)

I'm still rolling about laughing at the guesses to what my WIP was yesterday. And they were all very feasible guesses - pigs, cows!! Hilarious, and great to wake up to today - they really cheered me up because I was pretty fed up with my WIP by the time I'd finished it last night. I hadn't made one of these fellows in quite some time and know from experience that they're tricky to make, as any standing soft-toy is.

I decided last night that he wasn't up to scratch for the shop, but this morning I re-stuffed the parts I was unhappy with, so he might get a second chance after all! That's if they'll have him : )

I felt a bit guilty spending so much time on this yesterday so I let 'Little S' ice some cakes to salvage my conscience. Boy, was my kitchen a mess by the time it was tea-time last night. What price art!! I'm not sure if I mean the cakes or the dino - or both : )

Snow on the Mountains

You can just about see the snow on the mountains in the background in this photo I took out the back today. I just like to add a smattering of outdoor shots to my blog just because I like taking them!! Hope you don't mind : )

my creative space . . .

. . . in pictures today!

I'm making one of my signature pieces today, destined for my local art gallery shop. Today also marks my 100th post, so a HUGE thankyou to everyone who visits/comments on my blog. It's great to have some interaction with my crafty foibles. (Dictionary definition: 'foibles' - n. small weakness in person's character). Perhaps not exactly the right word, but you get my gist!!

You may be able to guess what I'm making, but I'll leave it to your imagination!

Hope you're having a lovely day wherever you are! More creative spaces over at kootoyoo blogspot - but maybe a bit later today!! (I'm a little early).

Breakfast and Bears

I must have enjoyed these crepes we made this morning because there's a great big bite out of one of them - so much for my arty, culinary shot!!

I spent some time yesterday making a couple of these little bears (both in baby pink Tweed) which were to be personalised - ordered through Not on the High Street. I'm starting to get a trickle of orders through from this website again which is great news.

It's getting to that time of year where gift shops are gettting busier, craft fairs are starting and thankfully my own website rejigging doesn't seem to have harmed it's indexing in Google. The big question as always on the business front of things is where to put in the most work. It's difficult to concentrate on all three and I'd always like the time to try out new projects and just to make things purely for the enjoyment of it.

But how to find the time - there's the quandary!

Happy Sunday!