A crafter's blog from the Outer Hebrides of Scotland
Back to blogland . . . sort of! Tried to take a pic of some lovely fat wild geese this morning, but they took flight - I think I interrupted their breakfast, oops!
Back with some 'crafty' posts soon I hope, I've missed 'talking' to all my blogging buddies but will catch up with everyone soon!
Cheerio an Drasda :)
P.S. Will keep you posted as to whether I will be continuing with any 'commercial crafting activity' or not, when I figure it out myself, hehe!!
With all the family off doing exciting pursuits like loch fishing, wall-climbing, etc I found myself with an empty (if slightly unkempt!) house. So what did I do?? Well after a brief spell of domesticity, out came the sewing machine! You can take the girl out of the craft room but you can't take the craft room out of the girl (or something like that!!)
The first one I made was simply made with the interfacing on the tweed for a stiffer finish, I was really pleased with it! I then decided to try a second one with some padding (I had some wadding in from another crafty project idea). They were really quick and easy to make - it's enough to make me come out of crafty online hibernation!! Seriously it was lovely to make something purely for the enjoyment of it - they would make great gifts and you never know, maybe I'll do a craft fair sometime just for fun :) Here's the pics of the finished zippered pouches (approx pencil-case size):
I think using some stunning cotton printed fabrics for the linings of these pouches really makes them special - I'm imagining all sorts of combinations of tweed and prints - yum! I'm so glad I tried making these zippered pouches - you've got to have a go, they're very satisfying to make - endless possibilities! Oooops I'm supposed to be making the dinner for the homecoming fishermen - Oh Dear!!! Cheerio an Drasda :) (Many thanks again to 'skiptomylou' for a fantastic tutorial - all credit to her!)
Being without my internet connection intermittently over the last few weeks has given me a little time to think about my craft business and where it is going. I suddenly found myself enjoying not having to deal with customer enquiries, confirm orders, etc - basically all the things which run alongside operating an online business. I realised that I've run out of time to do all the enjoyable aspects of crafting - like making things just for fun or for giving as gifts to family and friends. How did that happen???
Anyway, in the meantime I've been asked to work full time at my office job for the next 7 weeks to fill in for staff who have left, or are going on holiday. This will be a major change for me and might lead to further full time work but that will be something to give a lot of thought to and this 7 weeks will be a bit of a testing ground, so here goes!
My blog however is something I really enjoy and so I hope to continue with it in some form or other. I happened to glance at this little piece of needlework hanging on the bathroom wall this morning. I made it from a kit about 15 years ago and really enjoyed doing it. That reminded me that it's not all about Harris Tweed (although I LOVE it!!) but just about crafting in general which I've always really enjoyed.
I won't be selling any of my crafts online for the next few weeks and will review the whole online sales 'thing' afterwards, but I still have a list of things I really want to make and I'd love to carry on recording that here, along with any other random stuff! Talking of random stuff, here's a couple of pics of 'Little S's' birthday last weekend which I must say I thoroughly enjoyed:
He loved all his Sponge Bob themed bedroom furnishings:
We had great fun bashing the pinata fish which we hung from the rafters in the garage (it was stuffed with sweets which all spurted out from the fish's mouth as it began to fall apart - was very funny!!)
The boys all retired to the the top of the den in the garden to share the sweetie spoils of the pinata fish - I was very impressed with their democratic attitude and bartering skills, very civilised!! They looked like a little group of monkeys up in a tree!
So that's the story - a little bit of a crossroads here, but that's life - it would be boring if everything stayed exactly the same! If I survive my first full week of working full-time, I'll try and pop back in next weekend. In the meantime I'll try and catch up with all the lovely blogs I've missed reading while my internet connection's been down (this seems to have been sorted out now thank goodness!)
Happy Sunday! :)
Just before I jumped on the bus and headed back home after my shopping trip, I popped into this lovely new Deli which has opened up on our high street. It's great to see new local businesses like this opening up and keeping the town vibrant and fresh - what a great little shop! I hope the girl who is running it does well. I spotted some lovely olives and purchased a few for 'Little S' instead of the usual stash of sweets! He loves his olives - I'll have to take him into this shop as a treat soon as his birthday is coming up. He really wants a hamster but . . . . :D
Until then it's nose to the grindstone, so I'd better get off and do some 'tweedying' - it's lovely to be back online again! I'm sure that chance meeting with our new minister at the weekend had something to do with my internet connection miraculously sorting itself out, hehe! (He did ask me where I usually sit in church - awkward silence ensued, but he seemed very nice all the same!)
Bye for Now and hope to catch up with some fellow crafty bloggers through the week :)
P.S. Forgot to say that my online shops are back up and running again!
Back with some 'tweedie' news soon, I hope! :)
Jumping on the Merry go Round this month with a band of like-minded merry artists and crafters! This month's theme is: "How much, if at all, does your geographical location affect your art/craft?"
Quite an easy one for me this month, hehe :) I'll let the photos speak for themselves . . .
Please check the responses by the other members of the group below - depending on THEIR geographical location, they may be posting at different times of the day! Cheerio an Drasda :)
Mitsy at ArtMind
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Well, not very creative as I've been winding down from crafty activities this week and gettting some wear out of these beauties!! I've had these 'serious' walking boots for many years but have never really managed to break them in - who knows, I might be wearing them here next week . . .
Bye for now :)
Well, it's been some time since my first tutorial (make a 'Musical Note' embroidered badge) and it's probably about time I did another one! My oncoming hols must be inspiring me as this weekend I decided to make a luggage label out of tweed. I must admit I was pleased with the result and it means I have a nice 'masculine-type' freebie to throw in with men's gifts! Although they're perfectly pretty and very unisex too, depending on your choice of fabric. Here's how I made mine:
You will need:
Make sure the vinyl you use is nice and strong and pliable - the kind that's used for tent windows, toy packaging, shower curatins, etc - search for 'clear pvc vinyl fabric' (or clear plastic table cover!) online if you've none lying around. Most people with kids will probably lay their hands on some - even an old plastic buggy cover will do!
You will end up with the two layered label and vinyl sewn on top - leave a gap at the top for your card to slide into.
I left the wrong end open at first - ooops!
Insert your brass eyelet close to the edge and string it with your jute string, ribbon, or whatever you've chosen to use. If you're feeling extra fussy you could cut a half circle shape in the vinyl for easy removal of the card - my 8 year old suggested this tip, that kid will go far, hehe!! I frayed the edges of the fabric to give a nice finish - Voila, instant chic to your luggage!
If the fabric you use is a light weight one you could probably use some interfacing (or a middle layer of felt?) to give it some weight. Good fabrics to use though might be denim, calico or a similar weighty fabric. My labels look very masculine in these darker tweeds but would look very pretty in printed heavy weight cotton, perhaps even upholstery fabric (don't go chopping up your settee covers though!!)
This might be a fun project to do with kids too - customize their own luggage label in their choice of fabric! Go make luggage labels! (This is a free tutorial for anyone to use as they wish, commerical or otherwise)
P.S. As regards eyelet tool and brass eyelets, I used a little set which my Other Half had many, many, years ago, and it works brilliantly - the eyelets I used have little serrated edges, which is necessary with this particular tool.
and here's how the final design worked out . . .
I'm quite pleased how it turned out - the swirls of steam were a bit of a challenge, and at first I just added 4 straight lines to represent the steam, but it just didn't look right. A couple of days later, I came back to it, did another doodle of how I wanted the swirls to look and finally decided to tackle them with my sewing machine (I did attempt to hand embroider them but it looked incongruous with the rest of the card). 'Teenage son' said it looke nice and 'cartoony' which was exactly the effect I wanted, so double portions of dinner to him, hehe!
I won't be adding this one to my online shops yet and I've yet to try an egg cosy in the same style - that'll have to wait until I come back from my hols.
I'll be busy this week getting us all ready and packed, but I'm sure I'll find time for a couple more posts, and definitely my Merry Go Round post on Friday!
Have a lovely Sunday :)
Took this little outdoor shot at the back of the house tonight and it was really chilly - so perhaps the garden-shed idea isn't such a good one either! This rather fuzzy shot is taken looking out to the lighthouse at Point, the view from my living room window.
I'm sure a solution to my little 'workspace' problem will present itself at some point (no pun intended!) - until then my creative space will remain a very 'squashed' one! Never mind, great works of art are created in the unlikeliest of spaces . . . who am I trying to convince, haha!! :)
More unlikely spaces over at Kirsty's - they'll just about be getting out of their beds by now I'm guessing, hehe! (It's 11 pm here)
Never believe a word I say, haha! Just reread my last post - "closing all my online shops for a month, blah, blah, blah!!!" To retract that statement I've decided to keep my Big Cartel store open for another week till Monday 26th July! I was having so much fun making my egg cosies (and now matching cards!) that I decided to keep one of my online shops open to list them. Had a go at making a 'cupcake' version yesterday - Yes, I have succumbed to the phenomenon, Oh my!
In fact I made an applique card first and then the egg-cosy to match, so from there decided the two items were quite a nice match for each other. I finally found a use for some little seed beads I got free in a craft magazine earlier this year, and handstitched them onto the card as 'hundreds and thousands'.
Both gift sets have been listed in my Big Cartel store. They're such fun to make I can't resist the urge - I'm a lost cause! Here's some more detailed pics:
Little seed beads on the icing . . .
applique tractor card (with puff of smoke!) . . .
As per usual, I'm doing everything EXCEPT what I'm supposed to be doing, tut tut!!
Well, it's the school hols and you have to keep yourself sane somehow :)
Cheerio an Drasda!
By the way, I came across this free currency converter widget today, which is useful to add to your website or blog here. I added one to my site today to help international customers and to help those purchasing from my Etsy shop (when it reopens!!). Quite a handy little thing :)
Sorry for the 'cheesy' blog post title, hehe! But things have been getting a little eggciting lately :D
A little flurry of interest in my laptop/gadget sleeves has kept me busy since the start of the school hols, hence my blog has possibly been a little quieter than usual (apologies!). Making my little egg-cosy the other night has got me very excited about all the design possibilities - I really enjoyed making it and started to think about designs both for children and adults/boys, girls, etc.
This little tractor version (and, yes, it could be mistaken for Postman Pat's van too, hehe!) is the first of many, I hope. I won't be listing this one yet as I've closed my online shops now until I come back from my hols in the middle of August. I'm giving myself plenty of leeway to prepare for our exciting break and also to finish off a couple of last minute orders. I'll be trying to keep my blog updated however until I actually leave at the beginning of August. Who knows, I might squeeze in some relaxing crafting time before I go!
Hope you're enjoying a lovely boiled egg for your Sunday breakfast :)
. . . next-door's 'lambs' getting big and fat (ready for the pot - kidding, hehe!)
. . . and a corner of my slightly bedraggled/neglected garden (something had to go!), but I love the colours and shapes/textures of the mish-mash of foliage . . .
. . . and a detail of one of my newer 'tweedie' sleeve designs, now added to my website and hopefully some 'one-of-a-kind' ones will appear on my Etsy shop later in the Summer . . .
Apologies as I've not had much time to catch up on blog-reading this week - I hope to see what everyone has been up to over the weekend.
Cheerio an Drasda :)
If your child is allergic to 'E' numbers, look away now! This week I have some 'tweedie' orders to make up and have to juggle keeping the kiddo amused, while getting the work done. Mostly this seems to be involving food, sweets, ice-cream, chooclate, etc - oooops! Some exercise will be required afterwards to balance out all this unhealthy eating of course :)
Decorating ice-cream cones - this one looks like something from a 'Mad Max' movie I think! Well, it's creative innit???!!*
The School summer holidays are posing some interesting and demanding challenges :)
I'll have to think of something else today - hmmmm! :D
We folded up the pieces of paper . . .
He practically did a somersault trying to pull a piece of paper out . . .
Pulled out the winning entry . . .
. . . which was Commenter No. 2, Karin who has a beautiful blog called: the Mrs! Many congrats Karin - if you can send me your address details via the Contact Page on my website, that would be great! Thanks to everyone who took part in my Summer Giveaway - I'm off to sweep up some of the crumbs I can see in my second photo, don't look too closely now, hehe! :D
Back later in the week with some more 'tweedieness'! Byeee :)
I came across this lovely local publication about a very famous Harris Tweed weaver called Marion Campbell, in my local book shop. This amazing lady was famous for her beautiful tweeds (she won several awards for the design and quality of her work), and for the fact that she made the cloth from start to finish, entirely on the croft (except for carding the wool, which was done in a local mill). She hand-dyed the wool fleece using locally sourced, natural plant dyes and pigments, spun the wool, warped the yarn, wove the cloth, waulked the finished tweed, washed and dried it by hand, finishing the cloth ready for sale.
How inspiring! I love the fact that she completed all the stages herself - must have been a really rewarding experience to see the finished tweed. It was worth being without my internet connection to browse through this little book - it's a cracker! It's called 'A Harris Way of Life' by Gisela Vogler - sorry, I'm not sure if it's available online but you can always Google it though and find out! Back on Monday to announce the Giveaway winner :)
Cheerio an Drasda!
Back as soon as possible with details of the Giveaway winner - hopefully by the beginning of the week.
I'll extend the Giveaway deadline till Monday midday - pleeeease let me have my internet connection back by then!!!! :) Byeeee!
You can enter my Giveaway wherever you are in the world - just leave a comment saying what you would do with this little collection of 'tweedies' (tweedie seahorse, tweedie fish, mini-matryoshka and little lavender sachet).
I'll keep the Giveaway open until Thursday midday (GMT), and announce a winner later on that day - Cheerio an Drasda :)
It's that time again, when a group of 9 like-minded arists/crafters get together to discuss a chosen theme/topic. It's been a bit mad here the last two weeks - Other Half working overtime, endless school events, prize-givings, etc - phew, never mind it's almost the end of the school term!
When things get really hectic round at our house, I usually get the homemade pizza on - it's a classsic for Saturdays which are usually intensive crafting days for me - no interruptions or time schedules make it a perfect day for me to get on with creating.
Here's how I make it, and just as well I made one tonight 'cos it was the only thing I could think of!!
Mix the pizza dough (I used the packet mix below):
Follow the manufacturer's instructions, then leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes (this is when you can get an extra couple of rows of knitting, sewing, felting, painting, stuffing, glazing, spinning, etc in!!) Roll out to about one quarter inch thick approx. Spread with some tomato paste, oregano, whatever you fancy really - then go to town with your toppings - I only had olives and tuna in tonight :(
Top with grated chees then cook in the top of the oven at the hottest setting for approx 10 minutes - Voila!!
As we say in 'Blogland' - Nom nom!!
Check out the other responses by the group members below - some may be posting at different times of the day, depending on geographical location, etc.
Mitsy at ArtMind
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design
Ruth at Birdland Creations
I'm running a little Giveaway on my Facebook page this weekend and will be doing the same on my Blog (same prizes - different colour scheme!) probably on Sunday - some little 'tweedie' leftovers (doesn't sound very appetising!!!) from my stall last weekend. Hope you'll check back then to join in - Bye for Now :)
P.S. You can enter both Giveaways of course - you never know you could win both!! That kind of thing never happens to me of course, hehe!
P.P.S. Sorry, I'm a little early posting as I'm at the 'office job' today :)
