my creative space . . . and off for a break :)

Well, I DID manage to make something for myself last weekend and voila! . . .

It was lovely to make something just for the fun of it - no tweed involved, just this little linen zipper purse, lined in one my fave Japanese cotton prints. It was just crying out for a little embroidery detail which was great fun to do, just freestyle, making it up as I went along. I used an older sampler as reference/inspiration and of course my Doodle-Stitching book by Aimee Ray - highly recommended for the novice embroiderer!

It's the perfect size for my digital camera and much prettier than my standard bulky camera bag :) I'm off for a family break now for ten days - a few of them to be spent on a city break in Edinburgh - ooooh, smoke, pollution, noise - I can't wait, hehe!!

I've just ordered some new stock of Harris Tweed too, from a local weaver I was purchasing from previously - I can't wait to get my new stash, it's hard to stop crafting when I'm enjoying it so much but 'needs must'! - I'll 'see' you when I get back from my hols - Bye for Now :)

More creative 'stories' over here :)

More Toggles . . .

I'm just posting a quick pic of the finished items I was working on this week - I took out some of my very precious stash of check/plaid tweeds to make a few 'kindle' sleeves. I'd made a prototype earlier in the year but hadn't taken it any further until one of the girls in the office mentioned she had just been given a kindle as a present. I took my protototype sleeve into work and it was a perfect fit, but I could see it needed a button/loop closure just for added security.

So here they are (I made four this week) - and I love how the checks look - the tweed is so gorgeous, I wouldn't think of adding anything else, apart from the toggle, to enhance it! Quite a bit of hand-finishing with these as I hand-sew the side-seams (my poor sewing machine wouldn't cope with the thickness of the 4 layers of fabric!) and the toggles take a bit of sewing and measuring-up, to make sure they are in exactly the right position! I think the time I spent earlier in the week getting the measurements right, paid off though.

Sorry for the poor quality pic, my boys keep stealing the batteries from my camera to use in their playstation/X-box console controls - sheesh! The batteries 'died' after taking a couple of pics this morning, grrrrrr! Hopefully the sleeves will go into my online shops this weekend, perhaps two of each in both shops - that's fair, isn't it, hehe :) (Better go and recharge the batteries now!!)

I would love to make something for MYSELF today - wouldn't that be a great idea? I'm thinking of a nice zipper pouch or something - I just feel like treating myself for once - do you think I'll manage it???

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you're up to :)

my creative space . . . much tweedieness

Ah, don't you just love the nostalgia of old wooden toggle buttons - they immediately conjure up images of soggy school dufflecoats, big comfy woollie cardigans, etc. I found a few of these in the old family button tin,and thought it was the perfect closure for a new 'tweedie' item I was working on this week - it just seems to look 'right' against the Harris Tweed, perfect bed-fellows

The 'hairy' piece of string in the photo is part of a new handmade gift-tag I've been making/using recently - I like the 'handmade' touch it adds to my items:

This post could go on forever as I've been quite busy making, listing, etc this week - for once I've kept to my word and stocked up my Big Cartel shop and added some tweedie buttons to my Etsy shop! However, it's school holiday time and I'm trying to cut back on computer time, etc. Here's some pics from last Saturday at the Tall Ships in Stornoway - we caught sight of them as they were leaving the harbour - they looked lovely on such a warm sunny day, very picturesque!

Ahoy, me hearties! . . . or something like that, hehe!

Here's some 'tweedie' buttons, just to finish of this NOT brief post - ooops!

. . . and here's some more creative peeps over on the starboard side, hehe!

(So much for cutting back on my computer time LOL!! x)

my creative space . . . is a bit late!

I had to toss a coin today and decide whether to carry on working (ie. crafting!) or wrting up a post! Well I've finished the crafting bit, so I can relax and blog a bit! At least I had some lovely flowers on the table to cheer me on - a reward for being married for 'cough, cough, splutter!!' quite a long time - I think I deserve them, haha!

It's been a lovely, productive week - with some nice surprises in between, namely this gorgeous giveaway package from Ishrat at Fruitful Fusion. Such beautiful handiwork, it takes your breath away! The online crafting community is a very nice place to be:) Thankyou Ishrat!

I've been trying to get some stock together for my online shop and have been working on some applique pictures (I had some mountboard frames I'd almost forgotten about!). I used the designs for my egg cosies from last year, and added a bumblebee design - well, there's no show without punch, he pops up everywhere. I added some hand embroidered 'bzzzzzzz!' lettering which I was quite pleased with. I still can't do 'freehand machine embroidery' so I use my own, er, individual techniques!! Please excuse my big foot in the photograph! The pictures have been cellophane wrapped for protection so apologies for the reflections in the image - I have to keep that white mountboard pristine!!

Here's the 'Bzzzzzz' one I was talking about . . .

My boys have been great so far during the holidays and are letting me get on with my crafting without much complaint - I managed to finish a set of 'matryoshka' coin purses for online sale. The lining fabric for these is so cute, I can't quite tell you! My favourite Japanese fabrics, of course :)

Now , all I have to do is to get some of this stuff listed in my shop - so hopefully between now and the weekend! And, to finish off I thought I'd show you a pic of this beautiful celtic cross I spotted at the Adventure Park in Ness last week - isn't it beautiful. I though what an amazing thing to have in the middle of the playpark - I went up to it and had a little 'feel', well you do, don't you! Guess what, it was made out of resin and was probably a mould I'm guessing - sheeesh, it had me fooled :)

Well, I seem to have got everything 'off my chest' so to speak - sorry for overly long post. Must go and get a cup of coffee and get tidied up or I might not be married for much longer - ooops! :)

I beg your pardon, forgot to say more creative (and polite!!) spaces over here - really worth a look!

A Grand Day Out!

Now that summer-time is here in the Hebrides, there's an endless supply of local Agricultural shows, Gala days, fetes, etc. I have to say that we don't always attend many, if any, of these events - it's one of these things, that if it's on your doorstep you don't always take much notice! This Saturday, however, we decided to take a jaunt up to the northern most tip of Lewis, to the village of Ness, to attend their local Gala Day. (Mostly because many of the employees at my Other Half's workplace come from this village and were involved in the organisation of the event themselves!).

So we headed off with 'Little S' in tow - who was rather reluctant about being bundled in the car for an hour's drive! As is quite normal in these parts, the weather which was a little cloudy in our area, turned beautifully sunny and warm as we approached the village of Ness.

As we arrived the beautifully dressed little Highland dancers were in full swing (isn't she sweet in her outfit?)

. . . the Sumo wrestlers were having a ball, in their inflatable suits, hehe!

'Little S' enjoyed a runaround in a mini-quad bike . . .

. . . and then enjoyed some private tuition in how to operate a digger . . .

We got a tour around the local Coastguard Rescue helicopter . . .

. . . and finished off the day with a runaround at the adventure playground on the machair, which is just beside the pitch where the Gala was being held . . .

I liked the funny wooden sculptures at the maze - aren't they cute? . . .

All in all, a fun day out!

Back with some more 'crafty' posts next week - Cheerio an Drasda:)

Summer Break

We're now into our school summer break - 'Little S' took a heap of work and drawings home. I particularly liked this one about the 'Seaside Code' - it's written in Gaelic as they are taught bi-lingually. Some of the rules seem a little harsh/confusing: 'Keep out of the Sea??!!!', 'Don't lift animals?' - not sure if that one refers to the sheep, a bit heavy for a child to lift, hehe :)

I got this lovely Giveaway parcel in the post from Tartan Kiwi last week - how fab is that?: drawing pins, magnets, book mark and zipper pouch, all beautifully handmade in this gorgeous fabric - I was delighted!

Some little snippets of more craft-fair stock - hanging decs in various shapes, which were fun to make . . .

Guess what, after all my stock-building, my craft fair has been postponed because it apparently clashes with another fair on the same day, boo hoo! However, there will probably be one the following month (August), so I can chill out a bit and take a breath! It would be nice now to build up some online stock now, so we'll see how that goes :) Today though, I must get my own Giveaway parcels sorted, I hope to add a couple of extra goodies in them, so better get on!

I'm so glad that I got an unexpected day's annual leave from the office job this week - what a treat! Childcare sorted and a little extra crafting time for me - hooray!