Tweed thoughts ...

my creative space - January!

2012-02-02T03:43:00.000-08:00

Pheeeeeew, I'm back to Blog-land after a whole month's absence - my extended office working hours have come to an end and I'm back to my normal two days - so more crafting time on the horizon, but I'll have to get down to some hard graft too and get my little creative business up and running again in a commercial sense. More on that later :)

January came and went with little time for crafting but I was forced out of crafty hibernation by a work colleague who was looking for a tweedie sleeve for her daughter's new Kindle (the one without the keyboard) - I made this one to be a snug fit for the new, smaller Kindle and I was quite pleased with it - it was a perfect fit, hooray! Now that I've got the dimensions right, I hope I'll get a little batch of these done in different colours - that's the plan anyway!

That's about the sum of my January crafting, but it's a good start to get some commerical crafting under my belt so I'm quite happy with that :) I decided to treat myself to some little jewellery boxes for my 'wee croft house' brooches, so they might get listed online soon - thought they deserved a snug little home - they're a perfect fit with a little cosy cotton wadding on the base . . .

. . . I think we could all do with a little cosy cotton wadding here today - it's freezing, the cold snap has definitely hit the Hebrides, brrrrrrrr!!

I'm trying to remember what else I got up to crafty-wise this month - I did go the library and picked up some crochet books to get me back into the mood, and I picked up my one and only copy of Mollie-Makes (I've resisted it so far), it had some crochet wrist-warmers on the front which must have lured me in, hehe :) (Sorry for the poor pic - ooops!) . . .

On the baking front (did I mention I got a new oven, it's very pretty!) I had a glut of over-ripe bananas this week so for once I decided to get round to making a banana loaf with them as 'Little S' has pestered me in the past to make one - it was a bit of a 'hit and miss' affair . . .

Hit - because it looked pretty good when it came out of the oven . . .

Miss - because it was a little bit soggy in the middle . . .

. . . but we ate it anyway, waste not want not, and all that, hehe!

Well, that's what I've been up to this month. Hopefully I'll be back to regular crafting/posting now, but I guess I'll have to get that craft area sorted out first . . . . . euuuuugh!, wish me luck with that one!

Teenage Son is supposed to be studying for his exams today so I'd better go and ply him with cups of tea and biscuits . . . a mother's job and all that!

Back soon with more crafty updates - Cheerio an Drasda :)

Alison x

Packages, Pressies and Plans for 2012

2012-01-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

Hi Peeps - a Happy New Year to all in Blogland and beyond! We had a lovely, peaceful and restful break, pity about the awful weather but we've no control over that one unfortunately :/

Our 'postie' brought me a lovely package today all the way from Oz - it really cheered me up on a grey January afternoon - thanks so much Claire! I've been following Claire's blog all of this year - she always comes up with great new ideas and her blog is so lively and entertaining. I hope we'll meet up for lots of virtual 'tea and cake' this year Claire :D Here's the lovely package I received . . .

Just look at that cute 'chook' brooch - 'Little S' was eyeing it up but I was having none of it, hehe :) . . .

Sorry about the dark pics - they don't do Claire's work justice!

'Santa' was quite good to me this year and brought me Kirstie Allsopp's book - 'Craft'. She's not everyone's cup of tea but I can't help but be caught up in her sheer enthusiasm for everything 'crafty'! I think she gets a little bit of bad press for being a bit too 'jolly hockey sticks' but this book is a fantastic little compendium of a whole load of crafts from handmade paper to creating natural plant-dyes - I'm dying to get stuck into some of these projects. Thumbs up from me Kirstie! (jolly hockey sticks or not, hehe :))

I'm a little disappointed that I can't quite launch into an impressive list of my crafty plans for this year as my office working hours are still in a state of dissaray. I was very good in the hols though and tidied up my cashbook and did my online tax return (such as it was after very little 'business' activity in the last part of the year!). Anyhow, I'm now in a position just to wait and see what happens workwise and just enjoy my crafting for the sake of it - perhaps that's a good enough goal for 2012?

Will keep you posted once I'm 'tweedying' again - in the meantime I might make some handmade-paper just for fun (thanks Kirstie!)

Byeeee :)

Alison x

Seasons Greetings!

2011-12-23T14:29:00.001-08:00

Some 'makes' and inspirations from 2011 - not as well documented as I'd like but a little snippet! So much enjoyment and experimentation - not all commercial successes (little time for that these last few months!), but a lovely journey all the same :)

I'll be continuing extra office duties in the first month of the New Year, and then back to 'normal' crafty hours - pheeeeeew! Thanks for bearing with me these last few months where commercial work had to take a back seat, but on the plus side I learned to crochet - way hay!!!! There's always a silver lining to every story - I hope you have a wonderful festive season, I will 'see' you at some point in the New Year when I will be back on 'crafty' duty :)

Time for a lovely family break now - which I will be very thankful for :D

Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ur bho Tweed Delights!

(Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Tweed Delights!)

Alison x

Better Late than . . .

2011-12-19T03:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry, much later than anticipated I'm revealing my bunting - all FIVE flags! (it's very short bunting and would be more suited for hanging along a mantlepiece) - I'm pleased how it turned out, but that gold lurex thread still irks me and it's yet to be hung permanently. I hung it here for the sake of taking a photo, against the backdrop of one of my brother's pastel drawings which hangs over my mantlepiece . . .

. . . I prefer the uninterrupted view of my landscape picture so the bunting hasn't yet found a permanent home! Very enjoyable to make though, and I'm looking forward to making more along the same lines - I really like the traditional plaid effect against the tweed (minus the gold thread of course!!!) . . .

It's been a bit hectic here between a coughy, spluttery husband and other events which seemed intent on scuppering my Christmas preparation plans, but I think I'm on track now - too late to panic now in any case! I have one last gift to make, if I'm lucky I'll make it today. My crochet cushion was finished off, but I cheated and used cream tweed for the backing - I'd still quite like to add a lace crochet border but time is running out . . .

I really wished I'd been able to make more of my own decs, and other handcrafted goodies, but other events have taken over - I bought these cute ones at work, which were made by students with learning needs. They had a lovely stall and had oranges decorated with cloves and ribbon, but I kept mine on my desk at work - to remind me of what I could be doing if I was at home!

Never mind, soon be Christmas - later-gaters! :)

Kitsch . . . and even more kitsch

2011-12-11T01:55:00.000-08:00

I'm always trying to capture the little robin redbreasts that seem to pop about our garden (all year round it seems!) - but to no avail. I eventually resorted to 'stealing' one of Little S's Xmas decs from the tree, just to get the effect you understand, hehe:) . . .

Here is our little fluffy friend in his 'natural' glittery habitat (he also 'tweets' a little tune when you squeeze him - just thought you'd like to know that!!)

Leading on from kitsch Christmas decs, my 'festive' binding arrived yesterday, and is more 'kitsch' than I had hoped for - it has a gold lurex thread through the tartan which is NOT what I wanted - ah, well it looks like the 'kitsch' theme is following me whether I want it or not! Here it is . . .

. . . never mind, I'm going to enjoy using it for some festive bunting - hope to show you the results later in the week!

Bye for Now :)

my creative space . . . playing around

2011-12-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late with My Creative Space today . . . in fact I didn't even think I'd be participating, but severe weather warnings kept me at home - I made the most of it of course :)

I'd ordered some bias binding from E-bay at the weekend, to get me going with some bunting-making - the 'festive' bunting hasn't yet arrived but a lovely, pretty daisy print one came yesterday and I couldn't resist playing around with it, just a little bit, hehe! . . .

. . . I'm not actually using the tweed I initially intended here, I just grabbed the first thing I saw - you know how it is, you get a notion to do something and all sense of reason goes out of your head! I sort of like really zany mixes though - colourful plaids and delicate prints - nothing is sacred here!!

I was so keen to get going with my bias binding I just leapt in with Size 10 feet (I don't acually have size 10 feet - don't worry!!!) - cut out a cardboard template and had a little play around . . .

. . . I might actually find some use for some woven labels I ordered recently - they're FAR too long for my usual 'makes' - I thought the 'handmade in the Hebrides' would be in itsy-bitsy size text but alas, not! In the back of my mind I thought I'll have to come up with some 'elongated' makes . . . and then 'bunting' came on the scene - sometimes I really think there's some divine intervention going on :D

Well, I hope the weather abates a little by the morning, otherwise I'll be out of a job and be labeled as an unfit mother to boot (the boys stayed at home today too) - I wouldn't have sent a dog out in the rain and gales that lashed against our kitchen door today!! More creative 'tails' here :)

P.S. Claire over at Sweet Birdy Love is having a fab 'too-whit-too-whoooooo!!' giveaway right now - she's been such an inspiration to me this year - her creativity seems to be boundless! Go give her a visit, she's very welcoming hehe :)

P.P.S. Unfortunately I've been having some unsavoury 'spammy' issues over the last two days and have had to enable 'comment moderation' - something I did NOT enjoy doing - I hope this won't deter comments, it's merely to keep the nasty 'spammy' peeps at bay till I figure it all out!! Apologies for that - bye for now! x

Snowy scenes . . . and polka dots

2011-12-05T01:32:00.000-08:00

We woke up to some beautiful snowy scenery this morning . . .

Let's hope it stays like this for Christmas - finger's crossed! :)

Sorry I've been a little absent of late - busy finishing off a couple of Christmas gifts - any left to make will be done at leisure now as they're for local family relatives, I'll be crocheting on Christmas Eve at this rate, hehe :) So many things I want to make at the moment - some will have to wait until after the festive season is over, when I'll be back to my usual office work schedule.

This weekend, I've been thinking about bunting, bunting and more bunting, after purchasing this little book from Amazon. A very cute little publication which has got me really inspired to make some of my own - I'm imagining my house covered in the stuff - great fun! To me, bunting sounds like Christmas decorations that you never have to take down - way hay!! :)

I've just sat down on the kitchen floor as I was going to take a pic of my shiny new oven to show you (strangely two days after I'd been on my work trip our old one died!!!???) However, I noticed that I was wearing my new polka dot socks with ribbons on them - I think they're probably more interesting than my new oven (much as I love it!!!) - socks aren't usually something I get excited about but . . .

. . . if you have to wear socks, I think you should make a statement, no??

As with EVERYTHING at the moment, I'm thinking I would love to CROCHET a pair of socks!!

Right now I'm 'dreaming of a white Christmas' . . . and some more crafting time!

Have a Happy Monday :)

Bats and Beanies . . .

2011-11-28T09:19:00.000-08:00

I had to take a little trip to the mainland (Scottish) at the end of last week - work-related, but quite nice all the same! It's good to be back though, even if after spending a night in a "posh-ish" hotel it reminded me of how much I have to declutter my little home - I've spent the day clearing the decks and trying to get my house looking like a little hotel-ish LOL!! It hasn't really worked, but it looks a little better now, hehe :) If it ever does look like a hotel, I'll definitely take photos and post them here!!!!

'Little S' was a little bored on Saturday afternoon/evening so he decided he wanted to make the 'bat-cookies' we'd left over from Hallowe'en - I was shocked that he didn't want to decorate them so I had to decorate my own one!!! (I copied the picture on the packet-mix - ooops!)

He was a bit 'miffed' that he was the only one in the house without a crochet beanie and asked for a black one - who am I to argue!!! Here's the beanie in progress - it's in a bowl because I was using the wool 'doubled up' as I thought it would be too thin and lacey-looking otherwise - it turned out really thick and warm but a good fit so he was happy enough!

I'm almost finished my present-making list for Xmas, and I want to spend some time making my home looking nice and cosy and Christmassy - I ordered a little booklet from Amazon on 'bunting-making' - watch this space! You never know I might manage some Christmas bunting, but it's a long shot!!

Back to a four-day week this week (but there are noises about a strike at the office-job - are you allowed to stay at home and crochet during a strike??? - it doesn't sound very militant, he he!!) Bye for now :)

A re-draw . . .

2011-11-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry I'm a little later than planned getting back to you re the Giveaway - unfortunately the original winner didn't get back to me so I got my Other Half to draw a new name out at the weekend which was Fiona! Congratualtions Fiona - I will be in touch with you very soon :)

I'm still busy with extended office hours and gift-making - well I started, so I'm going to finish!! I'm having a ball really - lots of experimenting and playing around with different yarns- it's an excuse to have some fun to an extent, and hone my crochet skills too of course :) It's a 'win-win' situation - not sure what the recipients will think though, hehe :) Anyway, my eldest (16 year old) is wondering about the house wearing the new beanie hat I made for him over the weekend - I'm overjoyed that he likes it so much! (sorry, no pics - he's a teenager - enough said!!)

I have no crafty pictures of my own - so here's Little S's crafty 'makes' from school this week - they had a crafty 'masterclass' all this week at school and made a drawstring bag . . .

. . . a squishy fishy pin-cushion

. . . and a cute decorative celtic-inspired wall decoration

That's all from 'Little S's' blog this week, hehe! I'm going to have a hectic week this week for one reason and another so maybe absent until the weekend at least - have a lovely week y'all :) Cheerio an Drasda!

my creative space . . . jumping up and down with excitement!

2011-11-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

Look, look - I made it! I felt like a five year old who'd just learned how to tie shoelaces, ride a bike or count to ten - or all three things together, hehe! I know, this looks like quite a non-descript sort of crafty item - it's actually a crocheted boy-beanie and I'm not afraid to say how proud I am of my first attempt . . .

I came across the pattern on Ravelry and scoured all the posts people had made on the pattern - how invaluable was that!! In the olden days you'd probably go and ask your Granny, or your Auntie or your Great Great Auntie who lives up the road - nowadays you go online and check how someone on the other side of the planet made their beanie hat - I'm so glad I did though :)

Checking out other people's posts on the pattern allowed me to avoid disappointment and make the beanie to the correct size to fit an adult/teen. Bizzarely it fits everyone in the family - from ten years old to adult - unfortunately no one would model it for me - not even me!!! (I really do not look good in a hat of any description!)

Thankyou Ravelry for providing me with so much information - here's a link to my notes on Ravelry for the pattern - what a clever, helpful site :) More 'daft' crafty types here - where would I be without them??!! :)

P.S. I'm still waiting for the winner of my Giveaway to get in touch - if you're out there Suze, please get in touch - otherwise I will do a redraw this weekend : /

P.P.S. So sorry - I'm just realising I did not manage to get back to last week's comments - this office work malarkey is playing havoc with my blogging routine - many, many apologies - that's just not 'cricket' : /

The winner is . . . . !

2011-11-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry to leave you in suspense - the winner of my Giveaway (as picked by my Other Half from a 'bowl' - he's very reliable as he has absolutely no idea what I get up to on my blog, hehe!!) is Suze! Many congrats Suze - please get in touch with your contact details, as I don't see an e-mail link on your blog, but I'll leave a comment there in the hope that between 'here and there' you'll get the happy news. Thanks to all who entered - I appreciate it, and it has indeed had the required effect of keeping me connected with my lovely blog-readers :)

The other 'winner' of the day is 'Little S' as he managed to complete the Cross Country race held at the Castle Green, Stornoway, this morning. It was freezing, wet and generally pretty miserable weather but there was a great turnout. He got a medal for competing as everyone did, and although he was nowhere near the real winners I was pretty impressed that he completed it as he had done NO training whatsoever for it - well done kiddo!! :)

I'm off to 'chillax' now - it was really exhausting watching all that running this morning LOL!! Have a lovely weekend :)

Giveaway Closed

2011-11-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

My Giveaway is now closed - many thanks to all who entered it! I'll announce a winner over the weekend - if you haven't left contact details, please keep a tab on my blog for the next couple of days so you'll find out if you've won or not :)

Cheerio an Drasda! x

my creative space . . . just an idea

2011-11-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

I'm plodding on with making a few crochet christmas gifts - every so often, taking a wee side road to some other experimental crafting. I had an idea in my mind to try sewing onto card - a really simple idea but I'd never really done it much apart from a brief foray into making gift tags with sewn on tweed/fabric.

I'd love to make some handmade festive cards this year (this may never materialise!) so I had a go on Monday and machine-sewed some cream tweed onto a pre-folded card . . .

. . . and then made a very rustic attempt at hand-embroidering a christmas tree - it's pretty 'pants' as far as embroidery goes, but I did it free-hand and I think it will lead on to more attempts with a similar idea ie.sewing onto card, embroidered motif, etc. It's quite nice just to have a little 'acorn' of an idea - you never know, I might get to take it to another level . . . or not, hehe! :D

My extended office hours will possibly take me to the end of the year, or very near to it but I'm holding my own and keeping my little 'crafty' head above the water, just about! I think I'll have lots of new ideas to work with when I get back to having more crafting time though.

My Giveaway is open until 5 pm Thursday 10th November (British time) if you want to enter - it's open to anyone, anywhere!!

More creative ideas over this way - byeeeee :D

my creative space . . . and a Hebridean Giveaway! :)

2011-11-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

I'm showing a creation from a couple of weeks ago as I'm currently working on some Christmas gifts - sssshhhhhh, Top Secret!! This was a prototype version of something I thought might make nice gifts . . .

It's a little 'woollie' crochet coin purse made from a simple pattern I came across on 'Ravelry' (thanks to 'J' over at TartanKiwi for pointing me in that direction!)

I wasn't sure what to do with it once I'd finished it because I wanted to make more of them in slightly 'funkier, colourful' yarn for giving to younger family members, so I thought it might make a fun Giveaway gift, along with these other items . . .

My blog is a little oasis of calm and creativity for me at the moment, at a time when I'm unable to be as craftily productive as I'd like - so thank you for still bearing with me :) I'm hoping my Giveaway will keep me feeling connected to the crafty world while I'm working my extra office hours this month!!

If you'd like to win this little Giveaway package - (it seems to have a particular Hebridean twist, what with the sheep and the croft houses!!) just leave a comment (it's open to anyone in the world). My giveaway package seems to sum up what's currently inspiring me - crochet, embroidery, silvery bling, . . . em . . . sheep??!! (perhaps not, hehe!!) What's inspiring you in the crafty world right now? I'd love to hear your comments :)

I'll leave my Giveaway open till this time next week, 5 pm Thursday 10th November (British time). Make sure your comment enables me to contact you if you've won!

More creative peeps over this way - Byeeee :)

P.S. Apologies I've been unable to make time for much commenting myself recently - I have been reading though, honest!!! :D

Wooo hoooo oooo!

2011-10-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our Halloween celebration yesterday (it was very minimal!). 'Little S' got into the spirit of things though . . .

He decided to carve his own pumpkin this year (under supervision of course!) - he's the jolliest 'unscariest' one I've seen! He looked a little 'gummy' before being lit up . . .

He made a couple of chocolate covered apples from a packet-mix (bad mummy!) . . .

And there was some cake too . . .

OK, OK - I bought it at the supermarket, hehe!

These were all very haphazard and spontaneous goings-on in the afternoon as we were going to go and see a screening of Nosferatu in our local Arts Centre in the evening. This was a really fab event (part of the Hebridean Book Festival) - we happened to know the musician who played (and wrote) the accompanying music - he lives in the same village as us, so we really HAD to go!! We weren't disappointed - a wonderful atmospheric silent movie (1922) and a fantastic musical accompaniment.

Many congrats to Peter Urpeth for his beautiful piano playing - we were completely mesmerised - thanks for a great evening Peter :D

my creative space . . . looks familiar!

2011-10-26T13:46:00.001-07:00

Ah, sorry! My creative space looks very much like last week's, only I've progressed quite a bit with my project and decided to continue with my crochet cushion cover. I was a little undecided last week what I would do with it. You can no longer see the cushion pad behind it - hurray! Just the other side to complete now, hehe :( To give myself a little break from this slightly more time consuming project, I'm amusing myself by doing other little projects like the crochet daisy in the middle (it's not attached yet). It's not perfect, but I was pretty pleased with it all the same . . .

This crochet malarkey is great fun especially when you're short on crafting time, as I am at the moment - it's so easy to pick it up whenever, no setting up required - perfect for me right now :)

More crafty peeps over here - byeee :)

my creative space . . . works in progress

2011-10-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I've been a bit out of touch this week, but I decided to take a complete break from the laptop and concentrate on chilling out and enjoying my October break - the weather has been pretty appalling so far - excellent crafting weather, hehe! Here's a little something I started on last night . . .

I started out with the intention of covering this round cushion pad - but now I'm not so sure, and might just make it into a plant-pot coaster or something, add some crochet lace round the edge maybe?

It's a lovely texture though and another enjoyable crochet experiment - the finished item will probably be a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law, whatever it turns out to be!

The soap sachets are all finshed. Here's a sneaky peek - I can't show them too graphically as they will be gifts for family members - look away now if you're a close family relative - ooops! :) . . .

Here's the last of the scones I made yesterday - we had a roaring open fire on as we had snow yesterday - and my Big Sis was hoping to visit, but didn't quite make it - sorry Sis, there's only one left!!! (I'll make some more today hopefully!)

It's the 'whisky olympics' - oooops, sorry I mean the National Mod , hehe!, in the Hebrides this week - I haven't seen any of it yet as my boys aren't involved, but I might grab a bit of the atmosphere at the end of the week if I manage to drag myself away from my cosy fire and warm scones. The weather is certainly on the up - look at the lovely pink skies we had this morning - really gorgeous . .

I will TRY and grab an image of the mod this week but won't make any promises! 'See' you soon - more creative peeps over here - I'm popping over there myself :)

P.S. 'Tweedie' activities will resume as soon as possible, hehe! :D

Crochet, moonlight and cake . . .

2011-10-15T02:09:00.000-07:00

Well, another week has gone by and no time for a blog post in between - never mind, I'm here now! The few grabbed hours of crafting have been spent on my crochet projects and I'm happy to say that I'm finally dipping into the lovely bundle of cotton yarn. I've been using a pattern for a crochet soap sachet and aiming to make a few in all the differnt colours of yarn, as Christmas gifts - I think I'll enjoy going out and choosing some yummy complementary soap to go ino each one :) Three made so far and two more to go - they're so nice to make and very satisfying to see each one in a different colour . . . here's a snippet of the turquoise one . . .

I'm completely amazed at what you can make with crochet once you learn the basic stitches - the heart motif in the pattern is teaching me some basics of increasing and decreasing stitches which is something that baffled me initially, so it's a good learning ground. Ooops, I'm in serious danger of becoming a crochet bore, hehe - but you know it really is good fun and I really urge you to try it - I'll shut up now!!

We've had some lovely still nights this week with a fabulous full moon, the picture doesn't really do it justice . . .

Hopefully, this week we will get some nice weather because I am now on my October holidays with the boys off school for a whole week - hooray!!! I plan to have a lovely relaxing break, some more crochet, a few nice walks and maybe the bike will make the journey from out of the garage.

I bought this book at a discounted book sale this week with the idea of being a bit of a domestic goddess too, haha!

Actually the photographs of the cakes looked so gorgeous I couldn't resist it - well' that's my holiday wrapped up - I'll pop in if I have any yummy treats to declare!

Bye for now :)

What I'd really like to be doing . . .

2011-10-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

I was having a little go at making some 'you know what' (that word which must remain unspoken!) decs last weekend - that silver crochet thread is proving to be very useful for some other crafty projects! Plan is to make a few for craft-fairs and maybe a few as gifts. Just simple stuffed tweedie squares with hessian twine attached to the corner - voila, now they're a cute diamond shaped hanging, decoration thingy. A few embroidered silver stars and 'Bob's your Uncle' as they say :)

Thing is, what I'd really like to be doing is playing around with the gorgeous sorbet coloured crochet yarn in the background - aren't the colours lovely - I can almost pretend it's Summer time when I look at them, maybe that's the attraction, hehe!

With all the extra hours at the 'office job' I'm spending a lot of time on this little bus, when I'd really like to be doing something else, like crafting!! At least the scenery is nice :D

I took this pic last weekend as I was trying to capture how flat-calm the sea was looking - there wasn't a breath of wind. Very pretty, but I just wish I didn't have to spend so much time on that darned little bus these days - never mind, I guess it's better than the London Underground at rush hour! Back to some crafting in the very precious hours I have left this weekend :) Byeee, till later . . .

I've been busy - honest!

2011-10-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long gap between posts but I have of course been camera-less while Other Half was off on his jaunt, followed by 'Little S' catching the usual school-bugs which are on the round at the moment. Both things combined of course gave me a little extra crafting time this week, so I was playing around with a new idea for some funny little 'croft-house' brooches. I was thinking of making some kind of corsage-type brooches with my crochet flowers but before I knew it I was making little stuffed houses - hmmmmmmm, funny how your creative brain takes over, hehe!

I thought they would be quite fun for some upcoming craft fairs which I've just received word about (the Summer fair has been and gone unfortunately but I still have stock, so ready to rock-and-roll!). You can see they're quite rustic which is how I wanted them to look - they're cuter in real life, honest! I'm working on a few in different colours but as they're hand-embroidered I won't be churning them out, just a few!

Next up came a little idea for some Christmassy lavender bags for the fairs - there's a little crochet project in the background too which I was really chuffed about making but they might turn out to be gifts so I'll keep them low profile for now :

Finally I managed to stuff a couple of beach-balls which have been WIPs for rather longer than I intended but I did eventually finish them - they might make their way to my online shop, I'll keep you posted.

This afternoon's dilemma will be 'to crochet or more 'tweedie' work' - perhaps I'll do a little bit of both! Have a lovely weekend :)

my creative space . . . shiny, happy :)

2011-09-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm happy to say that I can show my finished attempt with my silver thread/beads project, and I'm really delighted with it. This crochet 'thing' has really got me fired up! Here's my 'shiny, happy' . . .

. . . thing. It's an eight sided star/christmas decoration from my crochet 'how to' book (Learn to Crochet edited by Sally Harding) and I really enjoyed the challenge of making it. This is of course my second attempt as the first attempt went a little 'spidery' and askew, but I decided to make a fresh start and bumbled my way through the pattern, but I loved every minute of it . . .

I'm completely amazed at how versatile crochet is - so many possibilities! This crochet star is supposed to be starched to stiffen it for use as a decoration, so that may be the next stage, although I must admit I'm terrified in case I 'spoil' it - I love it so much! (clock the little silver beads - aren't they cute?)

Well back to the office tomorrow, sheesh, this 4 day working week is quite demanding (OK, two of them are only half days but . . . ) :) 'Other Half' has absconded for a week taking my camera with him - how will I cope?? (without my camera I mean, haha!!!) Well, sorry no blogging till next week, boo hoo :/ See you then :D

More 'shiny/happy' peeps over here.

First attempt . . .

2011-09-19T03:13:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt at using the silver thread I showed in my last post - the pattern/thread required the use of a tiny crochet hook, so small it wasn't even in the crochet hook set I had bought so I used the next one up. I was half way through the second row when I clocked that the level of difficulty shown was 'three stars' in the book, em . . . for advanced crocheters, I knew I was in trouble then, hehe!

I think 'Little S' and I decided it looked a bit like a silver spider - anyway I'm now on my second attempt at this project and I hope I'll finish it even if it doesn't look perfect as it's not a gift or anything, just an interesting experiment. You'll notice that the beads have been strung onto the thread I'm using - they're supposed to be integrated into the pattern on the last row - I hope you're suitably intrigued!! (and I really hope I'll be able to show you something finished eventually - whatever it will look like!)

Just to add some 'tweedieness' to this post in case you think I've completely abandoned my fabric of choice - here's a little coin purse I made with the cupcake fabric. I'm hoping to make a little batch of them either for sale online or locally - haven't figured that out yet! . . .

. . . more cakes inside of course - hope you're not hungry hehe! I've used that lovely fuschia pink tweed - I don't think there's a girl on the planet who could resist that combination, Harris Tweed and gorgeous girly pink - what's not to love :)

Well, I better whizz around with my magic wand and get my home spotless after the weekend - if you believe that you'll . . . :D

Hope you had a good weekend - Happy Monday :)

Oh, just moving on from the pink link (that's a good rhyme!) I managed to get out on my very treasured bike at the weekend, and had a lovely spin to the local beach just a few minutes away . . .

Isn't she lovely? I bought her about a year ago and have had some lovely spins to the beach (one of the reasons I got it!) and some fun jaunts out the moor track with 'Little S' (a bit hair-raising actually!). She was a reward for my full-time office stint last year - purposely bought in pink and silver so the boys wouldn't be tempted to run off with her - it's worked a treat and they don't go near it! But also as 'Big S' reminded me, they don't go near it 'cos they know I love her so much - I didn't realise I'd expressed so much adoration for her, haha! :)

Cheerio an Drasda!

Supplies . . . just looking :)

2011-09-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

I ordered a couple of supplies on Thursday, not expecting them to arrive in time for the weekend, so I got a lovely surprise when they turned up today. A couple of balls of yarn and some tiny sliver beads . . .

here's a close up of the beads . . .

The white cotton crochet yarn is for one project and the silver thread and beads are for another - both patterns are from my 'how to crochet' books and I'm quite excited about trying them out. Oh, the sense of anticipation that new crafting supplies bring!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend whatever you are up to :) My posts will have to fit in with my slightly longer office working hours over the next few weeks, but I'm hoping there will be as little disruption as possible to crafting activities - well, we couldn't have that could we, hehe! Cheerio an Drasda :D

Drip, drip . . .

2011-09-13T01:15:00.000-07:00

Well, Hurricane Katia, to my knowledge had little impact on us here in the Hebrides, and today all we have is a gentle drip, drip of rain with hardly a breath of wind . . .

No crafty pics to show today, a little pottering about with this, that and the other :) There's a possibility that I'll be doing a few extra hours at the office job for the next few weeks, so I'd better make the most of not having to rush out today - rushing about is my least favourite activity!

More importantly, I'm hoping to make quite a number of my own Christmas gifts this year, which I think I'll really enjoy doing. I didn't particularly enjoy the run up to Christmas last year - it was rushed, a little stressful, and I reached a point where I almost didn't want to take part in it at all! Not good :/

Here's to some chilled out gift and decoration making and perhaps even some edibles?? and a more creative attitude to the whole event :) I have some ideas of a few things I'd LOVE to make, using some of the skills I've learned over the past year. Some fab ideas in my crochet books!

'Speak soon' :) I'm off to make a list, hehe!

P.S. I will of course be continuing with my 'tweedie' making activites and adding items to my shops - this post was completely dedicated to my, ahem, 'spare-time' activities!!! I have some lovely fabric-lining winging its way to me as we speak :)

(Very belated!) creative space

2011-09-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

I've been lying low all of this week with that grotty cold and to add insult to injury, a back sprain resulting from an ill-judged trudge through the heather last Sunday - that'll teach me! Never mind, all better now :)

During a casual phone conversation with my mother-in-law last Thursday, she happened to mention that it is my father-in-law's 80th birthday next Wednesday - eeeeeks!, Oh dear! - no ready cash for a sumptuous gift :( I went online and ordered one of these rather cheesy commemorative birthday cards, but it has a DVD attached with footage of the year he was born which I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy watching. Hey presto, it arrived today - pheeeeeew, my bacon is saved!

While being laid up this week I came across the above photo of my in-laws shearing the sheep beside our house, I think I took it maybe about 5 years ago (behind it is the cheesy '1931' card, hehe!) - the herringbone Harris Tweed in front, which is actually a pencil case inspired me to make his birthday gift today.

Here's a close-up of the sheep shearing photo - I think it's lovely even though I do say so myself!! I gave them the original, larger photo, so I may keep this one for ourselves and frame it.

They were both shearing the sheep again this year, although they really probably shouldn't have been - them old folks, they really will not be told! There are just five sheep, so just about manageable : /

Here's the finished birthday gift I came up with . . .

. . . to explain, it is a set of 3 zippered pouches, the smallest is to fit a passport (he is going on holiday abroad very soon), the middle sized one was supposed to be for glasses but it is a little too long, we've been having a laugh deciding what he should use it for (screwdrivers, chequebook!!), the last large one is a toiletry bag with waterproof lining.

I've no idea how these gifts will be received - if nothing else they'll be a conversational piece and we can explain how he can 'potentially' use them!!

Here's to feeling better and recovering from a bit of a grotty week - I hope my 'little Silver Darling' got to join the shoal in Portree today - wish I could have seen him and attended this fabulous event, but alas . . . Have a lovely weekend all :D

Thistles 'n String

2011-09-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

Pottering about today with a snuffly cold and a wonky back (plodding through some peat bogs yesterday wasn't the best idea!!). We had a lovely weekend celebrating Little S's birthday (which is yet to 'officially' happen!!), so I chilled out on Sunday and had a little experiment with a crochet hook and some string - mmmmmmm, interesting results! :)

This led me to thinking about this lovely idea with similar materials which I've seen on other blogs - I like the mixture of nature and craft/art. A little research led me to this fab project too - 'a rock wearing a sweater' - love it! :D

Happy Monday :)

my creative space - crochet experiments

2011-08-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

My creative space today comprises entirely of me trying to 'clear the decks' for Little S's birthday party on Saturday - it seems to becoming a ritual for completely gutting out his bedroom, and getting the rest of the house presentable for a little celebratory party. Don't get me wrong - a bunch of 10 year old boys probably wouldn't turn a blind eye to the state of my housekeeping, but their parents might, hehe! - so needs must, *sigh* - bang goes any crafty plans for today ... Here's some picks instead of my crochet experiments at the weekend . . .

. . . my pride and joy - a little 'forget me not' flower - the stem went a bit wonky, but it still looks a little 'stem-like' :) I had such a ball trying out the patterns for various flower designs from my crochet book - learning the stitches as I went along - invaluable learning process, I loved every minute of it! Here's some more . . .

I'm using two crochet pattern books: 100 flowers to knit and sew and 201 crochet motifs, blocks, etc. (I spied the second one on Claire's lovely blog - thanks Claire!!) - in tandem with my 'how to crochet books' - 'Learn to Crochet' and 'Crochet Unravelled'. I've been using internet/blog resources too, which have been invaluable. I learned how to make a 'slip-ring' from this excellent tutorial, as I couldn't get the hang of it from any of my books!

My Crochet Motif book is inspiring me to make blocks, for example, using the flower in the centre of my granny square, I added a border in the same colour . . .

. . . having a little fun with some 'flower-arranging' onto one of my 'tweedie' zipper pouches . . .

. . . another project idea from my crochet books was making greetings card with flowers, kinda neat! . . .

OK, you get the gist, I'm hooked!! I'd love to continue the experiments today, but I'd better get the living room and the kitchen sorted for Saturday's guests, those 10 year olds are getting very discerning these days, hehe :D

More crafty spaces over here - See Ya! :D

P.S. Just remember - US terminology and UK terminology crochet instructions are different!! Double crochet (US) is triple crochet (UK) - sneaky little devils, hehe! :D

Artist inspired . . .

2011-08-29T02:29:00.000-07:00

I'm packing up an order this morning, and was wanting to add a wee something extra (you know the way you do!). I decided to make one of my little 'tweedie' gift tags but couldn't decide how to decorate it - I didn't want to take the sewing machine out, Hey it IS Monday morning after all, hehe! Here is what I came up with . . .

. . . perhaps a little Mondrian inspiration going on here, well just a very little!

I'll be back later in the week to divulge some more of my crochet experimentation - that's a much longer post :D

Happy Monday :)

my creative space - working backwards

2011-08-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm working backwards on 'my creative space' as I was busy at the 'office job' today, and I'm referring to Tuesday's activites - pheeeeew, isn't life complicated :) On Tuesday I picked these wildflowers along the road side, on my way back from a little trip to Stornoway . . .

. . . technically speaking, that's not quite correct. I went to Stornoway on the bus (I don't drive), saw a lovely exhibition about Harris Tweed in the local art centre, visited the new Haberdashery shop, got my haircut (it took 5 minutes!), came home on the bus. Remembered I'd forgotten to buy something, so then walked to the local village shop about 10 minutes away, walked back - spotted some forget-me-knots in the ditch and picked them, then decided to pick a little bouquet of wild flowers along the roadside 'cos they look really pretty right now :

Here's the yarn I bought in the new haberdashery shop . . .

. . . I'm hoping to crochet some lovely wild-flowers from my crochet book today, with my newly purchased yarn. See, it all links up . . . sort of :)

More creative thinking over this way - I'm heading over there myself :)

Versatile Blogger

2011-08-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I received a blog award from the lovely Sam over at Knitting Adventures - sorry Sam, I've just started following your blog (although I thought I was already!!). I've been having a 'battle' with Google and Firefox lately which has resulted in all sorts of mishaps and mayhem with my blogging activities - so I'm blaming them for my misdemeanours!! :D

Anyway, please pop over and visit Sam - you never know, she might give you some cake if you're lucky :)

Here’s how the award works:

After accepting the Versatile Blogger Award, the blogger must:

1. Thank the person who gave the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.

Seven Things About Me:

1. I'm the youngest of six children - there are only 8 years between the youngest and the oldest (some very intensive child-rearing going on in these early years!)

2. I'm very proud of my Hebridean heritage and culture - that's probably a little obvious - Harris Tweed 'n that :)

3. I was brought up in a Gaelic speaking household but I'm a little rusty at speaking it through lack of practice. I can hold a conversation - just don't ask me anything too complicated!

4. I love handcrafts of all kind - that lovely meditative feeling of sitting down and making something with your hands is such a magical thing - and so global :)

5. One of my favourite flowers are sunflowers - they are so 'in your face', cheerful, zingy and just 'a little mad'!

6. I love Woody Allen movies - just remembered that because 'Broadway Danny Rose' was on the TV last weekend and I could happily have sat down to watch it but was too busy dismantling a bunk-bed :(

7. I broke my arm when I was 10, jumping off a trampoline - it set wrongly and I have a 'squinty' wrist - the only thing it affects is when I try to touch-type - I work part-time in a college office as a typist :) :)

I'm going to cheat here and say that most of the new blogs I find are through My Creative Space which is a great place to find some wonderful crafty peeps! I know that is really naughty of me but I do hope you will check out some of these blogs and perhaps take part - it's a lovely way to make some international bloggie friends :) (every Thursday - make that Wednesday night if you're in the UK!)

Did I get away with that? - edging slowly out of this post :D

Cake!

2011-08-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

I thought my blog post title might attract a few viewings at least - I know, sorry a very cheap gimmick, how could I stoop so low, hehe! Well, at any rate I got quite excited to get some new Japanese printed fabrics today - I wanted some smaller printed cupcake fabric to complement a larger print I purchased recently. I'll use the smaller print for lining and the larger one for an applique design, for making coin zipper pouches - let me at 'em, I'm dying to make these - just got to get the right moment this week :) Here's the lovely aforementioned fabric . . .

. . . just yummy! If I could eat them, I would :D I think they'll go really nicely with the tweed I got before my hols. I try to have some of the herringbone one in stock as I use it for Kindle sleeves, and I've been asked if I still have the gorgeous fuschia pink one a few times, so I thought it was worth the investment - it IS gorgeous!! . . .

The tweeds have been handwoven locally in the village of Ness, which is the northernmost tip of the island (where we went for the Gala day a few weeks back). I always feel really proud to be using locally purchased tweed - it was well worth the investment. One day I'll actually makes some money from my crafting LOL!

Until then I'll happily carry on going round in circles and using my hard earned cash to purchase more fabric and supplies, hehe :) Life could definitely be worse! Anyway, I quite like going round in circles, it's quite fun :) (especially if it means getting my paws on these lovely fabrics!)

I spent most of the weekend poring over my crochet books, and the rest of the time was spent dismantling 'Little S''s bunkbed - so a relaxing yet, productive weekend! Now I've just got to figure out where to put one dismantled wooden bunkbed, which is strewn around the house - there's always a downside to these domestic ventures isn't there :0

. . . quite handy, in the meantime, for resting the weekend's unopened junk mail! Hope there are no unpaid bills in that pile, ooops :) (My extended family will be shaking their heads in horror/disbelief at that pic, LOL!)

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to visit a new Haberdashery shop in the town - possibly to buy some colourful yarn for my crochet? - Oh dear there is NO hope for me - definitely a lost cause, I'll tell you how I get on later in the week. Perhaps I'll manage to resist the urge to purchase?????!!

Till later folks :D

a walk on the wild side . . .

2011-08-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

Not much crafting today - I've just taken a pleasant stroll out the moor track beside my home - lots of activity going on out there though! . . .

He jumped from flower to flower . . .

a little nibble, here and there . . .

You'd think I'd have better things to do with my time than follow bumblebees around :)

The boys are back to school today, so I'm taking a little time to myself, before embarking on a much needed tidy-up, better get bzzzzzzzy!

Crafty Weekend

2011-08-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

I managed to squeeze in a couple of crafty projects over the weekend - not quite sure how, ooops - yes I do!, there's a whole pile of laundry still behind me, hehe :) Never mind it's a self-generating pile, which replenishes itself regularly - returning daily like a massive tidal wave - comfortingly reasssuring - NOT!!!! :D

Never mind, domestic duties aside, here's what I was working on - firstly . . .

. . . a little frame coin purse. I can hear you gasp in amazement (or disbelief!!) - yes, I did make it, and it was nowhere as difficult as I thought it would be. I used a pattern/instructions from an old copy of Sew Hip magazine (April 2009) and although I found some of it a little tricky to understand - it worked out OK. I'm going to try and make another one soon and actually document it, as I was so excited trying out this one I had no time to take any pics!

I purchased the frame on E-bay and also the glue - Gutermann HT2. As you can see there are little perforations on the frame for sewing to the purse, but I paid good money for my glue and was determined to use it! True to word, the glue worked very well and seems to have done the job.

I lined the purse in one of my printed cotton/linen fabrics:

A really fun project to do, and not that time consuming - a couple of hours at the most. I promise I will try and repeat the project and show my step to step pics - must order another frame though, this one cost about £2.30 (it's tiny - only 7 cm across, but big enough for a small coin purse).

Next up, my previous pics give a clue - hooray, I managed to make a granny square!!! I feel like I've joined an elite club - finally I've made it, hehe!

Behind it, is one of the crochet books I decided to treat myself for my birthday (which fell on my holiday) - I have to say I was a little disappointed with this book and actually used these two online tutorials to master the square. For the stitches, this one, and for the granny square, this one. The second one is an excerpt from another 'how to crochet' book which is the one I should have purchased, and have now ordered (this is getting expensive, but when you have to teach yourself, there's not much option!). And all roads finally lead to this book, my ultimate goal . . .

. . . Ah, love, love, love this book - the photographs, the colours, the flowers (some lovely wild flower varieties - my favourites). Mariana had kindly e-mailed me an online version earlier this year, but when I saw the hard copy in Waterstones in Edinburgh, the seed was planted - I had to have it! I am one MILLION miles away from making any of the crochet versions, but could probably attempt some of the knitted ones - however I'm obsessed with learning crochet at the moment and loving the fact that I'm learning a totally new craft (it's really quite different from knitting) - I think I've started a long journey, but a really enjoyable one!

The boys are back to school this Thursday so I'll be busy getting them sorted out - back to some more commercial 'tweedie' work too probably, but I've had a lot of fun recently experimenting - I think it's been well worth it :) Back to the laundry now : / Byeeee!

P.S. I will tell you how I get on with the second ' how to crochet' book - fingers crossed with this one!!!

my creative space . . . a fishy tale

2011-08-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

I happened to come across a newsletter in my 'inbox' this week which gave details about an Arts project in the Skye and Lochalsh area (Inner Hebrides). It was a call to arms as far as I was concerned - it read 'Do you enjoy knitting or sewing? We need your help to make Silver Darlings!' A Silver Darling is of course a herring, which I'm assuming originates from Neil M Gunn's book of the same name - a tale surrounding the Scottish Herring Industry at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Anyway enough history, the newsletter gave details on how to knit your fish, the colour scheme - silver, cream, pale grey, the approx size, 'sequins, beads and bling permitted' - 'have as much fun as possible', it read. Well, I was immediately hooked on the idea but had no idea whether I was eligible or not to enter - so I just did anyway!!

The instructions asked to 'use what you have got or recycle if you can'. I have a ginormoous ball of natural aran wool - so I was all set to go. After I'd knitted up the simple pattern and stuffed the rather odd looking shape I went to town on the decoration and here's my 'Silver Darling':

He was really fun to make - I had a ball adding my vintage lace, sequined lace, embroidery details, ribbon, etc . . .

. . . and of course he had to have a big cheesy grin (in true Tweed Delights style!) . . .

I really have no idea what will become of my little Silver Darling - all the fish will be on exhibition as part of the Bonnie Boat event in Potree on the 10th September, and you could opt to have your fish auctioned to raise funds for the local RNLI, which I was more than happy to do. However, I don't know if the project was open to anyone to enter regardless of geographical location - my Other Half posted him off for me today, so farewell little fishy and I hope they let you join the 'shoal of fish' - he'll be 'gutted' if he's not :/

I'll keep you up to date on his progress (if I ever hear anything) - he may be promptly posted back to me - or perhaps some nice person will buy him. I would love him to be exhibited with the other Silver Darlings in any case, and who knows he may raise some money for charity - farewell little fishy, and Good Luck on your precarious journey :)

More creative tales here :D

Back from the City!

2011-08-10T02:15:00.000-07:00

Hello peeps! I've been back to the croft for a few days now - I must have missed my crafting though as I've busy 'making' since my return (more on that later!)

We had a lovely break and really enjoyed our brief stay in Edinburgh. I remember when a city-break used to mean a visit to a few art galleries, going to see the latest movie, perhaps some high street shopping, and if we were feeling really flush - going to see our favourite musician/band in concert - ah, these were the days! Nowadays it means spending two days in an unused quarry watching our offspring climbing to their hearts content . . .

The sole reason of our city break was to take the boys to this fantastic indoor climbing arena, just a few miles from the city-centre. As we knew we'd be visiting the climbing centre over a couple of days we stayed a couple of miles away from it rather than having to travel to and fro from Edinburgh each day - this worked out pretty well, but it was more of an outward bound trip as opposed to a city-break. Well, that's what happens when you have kids I guess!!

The arena is a brilliant place, really quite stunning - it is the largest in the world I'm told - and is built into the side of a disused quarry, hence my earlier comment! People fly in from all over the world to use it and I can see why.

It felt a little like being in a different galaxy (in a nice way!) - had a great cafe, and it was lovely just to wonder around - also a very scenic canal walk into the nearest village of Ratho, which I enjoyed, so something to keep everyone happy :) I didn't do any climbing myself, but I'm quite inspired to give it a try, so . . . next time maybe :D

We did manage to get into the city centre on our last day and visited Waterstones book shop (a must for us book-deprived islanders!) and the Outdoor shop next door - I told you life has changed 'post-children'. I spotted a couple of crafty books I'd had my eye on and ordered them online on my return (sorry Waterstones, oops!!). No, I didn't get to visit Top Shop or visit a nice Gallery, I think that's a different holiday altogether - perhaps I should start planning that one, hehe :D

I've been quite 'crafty' as I mentioned since I got back - must have had withdrawal symptoms!! I have quite an interesting post for 'my creative space' tomorrow, but in the meantime I whipped up a little zipper purse the same size as the one I made myself as I thought it was such a handy size - I've added it here.

See you tomorrow if you're 'around' - Byeeee :D

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

2011-07-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

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 . . .

2011-07-23T04:20:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-21T03:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-07-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-07-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-05T05:25:00.001-07:00

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!

And the Winners Are! . . .

2011-06-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I suppose it's obvious that the Giveaway is now closed! Thanks to all who entered - I'm very pleased to be posting my 'tweedie' egg cosies around the globe :)

The winners are (picked out of a jar by 'Little S' - I must get him to scrub these fingernails tonight, tsssk, tssk !!) . . .

I will be in touch ladies to request address details :)

Claire (Sweet Birdy Love)

Taylor Made

Gretchen (June at Noon)

Many thanks again and I hope you will enjoy your 'tweedie' egg cosies, whatever you decide to do with them, hehe!

my creative space . . . one thing leads to another

2011-06-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Last week's embroidered bookmarks led me to thinking of using a similar design for other 'tweedie' items, hence the wrist cuff idea came about. I don't personally wear wrist cuffs, but I like textile jewelery so . . .

. . . I made some with simple embroidery detail and some with a basic brass eyelet decoration. And yes, I used empty loo-rolls to display them - well, I had some to hand and they were the perfect fit :)

You can still enter my Giveaway for my 'tweedie' egg cosies - I'll leave it open for another few hours until Thursday 6 pm, 'cos I've no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow, and my original closing time of mid-day may go by without my noticing!

Lots more crafty spaces over here - some very creative things going on! :)

Bookmarking, my creative muddle . . . and a Giveaway

2011-06-23T01:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry, some VERY poor pics of the bookmarks I was working on earlier in the week - it wasn't the best light for photography after coming home from the office job last night! They look much nicer in 'real life'!

. . . a real muddle of threads, WIPs, things ready for stuffing, but the bare bones of my craft fair stock are all in there - honest!!

. . . and finally a Giveaway! I've featured these three egg cosies on my blog last year, intending to make some more in different styles - alas they have lain unloved and untouched since then! I didn't get round to putting them on my online shop mostly as they were prototypes - the centre one is VERY much a prototype as it's the first attempt (very rudimentary sewing!), but I think that makes it a little special :)

I'm offering ALL THREE up for a Giveaway - I'll hopefully find a home for each one, so there will be three winners (does that make sense???). To win one of the egg cosies just leave a comment saying why you would like one - it's open to anyone world-wide, of course :)

I'm very happy to be giving these away as I've had such nice feedback from my blog and I very much appreciate it! I'll be coming to the end of my craft stock stockbuilding this weekend and it's been a really good exercise to get me back into full production, so this is a little celebration to mark the completion of 'Operation Craft Fair Stock'!!!

I'll keep the giveaway open until NEXT Thursday at midday (BST) - 30th June.

Sorry, I can't guarantee which egg cosy each winner will receive but please feel free to state your preference!

(Please make sure you can be contacted via your Comment eg. blog, e-mail, etc). Hope I've covered everything, I'm sure I'll have forgotten something - too late now, gotta dash - until next Thursday, Byeee!

my creative space . . . being methodical again

2011-06-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

I'm doing that 'methodical' thing again this week, as I work my way through the list I've given myself for my craft fair stock. I'm hoping to get these, or at least one or two of them, sewn up and stuffed today. My 'tweedie' beach balls are one of my signature pieces so I thought it was only right to include them in my list:) Perhaps they will be added to my online shop soon along with some other new stock, but that will have to wait this week.

I've been doing so much intensive crafting recently that it's been difficult to document it as I go along. Last week I was busy making patchwork cushions with different applique motifs - my little bumblebee finally made his debut appearance! I was quite pleased how he turned out 'on the flat', so to speak - I'm used to stuffing him as a little 'softie'! Hope he doesn't fly off somewhere :)

I used a mixture of zig-zag stitches, straight stitches and hand embroidery for the features. I'm not a whizz at sewing machine techniques, so I . . . er, just 'winged it'! I think it looks OK though, and he seems to be quite happy at the end of the day, which is the main thing :)

Can you believe that I won not one, but TWO giveaway prizes last week??? How amazing is that! One from Tartan Kiwi's lovely blog and the other from Fruitful Fusion's very inspiring blog - I will feature the 'goodies' of course as soon as I receive them. I must have a Giveaway soon myself and have an idea what I will be giving so I'm halfway there - perhaps next week would be good :)

More busy crafty peeps over at this hugely inspiring blog :)

Craft-free weekend

2011-06-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

No crafting this weekend - just some pretty pics of the moorland, beside my home - a lovely natural resource to have on my doorstep :)

. . . trying to capture the lovely bog-cotton in full bloom right now,

. . . looking off into the distance,

. . . miles and miles of it, I hope you're not agoraphobic, hehe :)

It's good to take a crafty break now and then, especially when the sun shines like today - I was just gathering inspiration, honest!!! :D

my creative space . . . more stock building

2011-06-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working through my stock building list again this week. I very methodically cut out, ironed and appliqued, assembled into little bundles, all ready for sewing - was that really me??? Seemingly, yes :D

I'm really pleased how these little egg cosies turned out - a slightly different method from my first attempt last Summer. I think I've grasped the concept of inserting a lining after making multiple zipper pouches recently! Anyhow I was in fabric heaven using my fave materials, Harris Tweed and kawaii printed cottons - deep joy :D

More crafty 'peeps' over here :)

Feel Good Factor

2011-06-06T01:48:00.000-07:00

A few things which gave me the 'feel good factor' over the weekend:

a pretty wildflower which appeared out of the blue in a plant pot . . .

Parking my bum on a lovely bench which my Other Half and 'Little S' knocked together one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago (I went for a walk and there it was when I came back!). It has a lovely curved indentation, just the right shape :) . . .

and trying out a new craft . . .

. . . and not worrying if it all looks a little like a 'dog's dinner', hehe :) I think I'm hooked though!

Back to some more stock building this week - I'll keep you posted with what I'm making as I go along - Cheerio an Drasda :)

P.S. Apologies, but I appear to be having a problem with posting comments on my fave blogs at the moment - I'm thinking it's a 'clogged up' laptop issue! :D

Shiny, Happy!

2011-06-04T01:32:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were a kid and you got one of these packets of brightly coloured felt pens, well that's exactly how I felt when I opened my new packet of crochet hooks, hehe!! Aren't they pretty? They were very inexpensive to buy online on Ebay - my nearest haberdashery shop was closed for lunch so I couldn't buy any locally, and I wanted these beauties in a hurry!

Off to raid my yarn stash - if I can find it!

Have a lovely weekend :)

my creative space . . . purses and plans

2011-06-02T02:10:00.000-07:00

Taking pics of my finished batch of little matryoshka coin purses, made on Monday in an intensive burst of productivity - these little ladies look a little bit grumpy, hehe!

. . . and browsing through a library book I picked up the other day, the colours in this pic look a little similar, sort of summery and sorbet(y!) So this weekend, assuming my hooks arrive in the post I will be learning (or re-learning - I did do some in school many, many years ago!!) the wonderful art of . . .

. . . Yup, crochet! I think seeing these lovely images of crocheting using string got my creative juices going - it just looks very organic - endless design, textural possibilties, I'm looking forward to it :) Wish me luck!

In between I may be making another little batch of something for the craft fairs, which I showed a snapshot of earlier in the week - but I'll see how the day goes and if it will fit in with everything else! A woman's work is never done . . . unfortunately : / !

Crochet pic images courtesy of: Family Circle (Easy Crochet) and Essential Crochet by Erika Knight

P.S. More lovely creative spaces over here - they look so fab this week, I wish I could spend the day reading them all! I'm seeing lots of crochet images in the thumbnail pics - yippee :)

Sneak Preview and a Craftshow

2011-05-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

I've been a busy bee over the weekend - scheming, plotting, making - you know the kind of thing! Not particularly in that order, but one thing kinda led to the other . . . (BTW 'Little S'seems to have broken the spacebar on my laptop, so if my words start to jumble together, you'll know why!) The 'making' bit sort of led to the 'scheming/plotting' bit - after a successful attempt at making a new 'tweedie' item on Saturday, I got the idea into my head that if I was going to build up stock, I really needed a bit of an incentive or goal. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was e-mailing to make enquiries about local craft fairs - before I knew it I was booked into a Summer craft fair . . . way over on the other side of the island!

Well the 'plotting' bit was really about haggling with my 'Other Half' to get him to agree to drive me to and fro on the day - I must admit I did make a VERY nice fish/seafood pie for the dinner -it's all 'give and take' isn't it, hehe! The craft fair is in about 7 weeks time which should just about give me time to build up enough stock for a stall. Well at least I'll get to use my 'tweedie' banner I made last year - would be a shame to have it unused all year :) Who knows if it will be a successful fair - but it will get me started again and maybe lead to one or more later in the year. Getting back to the 'brass tacks' of displaying (or even 'selling' if I'm REALLY lucky!) at a craft fair event is quite appealing at the moment. Just straightforward making stuff and letting folks see them up close, and maybe having a chat about crafting - sounds quite pleasant. It will also be quite terrifying as I haven't done one for almost a year - yikes!!

Above and below pics show a sneaky preview of some stuff I've been playing around with over the weekend. I must say that LOTS of enjoyment was had in making both items - I'm all fired up to make more, I hope the boys enjoyed that fish pie - it might be a happy, distant memory for some weeks - it'll be Pot Noodles and egg 'n chips while I'm doing all that stock-building . . . if they're lucky!!

Happy Monday :)

my creative space - finally!

2011-05-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Finally getting the felt blobs sewn onto 'Little S's' pencil case - well ONE anyway! Maybe I'll do some more after tea :)

And a little pile of pencil cases made their way into my Big Cartel store this morning - at last, a little more productivity! And with 'Big S's' exams out of the way now, I can just let rip and go sewing crazy - well, perhaps just a little bit :)

I would really like to get a little pile of physical stock into my store at the moment - it seems an easier way for me to proceed given my limited workspace. Perhaps a couple of 'made to order' items will make an appearance, but I will be keeping them to a minimum, and just getting on with the job of making, making, making!

More creative peeps over here :)

Moral Dilemma

2011-05-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

I'm in the throws of a moral dilemma today - well, not really - that's a bit of an overstatement. I just can't really decide what to do, or more precisely what to prioritise - sounds familiar???

Remember 'Little S' was going to get a handmade pencil case, with the skull fabric lining - well I dutifully fulfilled this task. Here it is in all its glory, I really like the emerald green tweed against the skull print fabric - I was quite pleased with it!

However, he wanted to customise it - well who am I to curtail my child's artistic leanings??! He described how he wanted to add different shapes of felt to the front of the pencil case, like so:

This really made me laugh, because basically he wanted to turn the new pencil case into an 'upmarket' version of his old camouflage pencil case, which is pictured above. Aren't kids funny! Now I have to handsew the felt pieces on - which is fine, but . . .

. . . I'd really like to contine making more pencil cases, here's a sneaky preview of some I made yesterday (I told you I'd get to use that cute puppy dog fabric!) and . . .

. . . I'd love to get started on making some more of them, which I've already cut out, ironed and added interfacing - all ready for the sewing machine.

So should I: (a) finish off 'Little S's' pencil case or (b) get stuck into sewing up some more for my shop or (c) and I really don't like this option!!! - do all the housework I didn't do yesterday because I was making new pencil cases!!!!

Answers on a postcard please, hehe :)

We had a great weekend at a local music festival this weekend (Sounds in the Grounds). I had a stall there last year but alas did not have stock to do one this year and as it happened the weather was so awful there was very little in the way of any craft stalls this year. It was a fab event however - lots of mud, great music, and I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

Off to muse over my 'moral dilemma', and probably end up doing none of the above - never mind! By the way, I've been working on setting up my Big Cartel shop and must say I have found the Support Team to be very helpful with a couple of queries I had, so things are looking good - just got to get the stock in there!!!

Bye for now :)

my creative space - fabric fun

2011-05-19T01:06:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I was working on a lovely commission for a 'tweedie' pencil case. I really enjoyed choosing the inner lining fabric (as I always do!) and after finishing the pencil case thought it would be nice to to make one for 'Little S' for school. He was delighted by the idea and I suggested that I had some cute 'puppy dog' fabric that would look good as a lining - he looked at me in disgust, "No way, I want fabric with skulls on it!", he exclaimed. Well, that was me told - I obviously momentarily forgot that he is leaving childhood 'puppydogs' and 'cute kitties' behind - what a shame :(

Anyway, we got to work and scoured Etsy for the appropriate fabric (with skulls on!) and came across some fabulous selections. In the pic from left to right: linen newsprint fabric used for the inner lining of my pencil case commission - thanks Ruth!, the 'offending' cute puppy dog fabric which will definitely get used for a pencil case inner because I love it!, and finally tada!, the skull fabric from Etsy which arrived in the post from Taiwan yesterday - he loves it! He has some very definite ideas on how this pencil case should look - I hope to have something to show you next week. In the meantime I'm itching to make some more cases with my fabric stash, for sale online. Off to drool over some lovely yummy prints!

More creative spaces here.

The Finished Gift

2011-05-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

A whole week without blogging - but I'm afraid that's just the pace of life at the moment! It's not that I've been slacking, honest! I finally got round to getting a little gift together for the kind work colleague who donated me a lovely big piece of yummy Harris Tweed. I'd had some PVC lining fabric in for quite a while with a view to having a go at making 'tweedie' washbags, so that seemed the perfect gift as I think this lady has a a lovely holiday to the Big Apple planned later in the year - Ooooh, lucky her!!

Here's how it turned out (please excluse my fat, sunburnt arms - I told you we'd been having some lovely weather here recently!) . . .

I chose this tweed as the one she had given me was quite a dark one which I loved but I think she would have found too dark for her own personal taste. I think the peacock blue PVC lining looked really nice against the pale pink of the tweed. I jammed it up with some nice 'smellies' (that's 'toiletries!) and it seemed to take quite a good amount of products. Here's some pics of it before I packed it up, with just a few random items of my own to show the size. It was a really nice project to do and I'm looking forward to making some for sale hopefully!

As previously mentioned the current plan of action as regards selling my products is to start stocking up my Big Cartel site, but rather than abandon my Etsy shop I think it might be nice to keep it ticking over with a range of simple items eg. fabric covered buttons, or something similar - I enjoy the site too much to walk away from it and use it so much for purchasing supplies, etc.

My 'old' website www.tweeddelights.co.uk will be disappearing this week - out with the old and in with the new, or something like that!!! I'm looking forward to making some 'fresh' creations and having them up for sale on 'Big Cartel' - international shipping on all items of course!

Later 'tweedie' Gaters :)

Lost a Week!!??

2011-05-09T02:49:00.000-07:00

Please don't ask me what happened to last week, because I have no idea where it went. If you've seen it, please get in touch with details of its' whereabouts!! I think the glorious weather we've been having here may have a lot to answer for - we've been engaging in lots of lovely summer activities such as visiting the beach, pitching tents (in the garden!), cycling (to the beach again!) . . . . and so on, and so forth! It probably won't last much longer and may be the only sunny weather we'll get, so I have no regrets about making the most of it!

Lots of signs of the Summer as I go on my walks out to the moor, which is fortunately on our doorstep; cuckoo flowers (Lady's Smocks is another name) coming in to bloom, to coincide with the arrival of the cuckoo . . .

The wild geese have been around for a while and seem to be a permanent feature of our landscape in the Hebrides these days . . .

I'm not always so keen on how these big birds circle around my head as I make my way out the moor track, they fly so low sometimes that you can hear the sound of their massive wings flapping - fascinating, if a little disconcerting! Lots of other birdlife too, but alas I'm not an expert in identifying them all.

Sunday (yesterday) brought a little lull in the good weather, so I rummaged my sewing basket and embroidered some fabric covered buttons - I thought the herringbone tweed would look good with some pastel coloured threads. It was very pleasant to do some relaxing crafting and browse through my new copy of Selvedge.

As for commerical crafting, I'm currently hoping to use my 'Big Cartel' website to post any new items as I make them (sorry Etsy!) - possibly a mix of commercial items and some more crafty/signature pieces. That's probably after I see 'teenage son' through his first big exams (Standard Grades in Scotland) - we're halfway there and I'll be breathing a big sigh of relief when they're done - he seems remarkably laid back about it all!

Bye for Now :)

This, That and the Other

2011-04-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

My Blog post title pretty much sums up today - and although I don't have a whole amount to show for it, I'm happy enough with my results. I've been working on a prototype for a little commission this week, the final item having been finished today. One of these little jobs which in itself isn't hugely interesting but in the knowledge that a little bit of donkey work might result in some sales, so it's worth doing - sorry, I'm being a little cryptic but . . .

Here's the tweeds I've been using:

I don't know why but I took a photograph of these lovely fruit - grapefruit seems to becoming a popular choice in our house at the moment and I'm a great fan of avocados - nice colours together I thought :) (Perhaps I've been overdosing on Masterchef this week - but it has been fab hasn't it? Go Tim!!!!) Apologies to my international readers for any confusion - British TV!!

My youngest came home from school today with some bunting for tomorrow's great event (you know the one I mean!). I'll be watching it, purely from a creative point of view, hehe! He seems to have given Kate a plaid (or tartan!) dress, perhaps it's Harris Tweed, now there's a thought! She also seems to have quite high colouring, too much time in the sun - not a good look for the big day!

I think he made a very good job of the 'colouring in' - he's quite caught up in the whole affair - and a day off from school, so that can't be bad :)

I'm off to polish my 'tiara' - enjoy the wedding, if you're watching it (or even admitting to watching it!!!) Cheerio an Drasda :)

Still Here!

2011-04-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Many apologies for my prolonged absence - two weeks for our Easter break, followed by a further week of celebrations with extended family visiting from the mainland - pheeeeew, must be the longest Easter break ever!! It took me a further week to figure out what on earth I'd been doing beforehand - I'm still working on that one, haha! Anyway in the meantime I've been having some further thoughts of my online shopping presence - but more of that later when I'm sorted.

We're all chocolated out today, like the rest of the country after Easter Sunday yesterday. I packed 'Little S' off to school with a satchel full of Easter egg 'left-overs', I hope he managed to get rid of them!!

It's all blustery wind and sunshine here in the Outer Hebrides today - the poor daffies in the garden have been getting a good bashing but they seem to be holding their own. I'd forgotten that at some point I must have planted a mixed variety of them, they seem to have sprouted up all over the place in various combinations of lemon and yellow, in different shapes and sizes - very pretty!

Sorry about the lack of 'crafty' news but as mentioned I'm working on that one and looking forward to get down to some 'tweedieness' at some point in the week. I did get a fab gift of some Harris Tweed from a lovely work colleague last week - she won it at a Bingo night - it could only happen in Stornoway! :) I'll have to think about a nice 'tweedie' gift as a thankyou to her - I have a couple of ideas in mind though.

Catch up later in the week - hope everyone had a lovely Easter, please tell me it's over now though!!!! :)

Easter Bumff!

2011-04-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

This post is full of Easter bumff! From 'Little S' decorating chocolate Easter egg moulds . . .

to next door neighbours new extra 'Springy' lambies . . .

No, they're not in a cage, just in next door's croft!!! But they are cute, aren't they? :D

And lastly, but not very 'Eastery', a detail from a laptop sleeve for a customer, which I was working on yesterday . . .

. . . just to prove that I have been doing a little bit of 'tweedie' work! I know, I think our Easter holidays are completely out of synch with the rest of the country (world!!!), but then we are living on the edge of civilisation, perhaps that's why???!!*** :)

Happy Colours!

2011-03-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

I missed a lovely photo opportunity this morning on my walk out the moor track beside my home - a beautiful perfect rainbow straddling across the hills, but alas, no camera, boo hoo! You'll just have to take my word for it :) Instead I popped outside and took a quick snap of some 'daffies' in bloom in the garden - there's nothing quite so uplifing as the perfect yellow of these flowers. And yes, it is raining here today - probably because it's the beginning of our Easter break, hehe :) Never mind, it's perfect crafting time - happy weekend!

Creative Space - secrets . . .

2011-03-24T03:28:00.000-07:00

Have two weeks gone since I last blogged??? I'm afraid they have, but I've been busy - honest!!! In between bouts of Spring Cleaning I've been working on my 'key' cards which I've found really satisfying, just playing around with textures, shapes, composition - a lovely change from working on my standard pieces. I've made 4 0f these cards and will hopefully complete a set of 10 (as I have 10 keys!!!).

I toyed with what to 'title' each one but settled on writing 'the key' on each one and numbering them individually - I've signed them too, just like a 'real' artist, haha! Keys have so much symbolism, meaning, etc. I think it's nice to leave it up to the individual as to whatever sentiment, message, the cards evoke . . . having said that I guess they would be appropriate as 18th, 21st Birthday cards, 'new home' cards, etc. At the moment I'm just enjoying making them and haven't planned where, how, or if I'll end up selling them at all! Very self indulgent, I know :)

More creative peeps over here at Kirsty's place.

my creative 'breathing' space . . .

2011-03-10T02:41:00.000-08:00

My creative space today is a very relaxed affair - I'm having a browse at this lovely pile of vintage lace which I'm hoping to use to add some more texture to my mixed-media card in the background. Yes, I'm still knocking about with this idea - well, I did say I wasn't in a hurry :) I did try to get some old lace in my local thrift shop but there was none to be had, so I relied on good old Etsy instead - what a treasure trove it is! I'm going to enjoy just looking at this lovely pile of yumminess, before I even think of getting the scissors out - that will be the painful bit!

After spending an intensive two entire days doing the Spring clean (Part II!) at the beginning of the week, today I'm enjoying the simple beauty of some lovely citrus fruit in my favourite bowl, which I can now enjoy without all the clutter that had gathered around it. There's a lot to be said for being tidy!

Off to have my coffee break now and embark on some lace-love! More creative 'peeps' over at Kirsty's place :)

Cheerio an Drasda

Caution . . . Cleaning in Progress!

2011-03-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well, frankly I haven't been here today because I've embarked on a bit of the above! That, and the fact that's it's been another beautiful Spring day here and you've got to grab the good weather when you can :)

Seriously, this month may (or may not!) turn out to be a Spring cleaning month, when I undertake all the domestic tasks I've avoided doing over the last 3 years while I've been busy building (trying to!) my 'tweedie' empire. So, without further ado . . . :(

If I'm not here, I'll be *sigh* up to my hands and knees in soapy water! I will pop in when I can, as I'm sure I'll be crafting in between, and probably a little more than I should :) Apologies for not visiting my fave blogs recently, but you'll understand why!

Bye for now :)

Spring - technically not!

2011-03-01T02:49:00.000-08:00

Way hay! First of March today - which made me wonder when is the first day of spring . . . and it's not today :( On the plus side, seemingly it's on the 20th of March or thereabouts, according to my internet research - clearly I haven't enough to do (of course, it's the exact opposite - you know the one, you have SO much to do, you faff about for as long as possible to delay the inevitable!) Anyway, it's March and that's good enough for me . . . and the sun is shining, so there :)

Yesterday I managed to whip up a little coin purse, using some of my Japanese cotton prints for the lining - cute puppies and kitties, you've got to love it - I've only to look at this fabric and it makes me smile!

. . . and I actually managed to list it here in my Etsy shop - wonders never cease!

Little Kiddo is doing a project on primitive man at school - we let him loose on one of the walls outside the house . . . I though it was very funny! He got a little carried away and started painting on the opposite side of the wall facing the street, which wasn't quite so funny - he was then promptly equipped with a bucket of soapy water and a scrubbing brush!

I did request that he didn't use too much black paint! . . . and no, it's not an arrow, it's a spear, hehe! Primitive art - I'm liking it :)

My Creative Space . . . ideas in progress

2011-02-24T02:38:00.001-08:00

My creative space this week is this very compact little pile of craftiness, which is exactly how I tidied it away the other day. Having finally admitted that I really don't have a craft-area, apart from a small corner to store all my crafty goodies, this is how my work has to progress and I quite like it as it disciplines me into working on small, individual projects.

I've been thinking about mixed media ideas recently, and for some reason using vintage keys, alongside my tweed, to create some handmade cards. An idea in progress, but it's nice to have something 'boiling' in the background. I'm in no hurry to finish this project - it would be nice to make a series of cards using a selection of fabrics, textiles (I'm using some hessian in the background here), and some other odds 'n sods - the plot thickens!

. . . also in the photo is a cut and sewn pink 'tweedie' teddy for a work colleague who has recently become a Granny - and I really must stuff and finish this today, so skates on for that one!

. . . some embroidery thread to embroider the little finished ted's face, my (quite messy) pincushion, and in the background a lovely book of textile art which I purchased last summer. It features some of Mariana's beautiful work, which gave me the impetus to buy it - it's a lovely book to dip into for inspiration and just pure relaxation.

That reminds me, it's time to go and have a coffee before I embark on any of my projects! Kirsty is hosting 'My Creative Space', so you'll find a wealth of crafty goodness over there :)

Half Term Hols

2011-02-22T03:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I did say I'd see you later in the week but I'd forgotten all about our half term holidays - from last Thursday to yesterday (Monday). I was so caught up in trying to keep my youngest entertained, that my poor blog was completely abandoned. Anyhow, we survived the weekend and were fortunate enough to have some lovely weather which enabled us to get out on our bikes and take a picnic to the beach amongst other things. In between 'Little S' had a spurt of creativity and was busy drawing, making fake 'aged' maps, and practicing being an archeologist with a cheap little dinosaur fossil kit bought in the local shop - pheeeew, it's hard work keeping a 9 year old entertained, but he did pretty well himself!!

I was very impressed with his belated Valentine's gift - marshmallows topped with gummy sweets, and drowned in melted chocolate, hehe!

Needless to say, very little crafting was done but then I didn't expect to and it was a nice break. Looking forward to a little creativity myself though now that they're back in school :)

Cheerio an Drasda!

Sweet Inspiration

2011-02-14T02:28:00.000-08:00

A chance visit to out local Art Gallery (An Lanntair) last week involved the purchase of this catalogue of an exhibition which the Gallery hosted over the festive season. I wasn't blogging much at the time so it went undocumented! Looking through the catalogue over the weekend however, brought the whole experience back and through reading the accompanying text about the talented people behind these creations, I found it really inspiring. Much of the scrap metal used in this particular exhibition was taken from old Singer sewing machines - you'd really have to see it to understand it though!

If you Google 'Sharmanka' you will find out all about the wonderful artist (Eduard Bersudsky) and the other talented members of the group - I would love to visit their Gallery/Workshop in Glasgow, perhaps on my next visit :)

After such lofty, creative thoughts, I'd better go and do my Monday chores - boo hoo!

Back later in the week :)

my creative space . . . or another cracking day in the Hebrides!

2011-02-10T05:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry, overly long title - but the weather here today is so totally gorgeous, I just had to mention it! I'm not being very 'creative' today as I have to photograph and list a custom order for my Etsy shop - however, I've been having a little peek at my package which arrived from Japan the other day. Super quick delivery, I was delighted with it. Seems a shame to hide this fabric inside a 'tweedie' purse or clutch but it's a really fun print and I'm looking forward to cutting into it.

Oh, and here's the weather forecast - sunny and dry, with clear blue skies, just perfect!

Cheerio an Drasda :) Pop over to Kirsty's for more creative spaces, in other beautiful places!

Lights Out!

2011-02-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

Our gale force winds last night, resulted in a power-cut/black-out/electricity failure, or whatever else it is referred to - this was entertaining for about an hour, and then the novelty wore off, for me anyway! 'Little S' was allowed to light some candles, under highly supervised conditions of course!! They were soon missing their Playstations, TV, laptops etc. though - how dependent we've grown on our gadgets, wherever we live :)

All back to normal now though thankfully!

my creative space . . . just looking!

2011-02-03T04:11:00.000-08:00

My creative space is dormant so far this morning, but I do have a little zipper pouch cut out and ironed, ready to sew up later today. But that hasn't happened yet!, so in 'real-time' here's a little shot of the fun fabrics I've been using to line my 'tweedie' pouches - these are such fun to work with. I was a bit naughty at the weekend and ordered a little bit more fabric from one of my favourite Etsy Japanese fabric shops - deep joy! It is ultra cute fabric - I can't wait to get it in the post :) Very exciting to get a little package all the way from Japan - it makes the world seem like a very small place!

Here's the interior of an emerald green tweedie pouch I made earlier this week - I lined it with this fab and quirky Japanese fabric, featuring London imagery, very funny and the text on it is all in higgledy piggledy English, completely non-sensical, I love it, hehe! A bit indulgent as a lining but I find that the interior of the pouches are just as important as the exterior - the fabrics complement each other so well. I've had more fun with yo-yos this week too, and embellished the front of a red 'Valentine' tweedie pouch with this heart fabric yoyo - these are lovely to work with and the ruched effect adds a nice bit of texture too - very satisfying on the creative front :)

I'm off to pick up 'Little S' now as seemingly we have a big storm heading towards us in the Outer Hebrides, and the schools are shutting early - batten down the hatches, yikes!

More (industrious, perhaps?) creative spaces over at Kirsty's - Cheerio an Drasda :)

my creative space . . .

2011-01-27T04:41:00.000-08:00

I didn't think I'd get round to posting today, but I took this pic of various rocks, pebbles, etc which had got covered in dust on a windowsill (they're drying off on an old towel). I thought they looked quite pretty after being rinsed in water, well they would, wouldn't they, hehe :) So far that's as creative as I've been today, but I like the photo and it inspired me to write up a blog post, so that's a plus!

The weather here is absolutely glorious today, I can hardly believe it - clear blue skies, not a breath of wind and you can see the mainland hills really clearly. Hence no urgency to go rushing off to sew, but perhaps a relaxed plod out the moor will be more in order.

I squidged (is that a word??!) a little bit of crafting in on Tuesday and sewed up this patchwork cushion - I'd cut the squares up sometime last year but never got round to finishing it. The colours of the tweed tied in nicely with the lovely Kaffee Fassett fabric I've been using lately (from a very kind blog-pal) so I think that's what prompted me to make it up and to add a fabric yo-yo for a bit of fab and funky detail. I do love the colours.

Hope you're having a fab and funky day, whatever you're up to - check out some lovely creative spaces over at Kirsty's place :)

Ticking Off the List

2011-01-25T02:34:00.000-08:00

That January 'To Do' list seems to be getting a little shorter thankfully - here's a few of the tasks/projects I'm working on in between trying to be a really good, tidy girl (very difficult!) and keeping to my New Year resolutions of keeping my crafting under control (even more difficult!!!)

Sorting through some crafty stuff . . .

making more pouches . . .

This second one is in the shop . . .

. . . and playing around with another little 'crafty/art doll' just for a bit of creative fun, but I will finish her and put her in the shop eventually!

Off to do something in a tidy and organised fashion now - Bye for Now :)!

Sorry, poor light quality in pics - Spring is just around the corner!

my creative space . . .

2011-01-20T05:33:00.000-08:00

I finally got round to putting my lovely Singer sewing machine (originally owned by my late mother) on display, I've only had it for about a year and it's taken me that long to find a special space for it. It seemed too pretty to be hidden away and I couldn't find anywhere to put it, but it now holds pride of place here, surrounded by a few of my personal belongings: a teddy bear from 'who knows where' which I unearthed during a clearout last week; my two art dolls standing sentry (I decided to keep them for myself as 'inspirational 'pieces'!); and a lovely black and white photo of 'teenage son' when he was about 3 years old I think.

This is part of me 'reclaiming my personal space' - my craft supplies had somehow and mysteriously overtaken my home - hmmmmmm, strange how that happens!!! :D (Please ignore all the files and bumff in the background - goodness only knows what's in them, hehe!)

'Little S' is off with a 'winter bug' today so all I've managed to do is take some pics of some packaging details for my 'tweedie clutches' (I made another one this week, but I'll leave it for the weekend to list it probably).

I've had quite a productive week so far though, even with sickly kids about! All my 'tweedie' paperwork is now sorted - it kinda got abandoned sometime last year! This leaves me in a nice position of almost starting 'crafty' proceedings from scratch which actually feels quite nice. More importantly, at the moment, this lovely mag was delivered by the 'postie' just an hour or so ago - my FIRST copy of Selvedge ever (a lovely family friend has been sending me her copies - too kind, Karin!!!) of my own subscription for this year. Guess what I'll be browsing through with my cuppa later today :)

I should probably have invested in a new Winter coat or some other sensible purchase with my Xmas cash, but I think I'll get more intellectual enjoyment from my Selvedge magazines - got to feed the creative mind you know :D Anyhow, it'll soon be Summer!!

More lovely spaces over at Kirsty's and thanks to Gretchen for reminding me when I saw her blog post earlier today!

New Beginnings

2011-01-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

In between my tidying frenzy this week I've managed to make a few more 'tweedie' clutches - they've given me such enjoyment to make. All my favourite things - tweed, kawaii/japanese fabric, buttons and lots of fun with fabric yoyos - I've been having a ball! The first one I made this week went to a crafty friend who has been sending me her back-copies of Selvedge for some time now (I'm treating myself to my own subscription this year - yippee!). I was really pleased how this clutch turned out, I wanted to try a semi-circular shape and I used a lovely Kaffe Fassett fabric which Gretchen may recognise!

My crafty friend loved the clutch, so I was delighted to get her feedback. In between spells of intensive decluttering I went on to try another semi-circular clutch in one of my favourite tweeds - this mustard yellow one which is quite heavy-weight and a little tricky to handle but I love the colour so much, I couldn't resist trying it out. Here's the result:

Lastly I decided to have a go at making a little coin purse, which is the reason I made the semi-circular clutches in the first place, I just didn't have short enough zips at the time so decided to make semi-circular clutches in the meantime! One of these funny creative things, you try one thing as an experiment and it turns out to become a new design in its own right - artistic accidents or whatever you call them! Here's the little coin purse:

This may seem like a lot of work from the person who was going to start off slowly this year, but I've been so inspired by making them they were just a joy to do! They provided a pleasant escape from all that sorting, clearing and 'gutting out' I've been doing. I've had to squeeze my crafting space into a little corner (it had gone a bit mad over the last few months) - I couldn't see where my crafting area stopped and my domestic space began!!!! Sometimes it's not a bad thing having a small space - necessity is the mother of invention, and all that, and it turns out that these little clutches/purses, are the perfect thing for me to make right now in my limited space.

P.S. I've added the last clutch and purse to my Etsy shop :)

Making Fabric Yoyos

2011-01-09T06:40:00.000-08:00

At last, a crafty post! My crafty brain must be slowly coming to life :)

I've been thinking for a little while of ways to embellish my zipper pouches, and yesterday morning I got up and thought - hmmmmm, fabric yoyos - it took me a while to remember the name of these funny little round things! I think I've picked up on their use from some of my American bloggie pals and they certainly seem to originate from the USA, seemingly used to decorate patchwork quilts and cushions, etc in the first half of the twentieth century. Yes, I have done a little homework because I always like to know where things originate from, particularly where crafts are concerned.

There are lots of tutorials on the internet on how to make them - they're very simple and I didn't buy a special template or yoyo-maker, I just cut out a circle of fabric using the lid of a container, turned in the edges of the circle and sewed all the way round. Once you pull the stitches tight you're left with a little puff ball, which when flattened leaves you with your yoyo or 'Suffolk Puff' as they also seem to be known as - Voila!

I added a little pearl button in the centre of this one as I was left with a little hole (rightly or wrongly!). I believe you can alter the length of the stitches to alter the gathering, and size of hole - well, I suppose that would be obvious if you think about it!! I think they have a very 'retro' look and reminded me very much of 50s or 60s styling - a bit like the crochet revolution they seem to have come back into fashion recently. I'm liking them, they're quick and easy to make - Yoyos a go-go!!

Here's some (not very good!!) images of how I made mine - it was a little early in the day, with poor lighting, but you'll get the gist!:

Following a tip on one internet tutorial, I knotted my thread but left a tail at the end so that you could tie the two threads together when you finish stitching right round - knot the two threads together a few times and tuck inside the yoyo (tucking the seam inside too). I used quite a small seam allowance as you can see in the pics.

Happy Yoyo-making :)

Happy New Year (and a little bit of crafty chaos!)

2011-01-03T03:44:00.001-08:00

Well, my blog posts now seem to be on a monthly basis - that's shocking! Hope everyone had a lovely festive season - my laptop decided to become 'ill' in the last couple of weeks leading up to Christmas so I decided it was best to 'back away' from it before it exploded in a dramatic finale!

Still trying to find my 'crafty feet' and swaying from a very positive statement of "yes, that's it - I'm all done with this 'tweedie' nonsense" to a little tentative "well, maybe just a little bit, when I have time . . . now and again!!". On the practical front, my lack of crafting space has to dictate that whatever I continue to make will have to be on a much reduced basis. 'Teenage Son' managed to knock over my er, less than tidy, crafting corner - he appears to have been trying out some new climbing gear he acquired over the festive period - as if my little Hebridean Home isn't TINY enough as it is, I now have a teenager attempting to climb the walls - sheeesh!!! (He did have the grace to tell me - "Er, Mum, I knocked over 'some' of your crafting stuff" - understatement of the year!!!)

(Personally, I will probably not need the aid of climbing equipment myself, as I will most likely take quite naturally to climbing the walls without any assistance, over the period of a long, dark, Hebridean Winter indoors - aaaaaaargh!!)

Anyhow, I happened to glance at the ensuing mess of fabric, notions and 'such like' and thought what a shame it would be not to see that again! I do however need to completely cut back on the amount and range of crafting I will be doing - no more custom orders or 'made-to-order' items for the time being, just the fun stuff!! And on that note, I now have to tackle my 'tax return' over the next couple of weeks, and tidy my crafting area of all the unecessary junk! - declutter, declutter, declutter - this will be my new 'mantra' for January!

Cheerio an Drasda and Happy New Year! (or Bliadhna Mhath Ur as we say here!)

In Flight . . .

2010-12-04T02:27:00.001-08:00

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!

Aplogies for my long absence from my blog, my 7 week stint at full-time office work led to a further 4 weeks on a slightly less full-time basis, but even at that it didn't seem enough time to start crafting again. Back to normal part-time hours again and I have to say it feels good to have the time to do all the the other things I enjoy doing. Not sure which direction my crafts will take me this time - but hopefully a creative one! Like the birds in the photograph, I'm in flight - anyone got a map???

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!!

Crafty post at last!!

2010-09-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Pheeew, I meant to post a little something last Saturday when I embarked (every so briefly!) on this crafty project. However a night out with the girls from work and a little bit of restraint on my part, as I didn't want to spend my weekend family-time on the laptop, meant it was a blog-free zone! I'm surprised that my Saturdays are still an ideal time to get some crafting done, you'd think that with working full-time I'd be scrubbing floors, doing laundry, and catching up with all the other household chores - well, ahem, some things never change and I seem to have neatly body swerved such activity today, 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 pic above is of the beginnings of a zippered pouch - I chose this lovely pink tweed and a complementary Japanese cotton fabric lining, some interfacing and a 7 inch zip - I got as far as cutting out the basic pieces last Saturday. I planned to use this tutorial which turned out to be great and so easy and simple to follow, I was amazed!! I'm sorry but I didn't manage to photograph my progress as I only had today to make the pouch (I made two actually!) - but here are the results.

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!)

Some Words and Pictures . . .

2010-09-12T02:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my previous post - very much appreciated! This morning I woke to a beautiful sunny day here in the Hebrides and my first instinct was to record it in my blog so I guess some things haven't changed! Here's the story:

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! :)

Sorry!

2010-09-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Many apologies, I'm currently having to take some time out from my 'tweedie' business. I'll write a longer post explaining all very soon when I get a little more time to spare. Just one of these things - “The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination” - I'm leaving you with this quotation until I can figure out how to write a post in my own words!! Cheerio an Drasda :) x

P.S. Just to add, nothing disastrous or sinister has happened, just a little change in my lifestyle - 'speak' soon! :)

Time Out :)

2010-08-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hi - I'm taking a little time out from my blog while I have some 'family time' and enjoy a certain little person's birthday celebrations this weekend - back soon :)

Yum Yum

2010-08-26T07:06:00.001-07:00

A shopping trip to our local town of Stornoway this morning put a halt to any plans of 'tweedying' today - I seem to be taking a while to get back up to full production, but maybe that's a good thing! One more order to make up before I decide where to pick up where I left off.

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

Lovely Start to the Day!

2010-08-24T02:39:00.000-07:00

I usually try to squeeze in a walk out the moor road at some point in the day, but decided to take an early morning stroll today. The colours of the moor are beautiful at the moment, with the heather in full bloom - a complete contrast to the stunning mountains of Austria, but I still love this flat, rugged landscape of ours. Working on a couple of orders for laptop sleeves this week which are a little overdue, so I'm afraid I won't be able to show any new creations - hopefully next week I'll get a chance to get the creative juices going once again.

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 to 'Tweedie-Land'!

2010-08-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

Back after a fab holiday in Austria, but also to a slightly wonky internet connection (or more specifically a wonky wireless/laptop problem!) I've taken the opportunity to take an extra week's holidays, get the boys settled back to school (today) and hopefully get the problem sorted by the beginning of next week. Here's some lovely calm and beautiful shots of Austria while I'm getting myself back into gear - think sparkling clear water and wonderful clean mountain air - fabulous!!

Back with some 'tweedie' news soon, I hope! :)

Merry Go Round - July

2010-07-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

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 . . .

Posting a little early as I'm now off on my hols for two weeks - yippee! See you mid-August - hope everyone has a lovely Summer break if you're taking one :)

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

my creative space . . .

2010-07-29T01:13:00.001-07:00

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 :)

Tutorial - make a Fabric Luggage Label

2010-07-26T01:12:00.000-07:00

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:

(1) Two pieces of fabric cut to the desired shape of your label (I used a traditional label shape)

(2) some clear plastic vinyl (I used some from an old pvc bag from a child's toy - probably held wooden blocks or something!)
(3)4mm brass eyelets and tool (and hammer!)
(4) jute string or similar
(5) card for address detail
(6) scissors and sewing machine, thread, etc.

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!

Sew the two layers of your label shape together a few millimetres in from the edge all round. Cut a piece of vinyl a rectangular shape and place it in position, sew this on top of the double layered label.

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.

Have a cuppa!

2010-07-24T23:56:00.000-07:00

I've been gripped by 'applique' fever the last couple of weeks - here's the last of my card designs for now. I still haven't mastered the art of 'free motion' machine embroidery, but I'm using my own methods to get the effects I want to achieve. This is the initial doodle/drawing for the 'cup of tea' design (I've used the Gaelic version here!) - I thought this lovely houndstooth tweed would look great in the shape of a teacup . . .

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 :)

my creative space . . . pipe-dreams

2010-07-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Found myself day-dreaming at the 'office job' today about having a lovely cosy Home Office in the garden (OK, an oversized garden shed would do!) for my little 'tweedie-business'. My wee house is bursting at the seams with tweed and crafty bits 'n bobs. I sometimes harbour wicked thoughts of getting my two lads to share a bedroom (sssshhhh, don't tell them!) but then 'world war III' would probably break out within minutes - more than my life's worth!

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)

I take it all back!!

2010-07-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

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 :)

Eggciting Times!

2010-07-18T01:50:00.000-07:00

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 :)

my creative space . . . time flies!

2010-07-15T00:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, the week has just flown in, and time for blogging is becoming very thin on the ground! Between washing every article of clothing in the house while the good weather lasted (in prep for our holidays in a couple of week's time), and winding things down as regards 'tweedie' business, it's been very busy.

Last night I got back from work to find my new copy of Poppy Treffry's book waiting for me - oooooh, yummy - I delved into it with glee!

It has some fabulous ideas in it and is mostly based around 'freehand machine embroidery' techniques - I WILL sit down sometime soon and attempt this technique again!

I must have been feeling inspired, as I went off to make my version of an egg-cosy using my own slightly unorthodox methods! It worked however and I now feel like making lots of these - but I'd better get back to that pile of washing which now needs sorting out and possibly even some IRONING - *groan*! Think I'll manage to make a couple more of them though in between, hehe :)

Twenty years ago this week (on Tuesday to be exact) hubby and I tied the knot - what was I thinking off, hehe!!!!???** Quite a bumpy journey at times but we're still travelling on the same bus! When 'they' said you had to work at a marriage, I didn't think they meant I had to work THAT hard!!! (That was for my Big Sis - she'll know what I mean, hehe!)

Matching 'wonky' haircuts - very funny!!! Standing on the Castle Green in Stornoway, very close to where I had my craft stall for 'Sounds in the Grounds' this June - we haven't travelled very far, or have we? . . . :)

Bye for Now!

Life on the Croft

2010-07-10T01:45:00.000-07:00

A busy week, sewing laptop sleeves, decorating ice-cream cones, going to the 'office job' (2 days), leaving lots of time for . . . . very little else! Life on the croft continues apace - some blustery weather . . .

. . . 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 :)

our creative space . . . or Part 2 in how to Get some Crafting Done!

2010-07-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

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 :)

Family Portraits

2010-07-06T03:34:00.000-07:00

'Little S' kept himself amused yesterday by making 'packet-mix' Smartie cakes - I'm not beyond a bit of bribery to get some of my own work done during the summer holidays! After he'd iced them he told me he'd made 4 of them to look like members of the family - the mind boggles! It was quite easy to guess though, hehe!

I'll have to think of something else today - hmmmm! :D

And the winner is . . . .

2010-07-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

A very prompt announcement to my Giveaway today! I got 'Little S' to pull the winning entry out of a tweed bonnet (sssshhhhh, don't tell anyone but it's not Harris Tweed, ooops!!!)

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 :)

Pheeeew! Back Again :)

2010-07-03T04:09:00.000-07:00

Well, three days without an internet connection was quite strange, a bit scary too when you can't respond to e-mails and such, but hey, we survived and it gave me some free time to browse some craft books.

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!

Apologies!

2010-07-02T05:51:00.000-07:00

Oooops, many apologies! We have been without our Internet connection for the last 3 days - a fault with the phoneline company, so sorry!!!

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!

Summer Giveaway

2010-06-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hooray - the Summer hols are almost here! Our kids break up for their school hols next week, so it's probably a good time to do a Giveaway as blogging/crafting/networking time may be a little reduced. In any case, I don't really need a good excuse for a Giveaway, but these are some little 'tweedie' leftovers from my craft stall last Saturday. It's unlikely that I'll be doing many, or any, craft fairs at all for the rest of the year so I thought I'd offload some stuff!

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 :)

Merry Go Round - June

2010-06-24T12:10:00.001-07:00

This month's Merry Go round theme: What's on your plate - healthy quick recipes that give us plenty of time to create

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.

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 :)