Styling The Seasons

Reading through the large list of bloggers I follow, I came across a post on Candypop. It's about how to take good flat lay photographs.
The photography side of me loved this! Usually, I prefer to take landscape photos and still life, so this post really appealed to me (I'm hoping to get back into my photography much more).

For me, autumn is falling leaves, reds, oranges, warm colours in an otherwise colder climate.

I gathered leaves on a walk with Bailey (which is more difficult than it sounds at a pitch black 7am!), and used a few flower heads from the flowers my mum gave me for my birthday (which also happened to be the same day as Natasha (author of Candypop) published the post). I added buttons and thread as there will be a lot of sewing happening in the next month or so. And lastly, candles.  As soon as the nights get darker, the candles come out. So cosy!

I've tried to use Natasha's tips, but natural light has been a bit difficult to achieve. So here's my attempt!

This is also part of another post by Emily Quinton called Styling The Seasons. If you're on Instagram, why not check out all the other entries under #STSxMakeLight. And why not try one for yourself :)

Plush Addict Wishlist

Hello! Long time no see!

It's been a busy year and I haven't blogged nearly as much as I wanted. But that is going to change! Instead of waiting until the new year to sort my priorities out, it's going to happen this week. I've settled into my new place and am currently typing this on my new (free) tablet with a peppermint tea, blanket and Crazy snuggled around my feet. Bliss!
And with that, on to the topic!

Plush Addict (one of my favourite fabric online stores), are giving you the chance to win your wish list! All you have to do is create your wish list on their site and share with them, easy! (This is not a promotional post by the way!).
I've done this and thought I'd share some of my favourite fabrics!

Firstly, this lovely plush fabric by M.O.M called Ooga Booga.

I have a niece and nephew on the way and would love to make a baby blanket out of this.

Next, by Timeless, this gorgeous glow in the dark fabric!

I used this fabric for one of my last swaps, a celestial mini and can't wait to find something else to make with it!

I'm not usually one for flowery fabrics, but I do love this one by Nutex:

I need to make a little curtain for my kitchen to cover up the space that used to house a dishwasher. I've seen a few fabrics I like for this:

Lila's Kitchen by Makower. The colours really work for my kitchen.

Cock-a-doodle do by Henry Glass, because there seems to be a chicken theme in my kitchen too!

And I couldn't resist The Very Hungry Caterpillar, also by Makower.

Another thing I'd like to make for the house is a tissue box cover. As there are butterflies on the pillows on my couch, I thought this Arbor Rose, Butterfly by Andover would go really nice.

And lastly, from the Sewing Studio range by Robert Kaufman. This is going to inspire me to start making my own clothes next year! Eek!

The Animal In You Swap

Another swap done! This one was organised by @terireymann on Instagram. (You might be seeing her name again, I've joined 3 of her swaps this year!).

The idea of this swap was to make 3 homemade items based on your partner's favourite animals. My partner chose a horse:

My partner had posted a few photos on her inspiration mosaic of pouches. So I thought this would be a great gift.

The second animal she chose was a dog:

This pattern is from Mollie Johanson's book, Stitch Love. He's an adorable Darling Dashschund Wrist Rest. 

And lastly, my partner's third animal, a fish!

I didn't get a photo of this after I finished it and posted it, d'oh! But let's face it, something had to involve hexies! 

I've also just finished another swap, due to be sent by Wednesday. My first attempt at a one hour basket:

Again, hosted by @terireymann, I thought I'd join in this one as it was only supposed to take an hour. Now that I've managed to make one, I'm sure the next one won't take me 3 hours! lol. Also, fusible fleece! Why have I never used you before??! My new favourite sewing companion!

ALL the swaps!

This last month has been a busy one for me with swaps! I have however, learned to manage the time scales a bit better! (Aside from one swap, but I was determined to use a fabric that I'd ordered from the States which took forever to get to me, by which time I'd had to give up and use other fabric instead! Sewing first world problems....lol).

The first one was a rainbow mini swap hosted by @katebasti on Instagram. I used a pattern from Quilt Now, issue 3, designed by Sonia Spence of Fabric and Flowers. It's a teardrop paper piece quilt, which I had a few issues with to start off. However, the lovely Sonia responded to a message I left her on her blog and helped me through it! She was so patient :)

I still need to work on my seam allowances, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I also added a different panel at the bottom by turning one of the teardrops into a kite. It reads "when it rains, look for rainbows", one of my favourite quotes and quite apt for this swap.

The next swap was a spring mini hosted by @beachbabyc on Instagram. I had the pattern for this picked out within minutes! Another one from Quilt Now, this time issue 8, designed by Collette Howie of Poppy And Poochie. The original Catherine Wheel pattern was in black and white, however, for spring, I decided to use nice bright fabric from a jelly roll I had in my stash.

I really relaxed and enjoyed making this quilt as it was back to my happy place of hexie paper piecing! I also made a little extra for this swap, an embroidery hoop balloon, this time courtesy of Mollie Makes issue 52.

The last swap was a tea lovers mug rug swap, hosted by the lovely @jenipher1982, who I got to make for :) One of her favourite themes was nautical, and I had the perfect fabric for this!

As a little added extra, I made a tea cosy using a pattern I found online at Messy Jesse Crafts. It's the first time I've ever made a tea cosy, and after my mum saw it, I doubt it'll be the last! But a lot easier to make than I thought. I'm definitely getting more confident with my sewing machine and things I'm attempting to sew.

I've signed up to quite a few swaps to keep me going for the rest of the year, but the next deadline isn't until July. I'm going to have a little time out this month and maybe start making some things for myself and family, like that tea cosy for my mum! And possibly a cover for my sewing machine, maybe even start a full size blanket, panic! Hopefully I'll find time to post up on this blog more often too.

Swaps, swaps, and more swaps!

Eep! It's been a whole month since I last posted, naughty Moogle!

I have been crazy busy this last month between roller marathons, bouts (playing and watching), my niece's 1st birthday - lots going on!

I've also joined in several more swaps on Instagram (like I haven't been busy enough, lol).

The first one is the Verry Cherry Swap. Pretty much like the Strawberry Swap, but I've been paired with the person who'll be sending my gifts. She likes ginham, polka dots, aqua and red, so I'm hoping she'll like what I've made so far!

With Halloween coming up soon (one of my favourite times of the year!), I've joined not one, but two Halloween swaps. 

Kawaii means cute in Japanese :) For this, I have to make something small, include something small that my partner can use to make something themselves, some themed related goodies and candy. 

For the second one, we've to make a Halloween themed drawstring bag from a pattern we've been given and fill it with Halloween goodies.

The last swap I joined is a mini quilt one. I've only made a few quilts, with a few issues, so I'm hoping I don't mess this one up! But I have until December to finish it, so I'll just be taking my time.

And lastly, no so much a swap, but a lovely idea - a penpal list. You can send anything you like to those on the list, any time you like. Random snail mail that might just cheer someone's day up :D

Now, better get back to finishing off some Cherry Swap goodies!

Strawberry Swap: Update

I've been very busy working on this! Here is what I have so far:

Firstly, I knew I wanted to do something with the fabric I got with my subscription to Mollie Makes Magazine. My swap partner wanted pinks, greens and whites, so this fabric was perfect! I also saw a post on Wild Olive's blog about hexies. One person commented on making stuffed animals with hexies. So I started making hexies to join together to make one big panel of fabric.

I then had a little browse on Pinterest and found a tutorial for making a strawberry pincushion. And then indeed, the scary part came - cutting a circle out of the hexie fabric!

Which didn't go as badly as I thought, phew!
And here is the finished product!

I'm quite pleased for my first attempt, however, next time I won't stuff them quite so much!

I then took to my second love, cross stitch, to make this (pattern found here):

I've ordered a smaller hoop, which I'll decorate with the pink gingham fabric.

I also made a bracelet using these charms:

And I bought a cute little strawberry iron on motif too:

So far, the package is looking good, but I still have a few more items to add in there before it's complete! I hope my swap buddy likes what I've done!

Wild Olive on Etsy

At the beginning of the month, I entered a competition by the lovely Mollie of Wild Olive to celebrate her 10th anniversary of blogging! I was one of 10 lucky winners to receive $24 of credit for her Etsy shop! It was difficult to chose, I'm sure you'll see why as I take you for a little tour of her shop.

One of the first embroidery patterns that jumped out at me was this one:

When I finally get my own place, this is going up in the bathroom! It's a total bug bear of mine!

Another one for the future home:

Chores of the week! But I'll admit, the thimble was the pattern that clinched it for me, how cute!

And I had to get the SeaSiders patterns to go in my room:

Once I've stitched these up, my room is going to look amazing :D 

Along with the embroidery patterns, Mollie also has gorgeous printables available, such as these owl lists:

And not forgetting the Blog Buddies printables, which I will use over and over again!

And I love this pencil case pattern! My nephew will love it :) 

There are also offers available in her shop, for example, choose 3 embroidery patterns from a range in the shop and save $2.

This is also where you'll find access to Mollie's stitching clubs and embroidery classes. I joined all of the season clubs and loved each one. The newest addition is the 50 States Stitching Club. 

Once I've finished with my freebies, I'll heading over to buy more! If you love all things cute, this is the shop to visit :) 

Strawberry Swap

I am so excited to be taking part in my very first swap! The lovely Frampuna (aka Jamie) has organised this :)

All I have to do is craft something strawberry related using a few key requests from the person I'm sending to, like which colours they'd like in their item and what kind of crafted item they'd like. Simple!

I went straight to Pinterest for inspiration! Here are some ideas:

Strawberry Needlebook

Strawberry Gift Bag

Strawberry Pincushion

Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry Buttons

Strawberry Candle Mat

Strawberry Pompom

Strawberry Plush

Strawberry Patchwork

I have so many ideas!! But I think I'm very certain on a least two things I will definitely be making ;) The item(s) have to be sent out by the 20th of August, so watch this space!

Little Moments

Today was the day I have been waiting for since Fat Mum Slim (aka Chantelle) announced that she had designed her own app! Fat Mum Slim is a blog I've been following for a few years since discovering her Photo A Day challenge. So when the app, Little Moments, was finally ready to buy, I had to get it!

Only available for the iPhone or iPad at the moment, you can use this app to edit your photos. Here's a few I've played around with today:

When editing your photo, the first option you have is which size you'd like it - 1:1, 3:4 or 4:3. Once you've cropped your photo, the fun starts! Like Instagram, you have the option to add a filter. Only Little Moments filters are so much more fun! With names like "candy", "popsicle" and "daydream", what's not to love?
You also have the option to add text, in a range of colours and fonts! Can't think of anything inspiring to write? Little Moments comes with it's own sayings for you to chose from. There's also a selection of images (like the heart I've added on my photo of Bailey sleeping) which again you can change the colour of.

Not only does this app come with an editing feature, if you are taking part in the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day challenge, the app will send you prompts (as long as you have it turned on) to let you know what the day's photo challenge is. You can also have a look at the list for the month and see what photos Chantelle has picked for her fab four for that day. You never know, one day, I might be lucky enough to have one of my photos picked!

No Buy July!

I follow a few crafty people (crafty as in those who make things, not crafty as in shady people, although I think I follow a few of those too! Haha!) on Instagram. I came across a post that immediately appealed to me from belloquacity entitled No Buy July. Here are the rules!

- No new fabric purchases
- No patterns, no books, no fancy rulers or non-essential notions
- Goodies to accompany swaps allowed
- Existing club commitments/bundles or subscriptions already signed up for allowed
- Thread for current project allowed
- Wadding for current project allowed
- Zippers for current project allowed (but no large quantities of these!)

We then write out our list of projects (here's mine) and post our lists up on Instagram using the hashtag #itstimetostopbuyingandstartsewing:

Now, it might not look like too much, but there is a lot of work in this list! The cardigan makeover is basically just replacing buttons on a cardigan that my sister was going to throw out, then trying out some embroidery. I got these adorable buttons in a Hobbycraft sale and I think I'm going to use those along with some tips from my Doodle-Stitching book by Aimee Ray.

My Spring Stitching Club Quilt is getting there. I've got most of the coloured hexagons do, but I really have to get cracking on the embroidered ones.

My summer quilt....well, I haven't even started this yet and I've received 40 issues of the magazine (Sew and Stitch) with fabric for a square from each issue! This is what it should look like:

And then we have the cross stitch that I am slightly ashamed of.....It was supposed to be for my niece Niamh's first present from me and well, she'll be 1 in August....bad Aunty Shelly. As excuses go, this is actually one of the most complicated cross stitches I've done so far - there's about 10 different shades of grey thread and the thread isn't the best quality in the world, often snapping half way through. Now that I've finished the solid part of the cross stitch, I have to do the tatty bear part and this is the part that's making me feel like I'm totally hashing it all up :( 

And lastly, what I have been saving up ALL the corks for (this has taken a looooong time!), a home made cork board for my mum (not stitching, but a project nonetheless).

The birthday gift is being kept secret/a work in progress! But let's see how much of this I can get through in a month. And how long I can last before I sneak into Hobbycraft!!