This will be my last post from here as I have a new home in blogland where I hope it will be easier for you to find/follow/comment - if you want to that is. I've also been able to add a few extras.

My website will still be up and running with new creations being added to the shop it's just that I will be blogging from here in the future.

Thank you for visting I hope you will come and say hello at my new home see you soon.

I know amazing I'm back already but I have some pictures to share of my yearly projects. I'm not sure how long this will last so I thought I'd make the most of it!

My 52 in 10 has got a bit out of order as this is the week 3 prompt but you have to take inspiration where it strikes, I'm working on week 2 ;-) This prompt involved looking back and imagining that if you could go back in time what advice would you give your younger self. I find journaling hard at the best of times but I gave it a go. I can't believe I'm sharing this photo with you it's of me aged 16 taken at a hairdressing competition where I was the model. I look like I've got attitude don't I? - and I probably had! I made the photo into a faux polaroid an idea taken from my Journal Revolution book by Linda Woods and Karen Dinino. The challenge part of the prompt involved using a quotation so here's what I used.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

I didn't really give my younger self any advice in the journaling as I wouldn't have listened. I was in a hurry to do everything and I think part of growing up is you have to explore, dream and discover all by yourself and learn from your mistakes. Would I want to be 16 again? Definitely not I couldn't go through all that teenage angst again.

I've also completed the first prompt at http://oneyearartjournal.blogspot.com/ where prompts are going to be posted on the 15th and 30th every month. This was a page about what holds you back or what is stopping you?

The words of The Chemical Brothers automatically sprung to mind and my other half thinks I've gone all surrealist LOL

I'll be back with week 2 of my 52 in 10 project soon - I hope

I'm so glad the snow has gone as yesterday I went to a UTEE workshop and if it had been this time last week don't think I'd have got there. The time just flew by but by the end of the day I'd created all this. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to mount them all on the canvas.

The workshop was held at http://www.pickleberrypapercrafts.co.uk/ taught by Jennie of http://www.theartisticstamper.blogspot.com/ It was a great day and I learnt so many techniques I may just *have* to buy a meltpot. I don't think any two pieces made throughout the day looked the same. Here are some of my favourites that I made. Jennie also showed us how to make faux porcelain flowers which are made from paper and dipped into the meltpot. They look really effective and I'd like to make more.

This week I also finished Garrett's calendar for his desk at work, a bit late I know but I hadn't been able to find the sort of calendar I wanted but luckily found this one reduced in Boots. It's supposed to take 4x6 photos that slot into into the ready made bit at the top. Here is June with photos of last years Glastonbury.

........and guess what, I'm still keeping up with my 365 journal, amazing I know! 

I've been keeping up with my 365 challenge and have even made a cover. Well, it needed one as I decided to go with an A4 25p exercise type cash book which wasn't very substantial. A bit of sticking and pasting later and I had a nice journal. I used some sturdy packaging from some new curtains and covered them with Amy Butler paper and covered the spine using a bit of material (yes! Amy Butler). A printed title and stamped calendar provide the finishing touch along with a bit of East of India union jack ribbon. It's more substantial now but I only hope my wafer thin papers hold up to the year. A bit more sticking and pasting required I think.......

The beginning of a new year has me feeling enthusiastic about all sorts of projects and Scrapdolly has a free 52 in 10 project going on at http://dollysdreamings.typepad.com/dollys_dreamings/ She will be posting new prompts every week. I'm not sure I'll keep up with it  but here is my first offering looking back over the past decade using a photo of me now and one ten years ago. The top photo is of me celebrating the millenium and I was looking forward to being thirty......mmmmm.

At least the snowy wintery weather provides a good excuse to stay at home in the warm doing a spot of crafting. That's how I plan to spend my weekend - have a good one.

Yes, I'm starting as I mean to go on! I have my first month all ready and set to go in the calendar 365 challenge and have filled in my first couple of days. January has a bit of a doodled look to it with the paperartsy stamp I used around the outside of the page and I doodled in my title letters. I added a bit of colour on the background with my Neocolour pastels and the squares are cut from a Basic Grey Porcelain 6x6 paper pad that look like watercolours. Little tip here - if you are using the 1.5" squares for each day, 6x6 packs of paper are perfect to use with no wastage.

I'm also pleased that I have managed to complete my first art journal page and I hope it will be the first of many.

I used a quote that I saw on a birthday card which really appealed to me and some pages of a boden catalogue. Again I used my Neocolour pastels as I wanted the practice and a bit of Pebeo Touch. I thought the black and white photo of me would contrast well with all the colour.

I always seem to be hopping from one craft to another and this week has seen a return to beading which I haven't done for along time. I started by making a beaded ring and it along with some others will be appearing in the online shop soon.

Today my Mum brought me a new publication just out all about how to crochet. I hope to pick up a few tips and it's a great bargain as included in the 99p (first editon!) price is a DVD, a hook and two balls of wool as well as a few patterns.

What new craft are you hoping to take up in 2010?

Where has 2009 gone? It seems like only yesterday that the new year started with me feeling less than perky but a resolution was made to set up a website and surprisingly I achieved it. Thank you to all of you who have supported me and provided encouragement. It's always a nice feeling when other people like what you do as much as you do.

What will 2010 bring? Well I have signed up to take part in a 365 art journal challenge. The aim is to journal each day a month at a time. It sounds quite daunting but I think once the preparation is done it won't be! If you want to check out more visit http://thekathrynwheel.blogspot.com/  and all will be explained. Part of the challenge is to post at the end of each month so you'll be hearing more from me.

How are you celebrating New Year? We're having a beer tasting evening with friends so this year could also begin feeling less than perky! Whatever you do have a great time.

I know it's a bit belated but I hope Christmas was good to you either enjoying it with family or receiving the best presents ever. Ours was spent with family enjoying good food, wine, a bit more food and a little bit more wine.

However the weekend before Christmas we hosted a Strictly Come Dancing Final party. Good fun was had by all and although Ricky was a good dancer I secretly wanted Chris to win. He always looked liked he enjoyed himself so much. It just goes to show the most unlikely people can be dancers - it could be you! I miss my salsa class. Anyway I thought I'd leave you with this photo of Len and Alicia enjoying the party.

Happy New Year and see you in 2010

Ahhhh! Where did November go? All my good intentions of getting organised seem to have got lost on the way to December. Oh well there is only so much time in the day and I did manage to get my christmas pudding made so it's not all bad.

One of my work colleagues was 65 recently and I wanted to make something to give to him so I decided to knit one of the small Jean Greenhowe characters and personalise it. So out came the baker pattern again (I made one for my mum's 60th birthday in an earlier post) and I embroidered his name and 65 on the cake.

And as fast as I can knit an Alan Dart teeny tomte they find new homes as if by magic, maybe I should have had a better plan of action but I only recently found the pattern which of course I've had ages and put somewhere safe and forgotten about. However if you fancy knitting your own and have a bit of spare time before christmas (yes, I can hear you saying "are you joking") you can download the pattern here http://www.alandart.co.uk/products/product/20 They make good tree decorations so if you don't have time now you can always knit some for next year just don't do what I do and put it somewhere "safe" never to be seen again.

I found a really lovely tutorial for making a christmas tree softie at http://lucykatecrafts.blogspot.com/  They are quick and simple to make so I dug out yet more of my Moda charm squares in christmassy colours and run one up. If you don't fancy having to join different coloured fabric together you could use just one colour of fabric and if you don't have a sewing machine this would make it easier to hand sew too. Topped with a glitter felt star and some buttons I think it looks quite cute. I thought this project would be good to try out my beanbag filling - lets just say it could have ended up very messy but I got there in the end and tried not to sneeze.

Best get back to working on getting my christmas cards finished and trying not to feel guilty about those people who will receive a bought card.....mmmmmm there again I could be distracted by making a winners trophy for next weeks strictly bingo at our strictly final party get together now where's that glitter ball?

......that there are some fantastic new projects available from the fabulous Michelle http://www.mjm-thearttart.com/ I couldn't resist buying her wishing house project and made these sweet birdhouses. The larger one is going to reside on my kitchen windowsill and the mini one may hang from my tree. I decorated it with a snowflake stamp for a christmassy touch. I photographed them with a little cat which I stamped and cut out using my paperartsy christmas stamps so you can sort of see the difference in size. The beauty of this project is that you can make them any size you want and Michelle always provides really clear step by step instructions. I think you'll agree they look pretty good.

And I promised to share what I did with my finds for the one of the 12 days projects. Well here it is. I'm quite please with it and I managed to include my Nan's scarf clip, the grey pearls came from a broken necklace, the cream velvet ribbon came from my stash and so did the mother of pearl buttons. All in all they now serve a much better purpose than being at the back of a drawer somewhere.

You may have noticed my pretty new blog button it came free courtesy of Cute and Cool Blogstuff Pay them a visit here http://blo64rt.blogspot.com/ there loads to choose from.

Well it's the weekend so hopefully I'll have some time to create if I do I'll be back to share :-)

......let me explain, I took part in a cyber crop based on the theme of The Wizard of Oz .

It's been a busy weekend but I managed to fit in a few class projects during the cyber crop and the results were some great layouts.

I was thrilled to find out that my mystery kit project had been voted the winner for my team. I had fun thinking of something to make from the kit which included some really nice papers including one of my favourites of the moment "Apple Delight" by Sassafras which as you might imagine from the name features apples. The idea is to make something using only the kit and basic tools and equipment, no extras allowed apart from white/black card, paper, paint, ink, pens. So I set to work and decided to make a wreath the main circle of which I cut from the packaging and painted it white. Next I cut lots of heart shapes from the double sided papers and stuck them around the edge of the circle. Included in the kit were some ribbons which were wrapped around a wooden peg so in true Blue Peter style I revisited my childhood and made a peg doll. In the kit was some brown embroidery thread which became her hair and I gave her black and white striped legs and a pretty dress also madefrom the apple patterned paper.  Finally I used the stick on alphas to spell out "No Place Like Home" and some curls of paper to resemble ribbon.

The 12 days projects continue and I hope to be back later in the week with an update of the things I've made. I have lots of ideas in my head the problem is having time to put them all into practice.......

I seem to have so many projects on the go at the moment and have somehow ended up with 3 knittings projects in progress. How did that happen? But something I did manage to finish without any last minute hiccups was a knitted neckwarmer with a removable corsage for a friends birthday who assures me it's lovely and cosy to wear.

Over on UKS I was surprised to learn I'd won the monthly card challenge. It had to be based around one of three sketches so I used one to make a christmas card which hasn't really made a dent in the number left to make but it's a start. I always feel guilty about sending shop bought ones but perhaps I should overcome my guilt.

In the 12 days workshop there have been some lovely projects and ideas and some of these include making jewellery from finds in your own home. Not that I need anymore necklaces but they really looked so nice I just neeeeed to make one. Initially I thought I'd check out that auction site but there were no bargains to be found so I went in search of what I had lurking about. What did I find? Some relics from the 90's when I had a penchant for large earrings and I seemed to wear a lot of brooches. It all really looks quite glitzy and not something I'd wear now so it makes sense to turn them into things I would be happy to wear. I'm always on the look out for interesting finds and this seems the perfect way I can use some of those too including a lace wasp brooch and an interesting sort of quilled wooden butterfly very similar to one of those that Kirsty used in one of her projects. I also came across a scarf clip of my Nan's and whilst I don't wouldn't wear it with a scarf I'm sure that it would look lovley incorporated into a new necklace and it will be nice to remember her when I'm wearing it. I'm sure I have plenty more treasure hidden away but for now here's peek at what I found........ those bejewelled creations with the pearl centre are actually earrings how did I wear them - it's nearly as big as the brooch next to it!

I don't have any layouts to share but I hope to do some scrapping this weekend as it's cyber crop time at UKS. The theme is The Wizard of Oz and there are some great classes coming up over the weekend so I just hope I have time to take part in a few. Next time I'll share  those I manage to do. 

.....and finally but definitely not least if you haven't already discovered it and you own a Cuttlebug you should pay a visit to http://ikkiscuttlebugcupboard.blogspot.com/ There you will find all sorts of useful information and tips on using your "bug". Ikki makes some beautiful cards and has some great christmas cards ideas featured at the moment.

bye x

This OR That?

fabric OR paper - A hard choice paper....no fabric.....no paper.....oh I give up!

ink OR paint - ink

grungy OR clean - grungy

cut with scissors OR tear with bare hands - a little bit of both

measure OR just guess - depends how bothered I'm feeling

careful OR haphazard - careful-ish

hoarder OR minimalist -  Ha! definitely a hoarder (aren't most crafters)

Christmas OR Summer holidays -  Ba Humbug! Summer

music OR talk radio - Music, you can't sing along to talk radio

drive OR walk - prefer to walk but without the painful knee 

gym OR beach - beach

cook a meal OR buy take-away - cook a meal

fruit OR cake - cake

ironing OR crafting -  Are you kidding! crafting

ironing OR vacuuming -  I don't do ironing, well only reluctantly now and again,  so vacuuming

my friends OR my own company - my own company

talk OR listen - listen

you OR them - you

always OR never - always

half-full OR half-empty - probably half-empty!

yes OR no - there's no crime in saying No

Over at Copy and Paste this is a little quiz as a warm up to the start of 12 days of Christmas. I have to say that taking part made me feel a little better, maybe I'm not so weird enjoying my own company as it seems to be a popular choice with crafters........and who enjoys ironing? There are so many more enjoyable things you could be doing in  your own company - like crafting!

I'm a bit behind but this month I appear in Scrapbook Inspirations after being asked to take part in the Ready Steady Scrap article. The only down side - a photo of me had to appear in the magazine. I loved taking part and it was exciting to be asked.

This week has seen me sign up to The Copy and Paste Project's the 12 days of christmas. It's an online workshop which runs from 5th-20th November. There are 12 full projects and lots of other bonus downloads why not pay them a visit to find out more if you want to make the most of your creative supplies and make a few presents for Christmas.  http://thecopyandpasteproject.blogspot.com/

Remember I told you about the great little cupcake card to make well my polystrene balls arrived and I set about creating. Let me tell you it's not easy to cut one of those suckers in half and things did get a little messy when I was gluing the ribbon. It's not quite as delicate as the ones I showed you more of a mansize cupcake but hey it's my first attempt. ......

Yep, the grapes have been picked and the winemaking process has begun.............

..........It smells very alcoholic already

I've had a few family birthday cards to make this week, the first for Garrett so what better than a photo from this years Glastonbury and one for my Auntie who we took last year to Paris for her 80th birthday. I added some of my favourite things to create at the moment, flowers made from book paper. My tip - when making these flowers be sure to check what is printed on the book page, I nearly gave my Auntie one with a very rude word printed on it. Not the kind of birthday sentiment you want to send to your nearest and dearest :-) I used one of the PaperArtsy Mini stamps MN45 featuring the Eiffel Tower.

To celebrate Garrett's birthday I also made some lemon cupcakes with lemon and cream cheese frosting and with perfect timing I received this months crafty templates which included a cupcake box. It was very easy to make and turns a simple cupcake into a special gift.

If you haven't already discovered http://www.craftytemplates.co.uk/ you should pay a visit. Not only can you subscribe to receive monthly templates but there are also great kits including the fabulous Quirky Kits. 

The box templates would be perfect too for housing one of these lovely creations  http://spinnvild.com/  A gorgeous paper cupcake.

That's all my paper projects for now. The chillier weather has inspired me to crack on with some knitting projects. Hopefully my little woolly hats have reached their destination for the Big Knit. I certainly didn't knit as many as I'd hoped but as they say .........every little helps.

................ the grapes in my garden that is

It seems that spurt of sunshine we had has done the trick. Better dust off the winemaking gear! Don't worry we don't tread the grapes they get more of a crushing really.

It's been a busy few weeks but I managed to find time to make an anniversary card. We have been married 13 years (some might unlucky for some LOL) so I looked up what that related to and it seems Citrine (hence the colour and gems) and textile/lace. The photo is what comes of mucking about with a camera at Glastonbury. A simple card but I think it works.

Project fairy door mark 2 was also completed and I made this one so it opens......better that I show you a photo than explain......

I hope whoever gets it in the swap likes it. I'm working on an altered postcard swap at the moment so hopefully next time I will have some photos to post.

See you soon

That's what I thought about this little felted cupcake.

 I bought a copy of Felt So Good by Betz White and it includes these pincushions which I have been hankering after which are made from felted knitwear. A frantic rumage in my wardrobe produced lots of unworn and past it jumpers so I put them to better use and felted them. The book did say that it would make more even felting if I cut them up first - eeek! That's when I thought have I made the right decision but as soon as I made this I knew it was. I think they look pretty as they are just as a decoration. I'm also working on a cushion cover and scarf which was originally a cardigan. The pieces I'm using for the scarf have bobbles at the ends which I made using the Shibori technique like this green scarf I knitted and felted. To make the bobbles I secure hazelnuts with elastic bands before felting - weird I know but it works!

Last week I felted a pebble to use as a paperweight on my desk at work. It has got a few strange looks mainly because people don't know what it is and one colleague thought it was a half eaten apple I'd left in my tray.

My last project to share for today is a mini fabric scrap square. I bought a Moda Charm pack used for making quilts. The pack contains 37 cotton 5" squares and I used one as a background for an image I transferred onto canvas. As they are square they are very much like a scrapbook layout. I made a yoyo from another fabric square and added a bit of lace ribbon and some buttons.

That's all for today - I'll be back soon.

When my Scrapbook Inspirations dropped through my door this week I was excited to find that I'd actually won the monthly reader's gallery. It was such a surprise I had no idea and it even features on the webpage http://www.scrapbookinspirationsmagazine.co.uk/

I think the fame has gone to Purdey's head though she might start demanding appearance money soon.

I've also felt inspired by this weeks team challenge on UKS to scrap about seeing Blur at Glastonbury this year. I haven't scrapped any photos yet but maybe this will be the start. It was wonderful seeing Blur and the whole crowd were singing along. I included some song lyrics on the layout and hid the rest behind the main photo which is mounted on painted corrugated cardboard. I hope to share some more Glastonbury layouts with your soon.

I've had a good week and actually completed a weekly challenge over on UKS which I haven't managed for ages. The challenge was to base your layout on a love theme, use 5 of something, include memories and a technique not used for a while. As it's coming up to our wedding anniversary it seemed the perfect opportunity to scrap our wedding photo and a chance to use this fantastic paper by Kaisercraft from the Pina Colada Collection. I made the flower inspired by Michelle's design spot over at http://bananafrog.typepad.com/  

Garrett commented on how young we look - well I suppose we were, how time flies.

Also on UKS there have been some great minibook projects and I took advantage of my week off to make one. Isn't it just so cute or as my fellow UKSer Sonja said "owltastic". Luckily I found a July copy of Craft Stamper in a local shop and it included a tiny owl stamp, perfect.

I have also made my fairy door for the swap I'm in but I'm not quite sure about it, I thought it looked a bit tomb like but I was told that was because I'd been listening to Nick Cave! Anyway version number two is in production but I thought I'd share a picture of number one - what do you think?

Anyway the burning question of the day is will there be any grapes this year to produce a bottle or two of Chateau Priestley? Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Well lets hope so. I have a whole week of not working to look forward to and I intend to make the most of it combining a bit of crafting with a bit of relaxing and not forgetting a visit to Folk Week. The sun has at last been shining and today the delivery of a comfy steamer chair means I will be making sure I enjoy it while it lasts.

But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy crafting away I have lots to share since I last posted, is it really that long ago?

This is an anniversary card I made last month and a button ring I made for a friend.

There were more fabulous Alan Dart patterns in my knitting magazine and I couldn't resist knitting one of these cute hula hamsters. I've also been experimenting with fimo and have been making lots of beads and now moved onto rings too. I love the way that they all turn out differently and really anything goes by way of colour combinations. I thought the beads would look good with the East of India charm I bought recently and made some into a bracelet.

And I seem to have a bit of a poppy obsession at the moment I've been knitting them and even made one from some painted watercolour paper.......maybe I could model one from fimo too? I think I'm going to have to set up a Poppy Collection now. 

Well back to a bit of crafting as the sun seems to have gone in!

This week I've discovered that one of my favourite local shops has started stocking East of India and I came across these lovely paper chains which are printed like mini rulers. Of course being a scrapper I immediately saw the scrapping potential and had a surprise when I turned them over as they also have this saying printed on the back.

" Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away"

They could definitely be appearing in a layout soon and you never know I may even make some paper chains for my craft room. I also picked up some sweet printed sewing labels and canvas patches too and then had to show some restraint!

The restraint didn't last long and today I bought a great new stamp from the Bloom & Grow range by My Mind's Eye and wasted no time in trying it out with the new Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paint which also found it's way into my shopping basket along with Elements from the Snorkel range by Cosmo Cricket which I've just realised is double sided so I'm going to have trouble deciding which side to use! Why didn't I buy two!

................and finally and most annoyingly I bought a mini alphabet stamp set which when I opened it was minus the "A" - what use is an alphabet missing a letter? Not much when I wanted to print Happy Anniversary.

And while I remember I have found out that the big knit is taking place again this year. If you haven't heard about it or don't know what it is it's organised by the fantastic people at Innocent Smoothies who work with Sainsburys to raise funds for Help the Aged. Basically they ask for all you knitters out there to knit tiny hats to go on their smoothy bottles and then when one is sold in Sainsburys 50p is donated to Help the Aged. If you want to have a go keep an eye on the website for details http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit/

My Mum and I had fun last year knitting along. They even send a card to everyone individually to say thank you - how great is that? And they particularly liked the berry ones my mum knitted and if you're thinking I can't do that you can even download the pattern along with a basic one in easy and intermediate or if you can crochet there is even a crochet pattern - see they think of everything. Go on give it a go!

Well not quite but a small way there with a couple of apples! In my whirlwind of felt bead making I whipped up, or should that be rolled, a couple that had a bit of an appley (is that a word?) look to them. With the addition of a green felt leaf and a brown bugle bead - voila! an apple. I think they make nice earrings. I'm hoping to add a felt collection to my shop so "keep em peeled" - sorry bad joke! There seems to have been a fruity theme to a lot of my ideas and projects lately. Must be because it's summer and there's lots of lovely fruit coming into season.

I've also just finished a fabric ATC swap on UKS. There was no set theme so I decided to make some trees from felt and stitch them to my fabric background. I then added some textured wool and tiny seed beads for a bit of detail. I then machine stitched the fronts to traditional card ATC blanks.The idea of the swap is to make and send the ATCs to the host of the swap. I'm in a group of ten so I will receive back one of mine along with one from the other nine group members. It will be great to see what everyone else has done in the meantime here is a selection of the ones I made.

Thats all I have to share today but I'll be back soon with details of more felt projects. Happy crafting. 

A bit of a strange combination for a post title I know but I've just got back from Glastonbury where wellies are a must. Going to a festival in Britain means you have to be prepared for anything and we had everything from thunder storms to blazing sunshine. There is so much to see at Glastonbury that I'm sure that if you went every year for the next years you still wouldn't see everything. Apart from the music it's a great place for inspiration and after being sent some merino roving by a fellow UKScrapper (thanks Sonja!) I've attempted making felt beads and saw lots of other projects at Glastonbury I'll try and give a go. Here is a little preview of my first attempts. I put them on the window sill to dry and thought they looked really pretty set against the colour of the cup so I took a photo.

Here are my wellies pre Glastonbury, come to think of it they still look like they had last years mud on!

Here is the wool bit..........

Someone was kind enough to give me lots of lovely wool and now the unit where they live in my craft room looks like a woolshop. I can't wait to create something with them - hours of knitting ahead for me, it will keep me out of mischief.

I've also been busy working on some items for the baby collection in my shop knitted with scrummy Rowan Milk Cotton and I have lots of other ideas the only restriction is time!!!!

.........and finally I was proud to have a layout published this month in the latest edition of Scrapbook Inspirations. It's based on russian dolls and features in the ribbon readers gallery. It's very exciting (well to me!) and it's hard to resist showing everyone I know. I'm hoping to have another appear in next month's edition too but I'll wait and see if it features before I tell you about it.

Well thats all for now hope to see you soon.....

Ooooops I said I'd see you in a couple of weeks but I have lots to share. Last week was my Mums 60th birthday so I was busy making party preparations, ok mainly cleaning up ready to host the party! But I also found a bit of time to make her birthday card which included a photo of her posing in a ballroom dancing dress. I don't think she was impressed by the photo!

 I also altered a tin and made card inserts to hold photos of my Mum and knitted a chef holding a birthday cake. I made some party favours from sheets of 8x8 scrapbook paper cut in half and filled them with pink shrimp sweets.

Crafting wise I've just started making some fabric ATCs for another swap on UKS. My knitted creations have been popular and I've had quite a few requests and currently knitting a nurse teddy. We recently went to a baptism so I knitted a boy bunny as part of the present he wears a cute little striped jumper.

 Last month my teamies and me celebrated a year of being a team and swapped photos for another team member to scrap. The fabulous Michelle scrapped my photo and you can see it here on her  blog http://www.mjm-thearttart.com/page34.htm She has some great projects in her shop check them out. She has also just done a guest designer spot on Banana Frog http://bananafrog.typepad.com/bananafrogblog/2009/06/june-guest-desginer-michelle-jacksonmogford-part-2.html

Well I'm all blogged out now when I've done a few more of my fabric ATCs I'll share a photo and I won't leave it as long next time!

I can't believe my last post was on the 1st May! It's been a busy few weeks since then. Last weekend a friend and I did a silversmith taster day where we made a silver bangle. Amazingly I came away with the finished item and all my eyebrows. The blowtorch was a bit scarey but I did it and used a hack saw (don't think that was it's technical name but you get the drift) and managed not to cut off a finger which was quite an achievement based on my recent track record with a craft knife.

I've just finished a felt embellishment swap on UK Scrappers where I made a selection of fruit including strawberries and apples. I have also swapped with a fellow UKscrapper and in return I got the lovely felt house you can see in the picture below. Also featured in the picture is Freddie the Ferret another lovely Debi Birkin knitted design. I'm currently working on an Alan Dart mouse, some Monet inspired ATCs for a team project on UKS and sorting out a photo for one of my team members to scrap...............oh and make some birthday cards/projects for my mum's and brother upcoming birthdays. So I'll probably *see* you in another couples of weeks!

Its amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do. Everything in the garden is looking green and flowers ready to burst and the birds are tweeting. No sign of the fledgling blue tits yet but I'm sure it won't be long.

I have a steady stream of projects on the go at the moment. I'm half way through my mum's 60th birthday invites, half way through making a Clanger, half way through making a fabric belt (yes still!!) do you see a pattern emerging here? However, I have finished a Debi Birkin design knitted bunny and she now appears in my shop. I've become quite attached to her but I can't keep her or I'll become inundated.

Another of my "half-way" projects (yes, there's more!) includes a scarf that I bought some lovely sock wool for. Gorgeous colours and the knitting pattern is a lovely wavy design which shows the shades of the wool off well. Hopefully I'll be able to show you a picture of the finshed scarf soon (she says)

I have another little project to share......no, not the belt I said I would be making, somehow that started but has yet to make it to the finishing line :) These sweet little dolls have an embroidered face and hair and were fun to make. I'm quite pleased with how she turned out I haven't done any embroidery for quite a while.

I made the skirt from an offcut of vintage material and added my own touch  with the gingham ribbon for a waistband to match the ribbon in her hair.

I seem to have lots of projects I need to get cracking on but have got distracted with knitting a sweet bunny and cat designed by Debi Birkin (picture coming soon!) - they are very addictive I can see them multiplying.

Hubby seemed so shocked with the state of my craft room today that he has taken drastic action and ordered a shelving unit in the hope that I might be tidier. Hope he had his fingers crossed :D Arrival date is next week so it looks like I may have a bit of clearing up to do.......... While I'm on the subject of crafty stash organisation Julie Kirk has an amusing view on things here http://www.notesonpaper.blogspot.com/ on her blog.

Now I could go and do a bit of tidying or I could do a bit more knitting......tough choice

So far so good - it's the Bank Holiday weekend and the sun is shining. Hopefully there will be lots of time to get creative.

This week I discovered this fabulous new sewing magazine. It includes some really interesting projects and I'm going to try and make a fabric belt this weekend. I'll be back to post a photo if I do.

 Happy Easter

Well, this is it I've decided to start a blog at the same time as launching my online shop. Some might say madness -  but I've been talking about it for so long I thought I'd best get around to actually doing it and put my ideas into action.

Those of you who know me will know I'm always making something or have some project on the go so here I aim to share with you what I've been up to. First up is a little Easter project I've been working on for friends and family. This one is for a good friend of mine who helped me out while I was recovering from my recent knee op. A small knitted egg character which holds a chocolate egg and I made the gift bag from a A6 envelope. Hope she likes it.

If you fancy knitting your own visit  http://www.jeangreenhowe.com/patterns.html for a free pattern - Happy Knitting

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