Just a quick post from me just now although I promise you a crafty update before the weekend is out!

The fabulous Claire Payne is hosting a pincushion swap over on her blog and sign ups close on Sunday (14th March). You get a whole month to make your pincushion and send it to your swap partner so why not go for it? I’ve just signed up to try and get me back into the swing of crafting regularly and even I can cope with a month-long deadline

Posted under swaps

A few months ago I noticed that Sam of Incy Wincy stitches had organised a button jewellery swap. I hung off joining because things are just MANIC busy for me right now, but when Sam mentioned she was one person short i decided to go for it. I was paired with Laura Figiel of She Draws and I finally got round to posting Laura’s package off yesterday. Only a couple of weeks late – sorry Laura!

Unfortunately, being as far North as we are I’m struggling to get good photographs these days so you’ll have to make do with this. Time to dig out the lightbox again perhaps!

On the left there are two brooches, in the middle there are two hair bobbles, a keyring, a ring and a necklace. I had initially made a bracelet and decided I hated it so had to start afresh. I packaged these up with a FQ of Japanese fabric and a little pouch of Daim sweeties so hopefully Laura is happy.

I will get a photo of what she sent me later in the week Thanks to Sam for hosting this swap!

Posted under jewellery, sewing, swaps

I’ve signed up for Sam’s button swap after she was short a swapper. I never intend to join in these things but get sucked in by the excitement and fun. I’ve been partnered with Laura which is very exciting as I’ve been in awe of her work for quite a long time now!

I’ve also joined in Apryl’s Fantasy Movie swap which I’m massively excited about. I’ve been partnered with Christa who shares the same favourite film as me (The Labyrinth) so I need to get cracking on with my crafting for her

Also! I didn’t want to post about this until after the fact, but I have been crafting again! My lovely friend Fiona got married on Saturday and she mentioned a few months ago that she had loads to do but no time to do it. I asked if I could help and she asked me to make the ties for her groomsmen (the pink ones). This of course gives me an opportunity to share a photo of the gorgeous bride and her handsome new husband.

Aren’t they gorgeous? I’m so thrilled for them and it was an honour to share their day, they are such a fantastic couple and I just know they’re going to make one another so happy.

I’ll leave you with a bit more pink. I am a bad Mummy.

Posted under sewing, swaps, with the kids

Everyone who emailed me about the bake swap should have received an email detailing their swap partner. If you haven’t got yours, let me know

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that my children (Nairn in particular) are obsessed with starbucks and in particular with their ooey gooey marshmallow twizzlers? Now I’m not a skinflint by any stretch of the imagination but £1.50 for three marshmallows and a bit of chocolate is extortion in my book and definitely comes under the veil of, “Things wot I could do myself for cheaper”. I should mention as Apryl reminded me that you can do this with bananas too, I usually skewer the banana and stick it in the freezer for about an hour so that it’s easier and more solid to work with.

So! Stick a few marshmallows on a skewer like so. Melt your 100g bar of chocolate in the microwave or in a double broiler, and dip the skewer into the melted chocolate, lift and tap the skewer on the side of the bowl to let any big drips fall off.

Holding your skewer over a bowl, shake some hundreds and thousands over your skewer. Dip the end into the bowl to make sure it’s coated.

Place your skewer into a glass and put in the fridge to let the chocolate set

Hand to 8 year old child for a verdict.

Posted under for the kids, swaps, with the kids

Yes, yet again I have nothing better to do with my days than concoct weird and wonderful ways to test the Royal Mail and their abysmal services. I’ve had a few people ask about joining in my next swap recently so I decided it was time to get one organised.

Who? Swap partners will be allocated on an ‘anonymous benefactor’ system this time. I will forward your completed questionnaire to your benefactor and it is up to them if they want to reveal themselves by signing your package or if they want to remain anonymous until the swap is completed.
What? – Your parcel must contain a box of home-baked goodies by you, packaged in a plastic lidded box. These are inexpensive to pick up at the supermarket and you will receive one in return from your swap partner so this shouldn’t add extra cost. You should send a home-made recipe card that you think your swapee will enjoy and an additional gift. The additional gift could be a tub of hot chocolate powder for example, or perhaps an item that you have crafted yourself. This is the bare minimum.
Why? – Because it’s nice to create a gift to make someone smile, and it’s just as nice to receive a gift that someone has put care and attention into! And everyone likes home-baking.
Where? – Only at www.blottedcopybook.co.uk
When? – Sign-ups open NOW and close next Friday 26th June 2009 at 10pm. You will be allocated your swapee by 1pm on Saturday 27th June 2009. You will be expected to send out your parcel to arrive by Saturday 11th July 2009. For obvious reasons please only post your parcel on a Friday if it’s first class, and don’t post on a Saturday or there is a risk that your parcel will arrive at your swapee having gone stale.
How? – By emailing me with the answers to the questionnaire below. PLEASE only use this email address.

The questionnaire

Name:
Address:
Blog/website/shop address:
When do you usually eat your cakes or biscuits? Are you an on-the-run type, or do you like a nice biscuit or two with your tea?
What is your favourite kind of cake or biscuit?
Is there anything you are allergic to or really don’t like to eat?
Is there anything you’d like to tell your partner about you?

Are you in?

Posted under swaps

Firstly a wee thank you to everyone who has left comments, emailed and twittered congratulating us on the birth of baby Greer. It’s hard to believe that this time last week I was in the throes of labour, terrifying passers by as I pottered about the newsagents in the hospital having very painful contractions whilst searching for a decent ice lolly! She has settled into family life with ease and dare I say it, is sleeping and feeding very well.
If you’re interested in keeping up with her progress, Bob has set up a photoblog project here entitled ‘Greer’s 365′ to chronicle her first year in visual form (WARNING – Day 1’s photo was taken immediately post-birth and shows my big boob).

Secondly, the next post will feature my belated 100th post giveaway. I hope to post this on Tuesday as long as I get time to finish the prize and decide what the entry criteria will be.

Finally, considering the Time for Tea swap was finished on the 27th March I am very late in posting this list! In my defence, I have been waiting for a swap between international partners to complete before I posted and that didn’t happen until a couple of weeks ago so forgive me.

I have linked directly to each participant’s entry so that you can see for yourself what a creative bunch we have reading this blog. Additionally you can view the Time for Tea Flickr group to see photos there. A couple of participants either haven’t blogged yet or don’t have blogs – they’re nearer the bottom of the list.

Apryl and Kathryn

Julia and Tor

Megan and Kat

Julia and Eileen

Hannah and Amanda

Courtney and Chrissy

Laura and Kathryn

Ali and Izabela

Anne and Sam

Jen and Kerry

Gill and Katie

AnnieB and Laura

Sue was stuck with me!

Pennie and Emma

Erin and Helen

Nadia and Fiona (hasn’t yet blogged the swap)

Posted under family, swaps

Firstly I’d like to say thank you to everyone for your very kind comments over the last week or so. Things here are still nowhere near back to normal but as the saying goes, “This too shall pass” and in fairness the worst certainly seems to be past us. I am frantically grabbing at the door to touch wood right now!

Secondly, I would like all of you with young children to head on over to Amanda of Kitschycoo fame’s blog, in particular this post and this post. You see, a month ago I bought this pattern and Amanda also sent me the pattern for her Matinee jacket asking me to test it for her. The pattern pieces are still sitting cut out but unsewn – a month after Amanda asked, I haven’t had two minutes peace to finish it. The thing is her patterns are fantastic! Very easy to follow, beautifully put together and unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else so when I saw she was doing a giveaway I thought, “I must let my readers know about this!”

Thirdly, I finally managed to get my Time for Tea swap goodies posted off today although I’ve missed the last collection. Sue has been very patient with me as the world collapsed around my ears and I just hope that she’s as happy with what I’ve sent her as I was with her package which Sue blogged here. I actually wore the earrings the night my package arrived and they’re just gorgeous so thank you again, Sue!

This is what I sent to Sue – the candle is made from beeswax and is made in a vintage teacup with matching saucer. This was my first attempt at candle making and in fact I made another to burn myself and make sure it was okay! The silver caddy is filled with Faerie’s blood tea from my favourite little teahouse and there’s also a packet of shortbread fingers as I believe shortbread to be the best biscuit in the world

I also made a little bag with a felt cupcake appliqué and Japanese knot-style closure which I’m very proud of!

What do you think?

Posted under general crafty updates, sewing, swaps

Hello everyone! The deadline for the Time for Tea swap is looming, with all participants due to mail out their parcels by this Friday. I’m so excited to see what everyone has been creating for their swap partners! If you’re participating in the swap, how are you getting on? Have you finished your swap item yet?

In other news I am still here and still being crafty – I promise I will be back this week with some real content. I’m just finding this last stage of pregnancy to be utterly exhausting and I’m not doing quite as much as I usually do. In the meantime if you don’t already, you can catch up with my brief updates on twitter.

Today I’m hoping to finish off some little bootees I’ve been making and attempt Nigella’s Malteser cake so I will hopefully post about those tomorrow. ALSO! I am devastated by the end of Dancing on Ice, particularly since my favourite, Jessica, didn’t get to skate Bolero. Woe is me. How am I going to fill in my Sunday evenings now?!

Posted under swaps

Phew! What a week!

Everyone who has signed up to the Time for Tea craft swap should now have received an email from me with your partner’s information. As I’ve had no emails complaining vociferously, I will assume everyone is happy. For the record, the swap partners are allocated as follows:

Apryl and Kathryn
Julia and Tor
Megan and Kat
Erin and Helen
Julia and Eileen
Hannah and Amanda
Courtney and Chrissy
Laura and Kathryn
Ali and Izabela
Anne and Sam
Jen and Kerry
Gill and Katie
AnnieB and Laura
Sue is stuck with me!
Pennie and Emma
Nadia and Fiona (currently blogless)

All participants should have been invited to the Flickr group but if not please wave and yell in my general direction so that I can get an invite sent out.

I encourage everyone to have a look at these wonderful blogs, it’s a very creative bunch of people that are participating in this swap!

In other news, I will be back later tonight with successful muffins, not so successful oatie biscuits and a craft challenge completed item that I’ve been working on

Posted under general crafty updates, swaps

First off, the Time for Tea swap sign-up is now closed! I will be emailing all participants tonight with a questionnaire and I will also email the newer signer-uppers with an invite to the Flickr group where we can share photographs of our works in progress and swap parcels. I’d like to use some of your photographs at the end of the swap so if you’d rather I didn’t, please let me know. Signing up to flickr is not mandatory, just another excuse to get to know each other a little better.

Today’s post is for me to do a little showing off. When I was trying to decide what to make for Annie in the Owl Swap I came up with the idea of a bag she could keep her knitting in. Now for me the critical element in a knitting bag is that it MUST be able to fit my knitting needles in it. Also, personally I don’t like record-style bags – I’d prefer something a little more upright without losing any space. Now with apologies for the less-than-fantastic photographs – this is what I came up with:-

I also liked the idea of being able to close the bag over but still have a little access to the contents, so I made one large strap that can be slung over a shoulder, and another smaller strap for the large strap to go through and hold it closed.

Of course, this bag still had to have some relevance to owls really so I had my first attempt at appliqué. For a first attempt I was pretty pleased with myself although I’d have liked my stitches to be neater.

I only wish I was a neater seamstress because if ONLY I could sew in a straight line, I would make and sell these bags. Ah well, if wishes and all that! What do you think? Would you use it if you were a knitter?

Crafty plans for this week include my first ever attempt at making a cake with fondant icing, a little work on some longies I’m making for the new baby and a start on a couple of patterns from the fantastic Amanda at KitschyCoo. Luckily I will have my partner in crime Kat here to help me out tomorrow. Hooray!

Posted under general crafty updates, sewing, swaps