Do you remember Miffy? FREE GIVEAWAY

Do you?  That little cute bunny rabbit that was in a series of books, originally created by Dick Bruna?  Thought you might  :)

I remember a good few years ago making a few birthday cakes with Miffy on - which was good as it was so easy to do, solid colours and simple lines - just my kind of copying  :)

Anyway..... Miffy is back!  All modernised and up-to-date.  It is coming to the Tiny Pop pre-school channel, starting on 2nd October at 7pm.  This is the "cuddle-time" slot which allows parents to have a wee cuddle and watch TV before bed.

As it happens I will have my baby Granddaughter, Hope, that evening so we are going to cuddle down to watch it before bed   :)

I have a collection of five books to give away to one lucky person to celebrate this event.

All you have to do is comment on this blog by Friday 2nd October or over on my Facebook page, and I will use a Random Name Generator to pick one lucky winner who will receive all five books.

Oh, you can also join in with a "Miffy Twitter Party" on Friday at 1.00pm.  I am hoping to be there to see what it is all about   :)

Don't forget to comment o be in with your chance of winning the books.

Summer classes for young folk - 2015

Following on from my Kid's Club post about the classes I held in Hobbycraft  over the summer every Tuesday........ also on offer, each Friday was a schedule of classes for older young folk age about 8-16, this was a more structured class with a skill to be learnt.

The first week I had a group of young ladies that came to learn how to use a sewing machine.   They threaded bobbins, threaded the machine, changed the needle and the presser foot, tried out different stitches and finally went on to make their very own pin cushion each.

The next week we did recycled rag-rug making, using hessian backing and old clothing to make the designs.  I forgot to grab an end photo, but they would take a bit of finishing off at home anyway  :)

But, a couple of weeks later one of the young ladies brought this in to show me - she had finished her rug, isn't it glorious?   The voile fabric works so well with the others to make it luxurious.

Following on from that was a knitting class.   Although they had a choice of lots of colours of yarns, they all seemed to pink pinks and purples, except one who chose green to match her green needles  :)

The week after knitting was crochet.  Lot's of hooking going on, and just check out that Granny Square!

Simply fabulous for a young beginner.

The following week was learn to Patchwork, and I am so annoyed that I forgot to get an end photo for this one as we had an array of brightly coloured patchwork flower, which were so beautiful.

And finally, we did Bunting, on the sewing machines.   Great fun was had with this class, and the bunting produced was brilliant, so colourful and cheery - something every girl should have for her room!

And didn't they do well, they looked pretty pleased with their makings   :)

Thank you all for attending, it was lovely to meet everyone and I hope to see you again at future events.

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Easy (not so scary) Ghost

I just made these cute little ghosts for a Halloween display at work.

I found the tutorial online ages ago and memorised it, but can't find it again to link to - so apologies for that, but here are the instructions as I roughly remembered them.   (sorry to the original designer for not crediting you, if you know who you are, shout out!)

So, you need a styrofoam ball (any size) some styrofoam glue (as some other glues can melt the styrofoam), a piece of ribbon for hanging, a Sharpie pen and some see-through-ish fabric.  I used Muslin and some scissors.

Draw a ghosty face on the ball and colour it in with the permanent marker.

Next, take something to make a small thin hole in the top of the ball. I used a knitting needle, but anything thin and pointy will do.

Put a blob of glue in the hole and poke in both ends of your ribbon.  Leave to dry.

Cut your fabric into a square. The bigger the square, the floatier your ghost will be. (is 'floatier' even a word?)

Fold the square into half, and half again, then snip off a tiny corner where all the folded points are.  This will make a little hole.

Thread the ribbon on top of your ghost ball up through the hole.

Take your scissors and snip away at the fabric to make it looks frayed and tatty.

And hang it up!   

It's that simple, but so effective.  And a little bit cute, which I guess ghosts are really not supposed to be.

Stanley The Sparrow

You may remember that a few weeks ago I went to the book launch of Kerry Lord's new book Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight.  Well, while I was there I was given an exclusive pattern for a sparrow - a proper cute little fellow too.

I couldn't wait to get to work on him.... 

He is so cute when he is finished,  Not sure if it is the eyes, or the tummy, or the knobbly knees, but it all adds up to cuteness overload.

He has fluttered off to a new home now, where he has been named 'Stanley'.

I think it suits him very well  :)

Sparkly Crystal Necklace / Bracelet / Earring Set

I have just finished a commission for a sparkly beaded jewellery set.

The brief was a bracelet and matching earrings - not too fussy, no colour, sparkly, on silver.

I got some gorgeous half silvered rondelle crystals from Hobbycraft in 8mm and 6mm sizes along with some silver plated chain and findings.

Each crystal is strung separately onto a headpin, then a loop formed before attaching it to a link in the chain.  As you can imagine, it took a little time  :)  But the result is worth it I think - lightweight dangly earrings, with plenty of sparkle.

The matching bracelet was finished off with a cute heart and arrow shaped toggle clasp.

The recipient must have like it as she came back and ordered a matching necklace to go with them.

I set to work again... pinning and looping.   I only put the crystals some of the way round as the weight of them stops the necklace from spinning and the clasp ending up at the front.

Again this was finished with the heart toggle.

It's a change revisiting old techniques, and putting the yarn down for a while.   ;)

Halloween Costume/Poncho - Free Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to come up with a Halloween cape/poncho for the Hobbycraft blog.   I was sent a nice pile of fabrics including netting with spider webs on it, which is super cute.

The brief was to make it for an 8yr old, which was a wee bit tricky as I don't have an 8yr old, and my manequin, Claudette, is a little well endowed in the chest department to get a good measurement off   ;)

So, I borrowed a neighbours child, took a few measurements and got to work.

It is really easy to make and you can adapt the pattern to suit a different theme - like make it in purple to be a wizard, or in white to be a snowflake for Christmas.

It is up on the Hobbycraft Blog right now, with step-by-step photograph instructions   :)  Oh, as some of you may know I have a slight aversion to feathers, so the mask isn't one of my creations   :)

http://blog.hobbycraft.co.uk/how-to-make-a-raven-costume/


Let me know if you make one.

Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight - the book launch at Toft Farm

A couple of weekends ago I made my way down the long length of the M6 to go to a book launch.   You might remember reading about Dave The Seagull's adventures HERE.

The book launch was at Toft Farm in Rugby, Warwickshire.

You can visit the farm and shop, and lovely tea-room - more details HERE.

The shop is glorious, with wool and woolly related stuff everywhere.

Alpaca fleece teddy bears adorn the walls, along side scarves, buttons, tools, patterns and of course, loads of Edward's Menagerie animals.

.... and the birds  :)   Of course, the birds.

This is Kerry Lord herself, the author of Edward's Menagerie and Edward's Menagerie Takes Flight.

Graciously signing my book for me  :)

So, we sat down and listened to Kerry do some little talks on crochet tips, sewing up tips, and other tips to make your bird's all lovely.  We could also sit and crochet a little ice-cream cone while we listened, which was great fun.

And as a special thank you for attending, we got a crochet Sparrow pattern, which is so cute!

Of course, it would have been most rude not to have tried the tea-room.  But it took me a long time to choose a cake as they all sounded so delicious. In the end, the Bakewell Tart won - and what a good choice it was.   :)

Then it was off for a tour around the farm to meet the Alpacas.

What cute little creatures they are.  So fluffy and doe-eyed.

....and just look at the baby!  Can you get much cuter than that?

After the tour, which took about an hour, it was back to the farm shop to toast the new book and enjoy a glass of bubbles.

If you would like to read the review I did for the book you can find it HERE.

The next open day to be held at Toft farm is Saturday 19th December. I would fully recommend that you pop yourself along as it will be great fun. You can find more out about it by visiting their website.

http://www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk/Article_Pages_OpenDays.aspx