UK Handmade Summer Issue

The Summer Issue of the UK Handmade Magazine is out now!

"After a long wintery spell we all need a bit of sunshine to brighten our days. The summer issue of UK Handmade magazine is now out and packed full of gorgeous summer finds, inspirational makers, useful business tips and more. A big thanks to Jane Ormes who kindly let us grace our cover with her vibrant "Bring Me Sunshine" print..."

I'm also really excited to see the Summer Issue because it features two articles written by me.

I worked on a feature detailing the work of the UK Scrapstore network, in particular focussing on the work the Bristol Children's Scrapstore carries out in the local community and their 'Super Saturday Sample Sessions'. My niece provided all the photos that accompany the piece. You can read her photography blog 'King of the Sheep' here. We had a great time at the Children's Scrapstore, my daughter features in the photoshoot. It really is a fantastic place and all the scrapstores across the UK do a wonderful job of reusing waste in a creative and productive way.

I also penned a feature on Vintage Vacations. Based on the Isle of Wight, this holiday company offers a unique way of getting off the daily treadmill and taking a step back in time. Take a look at their website to see more wonderful images of their vintage Airstream caravans and unique holiday venues.

Plus the Summer Issue is jam packed with interviews with designer-makers, makes, recipes and details of upcoming crafty events across the UK. Enjoy!

Making recycled paper pots

My daughter and I spent a happy half hour making some paper pots for our seedlings. Now she is three years old she is able to help me with planting out seeds. It's been lovely to watch her planting out beetroot, beans and basil seeds and then seeing them pop up from the soil. It's all very magical to her. Although she keeps asking when we can start eating them...

I first blogged about my paper potter back in 2011. It is a fantastic little tool, really handy for making inexpensive pots to put small plants in. By using newspaper you can plant them out, the paper will biodegrade and the roots wont be disturbed.

My paper potter came from the Nether Wallop Trading Company and was a Christmas gift from my brother and his family. I can't recommend them highly enough.

It also helps if you have some offspring you can recruit to help you make them...their little fingers are very good and winding the paper round!

Fresh batch: lavender owls in lilac and plum

I've just completed a new batch of lavender owls in lilac and plum after they sold out in March. Both the owls and rabbits in this particular vintage fabric have proven to be very popular with my customers. I'm down to the last few pieces of this fabric, so I'm planning to make one more batch of lavender rabbits and then I will have completely run out! So if you like this particular colour, grab one soon, they are strictly limited edition!

Dragon Themed Birthday Party

Its taken me a little while to get round to blogging about this. My daughter celebrated her third birthday back in October, but with all the upheaval of moving house, this is the first chance I've had to share some awesome tutorials for Dragon Party ideas!

For some reason, and in most cases it's best not to try and fathom out the workings of a three year old's mind, my daughter became obsessed with Dragons last Summer. She insisted she wanted a dragon cake for her third birthday...I'm up for a challenge so I decided to create a Dragon themed party.

It wasn't until I had promised my daughter this particular theme that I found out dragons are not very popular with most party supplies shops. If you have a daughter and you want princesses, fairies, butterflies and Disney characters, then you can buy everything off the shelf. Dragons it seems aren't so popular. So I decided I would make some things by hand and started to trawl the internet for ideas, tutorials and templates.

We were about a month away from moving house, so my brain was in a whirl with all the arrangements for organising removal vans and talking to solicitors. If we hadn't been in the midst of doing all that boring conveyancing stuff, I would've made even more things for the party. There's such a wealth of ideas out there, but time was against me, so here are the projects I managed to complete for the party.

First up, the cake! There are literally 100s of images for dragon cakes on the web. I'm no professional cake maker so I decided to go with this one on the Instructables website. It's made from two sponge cakes and has very clear instructions on how to cut the cakes in order to make the head, legs, tail etc. Mine doesn't look exactly like the Instructables version, but I've only made about 3 or 4 cakes in my entire life, so I think I made a pretty good attempt at it. My daughter was delighted with it, so that's all that matters!

Next up was a game of 'find the dragon'. I made six paper dragons using this template and hid them around the house. Each child had to find one to win a prize. They were really simple to make and you could add more detail or use metallic paper if you wanted a different look. There are lots of other ideas on the ideas4kids.org website, so if you've got more time than I had, you could really go to town with decorating the house with handmade dragons.

Lastly, I made, with help from my Mum, a hooded dragon towel using this adorable tutorial. I wanted it to double up as a costume for the party and as a practical gift to use at bathtime. My daughter still absolutely loves the towel and it's great for getting them all wrapped up after a bath.

If you don't fancy making a dragon, there are tutorials for lots of other creatures such as owls, monkeys, teddy bears and there's even a Rudolph.

So there you have it, some ideas for making a Dragon themed party.

Fabric lovliness

I have been really spoilt recently. I've had not one, but two lovely parcels from crafty friends.
Sally's parcel contained a vintage pillowcase and duvet cover. I love the purple fabric, it's quite unusual to find vintage fabric in one colourway rather than a riot of colours.
The parcel from Laura Fallulah, was a complete surprise. I've always loved Laura's rose brooches, her hand sewing detail is just beautiful and so neat.



Inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee on BBC 2, I'm going to have a go at making a garment out of the purple fabric from Sally. I thought I would make a Summer dress for my daughter. I just need to track down a nice pattern and get started! I'll post some progress photos and the finished product on here.
Laura and Sally are fabric addicts just like me and it's lovely to pass different pieces of fabric and handmade items onto friends you know will appreciate it!

First signs of Spring

It has been cold here in the UK. In fact, it has been the coldest March since, well, I don't know, since a long, long time ago! I cannot personally remember a March this cold. But, having said that, I prefer cold and dry weather to mild and damp, which is the other default setting for weather here in the UK.

The past few days have been freezing but bright, clear and sunny. Despite all the plants shivering deep down into their roots, there are some signs of Spring emerging.

Ever the optimist, I ordered loads of seeds a couple of weeks ago. Whilst the sun was out I thought it was the perfect time to get planting. So today we've sown Basil, Green Beans, Beetroot, Nasturtiums, Rudbekia and Sunflowers. This is the first year my daughter has been old enough to help me plant the seeds. She loved dibbing the holes in the soil and carefully dropping the seeds in. Obviously tiny fingers are perfect for holding all those lovely little seeds! So, we just need to sit back, keep our fingers crossed for sunshine and let nature do all the hard work...

Fresh batch

Vintage fabric cushion covers in turquoise and cobalt blue are now back in stock in both my Etsy and Folksy stores. This colour has proved to be a best seller and I've been out of stock for little a while. I'm currently offering free shipping to the United Kingdom for all my vintage fabric cushion covers. Take a look at my full range here.