Christmas catch-up!

Hello everyone,

I had quite a whirlwind of a Christmas- which, looking around here on blog land it seems everyone else did too :)

 

I had a great Christmas- it was so lovely spending the whole day with my family, eating lots of lovely food, watching telly and giving each other prezzies!

 

My family and friends were extremely generous and also thoughtful so I would like to thank them all very much and say that I am lucky and thankful to have them all around me xxx

First up on my Christmas catch up is Christmas eve :) Here is a picture of the white chocolate, vanilla and strawberry yule log (the recipe I made up through my mini knitted yule logs :P) I made for my nan to take round when me and my family went round in the evening:

 

 

Haha, I made the holly decoration from icing to make it look like an exact big version of my knitted pattern, lol :P I thought it tasted really nice, I will definitely be making another one in the new year sometime. Very sweet and tasty :)

I may even like it better than milk chocolate log.... mmmm, a hard decision..... I think I'll just stick to having both :P  My nan thought it was cool to have a different version for a change :)

 

For my aunt, whose house we went round before we went to my nans (Christmas eve was busy this year!) I made two of my little Christmas tree decorations:

 

She hung them straight on her tree :) Yay! :-)

Hehe, now on to Christmas day, and first up, these little cuties:

 

 

Aren't they sweet! They were presents from my parents, because they know how much I love hamsters :3

 

I also got Norman (hehe I named him, and also decorated him :) to help me with my life drawing:

 

And my nan got me another lalaloopsy, with beautiful red hair, to be friends with scoops my other lalaloopsy:

 

They are getting along well :)

 

My build a bear (Georgia) even got a gift this year, thanks to my (Wonderfully fabulous!) brother:

 

So adorable- her little elf boots match the ones I made for myself, that made me smile a lot!

 

I got some wonderful costume and fashion books and things too, as well as my new pride and joy- my half scale mannequin!!!!!!:

 

Which I have already started to practice my draping and patternmaking on! :D My parents were worried it was too small as they thought half scale was bigger but when I opened it I assured them that it was utterly perfect! It is really great for practicing patternmaking on as you don't use up so much fabric.

 

My Dad made a fabulous Christmas dinner as usual and we even tried some of the cranberry and orange stuffing with it that I put in the hamper I put together for my family :) And in the evening I had some quality streets and chocolate from my stocking, so overall a fantastic day!

 

I would just like to thank my wonderful family and friends again for their generosity and to say that just being able to spend time with them is honestly enough of a gift, I love them all very much xxx

 

And thank you to all readers of my blog too for popping over and saying hi to me too, I hope you are all having a lovely festive time surrounded by family and friends too :) xxx

 

Last bit on my catch up before I go, today me and my mum went to see Dirty Dancing at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, we had front row seats (surprisingly front row was cheaper!?) which meant we had an amazing view, up so close I could see all the costumes and the show was really, really, great- I recommend it highly if you can get down there to see it :)  Very fun, and lots of good dancing!

 

I will speak to you all again soon, I am off to my other Aunty's house tomorrow so that will be nice, we always go for a walk to the shops to do some sale shopping so that is fun to see what bargains we can find :P

 

Byeeeeeee XxXxXoooXoOoO 

 

My Folksy shop- big January SALE!

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a fantastically marvellous Christmas day and I hope you are having a nice Boxing day so far too :)

 

Many of the shops start their sales today and my Folksy shop is no exception!

 

There is a sale on every single item :D So please do get down there and grab yourself a bargain because once it is gone it is gone!

 

And also lots of new stock for the new year will be appearing soon! :0D

 

Here is the link to my shop (or you can just click the button near the top and to the side of the blog to be magically transported there :P): http://folksy.com/shops/handmadebyjordan

 

See you all again soon with my post Christmas post,

 

Byeeeeee XxXxXxXxX

A festive dinner party!

Hi,

 

Last night we had some family friends over for a festive dinner party :) I worked hard on the table runner I mentioned that me and my family were making in my last post and managed to get that all together ready for the occasion and I also managed to finish making the 8 mini Christmas yule log (on my free patterns page :D) place settings that I wanted to give to everyone too.

 

It all looked nice on the table I think, I was really pleased with the pattern I made for the table runner, It was perfect size (I took measurements :) for our table and the pointed edges hung over the ends of the table nicely:

 

 

Now I will show you a close up of each of the rectangles that me and my family decorated individually.....

 

This is my brothers:

 

He wanted to go for a rustic look and I think he did a really good job :-)

 

 

This is my mums:

 

It really makes me smile when I look at it because it is so much my mums style- it reminds me of her and Christmas- two things I love! :P

 

My dads rectangle now:

 

This one is very much my dads style so I really like it :) The house underneath the big star is meant to be our house and the little car coming towards it is the 'Amazon' van delivering all our prezzies we ordered online :P Hehehe :)

 

And last (but hopefully not least :0P) is my rectangle:

 

 

I did some decorated baulbaules, which I stuffed to make them rounded and stand away from the fabric like real baulbaules :) I didn't even realise it but when I looked at my finished rectangle again I realised I had basically done a baulbaule style for each of my family members, lol! The pink beaded one for my mum, the green one for my dad, the yellow chain stitch star one for my brother and the pink girly heart gem one for me! Hehe, it shows I am always thinking about them- even subconsciously :P

 

I really enjoyed making the table runner with my parents and brothers designs included, I love sewing (can you tell? :)- seen as it is what I am studying at uni :P) so it was really lovely to have them join in and share my passion with them. I am hoping maybe next year we can do another family project, maybe something out of my comfort zone even- like some woodwork, then my dad can share the tips and tricks instead of me :)

 

My little yule logs were received really well so that made me super happy as I did work hard when making the pattern to make them as cool and realistic as possible. I added little labels for each person and of course popped a choccy inside:

 

 

I am actually going to try and make a real, edible, version of my winter wonderland mini knitted yule log! I don't think the recipe for it actually exists- it just looked nice in knitted version :P

I got a big vanilla and strawberry Swiss roll, which I am then going to coat in white chocolate and after that add a final coating of vanilla buttercream, before decorating with a bit of holly and a dusting of icing sugar (rather than glitter, lol!).

 

I am hoping it will be delicious, my nan and mum and granddad don't really like chocolate cake so when I looked at my winter wonderland mini roll I thought why not make it in real life- it will hopefully be a non-chocolate cake lovers perfect Christmas yule log :-D

 

I will put up pictures and let you know what it tastes like- just in case any of you decide you may want to whip up my random creation :oP

 

I am off now to get ready to go out to the Olympia horse show which my parents booked for us all for some Christmas family fun. I am excited!

 

I hope you are all well :)

 

See you soon,

 

Bye XxXxXxXxXxX

Slightly less busy than an elf... for now...

Hello,

 

I hope everyones Mondays were not too bad :)

 

My making and crafting craziness has slowed down slightly now, my elf boots are all done:

 

 

And the Christmassy biscuit village I decided to make for when my friends came round on Friday didn't go to badly either :):

 

 

I think they enjoyed it, I thought it was quite tasty!

 

Hehehe, Lalaloopsy had her eye on it before my friends came round, bu I told her she'd have to wait :P

 

 

Saturday morning I managed to get all the headbands I wanted to make for my little cousins, all ready for Christmas eve! I am really thrilled with how they came out- I hope they love them:

 

They are modified version of the gnome hat pattern I made for the innocent smoothie, I added a gem, ribbon and a pom pom to make them super girly and kawaii! :3

 

Hehehe, they barely fit into the bags (Which I popped a chocolate freddo in too :P)

 

 

Just as I started to finish all my Christmas crafting projects, I and my family(!) have managed to start another- a Christmas table runner! We were watching the Christmas episode of the great British sewing bee and they did this group table runner project where each of them decorated their own square on the table runner and then they all got sewn together. It was lovely and we thought it would be nice to do the same :0)

 

I took some measurements of our table and came up with a design:

 

The middle panel and two end triangles are in red Santa fabric, all of the borders and dividers in a gold Christmas fabric and the four rectangles (with a cross in them in my sketch :P) are the rectangles me, my mum, dad and brother are going to decorate one of each!

 

This morning I drafted up the pattern, cut out all the fabric pieces and started sewing, here is one of the triangular end pieces so far, just to give you an idea of the fabrics:

 

Hehehe, now I just have to come up with a design for my square.... I have a couple of ideas so far.

 I will keep you updated on my family project! :D

 

Speak to you again soon,

 

Byeeeeeeeeeeee XxXxXxXxX Tis the season to be jolly, falalalala la la la la! xxx

 

P.s. My shop will be closing on the 18th of December for Christmas, so get in quick if you have any last minute shopping to do :P But it will be opening again shortly after Christmas day, with new stock coming for the new year! :)

 

Bye OXOXO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy as an elf :P

Hiii,

Although I am off college for my Christmas Holidays now I have been keeping myself super busy completing all the different activities I wanted to do from the list in last post and more!

This week I have done more work on my elf boot pattern and have managed to completely finish one of them:

 

Fully lined with glittery Christmassy coloured fabric too :P

 

 

Just the other one to stitch up now, which shouldn't be too hard since I have made one of them I now know the easiest way to do everything. I reckon I will have them on my feet by Saturday morning as I have some time to sew tomorrow evening and Friday morning- between work at the tailors/dressmakers and me and my friends Christmas party :D

 

Hehehe, then I really can run around like a mad, busy elf, lol!

 

Other festive crafting I am doing involves making 8 of the mini yule logs (from the pattern I posted up :) for when some family friends come round on Sunday, only 1/2 of one left to knit and then the making up/decorating to do:

 

 

I will definitely have them done!

 

Today I managed to wrap my first presents of the year- for my friends, ready for our party :D (and I made all my present labels for everyone):

 

 

And me and my dad made this sweetie tree:

 

 

Mmmm, yummy!

 

I am off now to go and relax in my bath now, with- you guessed it- Christmassy bubble bath in it! Heheh, then it is time to get back to working on those mini knitted yule logs so I can start on my next knitting project- cute Christmassy headbands for my little cousins :-)

 

See you all soon, I hope you are well :)

 

Bye xxx 

I like christmas... can you tell?

Hi,

I hope you all are having a good week so far :) I go home from uni tomorrow night, my dad is coming to pick me up in the evening! I am sooo excited, we will literally be 'driving home for christmas'! :P And when I get home I am presenting the hamper I have been putting together for many weeks for my family to them, hehehe fingers crossed they like everything otherwise I will have a lot to try and eat myself :P

 

I have lots of stuff planned that I want to do before Christmas (I have making up to do since for the last two years due to revising for A Levels I only took Christmas day off and now I have a whole month!) I have got to make some different bits for family and friends we will be seeing, cook some festive treats, set up my train set, make a Christmas outfit for me to wear (and look glam in :P) on Christmas eve, buy some Christmas clothes, read some sewing books, do a little bit of work, go to the tailors and dressmakers I used to go to- 4 times :), wrap prezzies and in general spend a lot of fun time with my lovely family!

(Hehehe and do lots of blogging of course :P)

 

Today I only had a half day at college, I came home and after I had had my lunch I was at a bit of a loose end seen as I have done my packing for home already because I am so excited! So I thought I would get started on a Christmassy project I decided I wanted to do this morning- make myself some elf boots :P:

 

 

Hehe, they are not done or anything yet, I just drafted up a pattern and then made a toile (tester) of one foot to check the style/fit. I think they will work out though so that made me happy. When I have perfected the pattern and made a full pair I am going to add a fun cuff of felt with points, which hang down :) I am also going to add a bell to the tip of the curved toes for extra fun and to give that true elf feel :P

 

Hehehe, I am off to do more dreaming about Christmas and my last bit of prepping for tomorrow!

 

Talk to you again soon,

 

Byeeeeeeeeeee xxx

 

*Free Knitting pattern*: Festive yule logs!!! o<:0)

Hello everybody,

Happy 1st of December!

 

Advent starts today- yay :D I am so happy, I have a Lindt, Thorntons and zhu zhu pets toy advent calendars, how lucky am I? :) My tree and decorations officially go up today too so that is also exciting!

 

To mark the start of the festive month I thought I would put up a free knitting pattern- my latest design- these mini yule logs, with an opening at the bottom to pop a treat in!:

 

I made a traditional one and also a winter wonderland frosty snow style one (you can pretty much pick your own colours though to create whatever flavour or style of log you want :).

 

They are relatively quick to make as they don't require much sewing and are knitted all in one piece but they are very cute and would make the perfect table setting at a festive dinner party- that is what I am going to use them for :-)

 

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Lets get started!...

 

You will need:

 

For the main cake piece:

• 3.25 mm knitting needles
• DK yarn in your cake colour (a lighter/reddy brown for the traditional log or sponge cake colour for frosty log)
• DK yarn in your frosting colour (a dark brown for traditional or white/cream for frosty log)
• A small amount of DK yarn or embroidery thread for your swirl of cream filling (white for traditional, red for the frosty log)- The swirl is optional but I think it adds the perfect finishing touch :)
• (Per cake) an 8cm x 8cm square of cardboard.
• Darning needle
• Scissors
• A hot glue gun/strong craft glue (this is optional but is useful)

For the holly decoration:

• Red buttons, knitted balls, beads, pom poms or whatever you like for the berries :)
• Green felt for the leaves, or you could knit some little leaves and sew them on instead, once again- whatever suits you really! :)

For the snowy/glitter top:

• Clear nail varnish or glue that dries clear
• Glitter
• Paint brush

Pattern:

Using 3.25mm needles and DK yarn in your cake colour cast on 4sts, then work as follows:

- Kfb into each stitch (8sts)
- P across row (8sts)
- Kfb into each stitch (16sts)
- P across row (16sts)
- *K1, Kfb into next st* repeat from * to * across row (24sts)
- K across row (24sts)

Change to your icing/frosting colour and work 27 rows of: K2, P2 ribbing

Then change back to your cake colour and work as follows:

- K across row (24sts)
- *K1, K2tog* repeat from * to * across row (16sts)
- P across row (16sts)
- K2tog across row (8sts)
- P across row (8sts)
- K2tog across (4sts)

Then thread end of yarn through the 4 remaining stitches on the needle and gather them up.

Making up:

Sew up the cake coloured ends of the cake (so they form the circular ends- gather the 4sts at then end then seam together).

Then sew in from each end, along the main body of the cake (The icing/frosting coloured piece), leaving about a 2inch gap in the centre. (This is so that you can get your cardboard piece and sweet inside :)

Make sure all loose ends are darned in and cut and then sew a swirl of filling on at each end of the cake in backstitch if you wish.

Next roll your cardboard piece and pop it inside- making sure the two edges of the rolled cardboard are in line with the opening of the kitted piece (So you still have an opening you can get a treat in to and out of :P). You can then glue the edges of the knitted piece flush with the edges of the cardboard if you want. This will fully cover up the cardboard piece giving a neat finish and it will hold it in place too :)

 

The opening/slit lies hidden on the bottom of the cake- The decoration is applied to the other side/the top side.

(If you do not want an open roll just pop the cardboard inside and then just seam up the last 2 inches instead)

For the glitter effect, paint some of your clear nail varnish or clear drying glue over the top of your roll then dip your paintbrush in your glitter and brush it over where you have applied the glue/varnish for a snow dusted effect:

 

Stick or sew on your holly decoration or other chosen decoration.

 

Then last but not least, pop a sweetie or surprise inside and; voila!

Your mini yule log is complete :-)

 

 

When you are done with your yule logs and the treats inside are gone you can always pop them on your tree by just pushing a pit of one of the branches through the opening in the back!

 

 

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I hope you like my pattern, I had lots of fun making it  :D

 

If you have any questions/queries about the pattern or making up or anything don't hesitate to comment below.

 

See you all soon,

 

Bye xxXxxXxxX

 

 

P.S:

I am using standard UK knitting abbreviations:

 

Kfb - Knit into the front and back of the stitch (increase by one)

st/ sts - Stitch/ Stitches

P- Purl

K- knit

K2tog- Knit two stitches together (decrease by one)

 

 

P.P.S. Please do not sell items made from this pattern without asking first, Thanks :)

PPPS!!!- I have listed more new items in my Folksy shop and as it is now December I am offering FREE GIFT WRAPPING on every order! :) Please do pop over and take a look- just in case you see anything you like: http://folksy.com/shops/handmadebyjordan

Byeeeeeeeeeee oxoxoxo

 

A little stitched hamster :)

Hello,

 

Last week we were given a couple of extra days off college so that we could go away and do some research ready for starting our mini kimono making project this week. In between doing my research and homework and stuff I managed to finish off one of the toy kits I got for my birthday, a little hamster:

 

 

Hehehehe, I called him nibbles! Oooh I love hamsters so much, they are soo sweet! :03  It is quite detailed (many different shaped pieces and some with darts) which was good because it means if you sew it carefully you get a really good toy. The kit was by minicraft- I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner, as, as I said you do have to do careful little stitches with a small seam allowance on sometimes awkward shaped seams to get a nice finished product. But if you want more of a challenge go for it- they have tons of cute animals to choose from! :) I still have my guinea pig kit to make too :D

 

In other news I have also made progress on my random patchwork purse, it I coming along ok but I would definitely not say it was finished yet- it still doesn't look quite right to me :-/ I am going to keep experimenting until I'm happy:

 

 

 

Hmmm I will get my thinking cap on!

 

I'm off now to pack my lunch for tomorrow- hehhehe I don't normally pack it the night before but tomorrow I am going on a trip with college to see 101 Dalmatians at the New Vic Theatre in stoke- a long way away- so we have to leave early in the morning. I am going to pack myself a lovely lush lunch with extra treats- just like my dad used to do for me when I went on trips when I was little :) You need more energy when you go on a trip! :-P

 

Speak to you again soon,

 

Bye XxXxXxXxXxX

***12 days of Christmas giveaway winner!***

Helllooo, helllo, helloooo!

I am here to do the special job of announcing the 12 days of Christmas giveaway winner :D

 

There was lots of entries for this giveaway which was nice to see :) But now, drum roll please........ the lucky winner of the 12 little parcels is.......

 

Jordyn Dunaway!!!

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Image from: here!

 

If you could send your address to iitki@hotmail.co.uk then I can get your prizes on their way to you!

 

 

*****----------------------*****--------------------*****

 

I hope you all have all had a good week and have something nice planned for the weekend to treat yourselves :-) As usual don't worry if it you were not the winner this time as I try to keep lots of fun stuff not far around the corner o<:0 p="">

 

 

See you soon,

 

Byeeeeeeeee xxx