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

Happy holiday happenings

Hello,

 

I hope you are all having fun in the summery sun, well, when it is not hidden by the clouds :oP

 

I am having a great time in the Isle Of Wight (as usual :) and thought I would bring you an update of what I have been up too.

 

First up- the tale of the giant cucumber! Me and my family went to 'Farmer Jacks' farm shop to get some stuff for tea and in the vegetable baskets we found some HUGE cucumbers so we picked up one (the biggest one :-)

 

Here it is, it is absolutely massive!!!:

 

 

It tasted nice too, the lady in the shop said they aren't usually so big but what with all the sun and then the downpours of rain they had thrived. (the small slice in the picture is a slice from a normal sized cucumber!- not a tiny one or anything)

 

Hahaha, from giant cucumbers to cool one-man band music machines it is all here in the IOW, yes one man band music machines..... you did not read wrong :P

 

At Quay Arts- the mini art gallery and shop on the island, there latest exhibit was of this music machine :) Just turn the handle and the wheel rotates and plays a happy little tune on the piano, the drum bangs and the umbrella attached at the

 side spins too!:

 

Quay Arts is always fun to visit as you never know what will be there but it is always something that makes you smile or makes you think :0)

 

Here is just a cool picture of the hovercraft coming into the dock/beach that my dad took when we were watching them today:

 

We did get a lot of sand in our faces though when one of them turned to go on its way and its propellers blew a gust of it straight at us! ahh well it was still fun watching them :)

 

In the evenings I have been working on this little craft kit my mum got me before we went away- I have sewn the body and arms and ears so far, pictures will of course come when my little bunny is finished ^o^:

 

And here is a picture of the great bag my dad generously treated me to in a fair-trade shop:

 

I loved it at first sight-All the little details and pretty colours. It was handmade in India and due to different pieces of scrap fabric being used to make it each one is completely individual. I am saving it to use a little rucksack for when I go to Uni  (:

 

We are almost at the end of my update now but I have got to mention the Vintage antiques fair we stopped off at this morning. I wasn't sure how much I would find when I walked in but on one table there was a whole stack of old sewing, craft and cross stitch books- all at only £1 each! I looked through all of them and found 6 I really couldn't put down. I can't wait to read all of them cover to cover, I have just got to finish off the two books (about sewing too :) I am reading at the moment first.

 

Hehehe, sorry, you can all go and give your eyes a rest now, I am done!

 

See you soon with more updates (if you can all face anymore :P),

 

Byee xxxxxxxx

Back from holiday- an update :)

Hello everyone,

 

I am back from holiday now, I just got home today :-) I had a super holiday and still have a week of my easter break left so can't wait to enjoy this week too.

 

In the evenings in the IOW I had quite alot of time to sit in front of the telly and do some crafting :) Here is one of the things I made:

 

 

Hehehe, it's a troll bow hairclip :0) I found some little trolls in my room so I thought I would put them to good use and this was my first idea!

 

I also started some other accessories too but they are not quite finished yet, I will post pics of them when they are done :) (one is another cute hairlip in the shape of a heart with pleated ribbon edging, I've just got to add the finishing decoration.)

 

Another thing I did in the IOW is lots of shopping! (as usual I bought quite a bit of the fresh handmade fudge they have in the sweetshops as it is super tasty) I have a very cool thing I got to show you know though..... It is..... a fancy dog bag......!:

 

Yes it is a bag!!! I know, amazing isn't it! a fabric- stitched bag that looks soo much like a cool dog :D I really loved it and my mum very generously treated me to it. I can't wait to use it when I go to the shops- I wonder how many funny looks I will get, lol :P

 

There are also other types of dog available, I found the website of the company who makes them online: Fuzzy Nation  Some of the bags really look like they could just run off barking! :0)

 

I'm off to bed now as I'm pretty tired after the journey home and need to get a good rest before I head off to my tailoring/dress making/clothing alterations work experience I normally do on saturdays again :) I had to have 2 weeks off due to the trains and then being away, I can't wait to get back, it is soo fun! I am bringing a handmade cake I got in the isle of Wight as gift so hopefully they like it :-D

 

See you all again soon, I hope you have a lovely weekend!

 

Bye xxxx

Father's Day! :D

Hi guys,

I hope you have all had a super fab day! I am happy to say my dad liked all of his gifts including his custard cream keyring :0)

He also liked these cupcakes me and my brother made him:

Hehehe, it took about 3 hours to bake the different cakes and make the different icings as I am not a seasoned baking pro but they did taste nice (even if I do say so myself :P). The ones on the left are Victoria sponge ones with raspberry jam centres, the ones in the centre are chocolate, obviously, hehe :-) And then the ones on the end are Yorkie and Malteser ones. I think all in all today my dad has had 6! So he definitely must like them :0)

My nan also liked her bag when I gave it to her yesterday when we all went dog racing for the evening (the dogs are well looked after and enjoy running and everything :), here is it finished:

and here is it wrapped :):

Soon I have a swap make to show you when my partner recieves thier parcel :-) I can't wait for my parcel to arrive too I haven't done a swap in agggesss!

See you all soon,

Bye XXX

P.s If you haven't already entered the Giveaway! don't forget too! Entries are open until the 22nd of June :)

Gifts galore

Hello,

As many of you will know it is Father's Day on Sunday! I down yesterday and thought about what I should make my dad as a gift. I have bought his other presents (a teapot and two teacups with a bunting decoration and a Queens Jubilee commemorative PG tips tin with the monkey on it- we love the little monkey and my dad loves tea :0). I thought of a couple of different things but then I saw the custard cream keyring kit on top of my cupboard, I promised I would make my dad one when I got the kit from my nan for Christmas but hadn't yet got  round to it yet.

I thought what better time to make one for him than now, it even fits with the tea time theme of my other gifts :P Here is how it came out:

I hope he likes it :-) I had to knead the clay A LOT it was very hard, my fingers kinda hurt now!

But, that didn't stop me doing a bit more work on the bag I am making for my Nan for her 70th. I finished the embroidered design a while ago and today I stitched down the straps, now all I have to do is stitch the finished straps to the bag. I have until Saturday evening. I will get back to stitching tomorrow when my fingers are OK again because I have to hand sews the straps rather than machine sew as our machine can't sew through that many layers!

Hehehe, I tried to make the flower look super happy :D I hope it make my nan smile!

I hope you are all having a brilliant week!

See you all soon,

Bye XXX

I achieved alot today.....

Well firstly I climbed a mountain!

Snowdon in Wales to be exact.

Its the second time I've climbed it now, before I climbed it on a geography field trip but this time I did it with my family :) Its 1085m tall and we managed to walk allllll the way up and down in about 4 hours. It was hard on the way up and I ache now but you get a real sense of achievement so its definitely worth it :0) I even managed to knit a row of my latest project at the top!

 Here is a pic I took on the way down:

Also I am pretty much finished with my bag of inspiration for the Project Yarnway runway tomorrow! YAY :D

I'm sooo pleased with how its come out! I can't wait to enter it into the competition :0)

See you all again soon,

Bye xxx :)

On my way to the runway

Yo people!

I have finally got round to actually knitting up my design idea for the project yarnway challenge on ravelry!!!! It took me a while as I had to knit a tension square first, then print out some knitters graph paper and colour in all the little squares to create my design before I could finally pick up my needles. Don't get me wrong though I enjoyed it all its just nice to actually start making and see it all coming together :)

I'm reeeeaaalllyyy pleased with how its coming out, the words are really clear. Its cool to watch all the sayings appear before your eyes as you knit each row. (I'm also secretly happy with my intarsia, especially as I'm pretty in experienced with it but its coming out quite neat! :D)

I'm definitely using this bag when its finished. Ive got to get a move on though as its due on the runway by the end of May...

I'm off to knit a couple more rows,

Bye!

p.s If you notice that any of your comments are not shown on the blog anymore it is not because I deleted them. Blogger crashed about a week ago and they have been lost in cyber space I think :( Hopefully they will come back soon!

See ya xxx