buttons

Last week I made some button brooches for a hen party. A little something (non cheesy) to tie us all together. The colour scheme for the wedding is mustard and grey (with a bit of teal here and there), so I raided the yellow and grey button jars and spent a good few hours arranging and rearranging until I found something I liked. Being the self critical perfectionist that I am, I wasn't really loving these whilst I was making them (that could have something to do with the fact that I was feeling crubbish though), but they seemed to go down well with all the hens this weekend:

I do love the colours together. 
Happily, I'm feeling so much better this week and ready to get cracking with that never ending to do list. The first thing on the list is getting my little shop stocked and ready to roll.

a tough week

This week I haven't been feeling very well at all - everything from a runny nose and a wheezy chest to nausea and uncontrollable shivers. I think that some kind of virus combined with a general run down-ness is the (self) diagnosis. It's making me feel quite glum and I have definitely not been my usual self this week. Despite feeling crubbish I have soldiered on with my work (no sick pay here!), but my productivity, like my mood, has been low. 
My plan to get my little shop relaunched this week won't happen, but I'll have it stocked and ready to go next week, when hopefully I'll be feeling better.

I did manage to get a new pattern drawn up earlier this week though, so it's not all bad:

I think this bird looks quite mad!

Love is in the air

Including my own, I've been to four weddings this year, and by the end of the year, it will be five. We went to a lovely wedding on Saturday. The bride and groom were not expecting gifts, but we didn't want to let the day pass without a little something, so I made them a gift:

They sent us a text the following day to say that they LOVED it. Phew!
These will be available from my shop soon. This week I'm having a bit of change around in my little shop - a relaunch if you like. More on that in a day or two...

little hanging birds - cut and sew

I have 2 new 'little hanging birds' cut and sew patterns available to purchase from my spoonflower shop:

This one is a 20x20cm swatch, it makes 2 little hanging birds and includes instructions. It costs $5 (or about £3 if you're in the UK) plus postage. You can see/buy it here

This one is at fat quarter size, it makes 11 little hanging birds and includes instructions. It costs $11 (or about £7 if you're in the UK) plus postage. You can see/buy it here

Both patterns require basic sewing skills (machine or hand), a small amount of toy stuffing (although you could use cotton wool) a needle and thread and some felt balls (if you'd like them to have hanging legs!).

artists interpretation!

I won!

I was so chuffed yesterday to find out that one of my designs was selected as the winning entry in the recent Tigerprint competition:

I have been selected as a runner up and had designs shortlisted in the last 3 competitions I have entered so it was lovely to finally have a winner.

Thanks to everyone who left me a comment on my last post re my hanging birdy decorations. I have a huge stack of them here on my desk in a half made state so when I get over the excitement of my win, I must get back to the sewing machine and get them finished.

hanging birds

Every year I make christmas decorations. My hanging birds are always my best sellers so this year I've stuck with birds but incorporated my printed work. I have designed and printed my birds onto fabric and then stitched them onto a 3mm thick natural cream felt. For hanging them I fancied something a bit different so have gone for punched eyelets:

click to enlarge

I'd love to get some feedback on these. What do you think? Please do leave me a comment and let me know.

friends and bridesmaids

This week I designed a few cards for a tigerprint competition on the theme of female special relationships. These are my entries:

I don't think I've ever seen a card for brides to give to bridesmaids and vice versa so hopefully these last two will catch their eye.
My ideas for these came from my new found fondness for washi tape and my love of squared paper.

feeling festive yet?

I am. I sent my card designs off to be printed yesterday:

They are quite different but both use the cross hatch/scratch element. The husband says the first one reminds him of scotland (?) and the second is more party/nights out/mulled wine/50's feel. I do appreciate how helpful it is to have a designer as a husband who can dispense feedback when requested.
Like my last set of cards, I wanted a fairly small quantity so I'm having these printed by the lovely folks at Moo. If you don't know Moo (where have you been?) they have a great website. I use both their mini cards (as labels for my softies and accessories and as promo cards) and for some of my greetings cards and postcards. Their products are high quality and the website is foolproof when it comes to ordering personalised stationery.
They have a (secret) 15% discount on their greetings cards until 20th October - just enter the code CARDSYAY at the checkout. It's OK to tell you though - they said I could pass it on.

Rootin Tootin

Rootin Tootin is my vegetable themed design which I entered into the current spoonflower contest:

see/buy it here

There's still a couple of days left to vote. If you like this, please do vote for it here

I thought I'd also share a few of the designs I really like from this weeks contest:

see/buy it here

see/buy it here

see/buy it here

see/buy it here

see/buy it here

see/buy it here

and the cards go to...

I didn't forget, honest! In greetings card giveaway news, the random number generator has decided that the recipient of my new cards is commenter number 9, Hoola Talullah:

 

Talullah, please drop me an email with you address and I'll get these in the post to you asap.
Thanks to everyone who entered and gave me feedback on your favourite designs. It seems it was a pretty even split between acorns and birds. I'll post a few pics of my new Christmas designs in the next couple of days - I'm really quite excited about them!

all things christmassy

I've been working on some Christmas card designs today. I can't remember how many times in the last few days I have either heard or seen references to Christmas, but let me tell you, it is numerous. I like the feeling - it makes me feel a little bit excited.
Pinterest is starting to get a bit of a frosty festive feeling too, and my Christmas decorations on flickr seem to be getting plenty of views too at the moment. Here are some of my faves:

baubles made from old books, found on pinterest

Pantone Christmas Baubles, via pinterest

hand drawn card by Linzie Hunter

and some of my Christmassy designs:

snow birds, by me

scatter trees, by me

Teddy and Rover

Introducing Teddy and Rover:

Teddy and Rover are both backed with a co-ordinating monda designed fabric and are printed onto a sturdy but soft linen/cotton fabric:

Teddy also comes in pink and blue, and Rover comes in dark brown, grey and yellow. Pop over to flickr if you want to have a peek.
More sewing is happening here today but I hope to get a few of these in the shop over the weekend.
Busy, Busy, Busy...

sew, sew, sew

I've gone into full on Christmas making mode now:

My Owls and Pussy Cats

I'm trying not to panic about the massive to do list. There is still a few weeks before my first events so I'm sure I'll get it all done (gulp!).
Also there's still time to bag yourself a set of 3 of my new cards - just leave me a comment in the post below - the lucky recipient will be picked over the weekend.

new cards

My new greetings cards arrived on Saturday:

I'm really happy with how they have translated into print. This set of 3 cards is up for grabs - all you need to do is leave me a comment on this blog post telling me which of the three designs you like best (click on the picture for a close up view or go here to see the original artwork). The draw will be open until midnight on Friday this week. Easy peasy stuff. What are you waiting for?