Bags. bags and more bags!

…and just added my Over Easy and It's a Hoot too.

Chickadeedoodah

I've finally photographed my chickadeedoodah bags and have finally started listing them for sale, yay. When I say I've photograped I mean I've snapped 3 of them… still a few more to do but my mac decided it wasn't going to play ball today and was not impressed that it had to import so many large photograph files. Bah! I was not impressed that I had to spend all morning deleting all my unwanted photos just to keep my mac happy!!!

My kitchen has become my studio and the family are so considerately stepping over my set… and the fridge is acting as a great help in holding my roll of paper in the door! Oh I'm just so professional.

My bags are on my For Sale page and now I need to photograph the remaining 2 Chickadeedoodah and I currently have 2 Over Easy and 2 It's a Hoot to put up too.

Rachael

…it wasn't so bad!

…cake stand and deliver took these fab shots of the craft fair last Saturday. I especially love the little tea cup hat!

Looking at these lovely photos I just can't help thinking… maybe doing another one wouldn't be so bad would it!!!

And I finished my crepe paper roses, 6 in total. They are all ready to be given to her and even though I say it myself they look absolutely gorgeous wrapped up together in pink tissue paper and string. I'm definitely making more of these… I've already made another pink one and two beautiful cream rose buds!

Thanks for stopping by.

Rachael

Everything's Rosie

This time last week I was on a roll making all my chickadeedoodah, over easy and it's a hoot bags. I worked until about 10pm last Tuesday so that I felt ahead of the game.

Today however was much more sedate. An afternoon of tea and cake with my sewing girls, I say cake but I had to pass… cake with carrots in just doesn't work for me, it would be like having mashed potato with strawberries in, although I was assured it was delicious… mmmmm yum! Anyway, yes they are still sewing the quilt and also mumbling something about how many strips they've had to sew together and do they need to iron them before they cut the finished strip squares to size!!! Blah, blah, blah. I think they just like to make out that I work them too hard. Which of course I don't! Well, maybe a little… I just want them to reach their full potential!

I on the other hand sat cutting out crepe paper petals to make my roses. My wonderful elderly but sprightly neighbour is moving to be closer to her daughter. Her daughters gain but sadly my loss, she truly is such a lovely person and I will miss her. So as a little leaving gift I thought I'd make her a bunch of cream crepe paper roses – still a few more to make but I couldn't wait to take a snap of them…

I love making these roses and I love photographing them too, I just love how real they look. I nearly did kill myself jumping off the kitchen side though after I'd taken the last one…

This is a definitely a project that the girls and I are going to do in the not so distant future. They watched as I demonstrated how to roll the petals to form the rose and once again they started mumbling… they do that a lot… something along the lines of, can't do that, mine would tear, that looks too hard… and once again I say blah, blah, BLAH. Do they really think I'm going to let them off so easily. I told them it was easy to stretch crepe paper and that it didn't tear to which Max managed to tear every piece I gave her and remark with delight… told you I'd tear it! I'm even more determined now, watch this space because I will be showing you how they get on!

Thanks for stopping by

Rachael

…and breathe!

I'm not sad to see the end of this week… it started with a constant purr of the sewing machine as I sat chained to the bernina and ended with packing up the car and bringing most of my stock home, less a few monkeys and, oh yeah… I was very light on the business cards!

Don't get me wrong, a great day was had by all and we left the fair still smiling and laughing even though the rain was falling… but was it worth all the hard work? Neglecting my kids, neglecting the housework, neglecting the ironing? (Always worth neglecting ironing!!!) But as hard and rubbish as last week was I think it was worth it.

It made me finish all those little projects that I was putting off doing… those little sock monkeys that would have sat limbless on my sofa for another few months (there were 7 in total), the embroidery that I needed to finish a quilt, the binding for another, all the labels that I needed to print, all the bags that I had cut out in January that had been sat in pieces with no purpose, and all the new bags that I have now made… chickadeedoodah, this ones mine… and apparently Tinks! …and by the way, all my bags are original designs by monkey and squidge.

My cotton stash is now looking very sad, and my sewing machine needs a clean and an oil, but I am now armed with a lovely collection of stock that I am so pleased with and no pressure to make more, and with the urgency lifted I can make some more bags at a time that suits me… tomorrow? Maybe not.

Am I mad!

So yesterday I receive a text from a friend… a very talented friend I may mention http://gilhoolie.co.uk/, asking me to accompany her to a craft fair! The only hitch was that it is on the 21 April.

I ummed and erred for a few minutes and discussed it with my ever so patient hubby and decided that seeing as I had some monkeys ready, some peg bags, and a few quilts, and with still some time to make some 'It's a hoot' bags, that I could, quite possibly have enough stock to go! So my answer was "of course, I'd love to".

In reflection… WHAT WAS I THINKING!

They're taking over my sofa…

…the monkeys are finally finished and I'm glad to say they are already quickly diminishing!

I'm glad to say that because it means that very soon I will have a sofa back that they have been using as their home for the past… heaven knows how long!

Take a look and either email or facebook me and I'll reserve one for you if you want one! This is Lenny below!

Thanks for looking and waiting so patiently for me to finish this batch… this batch… the final ever batch… do you believe me?!?

Right, bags next me thinks!

Thanks for looking

Rachael

Ps the monkeys are on the sock monkey page or click on the image above!

I dream of quilting!

My blog posts seem to have fallen by the wayside recently but thats not to say that I'm not still sewing and being crafty though.

…there was that lovely afternoon I had planned for me and tink. That lovely afternoon whilst the boys were at karate, and I would teach her how to sew.

The plan was to sew a little felt rabbit using blanket stich, kinda like the toys I used to make with my mum when I was little. Oh how fab it would be… sorry did I say fab! It was a nightmare!!! Tink was bored whilst I cut out the pattern which I saw on http://formalfringe.com/2012/03/26/felt-rabbit-place-settings/. She was bored whilst I showed her how to blanket stitch – I demonstrated this stitch twice! Then she was fed up with how neat mine was and how she preferred the colours I'd chosen because hers were rubbish! Tink became the sewing child from hell! I gritted my teeth and smiled, repeated my mantra for the afternoon 'this is so much fun, this is so much fun' and tried to show her the stitch one more time whilst telling her how fab her rabbit was. Below is the start of my rabbit, tinks rabbit finished and a quick snap of the two finished rabbits together!

I have to admit that despite pulling my hair out they have both turned out pretty cute. Mine was pink and green and very co ordinated, Tinks was burgundy, blue, purple, and turquoise with cream stitching… I think it's gorgeous. The sewing experience was like giving birth… the moment you hold your baby you forget the pain you've just been through… when I look at the rabbits I forget the two hours of wanting to throttle my daughter and see this cute little toy she created.