Grungey Leather Poppy

Wow, we are having some lovely hot sunny days here in Bristol.  It makes such a difference to be able to go out without a heavy winter coat and an umbrella.  It is supposed to go on for a bit longer, but my only worry is that this may be our summer and come June/July and August we get rain instead of sun, agggrhhhh - I hope not!!

I have not made much this last week as I was trying to source some more leather so I could get a few other colours.  I managed to get some red leather so made a poppy, it's quite a grungey style poppy but I am pleased with it.  Here it is:

I've have also got some lovely yellow leather so I think I will go for a sunflower style one next!

Pop on over to my Facebook page if you are interested in buying any of my leather brooches.  You can find them in the album named 'Flower Brooches'.  The large ones are £8 plus postage.

More Leather Flowers

Hi - just a quick one from me today.  I have made a couple more leather flowers using the same tutorial that I posted a few days back.  This time I made a petal template that was much shorter than the die cut one that I made previously.  This gave a smaller flower but looked very nice as well.  The finished flower was approx 10cm in diameter.

Here are the 2 latest ones

I've placed a £1 coin next to them to give you an idea of the size.

These are very addicitive and I need to source some more leather scraps now to make more of them!!

You could make these out of card and shape the petals using an embossing tool rather than burning the edges!  I may try this next!!  They would look great on shabby chic items and you could adjust the size of the petal to suit your project.

Lunch at Brick Lane and Leather Flowers

Well we've had a lovely couple of days weatherwise in the South West of England. I caught the coach up to London on Saturday and spent the afternoon with a friend of mine who was over from India.  It was so nice to be able to roam around in the sunshine without a coat.  We did alot of walking and went to Brick Lane for a very tasty lunch in a Bangladeshi restaurant called Aladin!  For non UK readers, Brick Lane was the title of a book set in this area of London written by Monica Ali.  It was also made into a movie and is about a Bangladeshi woman who comes to England after an arranged marriage.  If you haven't read it, it is a nice read and the movie was also good.

Onto crafting now!!!  I have a bag of leather offcuts and they have been doing nothing for quite a while!  I decided to make some flowers using some new Sizzix dies that I recently purchased.

I made some quick and simple ones to start with which will be good to sell at fairs I think.  The one die was used to cut all the layers on the flowers.  I made a few different colour combos and turned them into brooches.

I have another Sizzix die that cuts out 2 different sized petals to make large flowers and I saw a fab video on YouTube which I followed.  My petals are bigger and a different shape but I am really pleased with how the flower came out.  It is very large and a gorgeous vibrant pink colour.  I also made this into a brooch!  I have put a £1 coin next to the flower just to show how big it is!

Hope you like them!

Spring is in the air!

Time certainly flies, can't believe it has been a couple of weeks since I last bogged!!  It seems Spring is starting to make an appearance and I for one cannot wait for some improved weather and some colour in the garden!!

I've been busy making some things for Mother's Day that people have ordered.

The first was a hedgehog bag charm for a nannie for Mother's Day, in the UK Mother's Day is this coming Sunday.  I've always thought it strange though that it's not mother's Day on the same day around the world!

Anyway - here is the hedgehog bag charm

I've also been making more felt hearts which seem to be popular for Mother's Day as well!!

They look nice all ready in my box to pack up and deliver!!

I have also been playing at making some leather flowers.  I got some scraps of coloured leather the other day and cut out some flowers using a Sizzix Framelits.  I have not stuck any of it together yet but this is how it looks so far!

I'm pretty happy with how this is looking so hopefully once I stick it together and add something in the centre of it and a brooch pin on the back, I will still like it!!

Thanks for stopping by!!  Have a great weekend xx

New Shoes and Bag!

I had some money for Christmas so thought I'd hit the shops to see if I could see anything nice.  I'd already bought some new leather shoes from Clarks online - I got Faze Fever and they were half price in the sale!! 

I love Clarks shoes, it's hard to get decent leather shoes that are well made these days but Clarks still do them!  Ok, so you pay alittle more for them but I think if you want a shoe to last and fit you well then it's worth paying extra for!!  You can get some fab bargains in their sales also!! 

A few months back I bought a slightly different design in a tobacco colour.  They reminded me of the old Clarks school shoes we used to have in the 70's - you know with the 'T' bar!!  Well these didn't have the 'T' but were similar otherwise!!!  They are such comfortable shoes and the leather is a really nice quality.

They have a sale on at the moment with some fantastic bargains - I have to stop looking as there are many more that I could easily buy!!!!  I can't wear heels so I tend to go for comfort - these 2 styles could be worn in the winter or summer so very versatile!!  I think they are pretty funky!!

I seem to have a bit of a thing for leather!!  I also love leather bags - when I was in the US a few years back my ex bought my a lovely 'Lucky Brand' bag, simple style but lovely soft leather.  I'm still using it!!  I also treated myself to a green patent leather Coach bag.  It was expensive but I got it in the Coach Outlet so much cheaper than it should have been! 

Since then TK Maxx have been my favorite place for leather bags.  They get some lovely ones in at really decent prices especially if they have been reduced again in the sale!!  I've been quite lucky and been there at the right time to snap up a few beauties!!

Here is the first on that I picked upa few months back

Then I saw this larger one that would be great for hand luggage or an overnight bag (haven't used it yet!!)

So last week when I went in, armed with my Christmas money, I saw this satchel style bag which had been reduced down to a silly price.  I've been wanting a satchel bag for a while now so was thrilled to find this one!!!  I snapped it up and added it to my collection!!

I have a few more smaller leather bags as well!!  Think I'd better stop looking at bags for a while (few years!!!) and use what I have!!

I'm sure I'm not alone in my love of good quality shoes and bags!!