Christmas is Coming........

Oooh Summer is finally going away here in the UK.  Feel sad to see it go to be honest as I hate the cold weather!!

Anyway - with summer going, the next thing to prepare for is Christmas!!  Can't believe I am saying the 'C' word in September!!!!

I am helping to organise a Handmade Christmas Market this year for my local area as we have alot of talented crafters!  I will be having a stall there so have been making felt Christmas tree decorations ready to take along.

I wanted to do a few different ones from last years - I get bored of making the same things over and over!!   These are what I have made so far

A gingerbread house

Christmas tree

Gingerbread man

Christmas pudding

Elf

I used a pattern from Auntie Pitty Pat's for the elf and altered it alittle to my own requirements.  I love this little elf!!

For the last few years I have been wanting to make cinnamon dough tree decorations but all the recipes are American and use an apple sauce mix usually a brand called Motts?  I am wondering if I could use the British apple sauce that you get in jars in the UK instead - does anyone know if it's the same?  Have any of you in the UK tried to make them using this as a substitute and if so were the results good?  I love the smell of cinnamon especially at Christmas!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Felt Gingerbread House

Oooh where does the time go!!  It's ages since I last blogged!  I've been fiddling around with felt and have made a start on Christmas decorations.  Of course as usual, I got sidetracked and end up making a little 3D gingerbread house for myself!!  I searched online and found several different ideas and then made a pattern and had a play.  It was abit fiddly and required some thought - I used cardboard on the two ends of it to reinforce and to give the house a nicer shape.  I used double thickness felt on the roof as well as I felt it needed to be abit more rigid.

Hope you like it as much as I do!!

Revamp Using Washi Tape

Oooh it's been quite some time since I blogged - just seem to get carried away and then realise a month or so has gone by without me noticing!!!

I thought I'd share this little revamp project with you. 

I have lots of washi tape that I never seem to do anything with and I had this Ikea orange tree like thing that I use to hang things on if I am doing a craft fair.  I really don't like this tree much and I realised it's due to the colour!!  Don't get me wrong, I love the colour orange it's just that it clashes with anything I hang on it!!  Here is the tree in all of it's orange glory

So - I decided to use different washi tape and wrap it around all over to give the tree a new lease of life.  It took quite abit of tape but I really liked the finished result!!  I covered the tape with a layer of Mod Podge to seal it and to hopefully prevent it peeling off!

Here is the finished result!!

I think it looks alot prettier now!!  The end bits are still orange but I can live with that!!

Competition over at SVG Cuts Facebook Page!!!!

Just a quick post from me to let you know about a fab competition over at SVG Cuts on their Facebook page.  It's a chance to win a Silhouette Cameo.  The competition is open to everyone regardless of your location and from memory it closes on 21 July so enter fast!!

Here is the link to get you to the competition http://bit.ly/15jBDhK

Good Luck!!

Chiffon Shabby Flowers

Just a quick post to show you some gorgeous shabby flowers that I made using some polka dot chiffon fabric.  I have bought a few similar to this but smaller in yard strips but they are not particularily cheap and sometimes not very big.  I had a look at them and thought it would be easy to do my own in patterned chiffon.  I am really pleased with them and they are easy to make!!

I made a few more of them, they all came out alittle different as it depends on how much of the middle you make before doing the outer edges!

I've taken some photos of each step as I was making them and I plan on doing a photo tutorial soon for anyone that is interested!!

**UPDATE**
Shabby flower tutorial can be found here

A Summer Walk

Well - we had a lovely hot and sunny day here yesterday so I decided to go out for a walk.  I'm lucky enough to live in a sort of suburban area that is only a 5 minute walk away from open fields and woods so I decided to go for a nice walk armed with my camera!  I could have worn better shoes as the daps I chose have given me huge blisters but never mind!!!

Anyway, I thought I would share some lovely summery photos that I took on my walk.  It is so nice to see so much greenery and to see wild flowers lining the country paths and roads.  The woods were still abit wet under foot but still great to walk through!

There was this really pretty field full of buttercups....

Alongside the woods runs the River Frome

I love the roots on trees that come up out of the ground and wrap themselves around the trunks.  They make the tree look like it is 'enchanted'!!

 

and Dandelions always photograph so nicely!!

Have a great day wherever you are!!