Holibobs

So as much as I would like to stay at home and craft and blog this froggie is hopping off on her holidays to here..............

 

 

This beautiful place is Lindos on the Greek island of Rhodes. one of my favourite places in the world,

and this is St Paul's Bay where I was married 7 years ago...

 

 

 

I'm so looking forward to going back, but you can be rest assured that I will be taking my sewing bag and my paper and pencils, so we will have to see what projects the Greek sun and sea inspires me to work on.

I know one thing for sure it will definately inspire me to lie back on my sun lounger and work on my tan. lol ;) 

 

Have Fun and I'll be back in a couple of weeks

Vicky Xxx

Thursday Crafternoon...shrinky plastic

Well we're back to rainy cold weather again. Two days of warm sunny weather and out came the shorts and sandals and dinner was a barbecue. We all went a bit mad, as we do, and then in true Brit style it disappeared as quickly as it came. Oh well I suppose we should be used to it by now!

Unfortunately, just to rub it in, I'm going to make you think of sunny days again now. The bad weather has not stopped me making, and I've been banging on about shrinky plastic on my facebook page for a while now. So I think its high time I showed you what I've been doing with it.

keyrings

 

 

 I'm not going to lie, it was more challenging to work with than I thought and is definately still a work in progress. Having said that this stuff is magic. Honestly you put it in the oven close the door and when you open it again, poof its shrunk. Its amazing!

I'm so easily pleased lol.

 

Brooches

 

 

The keyrings have definately turned out better than the brooches. Which is a shame as I was so excited about the brooches. Like I said its a work in progress, the white shrink plastic is difficult as its really shiny and hard to colour on. I'm trying to find a way of colour it without seeing the pen marks.

 

oooh as I type the postman just bought me some more, yay. Right then that's me off to play and make more shrinky magic, lol

 

Xxx

 

sew sunday......a work in progress

Yay spring/summer is finally here. How nice is it to have some sunny weather for a change. Its so nice not to have to wear loads of layers to keep warm. I even managed to get out in the garden to plant some seeds, potatoes, and have a general tidy up. Its also great to be able to photograph things outside in the natural light.

So its Sew Sunday and I'm sew sorry! This fortnights Sew Sunday is a work in progress, it took a little longer to work out than I thought. But I'm guessing you can all tell what its going to be.

 

Yep its a beach hut. 

 

I looked around for a pattern but couldn't find one so I made my own.  Ive started to attach the stripes with blanket stitch and I'm hoping to get the door and roof on over the bank holiday, and then add a few extras. All this might be easier said than done as no doubt my six year old will have different ideas! :)

 

Vicky Xxx

 

Thursday crafternoon......beside the seaside

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.......

At last were finally starting to see some sunny weather which makes me dream of summer holidays. Which has inspired me to begin creating my 'Beside the seaside' range, but I'm not talking about exotic holidays in the Maldives (although that would be nice) no I'm talking good old fashioned kiss me quick bucket and spade British seaside holidays. Blackpool, Brighton, Skegness, Margate, every Brit has been on them.

 

 Me and my six year old business adviser sat down and made a long list of all the things that remind us of the seaside. Beach huts and boats were definately on the list along with ice creams, shells, and sticks of rock, and so I made these fridge magnets.

 

 

Normally when I make stuff I'm a bit like 'yeah it's nice' but I've got to say I'm a little bit excited about these as they turned out loads better than I imagined. I even put a little sneaky peek on my Facebook page.

 

 

The beach hut one is definately my favourite, but I love the decoupage sea on the boat. Every year we go to New Quay in wales for our own seaside holiday with my mom and step dad, last year on the way there Jack declared 'New Quay, where the sea tastes like lemonade'. What a cute thing to say!

Maybe next time I will make a glittery lemonade sea. It would certainly taste a lot nicer than all that salt. lol

 

OK off to dream about more holidays.

Thanks for looking and don't forget you can now follow me on Facebook. Just click the link

 

Xxx

 

 

 

 

Sew Sunday ... scotty dog

This little scotty dog was actually a gift for my mom last christmas. I know its a bit lazy but the new stuff i'm working on is still a work in progress, but it will be ready soon. So back when it was very cold and wintery I made this. Yes I know its still fairly cold and wintery now but rest assured the new things im working on will remind you of warm sunny days!!
We did have a name for him or her but I honestly cant remember what it is, so any suggestions let me know.

I think I might have wanted to call him 'button' due to his button eyes, or maybe petal. But honestly who knows, it was christmas and ive slept since then. Anyway I guess its up to my mom to name it really seeing as he lives with her now.

I also wanted to show you this fab new magazine I found 'Ruby loves'.

 

I know anyone who has little girls will love this. Its packed full of stuff to make and only costs a fiver. The best of it is everything you need to make the projects inside is in the bag, apart from the eggs and flour for the cookie pops because that would be stupid lol, but theres no need to buy anything. In this the first issue you can make a bag, cards, a ring, a keyring and loeds more. I cant think of better way to get young girls interested in craft, and yes I know its aimed at young girls but I couldnt help but buy it anyway. So if you've got little girls who love to craft I suggest you check it out.

 

Love Vicky

Xxx

thursday crafternoon...vintage caravans

Well thank God most of the snow has gone, although there's still some bits that are refusing to go and its still bloody freezing.

So lets think about sunnier days, picnics, the seaside and vintage caravans. I love vintage caravans and would love to have either a tiny little British one to renovate or a huge American airstream. But for now I'll just have to make do with these.

 

Mixed media vintage caravan

 

Mixed media art is great, its like collage for grown ups, I used some old scrapbook paper, paints, pens and an old book I have no intention of reading again. which is a good job as its got pages missing now....lol.

 

If I had a caravan I'd call it Dolly. I could even cope with one at the bottom of the garden. I could do all my crafting and blogging in there, not to mention hide away from the boys when I've had enough ;)

 

 

Jack asked me to do one with a british theme in red white and blue, he's fast becoming my most important advisor and harshest critic. You can always rely on a child to tell you exactly what they think. Bless him.

 

I'm hoping to open an etsy shop in the next few months and doing a whole seaside range, hopefully some variations of these will be available along with some other stuff.

In the meantime I'll just have to dream of one day owning a 'Dolly' of my own!

 

Love Vicky

xxx

 

 

 

In my Kitchen....Easy Peasy Easter Bark

Well I just read on Facebook that all the shops have sold out of Easter eggs!!!!!! So it seems that this post has come right on time.
Easy peasy Easter bark, honestly this is so easy and idiot could do it and its super quick too. I made some for my little mans teacher who retired this week and it seriously took less than five minutes.

you will need

 6oz chocolate (I used white but whatever you choose)
12oz mini marshmallows or big ones chopped up
sprinkles
greaseproof paper
baking tin

 

How to.....

 

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on a double boiler. If using white chocolate, be careful it burns easily I suggest 30 second blasts.

 

When completely melted pour in the marshmallows and mix to cover them. Do this quickly as the marshmallow will begin to melt.

 

Pour into your lined baking tin and spread out to the corners

 

Decorate with you chosen sprinkles

 

 

 

Transfer the tin to the freezer for 20 mins (to stop the marshmallows melting)

 

Remove from the freezer and cut into squares, or shapes using a cookie cutter.

 

Pop into a bag or jar and voila and easy peasy Easter gift.

 

 

 

Oh and its really yummy too!

 

Happy Easter

Vicky Xxx

Craft Show haul

Thank God I chose to go to the craft show at the NEC on Thursday before we had all this snow!!! Now I love a good dollop of snow, but not in March! I mean honestly we should be packing away our thermals not pulling them on again.
But luckily the weather wasn't too bad on Thursday so I made it to the show, and thought I would share with  you some of the bits I got.

 

Halloween theme Fat Quarters.

 

I bought a lot of Fat quarters as the sewing bit there is great, with loads of different fabrics you don't really see anywhere else. I've also come to the conclusion that I could spend a fortune on fabric. Seriously I had to drag myself away from the pirate themed ones, and I still went and found them on eBay when I got home.

 As some people might know were big on Halloween in our house so I plan to make bunting with this (yes I'm big on bunting too). I'm thinking I might go for a different shape with this instead of traditional triangles but we'll see.

 

 

More fat quarters...

 

No idea what I'm going to make with these, but they all went together so well. I love the stripy one it reminds me of a stick of rock!

 

 

Easter fat quarters.

 

I think these are Easter themed and at least that what I thought of when I saw them but everyone I've shown them to thinks they look more baby themed. Either way I'll be using it in an Easter related way.

 

 

Alphabet stamp and clock stencil thingy

 

Its not often I buy stamps, I normally use digital, but I was looking for something to use in a project I'm working on at the moment. I got this one one as I love typewriter font and will probably use it in a lot of tings, the clock thingy is a thingy because I just can't remember the companies name but I'm hoping to use it the same project.

 

and last but not least

 

 

bits and pieces from the crafts a pound shop.

 

This is the best shop, loads of stuff all for a pound. You can pick up loads of bits for your stash, the only draw is that its the busiest shop at the show. Honestly they need to operate a one way system! its just a massive free for all, how they keep a track on who's paid and who hasn't, and don't even get me started on women with trolleys. Those things should be banned..lol

 

So I'm off to moan about the snow a bit more, and put my Easter decorations up.

 

Vicky Xxx

 

 

 

 

sew sunday...

Just a quickie today to show you these fun little hair clips. I'm busy busy busy at the moment trying to sort out stuff for the little fellas birthday and Easter.

 

OK so there isn't an awful lot of sewing to these, but they're easy peasy to make and would look so cute in a Little girls hair. And there really cheap too, I bought a pack of 30 hair clips for £1, the felt I already had but that's not too expensive either.

 

 I really like the bright pink one, Its such a pretty flower. it looks complicated to make but its really easy when you know how. maybe if I get around to it I will do a quick tutorial.

 So now I'm off to bake Star wars cakes in preparation for my little mans tea party and I'm off to the craft show on Thursday to spend some of my hard earned cash lol.

Thanks for stopping by
Love Vicky Xxx

 

 

 

Sew Sunday : 3 Little Dickie Birds

Hey,
I know its been sooo long since I last posted anything handmade sorry, but I am trying to get my bum in gear and provide some regular posts. I'm just trying to decide what to include and and when, so I thought I would start with this post and see how I go.

 These little guys started out life as Easter chicks, but the more I look at them the more I think they should be lovebirds. I mean look at them, they look so cute and loved up. I think maybe I will have to get them out for valentines day next time instead of Easter.

 

I made the pink and then the blue and then jack insisted I make a green one, so now we have a family of love birds! Jacks the green one in case you were wondering, as its his favourite colour, I'm the pink and Gaz is blue.

 

They all have cute little tails at the back, but my rubbish photography doesn't show them very well at all. there really easy to make and can be hand sewn, which is great as sometimes its such a chore to get the sewing machine out, especially if your like me and don't have space to leave it out all the time.
so now I guess I need to rethink my Easter chicks, better get my thinking cap on.

I've also been thinking for a long time now about doing a few tutorials on here. If you would be interested, or would like to see a tutorial for these or anything else you have seen in my blog leave me a comment at the bottom.

Thanks for stopping by
Vicky Xxx