October... November... the blog that went MIA...

Oh dear - it seems I have been neglecting my blog a bit although I promise it has very much been in my mind to do an update. I think my to do list has just been very long this last month or so but I have been crafting.. honest!  

Part of the trouble is, the longer you know you haven't blogged the more you feel guilty, and the more you feel guilty the more you try to excuse yourself by saying well maybe no-one's missing it anyway.  I'm sorry *shameface*

Anyhow, to prove I have been crafting away here is a bit of a round up of things I have been playing working with...

So, backing up a little first, September was a blur of 'back to school stuff' and then came October with family birthdays & anniversaries and then Halloween.  To celebrate I put a new tutorial up on my you tube channel for some mini-crochet bunting (I do love cute little crochet things!)

The link to the video is HERE.  

We had so many 'Trick or Treaters' on the night that we pretty much ran out of sweets within an hour!  I loved that all the local mini-kids (as we call them) were out in their witchy, zombie, ghostie outfits - including some of the mums!

Straight after Halloween there was the festival of El Dia de los Muertos aka 'Day of the Dead' - one of my favourites  - and I was inspired to make a colourful eclectic necklace of skulls, flowers, butterflies and charms..

With Remembrance Day approaching, I also re-did the crochet poppy tutorial and put it on my You Tube channel in the new 'flip book' style HERE

In between I was writing and publishing the Autumn issue of 'PsAZZ News' (support group magazine) and got busy co-ordinating the new 2013 awareness campaign which this year is called 'A Bouquet of Hands' .  It has now been up in The Mineral Hospital, Bath for the last couple of weeks and they like it so much they are keeping it in one of the patient waiting rooms so hopefully it will go on being seen for much longer than we had dared hope!

I was so touched by all the wonderful hands that had been made by group members, their family, friends and other people who had seen the  posters.  Each one was photographed and contributed to the display and I think you'll agree it looked pretty fabulous when assembled...

Newly assembled....

In situ at The Min!

I've also (randomly because I love them)  been making crochet butterflies...

and birds...

and, because I decided to try and raise some funds for PsAZZ (so we can get some printing done etc) I've been doing lots of sewing type projects too...

Door stops...

Birds...

Hearts...

Brooches...

More little lavender bags...

and making a few more bits and pieces of jewellery to sell..

In between all that I also completed 3 new crochet poppy projects for Simply Homemade Magazine (issue 35)

New poppy trio: a cuff, a ring and a brooch/hat clip

 ...one of which made it onto the cover

(cover pic poppy...yayy)

Oh my - having loaded all those pictures I think even I forgot just how much I've been making & doing recently!

Right, I'm off to work on a new commission, tackle a few more 'to do's' and then I'll work on a new blog tutorial :)

Happy crafting - whatever you are doing!

Autumn, Arachne & Beaded Spiders...

Once you see a sky like this you know that Autumn has arrived!  There's also been a distinct chill in the early morning air which is scented with a mixture of damp earth and the last heady summer smells of lavender & roses.  

We've had a good few sprinkles of rain lately too and I've noticed the leaves on the trees are slowly changing colour.  Rain coats & brollies have had to be dug back out from the depths of the under-stairs cupboard and as much as I love the heat & light of summer things are getting pretty in a different way and I always find the changing of seasons quite inspirational, creatively speaking ;-)

One of the first changes you notice at this time of year is how the garden becomes adorned with lots of little webs that catch the raindrops and remind me of delicate floating necklaces - they are so pretty!   

I admit that maybe I'm not so keen when the occupants start scuttling indoors (time to put conkers by the doors & windows) but you have to admire the weaving skill of the spider.  When I look at them closely, I am reminded of a story I read when I was a child called 'The Boastful Spinner' which came from this book..

(well thumbed and a little worse for wear because it was one of my favourites!)

It's a story I must have read a dozen times (in fact I probably read the book from cover to cover several times over). Taken from ancient myths, it tells of a fair maiden called Arachne who was a talented weaver but who became so vain & arrogant that she attracted the attention of the Goddess Minerva with all her boasting.  A challenge ensues and unfortunately the tale does not end well for Arachne who ends up as a spider in perpetuity - silly girl, she should have known better than to upset the Gods!

Anyway, I hope you don't mind beaded creatures of the 8-legged variety! If so you might want to skip the rest of this blog post but I do hope not as I really don't think today's project is as scary as the real thing - especially as inspired by the gorgeous blues & pinks of the sunset picture and made with a pretty, heart shaped fabric covered bead like this one...

They are really simple to make and I've been experimenting with a new step-by-step tutorial format which is kind of a cross between a flip book and a video - just click this link to see it on my you tube channel - it works best if you open it up to large size (I'd be interested to hear what you think or if you just prefer lots of pics on the blog instead?)

Once you've got the hang of them you can makes lots of different ones with all sorts of beads - they'd make great brooches or statement pendants too or you could make a few in plenty of time for Halloween.


Happy Making :-)
xxx

Just click the video link below for a flip book style tutorial

Distractions, Butterflies & PsAZZ-ing...

 I've not been getting a lot of time to blog lately which I think is largely down to the general distractions of the school summer holidays and all the ins-and-outs that entails!  My making moments seem to have been crammed into little bursts of activity here & there which means this post is going to be a round up of several things...

To start with I've been spending a lot of time writing articles & producing the 'PsAZZ News' (which was originally a basic newsletter but now more like a mini-mag!) and also organising our next awareness campaign.  Some of you might remember the yarnstorm that was last years campaign and this year it's going to be  'A Bouquet of Hands'...

(I covered my first hand shape in lots of little fabric left overs and have lots more ideas in my head to make a few more - feel free to pass the poster around & join in :-)


Another thing connected to PsAZZ is that I have decided to make up some jewellery bits & pieces to sell so that I can use any profit to pay for things like getting some proper leaflets, posters & contact cards done or maybe even get a couple of copies of the mag printed to put at The Min. 

It's been a long while since I've made-to-sell but I been busy raiding my bead stash..

...and started making lots of earrings

It's filling up!

I also have to confess, that with the sunny weather and flowering of the buddleia we are seeing lots & lots of butterflies in the garden which I just love and keep get very distracted by! In fact, I have become a tiny bit obsessed with trying to get a photo of each different species that visits (and even did the 'Big Butterfly Count'!) 

So far we've had lots of 'Peacocks'....

" Fancy meeting you here!" 

...several visiting 'Tortoiseshells' 

Sadly there's not been very many 'Red Admirals' so far (and those that have visited are being rather camera shy)...

" No pictures please...."

We've had masses of large & small 'Whites' fluttering prettily around together (and who seem to love the lavender more than the buddleia)...

And we had a fleeting visit from a beautiful, raggedy winged 'Comma' which I haven't seen in our garden before so got quite excited about...

Then yesterday I spotted this little fellow flittering around on the lavender bush who I didn't recognise but,  I think is a 'Brown Argus' (thanks mum for doing a bit of quick research for me!) Like the 'Comma', it is also one I've not seen in our garden before so it got me a little over-excited again.  Anyway, he was very small & very cute and took a bit of a liking to my shoe..

Talking of lavender, today I've been making up some lavender bags which is a lovely pastime - not least due to the scent of the dried flowers that wafts around you as you work and generally induces a feeling of calm...

So that's it. I think.

I guess I should really go make some more now I've got all that updating out my system!


Happy Making whatever you're creating!
xxxx

HRH Prince George & tiny crochet booties...

Well I can hardly give this week's major event a miss can I so...

                   Congratulations to Kate & Wills

The birth of a new baby is always such lovely, special news and it seems like we have been waiting for this new arrival forever.  The weather has been almost Shakespearean with it's hot, midsummer nights that seemed to mirror our anticipation of the great event, quickly followed by tempestuous thunder storms that began to rattle around the UK almost as soon as the new Prince was born!

Ever since HRH Prince George Alexander Louis first wiggled those tiny little fingers at the cameras waiting to catch a glimpse of him on the steps of the Lindo Wing, I've been thinking how to celebrate with a blog make and eventually came up with the idea of some small pale blue booties... but for something a little different these are not 'real' ones, instead they are cute little motifs that you could use in all sorts of ways (especially if you are into handmade cards or scrapbooking!)

It's all just been too exciting and without further ado I shall guide you through the step-by-steps....

First, gather together a 3mm crochet hook and some fine cotton yarn in the palest baby blue you can find.....

1) Begin with a magic circle and ch2 into it

2) Make 5dc into the ring and 1ch

3) ss to join to the first ch sp back at the beginning to form a circle

4) 2ch, turn
then 1dc in same dc as ch, 2dc

5) 2ch,  turn
then as before, 1dc in same dc as ch, 2dc

6)  First repeat step (5)  then 2ch, turn

and work 1dc into the last dc of previous row, then carry on in same direction with 2 more dc

7) 2ch,  turn
 1dc in same dc as ch, 2dc

8) Turn and work a ss or two in each stitch along to top and side edges to neaten (or just sew around with thread). 

9) Finish off and pull to shape.

10) Sew in the loose threads, or chain the ends & add bows or other embellishments of your choosing.

Happy Making xxxx

Suffragettes, Suffragists & the vintage style rosette...

Those of you who remember my Suffragette post will understand how excited I got recently when I heard that there was to be a re-enactment of the The Great 1913 Suffragist Pilgrimage from Lands End to London to celebrate it's centenary in a small town nearby! 

In the week or so leading up to the event in Corsham, Wiltshire there had been a display of Suffrage images, posters & fully dressed costume dummies in a couple of 'pop up' shops and I couldn't resist popping in to see it all.

Here's one of the fab dummies put out in the sunshine especially for the march!
(note the Suffragist colours)

I had a very interesting conversation with one of the ladies in the pop up shop who explained that there were two types of Suffrage supporters  - the more militant 'Suffragettes' who wore sashes of purple, white & green and had a tendancy to smash windows & generally cause mayhem and 'Suffragists' who also wanted the vote for women but who went about campaigning in a more peaceful way such as this pilgrimage and wore their own colours of red, white & green to distinguish themselves from their rowdier sisters-in-arms.

Apparently they had a good reception in some towns and in others they were shouted & booed at so it wasn't all plain sailing and at times they faced quite dangerous crowds.  In all the walk took around 6 weeks and they managed to collect something like 46,000 signatures for their petition on the way! The event has been organised alongside a play by a theatre group called Dreadnought South West which has been running in towns along the original pilgrimage route to celebrate their amazing, brave journey - you can find out more or buy tickets to see the play here 

So, with all the excitement this morning I grabbed my camera and went along to watch the re-enactment...

It all started at the Methuen Arms... banners at the ready!

Then it was time to march through the town!

A little singing & some rousing campaign speeches!

'Dr & Mrs J E Crisp' welcome the group to the town just like back in 1913..

We want the right to Vote !

A sea of Suffragists outside the town hall

I think it was really impressive - don't they look brilliant in their costumes?  It must also have been very hot dressing up during this current heatwave in all those long sleeves & skirts but at least they had hats on! 

It certainly looked like they had put tons of effort into making everything and I learnt that as well as a local knitting group helping to make lots of woolly flower corsages for the ladies to wear, that a local school had been involved in making banners which were dotted about the town.   

After finding out about the event last weekend I had immediately decided on my own little tribute make for the Suffragists with a campaign style rosette....

If you fancy catching up with the march and would like to make your own version of the rosette here's the step by steps...

1) Begin by drawing out 3 template circles on paper to use as the pattern.  You can make them any size you like for bigger or smaller rosettes but I used 10cm, 8cm, 6cm....

2) Pin & cut your circles out in your chosen fabrics (remember its red, white & green for the Suffragist)....

3) Then make a small running stitch along the outside edge of one of the circles...

4) Pull the ends of the thread so that it bunches up like this...

5) Then flatten out like this...

6) Repeat with the other two circles of fabric...

7) Then stack them on top of each other like this..

8) Find a nice large (vintage) button and a needle & thread.. 

9) Sew the button on top the fabric circles to secure everything then simply add a pin to the back and you are ready to join the march!

A big well done to everyone who helped prepare and take part in the march - I think it was a huge success and it got my vote!


Happy Making :-)

xxxx