Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Busy Doing Nothing Much

This week is our half-term break.  And – sorry to those of you slaving away at work this week – I’m having a great time, busily doing nothing much!

My parents flew over from the UK last Thursday, with my long-awaited latest issues of ‘Making’ and ‘Mollie Makes’.  So, I’ve been trying to steal a few quiet moments to have a little read (or at least a quick look at all the lovely photos).  Of course, I’ve spotted MORE projects to add to my ‘to do’ list, and more things I “NEED” – that will be added to the bottom of my (very long) letter to Santa!  I told you in my last post - these magazines are NOT purse-friendly!

As I’ve got my mom here with me for the week, we’ve (of course) managed to fit in a few shopping trips!  Well, it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it???  We were meandering around a department store (‘Karstadt’) the other day, and I just happened to stumble upon their haberdashery department – SURPRISE!!!  I got some bargain yarn, for €1.50 for 50g.  I bought 6 different colours, as there were so many gorgeous colours to choose from – and it was sooooo lovely and soft!  Here are 4 of the colours – you can see the other 2 later on in the post. 


Today, I sneakily bought my first few Christmas decorations of 2011 (I’m sure there will be plenty more to come over the next few weeks).  I got them from a beautiful shop called ‘Home and Garden’.


I also bought these toadstools from the same shop.  Aren’t they cute?!?


Oh, and one more purchase I wanted to share with you – these cute and colourful mugs (from ‘Buttlers’):



While I have my mom here to supervise/sort out my mess-ups, I thought I’d start knitting a hat I’ve had my eyes on for some time.  I’m using two colours of the soft, soft yarn I bought from Karstadt – a really bright red and a greyish-taupe colour.  I’m going as quickly as I can with it, as I want my mom to show me how to sew up the seams before she goes home.  Don't laugh at me, all you pro-knitters!  Here's the hat so far:


I know this is really silly, but I think that one of the reasons I’m enjoying this project so much is the fact that the yarn colours match so well with the colours on my needles!  AND they also look pretty with my bright blue stitch counter. 


AND, the WHOLE THING looks great with my knitting bag!!!  Haha!!!  ;-)


What else have I been up to this week???  Hmmm.....  We've been eating out a fair bit, we've been to the zoo, we've been to an ice-hockey match (Duesseldorf won - yippeeeee), and we've been to visit my sister in Cologne.  We've also been working on our Halloween costumes.....  But that's a whole different blog post.....  

See you all soon.....

Carly

x

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

Mollie Makes Magazine Review

I’ve posted a few times about my ongoing love affair with ‘Making’ magazine.  But I haven’t yet mentioned my fling with ‘Mollie Makes’.  I have a huge quandary here because, you see, I can’t decide which one I love the most!!!


In trying to review ‘Mollie Makes’ here, I’ll have to make a few comparisons and weigh up the merits of each.  Maybe that’ll help me to decide between them – and then I can perhaps save myself some money.  This two-timing is an expensive business, you see!

Well, Mollie Makes is REALLY GORGEOUS!!!  



The photography and colours are delicious and (I know this may sound a little weird, but...) I LOVE the feel of the paper it’s printed on!  The whole thing looks - and feels - VERY different from ‘Making’.  In my head, I explain the main difference like this.....  The look of ‘Making’ (being more organized, structured, fresh and colour-coded) is more closely matched to my ACTUAL personal style (of craft, dress, home decor, and personality).  Whereas, the look of ‘Mollie Makes’ (being more boho, cluttered, cute and quirky) reflects what I’d LIKE to be more like..... If that makes any sense!?!?  Basically, what I mean is, the styles of the two magazines are very different, but I love the aesthetic of both!

The ‘Mollie Makes’ tagline is ‘Living & Loving Handmade’, and I reckon that reflects really well what the magazine’s all about.  There’s definitely a focus on crafty lifestyles and living.  It’s chock-a-block full of photos of random inspirational ideas, beautiful handmade things to buy, and other people’s amazing homes and studios.  There's not as much ‘reading’ as there might be, but I guess this is made up for by the sheer volume and lusciousness of the photos!



Also, there aren’t as many projects in this magazine as there in ‘Making’.  BUT the projects they DO include are super-cute, and most of them look reasonably quick and simple.  I haven’t tried any out yet (although there are quite a few on my ever-expanding ‘to do’ list).  But I’ll be sure to let you know how I get on when I do!

If the shortage of projects in ‘Mollie Makes’ is seen as a negative, it should win back a fair few brownie points for its free gifts!  Each issue comes with a kit and instructions for making a sweet little something-or-other.  All the kits I’ve collected so far look pretty easy to make, although I haven’t made any of them YET (more things on my ‘to do’ list).  Again, I’ll let you know.....  One issue came with a kit to make three really cute felt rings.  I’ve cut out the felt already – now I just need to sew the pieces together.  If only there were more hours in the day!!! 

Well, as you’ve probably guessed, writing this post has NOT helped me to decide between ‘Making’ and ‘Mollie Makes’!  Both are special to me in their own ways, and I can’t bring myself to part with either at the moment!  So, sorry purse!!!

If you’ve read either (or both) or these magazines, I love to hear from you!  What do YOU think???

By the way, my parents are coming over for a visit in a few days – and they’re bringing me the two latest issues of BOTH mags!  Woohoo!!!

Until next time.....

Carly

x

Thursday, 13 October 2011

Crafted by Carly Giveaway on iMake

Hi everyone,

Just a quickie!

I have mentioned the iMake blog and podcast, hosted by the lovely Martine, before.  The blog is a great read, and the podcast is my absolute favourite!  Anyway, I donated one of my Crafted by Carly bags to Martine, to offer as a giveaway prize.  Here it is:





If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning the bag, just visit the iMake site and follow Martine’s instructions!  All you have to do is visit my Misi shop, then leave a comment on the imake post, saying which Crafted by Carly item is your favourite!  The giveaway closes at the end of the month.

Good luck!   

Carly

x

Monday, 10 October 2011

Autumn's Here!!!

Last Sunday, the sun was blazing (it was almost 30 degrees here in Düsseldorf)!  We spent the day lazing around on outside, and we spent the evening eating and drinking on our terrace.  We didn’t even need jackets when it got dark!!!


This Sunday was a VERY different story altogether!!!  It was over 20 degrees colder, for a start:


And, all of a sudden, it really looks as though autumn is here!  As there certainly wasn’t going to be any sunbathing, we decided to go for a walk.  We took the camera along, to try to capture some of the autumn-y feel of the day.  As it was such a beautiful, colourful day, I thought I’d share some of my favourite photos with you.....











The last little, lonely daisy of the year was very special!!!  

Have a good week.....

Carly

x

Saturday, 8 October 2011

Return of the Breadmaker

Guess what, dear blog readers.....  I dared to venture into the kitchen – AGAIN!

I guess some might say that this baking session was cheating, but why do all the hard work if a machine can do it for you?!?

After having read all about the lovely Martine’s breadmaker bread-making adventures on the super-fantastic imake blog (take a look over there if you haven’t visited already, by the way), I decided to drag our breadmaker out from the back of the cupboard (where it’s been sitting, feeling sorry for itself, for a good 3 years), dust it off, and have a go!  Martine’s photos made me drool – the bread looked SO good that I could practically SMELL its bready freshness wafting out of the computer!!!  It made me very hungry for a nice, big, fresh loaf – so I got to work straight away (forgetting that the breadmaker would need 3 hours to work its magic)!

I decided to try the French bread recipe.  Despite the fact that making bread using a breadmaker is easy peasy lemon squeezy (you only have to pop the ingredients in, after all), I only just narrowly avoided disaster.  I heaped in 2 tablespoons of salt (thinking that was rather a lot), when my husband leapt to my rescue, pointing out that the recipe said 2 TEASPOONS, and hurriedly scooping out a heap of salt.  Phew!!!

I got my bread eventually!  And here it is.....


Tada!!!  Fresh from the breadmaker (my new best friend)!


It looked pretty good (if a little flat) both outside and in, the smell was amazing, and the taste didn’t disappoint either!  It was especially yummy smeared with some Italian olive paste, with some Greek salad on the side (a European feast)!!!


I’ll be using the breadmaker a lot more from now on.  Thanks for the inspiration, Martine!!! 

Until next time.....

Carly

x

P.S.  I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all of the lovely, lovely people who took the time to visit my little MISI shop and leave such kind comments on the blog (or send such sweet emails)!!! 


xxx


Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Online Shop Open for Business

I have some very exciting news to share with you.....  I’ve just opened my first ever online shop!  So, now you can find me on the MISI (Make it, Sell it) site, as well as my other homes on the web.  I spent pretty-much the whole day yesterday uploading photos and text and now, at last, I’m open for business!

Hooray!!!

Here are some of the things you can find on the shelves:







As I’ve never tried selling my things online before, I’m a bit nervous about the whole thing.  So, I have a HUGE favour to ask you all.....  I’d REALLY appreciate it if you could find a few minutes to visit my shop (www.misi.co.uk/handmade/craftedbycarly) and give me some feedback on what you think of it.  Any comments, thoughts, suggestions, or questions would be very gratefully received.  You can get in touch with me by leaving a comment below, or by emailing me at craftedbycarly@yahoo.com.

Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that browsers will like my things..... 

Carly

x
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