Better Late Than Never

Ooopsie!!!  It’s almost the end of January, and I haven’t made my new year’s resolutions yet.  I guess it’s not too late (as it’s still January).  And I’m sure a wise man once said “BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!”

Deciding to ONLY set fun, crafty resolutions last year was a brilliant idea – no worrying, no guilt, no disappointments, no shame, no stress! 

So, there’ll be no dull diet plans or excruciating exercise itineraries for me in 2013.....  just lots of crafty capers and arty adventures - AGAIN!!!

How did I do with last year’s resolutions?  Here’s a quick review:

1.  Learn to crochet. Well, I did!  I’m still just a newbie, but I’ve completed a few crochet projects now – and you can tell what they’re meant to be.  So, tick!

2.  Make more things for myself (including some clothes).  I’ve knitted myself a few bits and bobs to wear, and I’ve made myself some jewellery.  But I haven’t sewn myself any clothes (which was what I intended last January).  So, yes and no to this one.

3.  Make more (and hopefully buy less) greetings cards.  Tick!  I have made more cards (especially Christmas cards) and bought less. I could still do better, though.

4.  Have a go at knitting things that are not just sewn-up rectangles.  Yes!  I’ve knitted a few things using circular needles, and a few things that aren’t rectangles or squares.

5.  Experiment with making more home accessories.  Tick!  Lots of cushions, a few papercrafty things to hang on the wall, baby quilts, different kinds of Christmas decorations.....  I would have liked to have experimented with more new patterns and ideas, though.  

6.  Improve my photography skills.  I think I have.  I feel more confident in using my camera now.

7.  Post more tutorials on my blog.  Sadly, no.  Sorry!  I only posted one last year.  That’s shameful, I know!  Must do better!!! 

Bearing my review of 2012, and thinking of what else I’d like to achieve, I came up with my CRAFTY RESOLUTIONS FOR 2013:

1)  Post more tutorials on my blog!

2)  Make some clothes for myself (sewing).

3)  Learn to follow a proper crochet pattern.

4)  Make more greetings cards – for different occasions.

5)  Expand the range of things I make to sell (including adding more home accessories).

6)  Venture into the kitchen to do some baking.

7)  Try out some crafts that I’ve never tried before.

If you have any suggestions for number 7, I’d love to hear from you!

Let’s see how this year’s resolutions go.....

I’m off to make a start right now.....

Carly

x

P.S.  Who else is IN LOVE with their Mollie calendar?

Santa, you know me so well!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  I hope you all had a happy Christmas, and that you celebrated the start on 2013 in style!  We had a wonderful Christmas with my family (being spoilt, eating lots, and playing games), managed to meet up with lots of UK-based friends, and had a fantastic New Year's Eve (with my parents and some friends) at a hotel in Cheltenham.  

Santa Claus is SUCH a clever fellow!  How DID he know what I was hoping to find in my stocking this year?!?  And he's SO generous too!  I think I must have been very, very good last year!!!

I thought I'd do a little show-and-tell of some of the crafty pressies I received.....

[look out, books - here comes the scalpel...]

[a little bobbin corking dolly]

[a bit of CK, of course]

[another papercutting book]

[my new 'Mollie' subscription - with freebee book]

[a new camera lens - to snap some birdies and other creatures]

[a lovely, colourful, small-project crafty book]

[and last but not least... some cute fabrics]

I'm CAN'T WAIT to get started on some new crafty projects.....  Thank you SO much for all my wonderful Christmas gifts, dear family and friends!!!  

Next time, I'll do a show-and-tell of some of the pressies I MADE for people this Christmas.  So, see you soon.....

Carly

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My Friend the Postman

This week, I have a new best friend – the postman!  We check our mailbox excitedly every evening when we get back from work.  And we’re usually both disappointed.  But, over the last week, my pal has delivered me 3 exciting packages!!!

Inside package number 1 was Issue 13 of ‘Mollie Makes’. 

Look..... free buttons!!!  How cute are they?!  And how pretty is the colour?!  There’s lots of cuteness and prettiness inside the magazine too.  There are so, so, so many things that I need to add to my ‘dream shopping list’.  And there’s a lovely, colourful crocheted cushion tutorial.  I think I might give it a try, to enhance my new-found granny square skills.

Package number 2 contained Issue 11 of ‘Mollie’.  Don’t ask!  It took 3 months (and countless trying-to-stay-calm-and-not-write-any-naughty-words emails) for them to send me my first subscription issue.  And I haven’t received any of the magazines in the right order.....  It was really annoying!  But now I’ve got all the issues I’m due, and they’ve promised me a few ‘extra’ magazines after my subscription officially ends.  So, I’m happy now!

Issue 11 came with a cute kit for making a little Russian doll key ring.  And look at the little mice on the front cover.  Look at that teeny-tiny little knitted cardie!!!  I’d LOVE to make myself and little well-dressed mousie.  But I think it would all be way too fiddly for me.  Maybe one day???  This issue has inspired me to try out some embroidery.  There are instructions for making an embroidered cuckoo clock, and I’d LOVE it for my crafting room!

Package Number 3 was the most exciting one of all!  It contained a giveaway prize from the lovely and VERY generous Jules at The Awkward Niche.  THANK YOU JULES!!!  Look at all the goodies I won.....

         

A cute hedgehog embroidery kit (more prompting for me to get my embroidery on):

A sweet little blue heart:

A kitty key ring (look what he ate for dinner):

And the super-cute ‘Super Cute’ book:

Thanks, postie!!!  What will you bring for me this week, I wonder.....

And thanks again, Jules!!!  Hugs to you and all my lovely blogging friends,

Carly

x

Small-Scale Crafty Projects

I’m enjoying my 3-week-long Christmas holidays IMMENSELY!  Who wouldn’t want to be a teacher?!?  We’ve been back in the UK for the whole time, visiting our families in Staffordshire (mine) and Devon (the in-laws), and celebrating New Year at a hotel in Cheltenham.  We’ve had a wonderful time over here, and it’s going to be pretty hard to get back into the routines of ‘real life’ when we go back to Düsseldorf tomorrow.

I have to say, though, it will be nice to get back into my crafting room!  Being away from home for so long, I haven’t achieved very much crafty-wise.  I only brought some knitting needles and a little bit of yarn with me.  So, my crafting has been on a very small scale (hence the title of this post).

I found a fantastic tutorial for little knitted knot brooches on the Cornflower Blue blog.  I’d tried lots of different ways of making knitted ‘BOWS’ prior to finding this tutorial, but they all turned out looking not-quite-right after I’d tied them (even my mom, who’s the world’s best bow-tier, couldn’t get them to look good).  But these ‘KNOTS’ tie up easily, and sit really neatly when they’re attached to a pin and then to a cardie!  So, I've been making lots and lots of bow brooches while we’ve been away.  My favourite (of course) is a red one!  And here it is (looking christmassy) on my favourite green cardie.....

My other mini-project has been making up the freebie gift that came with the latest issue of ‘Mollie Makes’ – a Belle & Boo needle case.  

It took about 10 minutes to make, and is cute, Cute, CUTE!!!  Definitely my favourite magazine freebie to date!  I fell in love with the orangey-red cotton I found in my mom’s sewing basket (and it looked great against the turquoise felt), so I decided to add a little something extra with it, and embroidered a little ‘C’ for ‘Carly’ in the corner.  Here’s my finished needle case.....

If you haven’t seen Belle & Boo stuff before, by the way, you should check it out.  I think you might like it!

Although it’s not actually a ‘crafty project’, I also wanted to show you these.....

I had a mooch through my nan’s button tin, and picked out these beauties!  Every time I visit her, there seem (magically) to be more buttons in her collection.  This time, these red, brown and creamy-coloured ones caught my eye.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this show-and-tell.  Until next time.....

Carly

x  

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

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