Another Crafty Addiction???

I've been wanting a set of alphabet stamps for aaaaaages, but I couldn't find one that was just right.  Then, a few weeks ago, I found one that was exactly what I was after.  AND the stamps came in a cute little wooden box.  So, of course, I HAD to get it there and then!

Here it is.....

Don't you love the little box?!?

My first attempt at using the stamps wasn't great.  I kept getting blotches around the edges of the letters.  Here's my first bit of stamping.....

I've been working on improving my stamping skills over the past week.  It's getting better, slowly. I'd be grateful of any tips, though. 

Can you guess what I've been using my stamps for???  I'll be posting about it soon.....

Carly

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Cheap and Cheerful

I’m just stopping by quickly today, to show you a few of the cheap and cheerful bits and bobs I bought while we were in England. 

I bought some buttons.  Well, of course I did – I just can’t help myself!!!  If you live in England, in the Midlands, I recommend Crafty Corner (in Atherstone).  They sell all sorts of stuff (mostly yarn and knitting patterns), but I go there for the buttons.  They’re just so cheap!  These little pretties only cost me between 5p and 12p each!!!

My favourites are the little owls!

I also bought a really sweet little book from a charity book shop.  

It’s a little bit battered and tattered, but I fell for it and had to buy it.  I wanted to show you all the pages, because I love the way the colours have been matched up on each double-page spread. 

My favourite pages are ‘3 cotton reels’ and ‘8 beads’!  I think the colours are extra-specially great on these pages.  Which page appeals to you most?

I’ll be back soon, to show you some craft books I bought while we were away.....

Carly

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Happy Easter!

Hello, my fabulous friends!  I have been enjoying reading your Easter-themed posts SO much!  I’ve loved seeing your super bunny and chick makes, and all your yummy-looking Easter baking! 

I’m afraid I don’t have any Easter makes to show you in return.  While we were at my folks’ in the UK, I finished knitting myself a cowl (photos to come), and tried AGAIN to crochet (no photos in the pipeline yet).  And that was all the holiday crafting I did because, a few days before we left, I started getting a funny rattling noise in my chest and didn’t feel 100%.  So, I went to see the doctor as soon as we got back to Germany.  And I have pneumonia!  Luckily, I don’t need to be admitted to the hospital.  But the doctor has told me I HAVE to rest – as in DO NOTHING!!!  I don’t really know how to do ‘doing nothing’ – I’m normally doing at least 10 things at the same time!  But, I’m TRYING to be good.  I think the ONLY upside of being told to rest is that I have plenty of time to catch up on reading crafty blogs and listening to crafty podcasts.

As I can’t share any Easter MAKES with you, I thought I’d share some Easter BUYS....

I got these cuties from a fantastic shop called Hema.  It sells the cutest, most colourful housey things ever!  Do you have Hema in your part of the world?    

Here are my new thingies hanging on my Easter tree old bits of branch with their new pals.....

I went shopping for these (and did the branch-decorating) BEFORE I got sick.  I’m just writing that in case my mom’s reading and I get into trouble!  ;-)

Oh, and I have to show you the little Easter stamp set I found (also in Hema).....

Wishing you all a very happy (and chocolate-filled) Easter!!!


Looking forward to having a bit of extra time to 'hang out' over at your blogs.....

Carly

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Problems Getting Started

I’ve been invited to my first ever ‘Stitch & Bitch’ session next Saturday – yippeeee!!!  A friend of mine (Saffron, who taught me to knit) has organised it as a chance for us girls to get together to craft, chat and eat cake!  Sounds like fun, doesn’t it???

BUT I haven’t done any knitting since before Christmas, I’m not doing any hand-sewing at the moment, I’m not having much luck with learning to crochet, AND I didn’t think the other ladies would appreciate the noise of my sewing machine interfering with their ‘bitching’.  So, a dilemma!  What to take to work on.....

I really want to do some more knitting, and increase my arsenal of skills.  So far, I’ve only knitted things that use knits and purls in different combos.  So, I decided to look on Ravely for a hat, scarf or cowl pattern (it’s COLD here!!!) that would force me to try out something new.  Then, if I came across any difficulties, I could get some help on Saturday.  Good plan!  I found a super-cute pixie hood hat, and a gorgeous spiral-patterned cowl.  I wrote out a shopping list yesterday morning, and eagerly dragged poor S to my favourite department store’s crafty department. 

That was where the problems began!  It turns out that German yarn labels don’t have the same information on them as ours.  They have a little gauge diagram, and NO equivalent of things like ‘DK’ or ‘chunky’.  So, I had no idea what to get for the patterns I wanted to work on, and everything I found that I thought MIGHT be okay was really itchy (I am terrible for this – things that other people think are wonderfully soft feel like barbed wire to me!).  So, I left the shop with nothing, feeling like we’d had a wasted afternoon.

 

Then, when we got home, I looked online for some yarns.  I found a GORGEOUS bulky turquoise cotton one (which I hope won't be itchy), and ordered a few skeins.  I think it'll be great for the pixie hood.  I hope it’ll arrive before next weekend – fingers crossed!!!

[Rico Big Cotton Super Chunky - Turquoise]

BUT, that didn’t solve my most pressing issue.  S was going out to meet his man-friends (I couldn't complain after the afternoon's shopping trauma), and I would be home-alone.  I wanted to amuse myself with some knitting and start on something to take on Saturday (just in case my new yarn doesn’t come in time).  The pattern for the cowl required 4mm circular needles, which I had (my ONLY pair).  And I had some red yarn that I wanted to use for the project.  I spent a two hours watching YouTube videos before I started, looking up how to use circular needles, researching what ‘knitting 2 together’ means, learning now to do a picot edge..... So, I was ready to go!  I cast on my 128 stitches..... 

THEN realised that the needles were much too long (60cm, when I needed 40cm) – AAARGH!!!  I might have said a naughty word or two and stamped my foot!  So, everything got shoved back into my knitting bag, and I did some more internet shopping (this time for some new needles)!

So, I can’t get started on anything knitty yet!  I’m just waiting for the postie to come.....

If my gear doesn’t come in time, I’ll just have to make some more of my little knot brooches – they’re quick and easy and I KNOW I have everything I need!!!

Does anyone else ever have days like this where you try SO hard to be productive, but end up just chasing your own tail and getting NOTHING done???

I’ll keep you up-to-date with progress on these two projects when I manage to get started on them.....

Carly

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Baby Boy's Quilt

Well, first of all I wanted to share some exciting news with you.....  I’ve had my 1000^th visit!  I know that’s a tiddly small amount really.  But, for me, it’s loads!!!  So, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for stopping by to see me from time to time.  I love having visitors!  And receiving comments from you REALLY makes my day!

I’ve been waiting to share this with you for AGES.....  it’s my first ever quilt!  I made it for my lovely friend Jana, who’s going to be having a little baby boy very soon.  She worked at school with me before going on maternity leave.  Some months ago, other work friends suggested that I should make something that we could all give to Jana at a baby shower.  So, I did!!! 

I decided to make a cot quilt from some super-cute robot and cog fabric I bought from the amazing Fabric Rehab (who ship overseas for a very reasonable fee).  I made the quilt really thick, so that it could also/alternatively be used as a play mat.  Here it is:

I LOVED the process of choosing fabrics, cutting out the squares, arranging them (and rearranging them and rearranging them again) in a way that I thought looked nice, and sewing the squares together!  Sewing the squares together was really relaxing and lots of fun!!! 

THEN came the layering bit and the fixing-it-all-together bit.  I did my own thing when it came to the actual ‘quilting’ and ‘binding’ bits.  I stacked my three layers, sewed them together all the way round (apart from a small gap at the bottom).  Then I turned everything the right way out and sewed up the little gap.  To do the ‘quilting’ (and stop the batting from bunching up inside the quilt), I sewed through each corner where 4 squares met with several strands of red cotton, tying knots at the back and leaving the strands dangling.  I liked how this gave added interest to the otherwise plain underside of the quilt.  I know I cheated a bit here, though.  And I WILL have a go at ‘proper’ quilting sometime soon! 

I’d love to hear your (honest) comments on my quilt.  AND I’d love to hear from you if you can offer me any tips for future quilting projects.  I recently bought two charm packs from Fabric Rehab – ‘Just Wing It’ and ‘Sherbet Pips’, and I’m just wondering what to make with them.....  Another quilt, maybe?  Or some cushions?  I’d hugely appreciate suggestions on what I could make with my charm packs, or links to cool (but simple) quilting projects.....

I’m off to have a little drink, to celebrate my 1000^th visitor!  Prost!!!

Carly

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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

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Bargain Buys and Free Fripperies

In August, we visited my in-laws in Exmouth (Devon).  While we were there, I was determined to do some crafty shopping.....  and, of course, I DID!!! 

I discovered the fantastic Susie F Handmade blog a few months ago and, in reading though archived posts, I came across one about an antiques/jumble warehouse in Topsham, which is just down the road from Exmouth.  Susie had picked up some buttons and knitting needles there – so I thought I’d visit and see what I could find!

The whole place was incredible – a three-storey treasure-trove/mishmash of real antiques and total tat!  If you’re ever visiting that part of the world and have a few hours to spare, I’d definitely recommend a visit – who knows what you might find?!?

Here’s what I found:

After I got dragged out of the warehouse, we had a quick browse around Topsham’s charity shops.  And – I couldn’t help myself – I bought some buttons!  I also gathered a few extra buttons from the button tins of my mom, sister and mother-in-law during our visit to the UK over the summer (with their permission, of course).  Here’s the little collection I gathered:

Lovely!

The shopping/acquiring was fun, but the best bit was sorting the buttons into my beloved button jars when we got back home!  And sticking my new knitting gear in a jar too!  What a lot of goodies – and all for under £5!!!

Now I have a little confession to make.....  these weren’t my only crafty holiday buys!  There were a FEW more!!!  But I’ll save the rest to show you next time.....


Bye for now,


Carly


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