Countdown to the Holibobs!

I have to apologise for the slight change in the appearance of my blog, but I got some feedback, I agreed so I updated!
I think it looks better - hope you agree.
There will be a couple more changes whilst I get used to the whole CSS thing, apologises, but I want it to be just right.

Anyway, in 3 days I will be off to sunny Cornwall with the entire Grantham clan for several days of rest.

I love going on holibobs, but I miss crafting, I get itchy hands!

Recently I had to work away from home for a week, so I thought about what would be small enough to carry in my suitcase and easy to make.

So I packed up a little kit of my button brooches and made lots of them whilst I was away.

Today's pic is of one of my fave brooches, this one has a fabric backing, but sometimes I make them without. The fabric was kindly provided by my Mother-in-Law and were actual fabric swatches! The buttons are kind donations from the button collections of various friends and family members. Oh and sometimes from my very own collection.

I am working on a full tutorial with pictures, but for now follow these steps.

You will need -
3 buttons (small, medium, large), good weight fabric square (optional, but make sure it's big enough to peek out from behind the large button), thread, needle, tweezers, scissors, pinking shears, button backs (I like round 12 or 16mm ones from eBay) and industrial superglue.

Instructions -

1. Make sure your 3 buttons fit together (small onto medium, medium onto large)
2. Sew small and medium together, make sure they are sewn tight together, but don't use too much thread, or they won't fit onto the large button
3. Apply glue to bottom of medium (not the side with small on), tweezers are handy here.
4. Affix medium to large, use tweezers to hold together for 4 seconds
5. Wiggle to test bond - if firm, leave to dry for 10 minutes
6. Follow steps 8- 10 if you don't want to add fabric, but include step 7 if you do
7. Apply small amount of glue to large button, affix fabric, hold for 5 seconds, if firm leave to dry and then cut to shape using pinking shears. Then follow steps 8-10
8. Use tweezers to hold button back, apply glue to round side and affix to large, use tweezers to hold in place for 5-10 seconds or
9. Wiggle to test bond - if firm, leave to dry for 20 minutes
10. Wear your new brooch!

Please leave me a comment if you want me to help you or if you think any of the steps are unclear and please do send me pics of the ones you make. I'll be running a competition in a couple of weeks, for you to win a button brooch kit!

Cx

Craft Heaven

What a beautiful morning! It's sunny and I feel in a fantastic mood, but my craft room is so warm currently that I am wilting whilst working in there!

Today, I thought I'd talk about one of the things I have come to love as a relatively new crafter, is the amount of blogs available for crafters.

There are some that are truly inspirational. Lots of these blogs have taught me new techniques, prevented me from killing when I was tired and have provided free patterns and ideas.

So I thought for my second post, I would say thanks to my fellow craft bloggers and list them here - even if you aren't 'crafty' they are so beautiful and funny, you'll love them anyway.

I'll be maintaining a list of my fave blogs, for you to view, but for now my top five blogs are:

i have to say

Allsorts

futuregirl

the purl bee

chicks of a feather

Cx

p.s the image is a handmade musical heart for over a babies cot, courtesy of The Toy Shop

Weddings, Fabric and Baby Quilts

Hello!

I am very excited about my first post on my shiny new blog.

I spent the weekend at a lovely country Wedding in Leicestershire, which gave me the opportunity to indulge my love of fabric with a small trip to the fabric stalls at the market.

If you have never been to Leicester market, I really would advise that you try to at some point, the fabric stalls are great and the stall holders are really knowledgeable and helpful, but the fresh produce sold in the market is great too.

Anyway, I had a perfectly valid reason for visiting the market, as I am about to start making a baby quilt for a friend. He has made a special request for a quilt that has the Union Jack on it, but in the Cypriot flag colours (white, olive and orange), to reflect the new arrival's heritage! It's a bit of a departure for me, but I think it should come out quite well and I will post pics when it's complete.

The pic here (which is not great I'm afraid, but I'm working on that!) is of a quilt that I made earlier in the year.

Cx