Spring issue of UK Handmade

I totally forgot to mention earlier that the Spring issue of UK Handmade is now live - check it out. It's a fab issue - all hinged around the theme of 'inspiration'. And, yours truly is in it twice!

I was really excited to be asked to write a feature article on pop-up shops. Finding out about the great pop-up projects we featured was totally inspiring. Setting up a pop-up shop is now in big underlined writing at the top of my things to do in the next 2 years list. Think I need to get myself a big top-up dose of perseverance and resourcefulness first.


And check out my tutorial for notebook covers - designed to make it even more tempting to note down all those wondefully inspirational thoughts and ideas we have. Or at least our shopping lists.

Work in progress

Remember my vintage fabric haul from last week? Well, I couldn't resist and have already got stuck in. Thought I'd try some larger sized cosmetic bags/wash bags. They're lined with vinyl which is the first time I've sewn with plastic. Just like leather, it's not as scary as I'd feared. So, it's wipe clean all the way from now (only kidding).

A voyage of discovery...

A couple of days ago, the lovely Kat of Kat Got the Cream was awarded a well deserved Kreativ Blogger award. Imagine my delight when I was included in her top 10 favourite blogs. As an award recipient, Kat was required to divulge 10 facts about herself, so in the spirit of sharing, here is my list of...

10 little known facts about myself

1. I still have 2 of my baby-teeth

2. I very much love my vegetables but have eaten llama, alpaca, guinea pig and possum - as well as the usual animals (note: I do NOT recommend possum pie as a hangover cure)

3. I have no real claims to fame - possibly the best I can do is having gone to school with Dennis Waterman's daughters. Oh, and Stephen Fry was at my brother's school play.

4. I must have a tissue with me at ALL times. Usually stuffed down one of my sleeves, or in a pocket. When I stand up, there's usually a tissue on the chair below that I've had tucked under my thigh. I can't explain it, it's just something I have to do. They are known as "my little friends" - thankfully, despite this, I have real friends too.

5. I love taking photos, but these days seem to only take photos of 2 things - bags and my daughter. Sometimes my daughter with a bag, occasionally my daughter in a bag, but most often it's one or the other.

6. I am an avid list writer. Again, it's a compulsion. Sometimes I sneak some easy stuff on there, just so I can tick it off (have a shower, eat lunch) I have lists of my lists. In fact, here I am, right now, writing a list... and I'd written down to do this on another list.

7. I'm just starting to become addicted to twitter. I'm not quite there yet, but can feel myself sliding towards it. Am very nervous about the possibility of overshare.

8. I love my name now, but hated it as a child growing up in Norfolk. I yearned for a nice normal name like Louise or Jane. One summer holiday I told the other girls my name was Aurora. Looking back now, I don't think that would have been any better.

9. My (not-so)secret shameful crushes (past and present) include Hugh Dennis, Jimmy Nail and Nigel Havers. And my girl crush is Claudia Winkelman - it's all about the fringe, the shoes and the sense of humour (for Claudia that is, can't explain the rest of them!)

10. I have many ambitions/goals for the future (being the best Mum I can be, volunteering with a charity, be a nicer person etc ) but right now, the one that makes me take a big deep breath in and out is the thought of a month's yoga retreat, somewhere gorgeous like India or Bali. Feels like a very long way off, but it's okay, it's on my list!

And lastly, here are my fave 10 blogs:

http://katgotthecream.blogspot.com
http://treefalldesign.typepad.com
http://misformake.blogspot.com/
http://flossieteacakes.blogspot.com/
http://www.elsiemarley.com/
http://www.purlbee.com/
http://u-handbag.typepad.com/
http://thelongthread.com/
http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/
http://www.designspongeonline.com/

ssh, don't tell anyone but those glasses don't have lenses in them

Paaarp! (tee-hee!)

I'd love to be all clever and make up some fantastically believable April Fool's Day story, but I tend to be more on the receiving end of those kind of japes - gullible, moi? - so, I'm afraid this is about as clever as I get...

And moving on...

I recently went on a fabric bidding frenzy, not expecting to be quite so successful! So, I'm now the proud owner of more vintage fabric than is probably healthy for one woman to possess. These my friends, are just some of the highlights:

Japanese "Town Blouse" part 2 and a non-tip

As Mr OH was away this weekend, I took the opportunity to stay up later than usual and make a sneaky headstart on my Japanese blouse. I've never taken part in a sew-along before and I have to confess that I've been a bit naughty and skipped ahead to tracing out my pattern which is really a part 3 event. I did follow Kate's advice about sizing though, and as she suggested was likely, I seem to be inbetween sizes - I was more pleased than I should probably admit that I'm a cross between a medium and a large rather than the "LL" that I was certain my no-waist torso would land me in.

Anyway, the plan was that I'd be ever so clever and show off my cunning tip about weighting down the pattern paper with old washers. This is a tip I read about once and it seemed like a very good idea and the kind of thing every dedicated sewer should know. I even smuggled some washers from Mr OH's stash specially for the purpose. Look - here is the picture I took to prove it...


However, the washers I smuggled are far too light, and easy to push aside by accident - leading to much frustration and the reliance on my usual tried and tested method of grabbing whatever is heavy and to hand - mugs of tea, mobile phones, tape dispensers, Freya's shoes. Itoyed with the idea of taking a picture of my shameful ways, but was distracted when the tea got knocked over.

So there, take from that what you will - perhaps the true moral of the story is to drink the tea first and then use the mug. Or get fatter washers. Or use proper weights for the purpose.

Work in progress: a leather adventure!

Before you get too excited, I'm afraid my adventure with leather has been an altogether wholesome one..but, pretty exciting nonetheless. I've had an idea for this new bag style for ages - it's based on a vintage bag I saw in a junk shop once - and I knew I wanted to try combining reclaimed leather with vintage fabrics, but have just been too scared to take the plunge. Well, I'm so glad I finally have - here's a sneaky peak of my prototype and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.


The leather bit was easy-peasy with the right needle. I've only got 3 pairs of these handles, so am making up a small batch first, but am so pleased with how they've turned out that I'm definitely going to make up more.

UK Handmade Craft Profile Post: Screenprinting

Totally forgot to mention that I was dipping into the world of screenprinting last week for my UKHandmade craft profile post series. I had a great time browsing through all the gorgeous prints from these great UK based artists - and kept having to remind myself I was doing research not shopping!


Featured artists: Summersville Dee Beale Mengsel Kate McClelland
Peris and Corr Bonbi Forest