the patchwork dress

24 : gift for a newborn

Always a dilemma - what gift to give a newborn... gold, frankincense, or myrrh?

There have been a lot of new babies recently amongst my friends, and I started thinking about giving something that would be practical yet attractive, and original.  I know that soon these kids will have a room full of toys, piles of clothes that perhaps they may hardly wear before they are outgrown - and also the thought of the space these things will occupy..

So instead, I decided to give my friend a 'nursery' clutterbucket...

Filled with eco babywipes, nappy rash cream, bubble bath all from Wholefoods.. and a bundle of bibs and muslin squares - which I am fairly sure you can never have enough of, and should last through spurts of growth (and babyfood!)... plus a bar of chocolate for a late night treat.

There are still plenty of bags left in the shop - all ready for 2012!

1 : scandinavian clutterbuckets!

I have some new, full size clutterbuckets in my shop - made from a lovely soft charcoal wool - a bolt of fabric that I reclaimed + upcycled from a charity shop  (all the fabrics have been prewashed).  

The inner is a sweet striped cotton with rosebuds, and the handles have a new bird and heart design braid. There is also a more unisex version with striped flannel inner and a blue stripe braid.  

I think they have a scandinavian feel!

I am going to attempt an advent post each day - in addition to general musings I'm going to recommend my favourite finds of the year (books, film etc) incase it inspires anyone who hasn't come across them yet.

Ps - anyone buying a clutterbucket will have it wrapped in handstamped paper complete with one of my handmade tags - ready for gifting!

Happy December!

paying it forward... eventually!

11:11:11

we are all one(s)

Resurrection Fern has alerted me to the fact that Amy Krouse Rosenthal's film "the Beckoning of Lovely" is available to watch online today... an experiment in the spirit of co-creativity..

.. - this is the day I am finally getting around to posting about the 'Pay It Forward' project which I started out back in July 2009!  I had an idea at that time to make a book bag which I would send out to Polly, Ginny and Debs, who had all agreed to take part.

I don't know why it took me so long, but things never came together at once, and I wanted all 3 to be the same.  In that time I developed the design for the 'clutterbucket' - so now, 2.5 years on, I am ready to give these away to the Pay-It-Forwardees!

So now they can keep books, clutter or whatever they like in their 'clutterbuckets'.

Here's one I have collected over the summer - a pile of 'not sure what to do with, but keep in one place paperwork' which I am shortly going to sort through!

...for business...

...or pleasure...

There are a couple more bags in my folksy shop, and I'm going to be adding some more soon... as they will make a great gift for anyone who could use organising.  I made them for nearly all my gifts last year, so am going to have to think of something else this Christmas!

I'm here!

...find me here!...

...very exciting at Onegoodmarket.com 

After my fairly recent posts about ethics and why I like to do what I do, and how to find the right balance on marketing - an opening came along to join in with Onegoodmarket.com's new venture - to host a site of ethically minded companies and individuals who want to reach a wider market - the kind of people who use their main site Ethicalsuperstore.

I was lucky enough to be accepted into the first 100 sellers, which meant they waived the £250 set up costs. So far I have found them very friendly and helpful.  It feels exciting to be part of this venture and surrounded by people who like to produce things in a fair way with the planet.

OGM will take 10% of each sale, and I will still give 10% to the Scottish Wildlife Trust (that's double titheing!) Postage and packing is free within the UK.

Would be interested to know what you think! 

the little patchwork shop of christmas

... is now open

The first two clutterbuckets like this one have gone already! Thank you x I will be doing more, so please keep checking back over the next couple of weeks, as I will be updating the shop small batches - meanwhile there are similar styles in the shop - also with some handmade eco-cards to come.

There is a special offer of an additional 'surprise' gift of a festive nature for every clutterbucket bought... and if you would like any of your purchases giftwrapped, there is an optional free service - just state in the message section at the payment stage.  (Gifts will be wrapped in a handstamped brown paper with tasteful tie and a handmade gift tag... )

I have decided to stick with UK based Folksy for the time being.  It's rather like Etsy - you just need a username, and then its all done through Paypal, so nice and secure.  I will also mail overseas - and that is all catered for on the site.

More soon!

homemade with love

I won this gorgeous book, courtesy of Diana's giveaway.  Thanks again, D for the lovely package.  Can you believe it is most likely 3 years since I 'met' Diana through blogging - that Christmas she sent me another lovely package full of baker's string and soap.

I have been musing about the way I blog, or what this blog is for.. but haven't yet found the means of expression for it.  I don't want to give it up, but don't feel I have much to say at the moment!  Perhaps it will change only when I do.  

The book reminds me of why I started blogging and how exciting it was to discover others all around the world who were observing nature, trying to change their lives by slowing down, sharing ideas... and most importantly making things and sharing their inspiration.  It is full of lovely images and has such a nice tone, even if I don't make anything from it, just to glance through the pictures is a touchstone.

On a homemade, handmade note - I have been making some things for the home..!

...more 'clutterbuckets'! and this time a smaller model which can sit on a desk or sideboard.  It has quilted handles and a pleasing curve to the corners on the base, and is made from 3 layers of fabric, with all seams hidden.

I am enjoying using combinations of rather festive ticking... and so if you would like one for yourself or a friend, they will be up in my  'Christmas shop' soon - from this weekend.  I think they would be handy for holding papers, bits and pieces or crafty projects.

There will also be a few of the original style, with a mix of vintage and new fabrics - like this one..

Hope you are having a good week x.

 

magazine pinwheels

I have been making these 'pinwheels' at work - my colleague and I have made nearly 150!  There was something about the way they sit in the boxes that I wanted to photograph.

These are made with my own favourite stalwart - magazine paper!  Once folded you get quite an abstract pattern, most of the text gets lost or can provide an unusual feature.

Here's a simple/lazy way to make them using a magazine.  

Materials required:

Magazine (or wallpaper, wrapping paper, etc)

Scissors or scalpel/ruler

Wire - short florist wire works best, or cut down with snips approx 6"

10 minutes of time.

 

1. Pull/score out pages that attract you for their colours or patterns.  Full colour pages work best, a little text on them doesn't matter - experiment.

2. Fold the paper in half ie, make top of page meet the bottom.  Cut/scalpel along this crease.

(photos would be good, wouldn't they - but sorry too lazy to take them... read on!)

3. You now have 2 rectangles of paper.  On the shortest edge of each begin to concertina.  The fold works best just under 1cm - but as it comes naturally to you! (If you make the first fold by taking the chosen picture onto the back, they fix together better - all will become clear when you do this!)

4. Now with the paper all bunched up in its folded concertina, fold in half again across its length to make a little fan.  Fix the gap by stapling or sellotaping on the back, so you now get a complete half circle fan.  Repeat with the other rectangle.

5.  There should be a little gap still toward the centre of either fan.  Fold a piece of wire (florists) in half and poke the ends through the 2 gaps, and twist together at back of your now complete pinwheel!

6.  Fasten the gaps if necessary.

7.  Of course you can use any paper,  we also did some from old wallpaper scraps.  The beauty of magazine paper is the variety, colour and sheen - not one pinwheel will be the same, and the size is pretty much readymade by the paper size of the magazine.  We were inspired by this blog, but you could twist the wires onto a bunting type string, or twist into flower arrangements... or put on a hat, wear in your hair, ...decorate your cat!

 
 

i've done it!

It's only taken several hours (!)... but I have posted some stock up into my folksy shop, so it looks a bit better... ooh - you can actually wander around!  Still a few bits to add, but it should get easier from now on... shouldn't it?

I will also keep my etsy shop going and see how things go.  Plan to have my photocards up in both in the near future.

Have a great weekend!

60, 70, 1000

In the last week I have also completed 2 map patchworks - one (above) was a commission for a 60th birthday, hence the 6 sided star and hexagons.

 

It was made from a mix of 3 maps - one of where the recipient was born, one of a favourite holiday location and the other her current home.

 

The second was actually for my own father, who, I hope wouldn't mind you knowing is 70 today.  Hence the heptagon/septagon 7 sided shape.  The interior star came from looking at an old diagram of how the week is divided as geometry.

 

I had planned to do this across a few maps as usual, but when I opened this map of the Firth of Forth, it seemed perfect to keep it all to one map, and really pick out individual spots that mean something.    I think the map was made circa 1959/1960 as the road bridge is marked 'under construction' - it wasn't built yet.  All of these places have memories as daytrips, walks, or places that can be viewed or pointed out on the horizon such as the Bass Rock.

 

As usual, by the time I have finished them, I'm in such a hurry to frame them, that I forget to take photos - and they are quite hard to photo well - apologies!

 

...and 1000?  Well, I have received the 1000th comment, and it belongs to Gill Turley who commented retrospectively on this post about her quilts.  It was really nice to exchange an email or 2 with her, and something will go off in the post.

 

I am going to have a bit of a session at the post office tomorrow, as lots of giveaways, orders etc to send all at once.  Thank you all for taking part, and if you look in again soon I will be showing Diana's 'pay it forward' and asking if anyone wants to take part.

invercottage fair

What a lovely day out we all had on Saturday.  I don't know if I can do it much more justice than Isobel already has, so here are some of the pictures - more here.  The weather was fantastic and the location felt as if it were made for us. 

our 'shop'.  You can just see the terrace there behind the 2 trees where you can sit out and drink coffee or have lunch.

literally me turning round from the picture before -  this was the view with a little pebble beach just below the grass there.  The old castle Lachlan is out on the peninsula and there is a short coastal walk round to it.

the room... there were people there - honestly - it was that magic trick that whenever a camera appeared, everyone would disappear!

my stall - with 'clutterbuckets'

close up of the cards etc

Isobel's Bella Bheag stall 

detail of Suzanne's fieldy tweed

Lynne's My Baboo knitting kits and teacosies - you can just see the bears peeking out - very cute!

Some new friends - j'emmajo.  Emmajo and I got talking when she recognised one of my photos as the yarn stand from the Unicorn tapestries at Stirling Castle.  Turns out she wove the first one!  It's a small world.

Had to include this - my favourite picture of Lynne and Isobel demonstrating how one should carry a' clutterbucket'  Victoria Beckham stylee!