This used to be a sweater...

... but I don't think it'll keep you very warm now! :)
This is my entry for Folksy's Upcycle Christmas competition - listed in my Folksy Shop with just a few hours to spare before the deadline. Phew!

It's a vintage-inspired cocktail hat / fancy fascinator made from wool felt and decorated with lots of sparkly beads:It started life as an old sweater that shrank in the wash (a kind gift from a neighbour) and a couple of bracelets that have been languishing in my jewellery box since I was a teenager (many years ago now!)You can read more about it & see more photos HERE and if you're a member of Folksy please add it to your favourites if you like it - the item with the most votes by Thursday evening will win the "peoples choice" prize. It's not currently for sale but will be included along with all the other Upcycle Christmas entries in an online auction being held to raise money for Sue Ryder Care. The auction begins on December 7th, I'll post details as soon as I know them so you can go bid on any of the entries that have caught your eye...

An Upcycling Update

You may have heard about the Upcycle Christmas competition being run by the good people at Folksy (I blogged about it a while back).

Well, the closing date is tomorrow at 5pm and I'd been planning on blogging about some of my fave picks from all the entries and writing something sorrowful about not having time to think up my own entry... and then I had a sudden bit of inspiration this morning and have spent this afternoon working on my own upcycled piece :)

Here's a quick snap of the offcuts:
More pics tomorrow - hope there's decent light as I'm cutting it rather fine!!

In the meantime, here are three "before and after" photos from some of the entries which have really charmed me. It's so much fun seeing the transformation from second hand materials into brand new crafty loveliness.

The Cotton Potter used these vintage linens and second hand clothes...... to make this pretty Jug shaped slip cover for a wine bottle:
Through The Round Window used an assortment of second hand glass...... to make this gorgeous stained glass panel called "Winter Girl" (love the frosted glass!)

And Rose Lullaby Dolls used a Barbie doll and some other finds...... to make Ingrid, a doll with real personality:
What I've made is in no way as awesome as that lot, but I'm still pleased I got struck by some inspiration in the nick of time! Make sure you check out all the entries here and if you're a member of Folksy you can mark the ones you like as a favourite and help determine who wins the"peoples choice" prize.

How To: Wallpaper Snowflakes

Back in October I posted a snap of something I was working on involving cutting out lots of circles...... well, the circles turned into this:A curtain of snowflakes (or oversized Christmas baubles!) made from wallpaper, silver paper and card.

This project was specially designed for the winter edition of UK Handmade - a fantastic little online magazine from the UK crafts scene. You can read the whole issue online here (my project is on page 59).

I've not had a chance to have a proper read yet but there are some lovely festive projects including delicious cupcakes, a stylish floral arrangement for Christmas and (for you felt fans) this completely adorable felt angel from Kirsty of Paperfish:

Tidying Up

This week I've been doing lots of tidying - putting away lots of crafty mess, rearranging my supplies storage and tackling the madness that is our spare room.

Not exciting at all (sorry!) but it feels sooo good to get it all done!

(Image taken from a vintage book about how to be a good housewife given to me by my boyfriend for a laugh and cos he knew I'd adore the illustrations!)

My Projects from Fa La La La Felt

As I mentioned last week, four of my crafty Christmas designs have been published in Fa La La La Felt ... and I've just been sent images of all my projects from the book. Hurrah!

A sweet gingerbread house (love the styling with the jelly sweets!)
A cheerful stocking:

Matching rainbow baubles:

And pretty beaded shooting stars:

I had so much fun designing these projects - I hope everyone who buys the book will enjoy them too! A hard copy of the book will be published by Lark Books next summer (I can't wait) or you can download it as an e-book here.

Psst - for those who missed the update to my earlier post, check out the fab free project from the book available for download from Lark Books

Better Late Than Never...

Oops, I totally forgot to draw the winner for my giveaway yesterday! It's beginning to be that crazy time of year when I get a bit fixated on packing parcels and shipping orders and let other things slip off my to do list. Tsk tsk, must try harder.

The winner was picked at random and is... lucky number 35: Jo who sweetly said "Loverrrly!! You have such an eye for colour combos!"Thanks to everyone who entered! :)

Scarves!

Just time for a quick (& slightly crazy!) snap today - three of the scarves I've been knitting as Christmas gifts:

Fa la la la Felt

I've got some very exciting news to share today (a secret I've been keeping for a few months now) ... some of my felt projects are in a book! Fa la la la Felt is the first e-book published by Lark Books and is available to buy HERE.

It contains 45 festive felt projects by a whole assortment of crafters - including a stocking and 3 ornaments (a star, a gingerbread house and some baubles) designed by me.

That's my stocking, on the left:
I'll hopefully have some images of my projects to share with you next week - the photos I took myself before I posted them were unfortunate victims of our hard drive crash!


UPDATE:

Lark are offering a freebie to celebrate the launch of the book... a free pdf of the adorable mushroom ornaments (above) by Cathy Gaubert. I can't upload the file here on blogger but you can now download the pdf from Lark Books.

Plus: check out the awesome fish ornaments designed for the book by Lisa of Lil Fish Studios.

November Giveaway - Festive Goodness!

It's giveaway time again! This month one lucky reader will win a pair of my peppermint heart baubles:
To enter, just leave a comment on this post before midnight (UK time) on Sunday 29th November. I'll pick the winner at random on Monday 30th November.

I'm happy to ship internationally, so anyone can enter.

Please make sure you leave a name or pseudonym (no anonymous comments please) and be sure to come back on MONDAY [not Sunday - oops!] to see if you got picked. Good luck!

How To: Advent Garland

This weekend I made an advent garland!

The garland is made from 24 small brown paper envelopes...
... decorated with gold paper doilies and silver embossed cake ribbon (available from my supplies shop) ....
.... and suspended on silver cord using the gold & silver mini pegs I bought a couple of weeks ago:
You could use any decorative papers you fancy to make your own garland, and mini wooden pegs are available from most craft stores.

If you want to number each envelope, you could add number stickers or handwritten numbers in marker pen, or print the numbers out on your computer & use a circle template to cut them out neatly.
Then you can fill each envelope with whatever you fancy - messages, silly Christmas jokes or individually wrapped sweets.
(Many thanks to my neighbour who kindly let me use her lovely fireplace as a setting for these photos!)