Getting Older, One Photo At A Time

When I turned 30 a few years ago, I thought it would be nice to make a photo collage: one photo of me for each of my 30 years.

 
It was so fun seeing all the photos together that picking a new photo to add to it has become an annual ritual. As well as continuing the "Laura slowly ages in photographs" project, it's nice to take time to look back on the previous year (the ups and the downs) and to choose an image to remember it by.

When I turned 31 I chose a photo of me playing board games at Christmas, which was perfect for a year that was all about family. When I turned 32 I picked a blurry-but-who-cares selfie from the morning of my sister's wedding. 

For my 33rd year I opted for a photo taken at the end of my volunteer shift for the Tower of London's incredible Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation. This was such an amazing thing to be part of and something that a few years earlier I'd not have had the confidence to sign up for on my own, so this picture reminds me of the day but also to say "heck yes!" to more awesome things in the future. 

Then last year I turned 34 and didn't blog about my choice of photo. I still picked one, but when I looked back at my year I realised that most of it had been focused on my move back to the southwest and I wasn't quite ready to announce that yet! (It sounds daft, but I thought I might jinx the whole thing by revealing my plans before they'd come to fruition).

A large chunk of my 34th year was spent looking up properties on Rightmove to work out what I could afford on my budget, visiting towns and cities to see if I'd like to live there, narrowing it down to one place that ticked all the boxes, going flat-hunting with my dad (who helpfully radiated a zen-like calm while I practically vibrated with anxiety), then putting in an offer on a flat and beginning the process of Actually Buying A Flat (OMG).

I hoped the purchase wouldn't take too long and I'd be able to do a dramatic reveal in a "hey guys, guess what I've been up to this year..." blog post but - alas! - the process dragged on and on and I finally ended up moving in December by which point I thought I might as well wait and blog about two years at once.

Sooooo... what photos did I choose?

For my 34th year, I couldn't resist this TIGER SELFIE taken at the Jewish Museum's excellent Judith Kerr exhibition.

When I wasn't busy flat-hunting that year, I was spending my days off going on trips and lots of highly enjoyable Nice Days Out and this exhibition was definitely one of the highlights. I adore Judith Kerr's books, and how often to you get to take a selfie with a character from one of your most beloved childhood books??

Now to celebrate turning 35 this month my photo for the year simply has to be this ridiculous snap of me wearing my rainbow blanket as a scarf.

As well as making me laugh, this photo is a perfect reminder of the past year as it was a) taken by a lovely friend on the beach in my new hometown and b) showcases the magnificence of my rainbow blanket which I finally finished last year, was one of the first things I unpacked when I moved into my new flat and has been on my bed ever since (a little cosy corner in the chaos of DIY projects and piles of boxes).

June in Pictures: Blanket Squares, Summer Sunshine, Packing Parcels, and Playing with Paint

How is it halfway through July already?? Eek!

I'd better blog about my June Instagram pics before we blink and it's August :)

At the start of June (when it was really rather chilly) I was spending lots of my evenings working on my mini patchwork squares blanket. Whenever I have any double-knit acrylic yarn left over from other projects, I use it to knit mini moss stitch squares (just 10 stitches across) to add to the blanket.

Once I've knitted the leftover yarn into squares, I sew them into blocks (one colour per block). I've been sticking to the same few shapes so the blanket is random but cohesive. This is a slow, labour-intensive process but a really relaxing one!

Once I've sewn the squares into the various shapes, it's time to find a space for them on the blanket. (Sometimes I lay the blanket out before sewing the shapes together so I can sew the squares into the perfect shape to fit a gap but not this time). I'm trying to get a nice mix of colours and shapes across the blanket - so, again, this is a controlled randomness.

As I add the squares, I mark them on the matching chart so I can track my progress. I'm up to 514 squares so far... 386 still to go! 

The finished blanket will have a sweep of colour down the middle and the rest will be white, so I've also been knitting lots of little white squares behind the scenes. Sadly, white squares do not make for very exciting photographs.

All those little squares take a long time to stitch together, and there are a lot of yarn ends to weave in. Every time I share pics of this project there's always someone who recoils in horror at the thought of all that boring stitching but honestly I find it very relaxing and almost meditative. This is definitely not a project I'd recommend embarking on if you can't bear weaving in ends!

It was my birthday at the beginning of the month (yay!), and I was gifted some excellent things including Step Aside, Pops by Kate Beaton and a book & comic by the always awesome John Allison.

Summer finally decided to show up, so I spent my lunch-breaks reading in the garden - enjoying the sunshine, the flowers and the chirping of birds and buzzing of bees.

What a contrast to later in the month when we had days of sudden thunder and rainstorms! Ah, England I love you but your weather is not reliable.

Back on the crafty front, I made a DIY envelope from an old map. It's so easy to make your own envelopes (you can cheat and use an existing envelope as a template!) and they add some extra specialness to a bit of snail mail.

 

I de-stressed by spending a few hours playing with paint (I am terrible at painting but this was so much fun!).

I continued to work on my felt flowers - these are old designs I used to sell in my shop that I'm giving a new life as sewing patterns (coming to my shop later this summer!). I've been getting the designs absolutely perfect and taking lots of notes so I can write detailed step-by-step instructions.

I also had a tidy up in my studio, adding last year's magazine features to my "archive" (a fancy word for a few folders on my bookshelf). I worked on lots of fun projects in 2015 but the partridge and pear wreath I designed for Mollie Makes was probably my favourite - not least because it ended up on the cover (very exciting).

During my studio tidy I got as far as writing a list of "things to photograph!" - including these colourful finished projects - but not as far as actually taking the photos. Hopefully I will have actually ticked these things off the list by the end of July! I do so adore these bright colours.

I cleared out lots of crafty supplies and other bits and pieces and held a destash and declutter sale. It takes a long time to sort and weigh and measure and photograph everything for a sale, but it's so good to have made some more space in my studio and to have found new homes for so many things that were sitting around in my home unused and unloved.

After my sale, I had lots of parcels to post! That fab parcel tape is by Hazel Nicholls - I love using decorative tape, it's such a simple way to cheer up the packages I send.

After my destash/declutter sale, I had another sale: this time of lots of samples I'd stitched for craft books.

(The projects pictured are from: Banners, Buntings, Garlands & Pennants; Super-Cute Felt Animals; Mollie Makes Woodland Friends; Mollie Makes Weddings; Tis the Season to be Felt-y; and Craft Camp)

Again, there was lots of weighing and measuring and photographing and parcel packing... but all the work was well worth it as lots of pieces found new homes and I have lots of space for new things in my studio (hurrah!).

I also love this photo I took of samples stitched when working on my second book, Super-Cute Felt Animals. You'll find some of these projects available as free tutorials here and (almost all of) the rest in the book itself.

 

Finally, no Instagram round-up is complete without our sleepy cat sneaking in somewhere. How he manages to sleep upside down with one leg in the air is a mystery!

You can follow along with all my creative adventures (with the occasional cat photo!) over on Instagram. 

All The Threes (33)

When I turned 30 a few years ago I had a nostalgic look back through old photo albums and chose a photo a year to make a "30 years of me!" collage. It was fun choosing a photo to represent each year and seeing the progression of haircuts and outfits as the years went by.

In fact, it was so much fun that I decided to keep going and choose a new photo each year to add to my collection. I picked one when I turned 31, one when I turned 32 and now it's time to pick another as I turned 33 last month. It's turning into a nice little personal tradition and a great opportunity to have a few quiet moments thinking about my year just passed, with all its ups and downs.

This year has definitely had its downs. I've not been in great health, which is always frustrating - not least because of the knock-on effect it has on my business. I've been working part-time for big chunks of the past year, taking on fewer new projects and earning less than I would have if I'd been working my usual hours.

Of course there are few things more important than your health and I'm very lucky that my job (and my current living situation) allows me to be flexible: to take care of myself while also continuing to work, just at a slightly slower pace and from the sofa instead of my desk. But it still sucks to be ill and to have to scale back my creative plans and press pause on so many things on my "plans for my business" To Do list.

On balance though, 32 was pretty great!

It was a year of family and friendship and meeting new people. Of travelling (near and far) and adventures (big and small). Of decluttering unwanted things and letting go of all the emotional baggage that went along with them. Of saying hello and yes please to some exciting new projects. Of being more confident (and of not being afraid to admit when my confidence has failed me).

I took a trip to Birmingham (which turned out to be so great I'm going back there for my summer hols this year) and another to Liverpool (which was also awesome - I really need to get round to blogging about it sometime!). When my health (and my deadlines) allowed I went on lots of relaxing, inspiring, de-stressing, energising and generally awesome Nice Days Out to parks, gardens, museums, palaces, churches, ships, galleries, exhibitions and more. Plus my diary was peppered with days jam-packed with crafty and creative goodness - at the V&A, the Festival of Quilts, the Handmade Fair, Blognix, Thread, the Knitting & Stitching Show, Renegade London, and London Craft Week.

It was also another highly enjoyable year of making and blogging (despite the odd patch of blogger's block!). I celebrated 8 years of blogging (woohoo!) and worked on lots of really fun projects during the year. Some of these I've blogged about - like these felt houses, these mini felt jumper Christmas ornaments and this happy box of sunshine - and others are still under wraps as I wait for them to be published. I got to spill the beans about some earlier projects though, like the Halloween designs I contributed to Felt-o-ween (such a cute book) and the retro cassette phone case I stitched for Mollie Makes (I still pinch myself sometimes that something I made was the featured project on the cover of a magazine).

And as if all that wasn't enough for one year, I am also now an aunt! Yay!

My chosen photo for the year?

This one, taken at the end of a long, hot shift planting poppies at the Tower of London for the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation.

The poppy installation was such an amazing thing to be part of.

I have to admit that it's also something that just a few years ago I wouldn't have been confident enough to sign up for. I would have wanted to do it, sure, but without anyone to go with me I wouldn't have had the nerve and I wouldn't have signed up and I would have regretted it. I was still a bit nervous about volunteering on my own (and it was a bit weird when almost everyone else was showing up in pairs or in big groups from their work) but it was, of course, totally fine! I chatted to people, they chatted to me, we all took part in this amazing thing together, it was all good.

So, this year's photo is me doing something awesome and a reminder to future me to not be scared and to say "yes!" to more awesomeness in the future.


P.S. I've not added the new photo into a collage/mosaic yet, but here are the photos from years 1-32 :)

Birthday Treats

I got some lovely things for my birthday this year...

... Liberty: British, Colour, Pattern, a gorgeous "coffee table" book about the history of one of my very favourite places in London, Liberty.

I was super tempted to buy this back in February but was supposed to be saving my pennies, so I compromised by asking my dad to buy it for me and hide it until my birthday. This worked out very well as I'd totally forgotten about it by the time June rolled round!

I'll be reviewing it sometime soon, but from a first flick-through it's a wonderful-looking book, with the added bonus of pockets containing reproduction vintage posters and other interesting paper-y bits and pieces. Yum.

... Bad Machinery Volume 2: The Case of the Good Boy. This was a birthday gift to myself! It sadly arrived damaged - I can't wait for the replacement copy in the post so I can curl up and have a good long read through it.

 

Bad Machinery is wonderful, and so, so funny. I read the daily comics online but nothing beats being able to read a whole story in an actual proper paper book and (of course) to support a writer by buying their work! There's a great review of the book here & if you want to read the comics online, you should start here.

... A lovely stripey dress from People Tree (another sneaky gift to myself!). People Tree make such nice clothes (and they're eco-friendly and fair trade too which is awesome), this dress is already going in and out of the wash like a yoyo, I love it.

... A beautiful book of poetry, by and from my very talented friend Philip. If you're interested in type, do follow that link - he took some great photos of the typeset pages). 

 

... And the Slings & Arrows box set. I am totally in love with this show! It's about a (fictional) Canadian theatre festival, putting on Shakespeare's plays (each of the three seasons focuses on the production of a different play) and it is super smart, slightly sweary and laugh-out-loud funny.

It's never been on TV here in the UK, and I'd never heard of it until reading about it in this piece about Paul Gross but now it is definitely one of my all-time favourite shows and I will probably spend lots of time boring people silly blah-ing on about how great it is and how they should all totally watch it because it's amazing and Paul Gross is completely hilarious in it and blah blah blah.

All in all, some excellent birthday goodness!

Please note: the Amazon and Book Depository links in this post are affiliate links.

32! Woohoo!

I turned 32 this week which feels a bit weird because I'd kind of forgotten that I wasn't 32 already. It's been such a busy year it feels like it can't possibly just be 12 months since I turned 31.

In the past year...

...  My new book, Super-Cute Felt Animals was published (yay!).

...  I decided to stop selling handmade things to focus on designing and writing and blogging, and since then I've worked on a whole bunch of exciting, interesting, fun and challenging freelance projects for books, magazines and websites (lots of which I am still dying to tell you guys about as soon as I'm allowed to). This has been a bit stressful at times (deadlines, aargh) and has made blogging more of a challenge as I'm often working on things I'm not allowed to share, but overall it's been hugely enjoyable and a very welcome change after years of repetetive "production-line" sewing.

...  I went on my first solo holiday ever (awesome) and my first trip abroad since my mid-teens (also awesome - remind me to actually blog about it sometime!)

... I made what may be one of my best decisions ever and started getting out of my studio for Nice Days Out, having cuppas with fellow crafters and bloggers, meeting up with old friends, and visiting parks, museums, art galleries, exhibitions, historic buildings, craft fairs, and more.

... Oh, and my sister got married! (It was lovely. I cried.)

30 was a hard year for me, it's great to look back at 31 and think "yup, that was a good one". Fingers crossed I'll be able to say the same this time next year.

I'm continuing to add to my photo-a-year collage, and have picked this (slightly-blurry-but-who-cares) photo to represent me at 31: a pre-wedding selfie.

 And here's all 32 years :)

 

How To: Felt Iced Biscuit Brooches

UPDATE: my felt party ring brooch tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon. 

Subscribe to get instant access to a growing library of PDF embroidery patterns and craft tutorials, and updates when I add something new!

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The second tutorial this week is how to make felt iced ring biscuit (cookie) brooches. These are a fun, nostalgic gift for fans of tea & biscuits, or anyone who had these biscuits at their childhood birthday parties.

These biscuits also make cute Christmas ornaments - just add a loop of narrow ribbon instead of adding a clasp. The biscuit design would also look great appliqued on felt gifts like purses, or lavender sachets.

Remember not to give these brooches to / leave them within reach of any small children who may mistake them for actual food!

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Goodbye 30, Hello 31

Crikey, I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since I turned 30! (My birthday is in early June) Where does the time go, huh?

Turning 30 last year inspired me to dig out a whole bunch of photos to make a collage with one photo for each of my 30 years...

It was so much fun, I thought it'd be nice to keep on adding to it as the years go by. So I sorted through my recent photos last week, and picked a fun picture from Christmas...

... me playing board games with my sister. The game being played? Jungle Ludo! This was a much beloved game in our house when we were growing up, we even developed our own version of the rules :)

It's the perfect photo to represent this past year, I think, as this past year has been all about spending time with my family. I moved back in with my parents unexpectedly but have decided to stay for a bit to save up some money, and I've been very much enjoying stuff like kitty cuddles, home cooked meals (yum!), getting to see my sisters more often and helping my youngest sister plan her wedding.

Work-wise there have been some ups (a new book) and some downs (closing my supplies shop) this year. Mostly though I have been working fewer hours - keeping things ticking over and putting bigger plans on hold - so I could spend more time with my mum, who was diagnosed with breast cancer early last spring. If you read my blog regularly you may remember how I was a bit absent from my blog this time last year because of "family stuff" - well, this is what that was about!

We were very lucky that the cancer was caught early, but as anyone who has experienced cancer in their family will know, it's been a scary and stressful time. My mum (who is a very tough cookie) has gone through surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and come out the other side smiling, and with as close to an "all clear" as I think it's possible to get at this point. Best birthday present ever.

Thirty Years

I'm turning 30 next month (eek!) so I thought it'd be fun to do a bit of looking back through old photo albums. I picked out one photo from each of the last 30 years to make a mosaic & I thought you guys might like to see the pics :)

1. Pulling chunks of hair from a very long-suffering kitty! 2. Wearing some very snazzy red dungarees. 3. All dressed up ready to go to a wedding. 4. Visiting an awesome local model village. 5. With "princess" make-up at a local fair. 6. Ready for my first day of school (very exciting).

7. On the swings in our garden. 8. First day of junior school. 9. Dressed in rainbow colours for a friend's parrot-themed party. 10. Opening presents on my birthday. 11. Trying horse riding on a family holiday. 12. Another birthday, wearing a very Blossom-style hat.

13. Pulling a serious Judo face. 14. Dressed in 90s double denim & Doc Martens. 15. Explaining an apparently quite complicated handmade birthday card to my sister. 16. Eating an apple (om nom nom). 17. At a picnic with friends in London. 18. On holiday in Devon.

19. Revising for my History A-Level. 20. Making trifle with a friend at University (I remember this being hilarious but I have no idea why). 21. Dinner in my Uni flat. 22. With short hair at Uni.  23. Last year of University (I think this photo was taken at about 5 or 6 in the morning). 24. At my graduation.

25. At a wedding. 26. I don't have many pics from this year, but I eventually found this one (I have no idea why I am pulling a face like a duck!). 27. Wearing a necklace made for my shop. 28. With a DIY haircut. 29. Having tea with a friend. 30. At another wedding, wearing what is apparently my "wedding necklace".

Ah, how time flies!

DIY Felt Flower Card

Today's tutorial is for a quick and easy felt flower card - perfect for birthdays, Mother's Day, or any other occasion when a floral card fits the bill!

To make this card you will need:
- the heart and leaf templates provided at the bottom of this post
- plain card
- small pieces of craft felt in green and pink (or whatever other colour you want to make your flower)
- a mini button (or a sequin, or a small circle of felt)
- a pencil
- a green felt tip pen or coloured pencil
- sewing + craft scissors
- craft glue
- optional: decorative washi tape

If you're using washi tape, tear or cut a strip and stick it along one edge of the card. Fold the ends over, or carefully trim the excess tape with scissors. You could achieve a similar effect by cutting a narrow strip of gift wrap or other decorative paper and sticking it in place with glue or double sided tape.

Use the templates provided to cut out two felt leaves and five heart-shaped felt petals. Check out this post for tips on cutting out small felt shapes.

Arrange the pieces on your card as shown with the mini button in the centre of the petals. If you've not used a strip of washi tape / patterned paper, position your flower in the middle of the card.

Use a pencil to make two small dots to mark the position of the button and the point where the two leaves meet, and then set the pieces aside. Then use the dots as a guide to draw a green line to form the flower stem.

Glue the mini button and all the felt pieces in place with small dabs of craft glue.

... and you're done!

Variation: use a larger card blank (arranged landscape instead of portrait) and decorate it with a row of three flowers in different bright colours.

Gift idea: make a set of these flower cards and use a length of ribbon or pretty twine to tie them in a bundle with matching envelopes.

Double click the template / click to open it in a new tab in order to view it full size and print:

Please note: this tutorial is for non-commercial use only. You may borrow one or two photos if you want to blog about my projects but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce entire tutorials on your site. Thanks!

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