April & May in Pictures

With 2018 rolling rapidly onwards, it's time for a quick look back at what I was blogging and Instagramming in April and May.

In April...

... I finished my patchwork mini squares blanket and blogged about the six and a half year process of making it...

... shared a snap of my scrappy cross stitch project (which is now almost as colourful as that blanket!)...

... started a new Instagram account to showcase my collection of Post Office posters (I haven't had much time to devote to this yet, but I hope to be updating it frequently this summer)...

... stitched a cross stitch pattern to celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle...

... bought some new books (which were both quite delightful!)...

... and had a Book Week here on my blog, reviewing Mandalas to Embroider, Craft a Life You Love, and Creative Marker Art and Beyond.

... I also started my 100 Day Project (which I need to write about properly sometime soon!) and took part in Art vs Artist on Instagram, which prompted a really interesting discussion in my social media feeds about what being an artist means to each of us and who "counts" as an artist (I personally don't think of myself as an artist, though I occasionally make things I would describe as textile art).

In April I also blogged about my visit to Oxford's Exeter College, Kew's Palm House and magnificent magnolias ,and the joys of Kew in the spring, wrote an update on my flat renovation project, and shared a felt cake tutorial with my newsletter subscribers.

I also set up an archive page for my travel blog posts and took a time-travelling trip back through eleven years of craft blogging. This was meant to be the start of a monthly series but turned out to be quite a time-consuming post to put together so I'll be making this an occasional series instead, taking a trip through my blog's archive whenever I have a time to do so.

In May...

... I shared a tutorial for making layered felt flowers with my newsletter subscribers (I'll be sharing the link to this pattern in July's newsletter so there's still time to subscribe and get this free project!)...

... blogged about three ideas ideas for using felt flower brooch tutorials...

... watched the Royal Wedding while working on GDPR paperwork (so fun!) and making preparations to move my newsletter to a shiny new service...

... wrote about the evolution of my rainbow blanket...

... started (and finished!) binding my Christmas quilt, and blogged about the long process of making it (part one, part two).

I also shared some of my favourite photos from my local walks, and developed a new level of respect for fashion bloggers after having to take pictures of myself for a post about 5 ways to customise a denim jacket!

This spring I also had a lot of FEELINGS about using social media (as a designer/maker sharing my work but also just as a person existing in the world) and ended up deciding to take a break from Twitter for the summer.

Social media is one of those things that affects different people in different ways, and the noise and stress of Twitter was definitely starting to outweigh the chatty social fun side for me. Maybe I'll be pining for it again come September? We shall see!

Want regular updates without visiting my blog to check for new posts? You can find me on Instagram and Facebook or subscribe to my weekly(ish) newsletter.  

Flashback: 11 Years of April Crafting

I've been blogging for over 11 years now - since January 2007! I've made a lot of crafty stuff in that time and I thought it might be fun to have a look back and see what I was making this time each year...

In April 2007 I designed an Army Bear (commissioned by a friend), made tea-themed brooches and cake-themed brooches, and stitched a whole bunch of ninja brooches for the UK Etsy Sellers' design challenge (that month's theme was, as you might have guessed, ninjas).
 

 

 

In April 2008 I was in the middle of my Crafting 365 challenge (doing something crafty every day for a year and blogging about it) and had also decided to start a "design a day" challenge... which didn't last long as I got sick (ugh) and then our internet stopped working for several weeks (thank goodness for kind neighbours who let me pop round to use their computer and manage my shop orders during those weeks!).

I did design a whole bunch of new things that month, though, including cupcakes and sailboats and a whole bunch of felt flowers. 

I'd also just started selling felt squares in my Etsy shop the month before, and was busy making up lots of colourful packs of mini squares. (I know this doesn't technically count as "crafting", but I can never resist these kinds of colourful photos and selling craft supplies was a big part of my creative life for many years).

 

In April 2009 I announced that I'd quit my "day job" (scary) then took two weeks away from the internet for a proper holiday so didn't blog that much!

I got some lovely new office shelves (which probably never looked this neat and tidy ever again), bought some gorgeous recycled felt (made from plastic bottles!) to try, and made lots and lots and lots of felt poppies.

 

In April 2010 I had a work experience student working with me for a few days, which made me feel very fancy. I was also busy finishing lots of works-in-progress, including forget-me-not brooches, flower headbands, a massive floral brooch and some snowy owls. I ended up setting myself a challenge to clear out all the half-finished projects from my workbox, which was hard work but very satisfying.

Oh, and this month I also shared a tutorial for sewing felt raincloud brooches, and stitched a couple of political brooches for my then-boyfriend, who had election fever!

In April 2011 I made delicate felt primrose haircombs, big, bold layered flower brooches, soft beaded corsages and fun teapot badges. I was also still stitching poppies, still had lots of boxes full of WIPs and my felt stash was still slightly out of control.

 

In April 2012 most of my blog posts were about books, as I had an extended "book week" sharing lots of the great craft books I'd been sent for review. (I should do that again sometime soon, as I've got quite a few books in my "to review" pile right now!).

I also shared tutorials for sewing a felt raincloud mobile and pretty felt butterfly brooches, blogged about the progress of my sky blanket, and finished up a batch of bird brooches.

 

 

In April 2013 I got to announce the exciting news that I'd written a second book (yay!), and got another exciting book in the post: a photobook I'd put together with six years of my crafty photos. I shared a cross stitch pattern to remind you to just get on with it, worked in my office with my furry assistant for company, and worked on a whole bunch of stuff behind the scenes that I couldn't share yet.

I also stitched a lot of felt owls and a LOT of cherry blossoms!

 

In April 2014 I shared a lot of felt scrap photos and other teasing snippets as I was busy working towards a bunch of deadlines - I'd decided to stop selling handmade things at the end of 2013, to focus on designing, blogging and writing, and one of the side-effects of this was not being able to show off my WIPs as often as I used to.

This month I also made a boiled egg look like Marilyn Monroe as a project for Tesco Living's website (so much fun), and foolishly described this quilt as "nearly finished" (I have not worked on it since).

In April 2015, I stitched a felt flower and shared it as a free embroidery pattern, I made a box of sunshine to celebrate the release of Annie on DVD, and I blogged about my (abandoned) project to record the weather in the medium of fluffy pompoms.

In April 2016 I was busy working on my rainbow blanket, and I finally got a smartphone and joined Instagram! I also shared tutorials for making a felt hot air balloon tape measure cover, and a 3D felt flower picture, and got to show you guys the projects I'd made for a new craft book: Banners, Buntings, Garlands & Pennants. 

 

Then in April 2017 I designed a spring flowers wreath for The Village Haberdashery and attempted to do The 100 Day Project, making something felt-y every day for 100 days. Life threw a lot of distractions at me that spring and I didn't stick the project out for very long, but looking back at the stuff I did make - from a felt washing up sponge, to a felt barn owl - makes me very happy.

 

 

April itself was so hectic I actually blogged about those things in May but that's one of the ways blogging has changed in the past decade - it used to be all about daily updates, but now we've got social media for that.

I hope you've enjoyed this time-travelling journey through my blog archives; it's been weird but fun looking back through all these old posts!

January, February & March in Pictures

Sooo... what have I been up to in the first quarter of 2018?

In January...

... I shared a peek at a work in progress that STILL has not progressed to being a finished tutorial. It might be a brand new year, but "too many project ideas, not enough time to make them all" will forever sum up my life.

... I added two new patterns to my shop: felt poppies, and spring flowers.

... I shared a tutorial for using your yarn scraps to make fun stripey cards.

... I used Makelight's Year of Colour tool to see my 2017 Instagram colour palette (unsurprisingly, it turns out I've been using a lot of bright colours!).

... my felt weather mobile tutorial was published over on The Village Haberdashery's blog, along with templates for making some pun-tastic Valentine's Day cards.

... and someone who'd made my cat pincushion bought me a "coffee" to say thanks! (Yay!) The "buy me a coffee" button on my blog is basically a virtual tip jar - I was totally delighted that someone actually used it (and that a few more people have used it since). It's always lovely to hear that people have been using and enjoying my tutorials, or even just reading my blog, but getting kind words and a little bit of financial support feels AMAZING.

In January I also shared my first free pattern with my newsletter subscribers, blogged about trips to Kew Gardens, (part one and part two) and Oxford's Magdalen College, and three more of my tutorials for The Village Haberdashery got posted on their blog: a faux leather lightning bolt brooch, a geometric necklace, and an embroidered snowflakes wreath (completing my year of wreaths project).

In February...

...  this project was still not finished! When I posted this pic on Instagram  I wrote "These shapes are for a tutorial which is *still* a work in progress (January has been soooo busy!), so this post is me committing to getting it Finally Finished and up on my blog next week. Watch this space!", which, er, absolutely has not happened. Maybe it will happen soon? Fingers crossed!

In February I also stitched a mallard duck for my newsletter subscribers...

... came up with some creative ideas for decorating parcels...

... had two more projects published over on The Village Haberdashery's blog (a Valentine's-themed Tic Tac Toe set, and a trio of Plant Lady brooches)...

... blogged about exploring Carfax Tower & Oriel College in Oxford, confessed to not enjoying blogging about books, and had a destash-and-sample sale (many thanks to everyone who bought something!).

Then in March...

... I joined in with March Meet the Maker, sharing a bit about me and my business each day in response to the challenge prompts. It was a lot of fun, especially sharing behind-the-scenes pics like this giant To Do Chart I put together when working on one of my books...

 

... this snapshot of my dad painting skirting boards while I photographed a wreath tutorial (the joys of juggling self-employment and a renovation project!)...

... and how the fox design from my second book, Super-Cute Felt Animals, evolved from the early sketch to the finished project.

In March I also designed Chicken & Egg Easter ornaments for The Village Haberdashery...

... and they shared my tutorials for making a fun daffodil headband and pretty butterfly hairclips.

Here on my blog I wrote about my flat renovation project and our DIY progress last February, continued my series of posts about Kew Gardens with signs of spring and their wonderful Orchids Festival, and shared lots of snaps from a walk in the snow (gorgeous but very chilly for March!!).

Oh, and I also knitted lots of little white squares for my mini squares blanket! After many years working on this project, it's exciting seeing it slowly turning into a "real" blanket (instead of just a random cluster of knitted squares) and to be counting down the squares until it's finished. Isn't it looking lush?
 

Want regular updates without visiting my blog to check for new posts? You can find me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, or subscribe to my newsletter. 

P.S. The Amazon link in this post is an affiliate link - if you click on it and end up making a purchase I get a very small percentage of the sale total as a referral fee, which helps support my blog.