Craft-Themed Jigsaw Puzzles for Sewing, Knitting, Quilting, and Crafting Fans!

I have totally fallen in love with jigsaw puzzles and was delighted to discover recently that you can buy crafting-themed jigsaws. They're so colourful and cosy, I adore them.

Obviously, when I set up my new Amazon Influencer page (a little "storefront" where I can curate lists of things I love and where if you end up buying something I earn a small amount of commission for the referral) a list of craft-themed puzzles was one of the first things I had to put together!

(In the US? Click here to view my page on Amazon.com)

There are puzzles decorated with art and craft supplies...

 

... sometimes with the addition of cats!

Puzzles featuring quilts and quilters...

 

 ... granny squares...

... and haberdashery shops.

There are also puzzles depicting dream creative workspaces, including a lots of cosy craft-filled sheds!

 

I want to move into that last picture immediately.  

Click here to view the whole list of puzzles on Amazon.co.uk, or click here to view a similar list I've put together on Amazon.com. (All the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links).

More Stuff Added to My Insta-sale!

At the weekend I added lots more things to my destash and declutter sale over on Instagram.

There's fabric...
 

 

 

... lots of other crafty supplies...

 

... and a few other lovely bits & bobs:

 

I've also reduced the prices of a whole bunch of items left over from previous sales, including craft books...

 ... cute snowflake buttons...

... and these mouse and cheese brooches:

Prices start from just 25p (minimum spend £1). Click here to see all the available listings, with lots more info and photos. 

You can leave a comment on an item to claim it, but if you don't use Instagram don't worry! If you see things you want to purchase, just send me a message via my contact form to let me know what you're interested in.

I've listed the price and UK postage of each item, but I'll combine the postage for each parcel and only charge what it actually costs to post. In the UK you can send a shoebox sized parcel weighing up to 2 kilos second class for just £2.90! I'm happy to post internationally, too, just get in touch and I'll look up the postage costs and get back to you as soon as possible.

More Crafty Destashing... and a New Newsletter!

I'm having another crafty clearout!

A whole bunch of stuff has sold already, but there are still lots of bits and pieces available (sorry for not giving you guys a heads up this time round - it was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing inspired by a sudden urge to declutter).

Colourful card...

... old postage stamps...

 ... double-sided crepe paper...

 

... a vintage pillowcase...

... snowflake buttons...

... embroidery threads...

... beads...

 

... and more! I've also got a few things left over from the last sale, including some bargain craft books:

Click here to see all the available listings, with more info and photos. 

You can leave a comment on an item to claim it, but if you don't use Instagram don't worry! If you see things you want to purchase, just send me a message via my contact form to let me know what you're interested in.

I've listed the price and UK postage of each item, but I'll combine the postage for each parcel and only charge what it actually costs to post (in the UK you can send a shoebox sized parcel weighing up to 2 kilos second class for just £2.90).

IN OTHER NEWS, I am finally (after literally years of meaning to get round to it) starting a weekly newsletter.

It won't be a flashy, sales-y thing with lots of embedded pictures and fancy formatting, just an email with updates on stuff I've been making, doing, and blogging about lately... plus links to interesting stuff I've been reading, inspiring Instagram accounts, cool tutorials, etc. Sometimes it'll be long and chatty when I've got lots of stuff to share, sometimes short and sweet.

The first newsletter goes out on Friday. Click here to sign up!


UPDATE: My newsletter has moved! Click here to sign up. 

September in Pictures: Bargain Threads & a Gift-Wrapping Challenge

Time for a look back at my Instagram photos from September...

This month I scored the bargain of the year, getting a whole heap of embroidery thread at John Lewis for just 10p a skein (that's 90% off the normal price! crazy!). Sadly the offer has finished now, but I am not going to run out of embroidery thread any time soon.

Hilariously, a few days after buying all those threads I had to buy some more as I didn't have the exact colours I needed for an in-progress project. Typical!

Of course, I couldn't resist arranging all the threads in colour order so I could a) see what colours I'd bought b) store them in colour groups for easy-access and c) ooh over their loveliness. All together now: ooooooooh...

I've been busy behind the scenes working on new projects, but I also started a fun new personal project - setting myself the challenge to come up with 100 gift wrapping ideas. I'm sharing the ideas on Instagram as I go along, then blogging about them in batches. So far I've shared ten ideas - click here to read all about them.

I'm hoping to have some free afternoons to do some more gift-wrapping soon!

I also blogged about some of my crafty projects and beloved toys from my childhood, including the felt fashions I stitched for my Sylvanian Families. It's been so lovely rediscovering all this stuff and sharing it with you guys - and hearing all your stories about your own childhood treasures.

I squeezed a few Nice Days Out into September, though I haven't yet had time to blog about them (though I did finally blog about my visit to Seville Cathedral many months ago!).

I spent a busy day in Oxford exploring the Colleges and other interesting buildings during the annual Oxford Open Doors weekend. Balliol was particularly swoonworthy:

I also used my Art Pass to visit Eltham Palace (wonderful!)...

... and spent an afternoon at Tate Britain, enjoying the architecture and revisiting some of my favourite paintings.

I simply had to take a snap of the platform at Pimlico on my way home. This kind of urban patchwork makes me so happy - all those blocks of colour! It reminds me of a painting but I can't for the life of me think which one.

I also popped into The Village Haberdashery to deliver some samples for the classes I'll be teaching there this autumn - you can learn to make an autumn wreath, a weather-themed baby mobile or these vintage-inspired Christmas ornaments.

Annie from The Village Haberdashery also interviewed me for their shop blog, The Daily Stitch. We chatted about my crafty childhood, how I started my business, the early days of craft blogging and the realities of making stuff for a living.

In other September news...

... I am trying to send more Proper Post and bought some awesome stamps for sending my letters (the Agatha Christie ones include tiny writing and other clues to the mysteries! So cool).

... the Partridge & Pear Wreath I made last year was republished in Mollie Makes Christmas (it even made the cover, which is always fun!).

... I finally bought wadding and backing fabric for the Christmas quilt I'm sewing for my sister. I'm hand quilting it, so there's lots of hours of stitching still to do. No prizes for guessing how I'm spending my evenings at the moment!

... and I got new glasses! I'd had the same glasses for over five years, and the same style for over a decade so this new look took a while to get used to. Change is hard, guys. I love them now though, hurrah!

I'll share another Instagram round-up next month :)

I'm lauralupinhoward on Instagram - click here to visit my page and follow me. You'll also find me on Facebook and Twitter.

August in Pictures: Colourful Craft Supplies and Summer Flowers

My August was full of colour!

I was busy working on lots of new things, choosing (then shopping for) the supplies to get crafting.

There were rainbows of thread on my worktable...

... and I stitched a couple of felt rainbows, too.

 

The rainbows and sun are pieces I've designed for the felt baby mobile class I'm teaching at the Village Haberdashery in West Hampsted, London in October.

I'll be running three classes at the Village Haberdashery this autumn - making an autumn wreath in September, a baby mobile in October and Christmas ornaments in November.

Here are the four designs you can learn to sew in the baby mobile class - clouds, rainclouds, rainbows and little smiling suns.

In early August I visited the bright and cheerful Village Haberdashery shop to chat about my classes and pick up a pile of yummy craft supplies for my projects.

The autumnal shades of that wool blend felt became an autumn wreath...

... decorated with felt leaves and toadstools. You can see more pics of the wreath (and find all the info about the wreath-making class on Saturday, September 17th) here. 

These festive colours were destined to become vintage-inspired felt ornaments for my November class (I'll be sharing pics of the ornaments soon!).

 

In August I blogged about the Brunel Museum and it's charming garden, the Green Way path between Maidenhead and Bray, lots of lovely London things, Leeds Corn Exchange, and a morning in Kensington. It might be weird of me, but I find it quite fun working out which photo from each of my "Nice Day Out" blog posts to share on Instagram.

 

I finally finished up my Take to the Sea embroidery (such a fun project - though a very time-consuming one!)...

... and I added some more colours to my scrappy patchwork cross stitch.The back of the work is somewhat messy, but who cares?

 

I had relaxing evenings in with beloved DVDs and comics and assorted crafty projects... (this mitten is from a kit by Alicia Paulson)...

... lazy days spent sewing on the sofa watching the Olympics and hanging out with this fluffy fella...

... and gorgeously sunny afternoons in the garden on some blazing hot days (I got this lovely bit of summer reading in Annie Spratt's awesome Indie Magazine Swap!).

There were plenty of busy days working at home with the tools of my trade: pinking shears, fabric scissors, paper scissors, embroidery scissors (great for cutting out small felt pieces) and my go-to selection of needles and pins.

 

But I also managed to squeeze in a couple of wonderful days in London, with long walks through parks and visits to museums.

I spotted these gorgeous wildflowers in Hyde Park at what felt like the height of summer...

... and just a few weeks later autumn is already creeping in!

Bright summer sunshine is all well and good, but I adore the soft light you get in autumn and all the colours of the leaves as they turn and fall. Mmm... autumn...

I took this photo of the gorgeous heather in our garden. I've spent lots of my recent tea breaks watching the bees buzz round this heather, they love it almost as much as I do. I love how the autumn colours are lurking behind the heather like "hello! it's me! I'm back!"

I'll share another Instagram round-up next month. Spoiler alert: there are probably going to be some autumn leaves!

I'm lauralupinhoward on Instagram - click here to visit my page and follow me.