A Lovely Tea & Biscuit Tin

Check out the new addition to my growing collection of yummy tins from M&S:

Such a nice design, huh? Perfect for a tea and biscuit fan like me :)

It's by Kate Wilson of Little Doodles, whose work I love - I bought one of her birdie prints years ago, I unfortunately don't currently have the space for it but it used to hang in my old kitchen & made me happy whenever I saw it.

Plus the biscuits inside were pretty tasty too! Om nom nom.

What's In That Tin?

Over the years I've collected lots of boxes & pretty tins to store my craft supplies and other stuff in my studio. Would you like to see what's in some of the tins?

This is one of my "random projects in progress" tins. These aren't projects I'm currently working on, it's more like a sketchbook of ideas that I'll go back to at some point. There are also a few things in here (like the Good Luck card) which are leftovers from old projects. This tin & the next one were part of a set from John Lewis, with a teacup design by Ella Doran.

Lots of felt beads!

Most of my embroidery threads are now neatly wound on bobbins making them super easy to find & use, but I always have some spare skeins and they live in this tin along with some mini embroidery hoops. This tin was one of Sanna Annukka's Christmas designs for M&S last year.

Another "random projects in progress" tin, and another M&S purchase.

A small tin full of my paper patterns (another of Sanna Annukka's designs for M&S).

Some of my current work in progress (mostly just old designs I'm restocking), in yet another M&S biscuit tin (they really do make the best tins!).

Last but not least, my most recent M&S purchase which now houses my camera, the camera battery charger and the USB cable for connecting the camera to my laptop. Not exactly "crafty" supplies, but very vital bits of kit for my job!

A Very British Biscuit Tin

Gosh, it's been a while since my last blog post!

Things have been quite quiet here over the past couple of weeks. I've mostly been doing things like slowly catching up with my filing & accounts, and watching a bit too much TV.

I have also been eating far too many biscuits thanks to the purchase of this gorgeous biscuit tin from Marks & Spencer:

It's got a map of London on the top and then each side is illustrated with stuff from each country in the UK.

I did quite like the trio of square Diamond Jubliee -themed biscuit tins M&S were selling, but it was this one which stole my heart. Once all the biscuits have been eaten (which won't be long now, at the rate I'm getting through them) the tin will be put to good use holding in-progress craft projects or sewing supplies, I'm not sure which yet.

Talking of Diamond Jubilee stuff, I also recently treated myself to this "Royal Tea" tea towel designed by Charlotte Farmer (image from the Tate Gallery shop). You know how I love a nice teatowel! 

Have you bought anything as a "souvenir" of the Jubilee?

Red and Blue

A quick snap of some work in progress this week...

... lots of red poppies which will become brooches and headbands.

I love those blue Dorcas pin tins. I've got two of them, this one was a hand-me-down from my mother and the other (which is the same design, just larger) was my grandmother's. Very special things.

UPDATE: My poppy design is now available as a sewing pattern! Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns

Photos from a Busy Week

The Christmas posting deadline for UK orders is looming ... please place your order by the end of this weekend if you want your parcel posted before the last posting date!

The last few days of the pre-Christmas season are always pretty hectic. I've kept meaning to blog but kept forgetting - or forgetting to charge my camera batteries / take photos when it was sunny / etc.

So, here are a few catch-up snaps from this week :)

I've been using a yummy new tin to store my current works-in-progress:

It's shaped like a giant bourbon biscuit... I didn't get to eat the biscuits that were inside it originally, but my mum remembered that I had the matching giant custard cream tin and saved the bourbon biccie tin for me. What a star.

Also very yummy - some Charley Harper goodies I treated myself to this week. I saw the gorgeous gift wrap over on What Katie Does and just had to buy some for myself... and couldn't resist buying a few more Charley Harper bits & pieces from Fred Aldous while I was at it. A girl can never have too many things with Charley Harper birds on, right?? 

Talking of What Katie Does, I am rather in love with her new Tea & Books themed print:

The print is available from her Etsy shop, HERE. I may have just ordered one for my new studio...

A nice bit of surprise post arrived yesterday from the nice people at Folksy - a copy of their winter sampler, a mini newspaper with news from Folksy and a gift guide of some of the lovely handmade things for sale on the site.

They also included a rather lovely knitting-themed postcard... I don't know who designed it, but it's quite gorgeous and perfectly suits their new "Modern British Craft" tagline. 

In crafty news, I've made a start on sorting out the pieces for the vintage felt bird ornaments ready for some Christmas crafting... 

... and I've started knitting a very soft and fluffy scarf from some fun faux-mohair yarn:

I bought a whole bundle of this fluffy yarn at my old knitting club's fundraising yarn sale this summer. I didn't have a plan for what I might make with it, but it turns out that two strands knitted together makes a fab chunky knit that's perfect for scarves... plus knitting on those large needles is so quick and easy, it's such a satisfying project for the winter evenings. 

Right, I'm off to eat some home-made mince pies now (my dad bakes a mean mince pie) and do some more knitting...

Terrific Tins

What a strange week this is turning out to be!

It's been very surreal & slightly scary watching the violence and looting happening across the country, especially with so many friends & family members close to the affected areas. It even kicked off here in Gloucester last night. Fingers crossed it all calms down very soon.

Anyway... back in the world of crafting, I've been spending a few days devoted to admin (accounts, filing, emails, organising photos, etc) and having a tidy up of my craft supplies.

I've finally found a use for this awesome tin I bought before Christmas - it's now home to my stash of paper patterns:


It's been making me smile every time I go to fetch a new pattern. Check out the design round the sides:


So nice!

The tin is part of a range designed by Sanna Annukka for Marks & Spencer last Christmas. I ummed and aahed a bit about buying them but now I can't believe I hesitated for a second, they're so lovely.

The other tin I bought from the range is full of embroidery threads...


... and the custard cream tin I bought last autumn (which you can see in the photo below) is full of felty works in progress :)