365 / 173 - Teacups and the Internet

Last night we watched "Spy Game" (rubbish!) and I finished my batch of pink teacup pins. Here they all are, in a pink teacup (I'm really thinking outside the box today! haha) ...
Naturally, I had to go make a cup of tea after taking those pictures! Continuing with the tea theme, check out this adorable card in Kate Wilson's shop:
Only $8 for so much cuteness! How could you resist it? Also, Heidi Burton's lovely cards (including her "you're just my cup of tea" card) have a new home: Making Strangers; and did you know that you can buy a teatowel with the ever-relevant slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On"? I am starting to build up a collection of stylish teatowels to replace my fraying old ones so am rather tempted by a Keep Calm one, but I feel it might look rather naff to have a teatowel that matches a poster on our kitchen wall...

In other news, I have been blogged while I was away... My Library Project zine got a mention here, a fellow Etsian sweetly picked me as one of "three artists the world should know about (but doesn't) in this interview, and my cherry blossom pin provided some inspiration for a crafter trying out felt for the first time. My shop and my "trailblazing moustaches" also got mentioned over in Etsy's Storque in a little feature they did on the "mini trend" of felt goatees...
Funny how you can make something and think you're going out on some weird limb (I was absolutely convinced I was going to have to give my initial batch of moustaches away to unamused relations because they'd never sell) then they become popular and start turning up everywhere! You type "mustache" into Etsy's search nowadays and the results are huge, and there seem to be quite a few moustache disguises around too... My own moustaches now have their very own section in my shop and will soon be joined by beards, glasses and an assortment of other useful disguises - I've even secured a model for them all, I don't think he really knows what he's letting himself in for, but he owes me a favour, hehe...

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

365 / 171 & 172 & lots of catching up...

I have lots of blogging to catch up on, so this post is going to be rather a long one! Brace yourselves...

First up, my Crafting 365 antics from way back on day 164...
Day 164 I packed up a shoebox full of felt, thread, patterns and works-in-progress ready to take with me housesitting for my parents, and cut out the pieces for an abstract mobile to stitch together while I was away. Then on day 165 I travelled and stitched together the mobile pieces when I got there (whilst enjoying the luxury of hours of television, and digital telly at that!).

Thursday (day 166) was really rather exciting as I met up with Knithappens for a cup of tea (she is lovely) and also went to John Lewis, which has just the most delicious haberdashery department. I bought black seed beads (aka "squirrel eyes"), some blue thread to match the teapots, some embroidery scissors and a set of expensive notecards that were too beautiful to resist. I also fell in love with their range of items designed by Ella Doran (giftbags adorned with party rings!) and have added these teacup tins to my wishlist.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday (days 167-169) were a crazy flurry of sewing, as I made butterflies, bluetits, squirrels, a fox (just one as the squirrels used up all the black felt I had with me), teapots, mugs and toadstools whilst watching far too much television and raiding my parents dvd collection. On Monday (day 170) my parents internet connection resurrected itself and catching up with all my emails distracted me slightly from sewing, but I did manage to get some daisies and marigolds finished. You can see the pictures of all of that lot in the previous post - lots of felt!

Tuesday being Shrove Tuesday, we went out for pancakes with friends and during after-pancake drinks I turned my attention to some very neglected works in progress. A felt version of illustrations by the supremely talented Askey, these little pictures will take lots of embroidery hours to finish!
... I've almost finished the hands and feet on all of them, and will hopefully have some quiet afternoons to devote to the dresses soon. When finished they should look like this. I am hoping to build up a proper "textile art" section in my shop (I'm working on butterfly pieces at the moment and have other things planned) so they will fit in very nicely with my schemes for 2008.

Then last night (Wednesday, day 172) I wanted a nice simple little project to work on so I started a batch of little teacups. They are so sweet and satisfying to sew, I love the pale pink with the white and tea-brown, delicious soft colours:
Phew. Lots of crafting! I have been blogged and otherwise mentioned a few times since I took my enforced blogging break but these things will have to wait as I've wittered on long enough for one day and really ought to go and have a tea break now (and a biscuit and a nice sit down)...

Before I go and enjoy my cuppa, I do quickly want to mention that I sold my 600th item on Etsy this week (wow, such a great feeling) and that one of my moustache disguises can be seen in the latest issue of Craft! (in the double page Etsy ad in the back - many thanks to Anna for spotting that and letting me know!). Until tomorrow, toodlepip!

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

365/164-170: Things Conspire Against Me!

I am back with a working internet connection (wonderful, magical, marvellous) but now I am ill! Rubbish! I am itching to write about this week's crafty goings on, but my witterings will have to wait. In the meantime though: photos of my crafty output over my internet-free days... I was rather productive without the delights of the web to distract me!

Why No Updates?

Why? Because I have been stuck for almost a week without an internet connection! Doom!
Normal service will hopefully resume soon. In the meantime I am trying not to twitch too much as I go through email/blogging/Flickr/Etsy/etc withdrawal, and am getting lots of sewing done without the internet there to distract me....