Birthday Basket

Yesterday's crafty project was a bit of special gift-wrapping for a friend's birthday...

We bought her a few gifts, and I potted up some flowers from my little garden and made up a little basket to put them in. I wrapped the pots in bubble-wrap and tape so they could nestle among the other presents without getting them dirty or wet, and added some paper cut-outs on cocktail sticks for a bit of extra decoration:

 

I love to give plants as gifts (especially home grown ones) but they can be so awkward to wrap, so I am a bit in love with this idea. The butterflies look so pretty and are so simple to make: I made mine with sugar paper (construction paper), this template printed out at 50%, and stuck them to a wooden cocktail stick with a bit of clear tape.

 

You can of course use any silhouette you fancy, or more colourful images like butterflies from digital collage sheets like these great ones from Piddix (how amazing would a simple house-warming plant look with a grouping of those butterflies fluttering among its leaves?)

Please feel free to borrow one or two photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire post on your site. Thanks!

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Surprises in the Post

I don't normally do much swapping, but recently I've traded some stuff with Lucy of Summersville and Sarah & Jon of The Lapwing Printworks ... and both their parcels arrived this morning!

Jon & Sarah sent me a set of gorgeous bookplates which will soon be adorning some of my boyfriend's many books (they were even kind enough to personalise them for him). Plus they included two surprises, sweet printed notecards and a handbound notebook:
I took rather a long time choosing just one of Lucy's screenprinted fabrics, but I eventually chose a piece of Twist in rose pink and very yummy it is too.... but she also sent me a print of the Plantlife pattern she's been using recently for these pieces. *Swoon*Such a nice way to start off the weekend!

UK Handmade

Have I mentioned the awesomeness that is UK Handmade before?

It's a quarterly "design led online magazine committed to showcasing and promoting the best creative talent the UK has to offer", it's run by some of the nicest people I've had the pleasure of "meeting" through selling online and the latest issue is now available HERE.
It's filled with delicious crafty things including interviews, book reviews, studio tours, crafty business guides, and instructions on how to make those lovely cakes and biscuits (yum yum).

If after all that you still want more, you can check out the launch issue or visit the UK Handmade blog for regular updates on the UK craft scene.

A Place for Everything...

... and everything in its place, though probably not for long! :)