Bargain Craft Books + a Sample Sale

My parents' copy of the Book People catalogue popped through their door this morning...

... and look what's inside!

The new edition of my first book, Super-Cute Felt, is currently available from The Book People at the totally bargainous price of just £4.99.

I make very little money from these kinds of discount sales but I always think it's important to share them with you guys when I spot them, because... well, who doesn't love a bargain craft book?

At this price you could totally buy a copy for all your friends and relations this Christmas, haha. 

Super-Cute Felt is of course also available from Amazon UK or Amazon USA, from the Book Depository (where you can get free worldwide delivery), or via your local bookshop, or direct from my publisher.

Psst - those Amazon and Book Depository links are affiliate links, which means if you click on the links and buy something I'll get a small percentage for the referral.

In other news: over at the Village Haberdashery they're having a sample sale of lots of items made for their blog tutorials, classes and shop displays... including a whole bunch of wreaths and other bits and bobs made by me!

Click here to view everything currently available in the sample sale.

Meet the Author: Me!

The latest "meet the author" interview over at MAKEetc. is with yours truly!

Click to read all about my crafting story, where I get my inspiration, my top tips for working with felt, and my favourite project from my book Super-Cute Felt which has just been republished.

You can read more about Super-Cute Felt and order a copy here, or try one of the projects from the book over on the MAKEetc. blog.

June & July in Pictures: Colour & Crafting amongst the Chaos!

I spent a hectic few weeks this summer living out of a suitcase, travelling back to my flat from time to time but mostly staying with my parents and helping them prepare to move out of our family home and across the country to their new house. You might have noticed that I rather dropped the ball on the blogging front (oops!) while all this was going on... but I still managed to squeeze in some crafting and other fun stuff in between all the packing and general moving prep.

So... what did I get up to in June and July?

My friend Kate visited Bristol and we met up for a day's sightseeing and photo-taking (you can read about her trip to the city here and here). It's always a joy to show people round my favourite city, and Bristol was looking pretty darn gorgeous in the summer sunshine.

I was nearly late to meet her in the morning, though, as I was busy taking photos of this fabulous wall! (Instagrammer problems, man...).

 

For my birthday one of my friends surprised me with this awesome "Making Things" print and I couldn't resist taking a photo of it surrounded by some of the crafty supplies I'd been using that week.

 

I made things with this wonderful marbled paper (click here to see what I made with it!)...

... and made lots of felt butterflies for June's "A Year of Wreaths" Wreath tutorial (follow that link for the free tutorial). 

 

The shiny new edition of my first book, Super-Cute Felt was published (prompting an Instagram post full of feelings)...

... with a free project from the book available over at MAKEetc...

 

... and the pear needlebook tutorial (delightfully) featured in Prima Makes magazine.

 

I blogged about some fabulous fog, my visit to Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, a trip to Lichfield and a magnificently quirky museum: the Birmingham Pen Museum.

 

I confessed to sometimes preferring unused skeins of yarn and embroidery thread to finished projects (there's just something so appealing about those soft loops of colour!)...

 

... and had a hilarious dream in which I went on a date... not to a bar, or a café, or the cinema, but to a giant branch of Paperchase! The way to my heart is clearly via nice stationery (or haberdashery!). Naturally, I couldn't resist obeying my subconscious and visited the big Paperchase on the Tottenham Court Road when I was in London a couple of weeks later. Mmm... so many colours...

 

I shared a photo of my much beloved Dorcas pin tin - which it turns out is something a lot of people have in their sewing kit, and treasure (maybe you have one too?). This tin belonged to my mum when she was at school. I also have a larger one which I inherited from my grandmother, along with the rest of her sewing box.

 

I do love things which are pretty but also practical... although sometimes I buy so many of them that they're not quite so practical any more. Like mugs - I definitely have way more mugs than I technically need but there are just so many lovely ones! This one is my current fave: a recent gift from a kind friend who knows just how much I love a pop of colour.

 

Finally, July turned into a month of colourful selfies as I visited the WALALA X PLAY installation (a maze of mirrors and bright patterns that's perfect for taking photos)... 

 

... then got inspired by Instagram's "Weekend Hashtag Project" photo challenge and ended up spending a chunk of a Sunday afternoon lying on the floor covered in blankets (which is a perfectly normal thing to do, right??).

That week's challenge was #whptalentshow, and I got thinking about how my creative talents are things I've inherited from my parents, and which were encouraged and nurtured by them when I was growing up. Which (naturally) led to me taking selfies while sandwiched between the blanket my mum knitted for me when I was a baby, and the blanket I'm knitting for my new flat.

 

(Psst - for more blanket-y lols, check out the outtakes!).

Want more colourful, crafty updates? I'm lauralupinhoward on Instagram - click here to visit my page and follow me. You'll also find me on Facebook and Twitter.               

Me and My Book in Prima Makes Magazine (Yay!)

The latest issue of Prima Makes magazine is jam-packed with excellent crafty stuff...

... including (can you spot it on the contents page?)...

... the pear needlebook tutorial from my book, Super-Cute Felt!

It might sound weird given that all the projects from my book have (obviously) already been published in the book itself but it is always deeply thrilling seeing my projects "in print" in magazines like this. 

It's especially awesome because (in my slightly biased opinion) the team at CICO Books did such a great job on the photo styling for Super-Cute Felt, all the pics from it look soooo good (okay, yeah, so I'm extremely biased, but shhhh) they make me extra proud to see my designs in print.

The lovely people at Prima Makes have also included the snazzy new edition of Super-Cute Felt in this issue's craft book round-up...

... and there's a little interview with me, too!

The July 2017 issue of Prima Makes (issue 18) is out now - click here to buy a copy online. The new edition of Super-Cute Felt is available from Amazon or via your favourite local bookshop! You can read more about the book here.

P.S. Click here for the free tutorial for making that cat pincushion, and click here for the free Never Stop Learning embroidery pattern, both featured in my Prima Makes interview.

Please note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links.

Free Tutorial: Felt Butterfly & Flower Hair Combs

The new edition of my first book, Super-Cute Felt, came out last week. Yay!

To celebrate, you'll find a free project from the book over at MAKEetc: pretty felt butterfly and flower hair combs.

These combs are perfect for summer parties (or even weddings), and can be stitched in any colours you fancy. You could also used the butterflies and flowers to decorate other things (brooches, bracelets, hairclips, purses, all sorts of pretty things).

Click here for the full step by step tutorial.

The new edition of Super-Cute Felt is out now. It's available from Amazon UK or Amazon USA, or via your local bookshop :)

P.S. You can read more about my books here and see lots of other crafty books I've contributed to here.

Please note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links.

Fancy some more free tutorials? Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Super-Cute Felt Returns!

I've got some excellent news to share today: my first book, Super-Cute Felt, is being re-issued by my publisher this month. Hurrah!

Here's the new cover - isn't it fab?

It was incredibly exciting when Super-Cute Felt was first published back in 2011: a whole book full of projects designed by me! With my name on the cover and everything! OMG!

I'm beyond thrilled that it's been popular enough to merit this new edition. 

Super-Cute Felt includes 35 step-by-step hand sewing projects divided into four chapters: accessories, gifts, homewares and celebrations. There are big projects (like a cushion and a detailed tea cosy) and small projects (a pincushion, hair clips and felt ornaments), projects for all skill levels and a techniques section with lots of tips on working with felt.

Here's a peek at just three of the designs from the book...

Cat, mouse and cheese finger puppets:

A sparkly butterfly cushion:

And an embroidered mug cosy:

The new edition of Super-Cute Felt will be published on 13th June, 2017. You can pre-order it on Amazon UK or Amazon USA, or pop into your local bookshop and ask them to order it in for you :)

P.S. You can read more about my books here and see lots of other crafty books I've contributed to here. 

Please note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links.

October in Pictures: Terrific Tiles, Seasonal Stitching and Lovely Leaves

The clocks have gone back, the days are misty and the nights are drawing in... helloooooo November! I've got lots of crafty goodness planned for this month, but in the meantime let's look back at my Instagram photos from last month.

October started rather brilliantly as I spent the day on a photowalk with friends, exploring the southern end of the Northern Line and taking lots and lots and lots of photos. You can read more about the photowalk and the places we visited over on Kate's blog (I'm sure I'll get round to blogging about it eventually!)

Two of my favourite photos from the day involved tiles. Gorgeous black and green tiles in one of the Art Deco Northern Line stations we visited...

... and some equally fabulous tiles in a south London doorway.

It was so much fun walking round London in a little group looking for things to photograph - it's amazing the details you spot when you take the time to really look, and really interesting seeing how everyone's photos turned out.

Later that week I headed to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace, helping out on the Interlace stand for a couple of hours (aren't their bowls amazing?) then spending the rest of the afternoon checking out all the other stalls and soaking up some textile inspiration.

I also made use of my Network Railcard and my Art Pass and went to Brighton for the day. I'd been meaning to visit Brighton for about five years, and I'm really glad I finally did! I spent the morning walking along the beach and the pier, then went to the Royal Pavilion for lunch and a long look round (oohing over the fabulous decor and discovering the building's fascinating history).

With Halloween approaching, I shared photos of a couple of spooky projects: the felt vampire I designed for Felt-o-ween (which includes 40 scary-cute projects to make from felt)...

... and the cute bat ornaments I designed for the "celebrations" section of my first book, Super-Cute Felt.

I also shared photos of the kitsch stocking I designed for October's issue of Mollie Makes magazine (it's always such a pleasure having my work in this mag!). 

Dreaming of autumn leaves while I was stuck indoors working, I dug out a couple of my fave photos from last autumn - a splash of gold at Kew Gardens... 

 ... and the Thames looking kind of amazing during an autumn walk this time last year.

I also looked back at a few Nice Days Out here on my blog - visits to an art exhibition in Reading Prison, Kirkgate Market in Leeds and a walk through Bristol. Three very different places, all filled with interesting architectural details!

I simply had to Instagram these beautiful church floor tiles I spotted on my Bristol walk.

When I wasn't busy reminiscing about past travels, I was working behind the scenes on some new things.

I couldn't resist sharing a sneak peek of one of the patterns I'm working on. These auricula brooches are one of the design variations I'll be including in my Primroses & Auriculas pattern.

I've also been prepping for my November class at the Village Haberdashery in London (we'll be making these vintage-inspired felt Christmas onaments!)...

... and sharing lots of festive felt ornament tutorials here on my blog.

 

In my spare time my craftiness continues to revolve around the Christmas quilt I'm making for my sister.

I hit the halfway mark with the quilting (woohoo!) then did so much quilting that I got totally sick of it and had to take a break to stop myself going a bit bananas. I've got to get back to it soon though or I'll run out of time to have it finished in time for Christmas!

That wooden hoop is a massive 16 inches (about 40cm) wide - you use it to keep a section of the quilt flat as you stitch. I'm using red thread and hand stitching a grid of lines across the quilt, sewing one line either side of each seam.

Each line takes at least an hour and a half to stitch: I've got 30 lines sewn and 14 still to go! Then of course there's the binding, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Finally, we were lucky to get some sunshine at the end of the month and I got to enjoy all the autumn colour on my walks to the Post Office and my days off (hurrah!). Autumn sunshine and bright autumn leaves are a great combo.

Every year that yellow tree drops a whole carpet of yellow leaves and a few float over the road and onto these yellow lines. All that yellow makes me so happy!

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.