I see red, red, red

My favourite colour has long been red. Then green took over and over the last few weeks I've noticed more red creeping back. My new shoes, that I got from here, after I read how inexpensive the international shipping was here (thank Ella!). I was all prepared to buy some lovely brown ones, being sensible about what I could wear them with, then I realised that as red is my favourite colour I have tons of clothes that would go with red shoes. I'm glad I did, I do so love red shoes. They are so super comfortable, after an initial panic that they were too small. The exchange rate is oh so good at the moment to they worked out to be really reasonable, and they look like they are going to last for many, many years, much better than buying a couple of pairs from the No 1 Shoe Warehouse and them only last a season ( something I'm very guilty of doing). So yes, I have happy feet!

I have had some great red thrift store finds too, that red Citta bag, brand new with tags on for $5, and those cute Japanese mugs for miss E to drink milo from for only $0.20 each! Bargain.

weekending

It's been a busy weekend, I've been trying hard to fit in some crafting time here and there. It has been slow going but I've got a couple of new crochet/ceramic pendants finished and a couple of brooches too. They are destined for my stall at the Auckland Art and Craft Fair in December, which is creeping up very, very fast, gulp!

We have been having some beautiful sunsets lately, a true sign that summer is nearly here!

more roses

Not long after I read this post by melissa that I found I was surrounded by roses too. There was a lucky find of a sheer embroidered cloth from my local Salvation army(in perfect condition), the kind that you cover up food with. It has beautiful roses embroidered all over it and a crocheted edge, just what I need now as the "fly" season approaches. There are the rose cards that I had just finished stitching, gorgeous prints from a vintage botanical book that I picked up at a secondhand book sale recently (they are now listed in my etsy shop). Lastly there is the iceberg standard rose that is planted outside our front door now in full bloom and giving off a divine scent. We had ten standard iceberg roses here but I sold all but one as I didn't like the idea of spraying them to keep them looking good(and they were taking up space that could be a vege garden instead). The one that I kept was the healthiest it always seemed to be the last that got the dreaded black spot (the curse of growing roses in Auckland) and I planted it right outside our front door.

pine

In desperate need of some more stationery I set about making some more stitched cards from a vintage botanical book. It had a large section of pine and conifer like images that reminded me of a Scandinavian Christmas, I've kept some for myself and added a small set in my etsy shop. I like things that have the a Christmas feel without being all about the tinsel!

berry good

Hull and prick with a skewer ..........

cover one third with castor sugar .......

cover with vodka! ......leave in a dark place for a month ......strain and then hopefully it will look like this picture from a magazine. Strawberry liqueur. The magazine suggests using it in a trifle, pouring it over ice cream ...... any other suggestions?

weekending

First harvests of the season and a new recipe tried. Yum!

wrist pin cushion tutorial

Thanks for all the nice comments about my wrist pincushion. So I've put together this little tutorial so you can make your own. Hopefully you will be able to follow my directions (this is my first tutorial), if you have any questions I'm happy to help so ask me any questions or tell me it doesn't make any sense!. I haven't included measurements as it will vary depending on what size lid you use, but hopefully all the photos are clear enough on their own. Lets get to it.

You will need:

Some small pieces of fabric for the top and bottom of the pin cushion.
A jar lid

Some elastic, around 2.5 - 3cm wide

Stuffing, wool or fiber fill

A small length of ribbon or braid

I have used a lid from a jar of olives it measures 6.5cm in diameter, but a slightly bigger or smaller lid would work just as well. Place your lid on the fabric you have chosen for the bottom part of the pincushion. You need to cut a circle from the fabric that is about 3 cm larger than the lid. Place to one side. (the circle of fabric doesn't need to be perfect we are going to gather it up soon to cover the lid)

Next we need to cut a casing for the elastic wristband. Place your lid on the fabric and cut a similar shape to the one in the photo above.

With an iron turn over and press all the raw edges. Check that the size that you have pressed it to will fit the underside of the lid, so if your lid is 6.5cm in diameter this piece should measure approximately 6cm and no more than 6.5cm.

Pin it to the circle of fabric that you cut earlier.

Stitch on both of the short sides. Check that the elastic you have fill fit through the space that you have sewn, with a bit of room to spare.

Now we need to gather up this circle. Sew a running stitch around the edge ( just as if you were making a yo yo or Suffolk puff). Pop the jar lid in the middle and then pull the thread up to cover the lid. You should end up with something like the picture above. You need to pull this quite tightly and then secure the thread. That is the base part finished.

Pop the base part down on the fabric you have chosen for the top of the pincushion and cut out a circle. This needs to be about 3 - 4cm larger than the base all around. Again the circle doesn't need to be perfect as we are gathering this up too.

Ok, just like the base. Sew a running stitch around the edge and pull gently to gather up. Once it's a little bit gathered stuff it with your chosen stuffing material. I've used wool. Once it's stuffed nice and firmly secure the thread and cut off.

Now we want. to stitch the top to the bottom, stitch it all the way around. Don't worry about your stitches too much as the braid will cover it.

Sew on the braid or ribbon, folding over the edge to create a neat finish (ok like I can talk, look at that messy stitching of mine). That is the top part all finished, now on to the elastic wrist band.

Cut a length of elastic to fit around your wrist, allow a little bit extra as a seam allowance. Then we need to cut some fabric to cover the elastic to create a casing. It needs to have a small seam allowance on either side and it needs to be one and a half times longer than the elastic.

Sew the seams on either side (or on one side if you can cut the fabric on a fold). Turn so the right side is on top. Thread the elastic through the casing leaving the elastic showing at each end.

Thread the wristband through the casing created at the bottom of the pin cushion.

Overlap the elastic and with a wide zigzag stitch, stitch several rows to secure the elastic.

Pop one end of the casing over the other and stitch in place, this will cover the ends of the elastic.

Put the part that you just stitched under the casing at the bottom of the pin cushion. You can then stitch it to the casing but I have found that it just stays in place. Add some pins, pop it on your wrist and you are done! Phew! Hope that was easy enough to follow. Please do let me know if you have any questions, or let me know if you make one I'd love to see it.

silver

I've been getting into the Christmas spirit over the last week ( early I know but the shops are filled with Christmas stuff now so it's ok to start blogging about it right??). I've been crocheting little stars and decorations from some sterling silver wire. The little round baubles have a vintage crystals sewn on the middle of them one on each side. The little crochet trees are made from some natural cotton, stuffed with natural sheep's wool and embellished with some vintage mother of pearl buttons from my collection. I hope to list some in my etsy shop over the coming days and I've been asked to include some in an exhibition at my local art gallery! So my fingers

have some busy days ahead.

Have you started any Christmas projects yet? I'd love to hear about what you are working on.

warm

It's been very warm around these parts this week, it really does feel as if Summer is arrived. My nana picked me a bunch of very warm looking flowers from her garden for me. They worked in well with these stones that I've just finished off, a few requests from friends. My camera wasn't really doing a good job at picking up the warm colours however and trying to warm it up has turned it kind of magenta, you'll have to trust me when I say they look much better in real life.

Happy weekend my friends.