Kirsty's Handmade Christmas

So, as promised, some photos of Christmas presents I made for members of my family..

First up, a driftwood boat and hanging lavender fish for my brother and his girlfriend...

A chicken doorstop for my mum...

This is an apron I made for my nan...I nearly bought one as I didn't have a piece of suitable fabric that was big enough. Then I discovered a pair of brand new tea towels...I laid them together so that the bottom one overlapped the top one to make a pocket, stitched along the bottom of the 'pocket' and up the sides. Then I simply shaped the sides and stitched on some spotty ribbon around the neck and waist and, hey presto!

I'm sure she appreciated it more than if I'd simply bought one.
Next up a mobile for my sister (as requested)....
A pair of lovebirds for one of my nieces...


And a rather jolly owl cushion for my other niece - one of a range of childrens cushions I am currently designing - more on that soon!


I particularly like the button detail on the eye!

Phew! That's all folks! Which is your favourite?

Seven

I still can't quite believe it, our little baby turned seven today, I don't know where the time has gone!

As this blog is the closest I get to keeping a diary, I just wanted to say to you, Buddy, you are as beautiful inside as you are out, and we all love you very much!

Happy Holidays

Two more sleeps!! I still have stuff to do, but my last order was sent out a couple of days ago, and that is cause for a large glass of mulled wine! I still have a couple more pressies to make - I will show some photos of them with my next post, don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone!


Thought I'd share some snaps of our lounge....Can you make out the antique sled in the fireplace? I found it in a junk shop years ago. Usually we stand our tree on it, but the tree was bigger than usual this year - nearly touching the ceiling! You may also notice the old wooden ice skates hanging above - if this cold weather continues, I may get to use them this year!

My sister just gave me some cut alphabet stamps for my birthday (21st Dec) so I was busy last night making some gift tags. I seem to be using my bakers twine for absolutely everything - it was such a good buy!
Anyway, I sincerely wish you all a most Merry Christmas!
Cheers!

Christmas Makers Market (Part 2)

So that's the last of my Christmas Fayres for another year! Here is a photo of my little pitch, I wish I had taken a picture from further back, because I was in front of a huge window with a beautiful view of St Andrews Church in Ashburton - and with bright sunshine and blue skies, it made for a truly amazing backdrop!
Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with my wares, you've seen them all before, instead I thought I'd share some photos of some other work on display. Here are some of my favourites...

First up, these love birds by textile artist Rose Tydeman. Her felt birds are so vibrant and beautiful - just like her! I love the intense colours - you can see more of her work here.

This sweet little folk angel by Kathryn Craddock caught my eye...

My absolute favourite work for sale was that by kinetic sculptor Michael Chaikin. These copper reindeer were simply stunning. I would have loved a set of eight, but at £45 each they were slightly over my budget!

And check out his copper shark, which moves in a remarkably lifelike fashion when nudged or is blown by the wind (it is intended to be hung outside.) I'm afraid my photo doesn't do it justice at all, it was awesome! I was thrilled for him when a couple bought it to hang above their swimming pool (how the other half live!) You can see more of Michael's work here.
Anyway, I enjoyed the event thoroughly. It makes a refreshing change to escape being 'just a mum' for a day and you always meet lots of interesting people and a few barking ones as well!

By the way, I sold the Mistletoe Robins!

Christmas Makers Market

I've probably left it far too late to advertise this, but if any of you locals have any time to spare this coming weekend, why not come to lovely Ashburton and check out the Christmas Makers Market? There is also a preview on Friday evening from 7-9, where you'll be able to browse at your leisure with a cup of mulled wine and a mince pie - heaven!! If that isn't enough to tempt you, let me tell you that Ashburton is a beautiful market town with a stack of boutiques, gift and antique shops, plus an amazing deli. It's really worth a visit - and a great place to do a bit of last minute Chrimbo shopping!

So as well as selling my robins and tree decorations (see previous posts) and driftwood boats and cards (ditto above) I will also have to find a space for these little fellas cuddling up under the mistletoe!



As I mentioned in my last post, I left it a bit late to make any more and sell them online, but it's something I may do next Christmas, when of course I will be much more organized!!
If anyone desperately wants one though, leave a comment and I will do my best to oblige!
And please come to see us in Ashburton, it would be lovely to meet you!

Happy Birthday...

to my scrummy niece Molly - here's what I made for her pressie...

I am actually pretty fed up of making these birds now, but it was nice to do a variation - 4 birds perched on a driftwood stick held up with wire and hung from a piece of sheer ribbon. Now I've gone and got more ideas for Christmas robins and there's only 5 days until my last Christmas Fayre! Talk about leaving it until the last minute!

Oh and here's a shot of her birthday card to match. Have a great week folks!

The Cheesewring

So when severe weather warnings have been announced, storms forecast, where else do you head but Bodmin Moor?!

(Actually it wasn't that bad, and the rain started when we were safely back in the car!)

Farewell...

Apologies for my absence of late, it appears the Christmas rush has started! Yesterday I sold this beast, the last of my driftwood boats!

The customer wanted it personalised...

It's always bittersweet selling something you are particularly fond of, my very favourite part is the unusual shaped washer..

And it fitted in our little display cubby-hole perfectly!
Have to crack on and make some more now! And Salty Selina, I hope you enjoy your driftwood boat as much as we did!

More Christmas Goodies

I've been busy! All available to buy here.

Owl and the Moon

Thought I'd share my latest project with you - this little owl mobile for a friend who's about to have her first baby. The gender of the baby is unknown so I have tried to make it suitable for either sex (hence red and blue stitching on the eyes and nothing too girly, though it's v tempting!) The owl is stuffed with lavender to aid sleep (yeah, right, we can hope!) The moon part came about as a bit of an accident - I was wrapping the wooden embroidery hoop with strips of fabric and got about two thirds of the way around, realised it was a bit like a crescent, chopped the remaining third off and so the moon was created!!

The owl is not perfect - next time I'll make him shorter and wider - but it's an idea I might develop and sell as a gift for new borns. The trend seems to be for everything to be personalised which is an avenue I may well explore, although I would rather go for something very subtle: has anyone ever typed straight on to calico or even know if this is possible? If so I'll be looking out for an old fashioned typewriter- then I could wrap words or names around the moon!

Please feel free to leave your advice/ideas/comments!

Tree garland

I'd been trying out new Christmas cards and came up with this design (above). The fabric is actually stitched straight on to the card. I kind of liked it but there was something that wasn't quite right, so I took the idea and made in to something more 3 dimensional - what do you think?

I'm thinking I could make both strings of trees and individual ones to go on the tree itself...

I'm desperately looking for some polka dot fabric - linen if possible - with red dots on white/cream. Does anyone have any suggestions. For the time being I've comprimised and stitched some red beads on to plain linen, but it's quite time consuming!

Then I looked at the spotty trees and thought they looked a bit like toadstools so made one of these..

Okay, so they're not exactly traditional at Christmas, but they fit in with my red and white theme! Artistic license I think they call it. I reckon it's cute. Now I'm thinking about using this as a part of mobiles for little girls....STOP! I have to concentrate on Christmas for now! As usual my mind is six months ahead of my stitching fingers!!

Decorations will be available on Folksy soon.

Hope you're all having a good week!