Cloth diary and notebook set

We had several Secret Santas on Cloth Nappy Addicts and I can never resist the urge to sew my pressies. I particularly enjoyed making this cloth covered diary and notebook set - the covers are removable so can be re-used and they can be stored in the matching pouch:



I've made a similar one before for a CNA craft swap, diary for mum and bag for a little girl:


And this is my favourite covered journal, sprayed with Colorwash and stamped with Jacquard Lumiere:


There's something very satifying about covered books, even my 6 year old realises this :) In his school Secret Room (a PTA event, children can purchase Christmas pressies for their loved ones at a pound a shot) he chose for me a sari covered journal and told me he chose it because I like fabric. Isn't he sweet?!

Fab giveaway

Lin from LB Crafts has a fab Tim Holtz giveaway on her blog http://yoursartfully.blogspot.com/2010/12/tim-holtz-giveaway.html

Quilting for Christmas

I promised my husband I would make some quilts for his family so have been busy the last few weeks finishing them. They are both variations of the same design but the colour schemes are very different. The first is a lovely delicate mix, not my usual style but one I'm definitely going to try again as it worked so well. The second quilt is a more neutral palette to suit the tastes of the recipients.






The other recipient is going to receive the clown quilt I blogged about a while ago.




I also made some Christmas placemats for friends.


Now, off to cover a book with some fabric for the last gift I need to make.
Merry Christmas :)

Christmas decoration swaps

We've beem having a few swaps on the forums I visit so I thought I'd just show a sample.
Decorations I made for a swap on UKStampers, including the one I sent to a Cloth Nappy Addicts swap:





The CNA swap was interesting as we had to make a quality decoration ourselves, and then let our children make some decorations. These are the lovely goodies I received:

The Altered Element - Art metal reindeer decorations

Art metal is fabulous for making Christmas decorations for your tree, exquisate charms can be made quickly and with great effect.
Here I have taken some silver-coloured aluminium from The Altered Element, backed it with foam for stability (card would work too) and then die cut 2 reindeer in my Big Shot. Then they are run through again in a cuttlebug embossing folder. Using a hand punch, I fixed fancy embroidery thread to dangle them from a tree. Simple but effective.
If you wanted a more grungey look you could apply acrylic paint and wipe off again to age it but I prefer mine shiny :)
The Altered Element has a wide range of art metals suitable for this project.

The Altered Element - Artchix Angels

Sometimes the prettiest of things can be quite simple to make. These Christmas Tree Angels are made from Artchix images, backed with patterned card for stability. The skirts are made from chiffon, a running stitch is used to gather the top which is then sandwiched between the image and another piece of card. The edges of the skirts were themn dipped in Decofix, and glass glitter applied to one, mother of pearl flakes to the other. Ties were created from metallic emboidery floss. This idea would also make a great angel for the top of the tree, or even table accessories.
All the commponents for these angels are available from The Altered Element, which also has lots more goodies suitable for your arty Christmas decorations.

OBV facial pads restocked

I have just restocked the obv facial pads available in my Folksy store. These are my best selling item and always sell out.
These gorgeously cuddly and colourful facial pads are ideal for use with cleansing creams. The outers are soft organic bamboo velour (70% bamboo, 28% organic cotton and 2% polyester) and inside is a layer of organic hemp/cotton (55% hemp, 45% organic cotton). These are hand dyed with procion mx and colours will vary. You will receive a set of 4 tied with a co-ordinating ribbon. £5 plus 50p postage.