Penguins on parade!

It would seem that recently we have gone a little penguin mad in our house!

My husband has been working on another wooden kit and this time it is a pair of penguins.

The instructions were easy to follow (but not to be guessed at!) and it was quite clearly a quick evening project.

The only disadvantage that we have found is that the adult penguin doesn't stand straight because of its design but could be quickly rectified with a hacksaw!

The penguin duo now look on over the living room with the wooden owl from many posts ago!

Quilting the memories - part ii

It's not often that I take on a project that seems to take ages to complete.

Ok, maybe I should scrap that statement.

I am over ambitious when it comes to my work and I love ideas that are big, brash and bold as I am an eternal optimist who thinks that nothing is impossible - you just need to look at things in another way!

After completing my first memory quilt, you may remember from many posts back, my husband asked me to make one for him out of old university t shirts and the like...

When I last posted about it I think I had done the planning, the cutting and was about to pin.

I sewed all the rows together and then ended up with the front panel complete and it only dawned on me then just how enormous this quilt would really be!

Instead of buying backing fabric I bought a flat bed sheet in my husbands desired colour (always blue!) and also bought some 2oz wadding as I knew my sewing machine would not cope with anything more bulky.

That was all then pinned together and then the long process of feeding it though my machine began... And it was quite an epic task ... My machine was not happy at all especially when, in the entire process, I broke no less than 6 sewing machine needles! Admittedly my machine is not the most expensive on the market but is also not the cheapest, but I had never envisaged ever quilting anything so it can't be to blame! Next time I actually look up the proper settings and the proper needles (to be fair, though, the needles did say 'quilting' on them!)

Once the main bulk was done my husband had picked out some lemon coloured ribbon to act as the edge... And what a pain that was to pin! It wasn't really thick enough for the job but I had nothing else so persevered....

And then it was fed through the machine again... With a few needle fatalities along the way!

I had to neaten up the edges where the material hadn't quite caught.

I am so pleased that I have finally managed to finish it!

Picking up a 3d penguin!

My husband gave me a little craft kit for Christmas a number of years ago and it has sat in the cupboard since then (and even survived a house move!)

This weekend I thought I would finally assemble the kit - a penguin made out of corrugated cardboard strips.

The instructions were clearly translated into English as some of steps were a bit unclear. Thankfully there was a lot good pictures to give you the gist of things.

Surprisingly, the glue that came with the kit was very good and stuck the cardboard coils together well.

I suppose this project was a bit like quilling - the rolling up of strips of paper and making things from them... This was a bit more 3d!

The project in all was finished in a day - I think it is rather cute... I am desperately trying to find others in the set to no avail... Any ideas?

Something with feathers...

I love having leftovers from my craft projects and then trying to create something from them.

And this time it was another fascinator!

And this time it is not for me but for my Etsy shop as it was looking a bit sad for itself.

The felt was left over from the mug cosy I made a couple of months ago and the feathers and metal heart were left over from some earrings I took apart to make the fascinator for my daughters naming ceremony...

I then experimented with how I wanted it to look... And then glued it all in place with silicone glue (something I have only recently discovered and now I can't get enough of it!) and then left it to dry.

And this is it!

Now on my etsy page!

Bunnies and chicks...

The last week has been turmoil.

Not only did we have the onslaught of family and a naming ceremony to survive but we all came down with the lurgy meaning it wasn't possible for me to post on my blog... This upset me greatly but I am now back with many posts to follow.

Easter has always been a family occasion in my house and for the first time simply ages me and my husband will not be travelling down to Herefordshire where my folks live as I need to be back to work quite soon after the Easter holidays...

Instead my father is travelling up to Yorkshire to spend time with me, my husband and his granddaughter along with his girlfriend and their two dogs so I am the host for the Easter feast...

I am not one to do things by halves so I have made sure that there is an Easter theme to our dinner and have made everyone a place card...

The cards themselves came from hobbycraft (although I think any chick card might do!) along with goggley eyes, some Easter paper from my stash and some red for the beak... And then just writing the names of each if the guests across them.

My husband made some little origami bunnies too... They were from www.origami-fun.com...

I think they are very cute and will make a nice addition to the Easter table...

I am rubbish at origami - I certainly feel there is an art to it... My husband has been paper folding since I met him as it keeps his hands busy when not making something or doing a cross stitch or two!

Happy Easter!

Micro bunting... Finally!

It has been a long time since I posted my two adventures into bunting and I promised that I would try to make some even smaller than the last one.

So I have.

This time though it is not sewn as I am sure that neither my sewing machine or my fingers would have come out of it in a good way!

This time I used a strip of my huge stash of paper craft papers and a length of thread from my sewing box.

I cut out a template from some paper of two folded triangles and then transferred them onto a piece of folded patterned paper and cut them out.

They were then glued and then folded around the thread.

Very simple but very effective.... Perfect for a dolls house maybe?

'In Control' for Parkinson's disease - please help!

This week is Parkinson's Awareness week. And Parkinson's Uk is a cause which I raise funds for whenever I can.

My grandfather, for as long as I can remember, had Parkinson's. He always had the shakes. He found it difficult to talk and drink and be 'in control' of himself. And, because he had Parkinson's it meant that dementia also caught up with him too.

I ran the London marathon in 2010 (something which was a lifetime ambition of mine) and raised money for the charity. Now, four years down the line I want to raise some more money for them.

In my etsy shop I have a number of items but the one that I think is most apt is the felt hearts...

So, for every felt heart that I sell the proceeds will go to Parkinson's uk. Here is a link for the charity and the great work they do...http://www.parkinsons.org.uk

So please give a little to this wonderful cause and I will post how much I raise on here in a fortnights time...

Link to my felt hearts for Parkinson's ...Felt heart for Parkinson's

Thank you in advance... H x