Folksy Friday

It's a bit late in the day I know, but it's still Friday, so here goes ....

My theme for this week's Folksy Friday is (drum roll - ta da daaaaaa)

Paper

One of my favourite folksy buys so far is a very sweet and delicate origami crane by 'Little Crane' here

This set of four small handmade pillow boxes would be great for wedding or party favours. They feature an eye catching poppy field design in red design printed on both. By 'gooseberrymoon' here.
This pretty handmade glass pendant is made with Japanese chiyogami paper by 'Silvervescence' here. Home is Where the Heart' is from 'Niche Handmade' here. This is a limited edition run of six, made from repurposed packaging cardboard and paper and is finished with white acrylic paint.

Last but not least this unusual, pretty birthday carousel from "Under the Stairs Studios" here.

For more Folksy Fridays see

Niche Handmade here - birds and bees, Fairly Girly here - blue, Muddybarefeet here - tartan, Eviegeorge here - weddings, NatsNest here - eggs, Ellies treasures here - equine.

Ladybird, Ladybird, Fly Away Home ......

I've finished my latest design - a cute pair of 3D ladybird Bootees. I'm so pleased with the way they've turned out. They're so cute. The ladybird spots stick out and the eyes and antennae are sewn on, to give a 3D effect.

I've still not quite finished with writing up the pattern as I'm struggling with photos. I think I will knit them in a different colour so that I can take photos of the knitting stages, as the red isn't photographing well on white background. It's taken me a while, but I'm determined to write up my knitting and crochet patterns that are half done, before someone else beats me to it!!

I started off using 4ply, but double knitting worked better. I just had to adjust my stitches and spots to suit the thicker yarn. The first size are tiny, but I've left them in the pattern for a preemie baby or doll.

I'd love to hear what you think....

Folksy Friday

It's Friday again and I've got that Folksy Friday feeling. What's the theme this week?

Its .................

Our Furry Friends.

One of my all time favourite sellers in Handylittleme. Her work is beautiful. I love her cosies and rabbits the most. This pretty bunny is called Rosie and you can visit her and her bunny friends in Handlittleme's shop here

Hide n Seek is another one of my favourite sellers. I bought the most gorgeous pocket mirrors for my daughters for christmas. They love them to bits. Click here for more gorgeous goodies from Hide n Seek.

I adore Lupin Handmade's bright and cheery felt work. I love this grey squirrel brooch. Click here for more Lupin Handmade

Sophie Cat makes the cutest things. I love this little amigurumi mouse. Click here for more Sophie Cat.

and last but definitely not least - how cute is this one of a kind polar bear from Catface and Pancakes here?

Here are some more folksy fridays:

FairlyGirly - green

BeadyPool - brooches

Your Special Delivery - Men

Haptree and Me - buy a new watch

Ellies Treasures - Round

Pipistrelle Crochet Design - Foxy

Top Floor Treasures - Kawaii

Niche Handmade - Print and Pattern

Natalie Wilson - Lost in the Forest

Folksy Friday

Well it's Friday and what could be better than jumping on the Folksy Friday bandwagon where Folksy crafters showcase their favourite items from fellow Folksy sellers.

Here are my favourites this week, it's a sweet treat.....

The British Cream Tea here on Folksy makes the most amazing felt sweets, I love these liqourice allsorts (my dad's favourites, we always buy him a box for his birthday) I can't resist a good old fashioned boiled sweet (no wonder my teeth are full of fillings). I love these brightly coloured crocheted sweets from Treaclezoo here

This Chocolate Scented Candle looks good enough to eat, from The Pink Fairy Cake here

The buttons from Lilley here are so life-like - I bought a pack of three and topped a little knitted cake with them. Gorgeous...... These dolly mixtures look scrummy from Woolly Duck here.

Hope that's got your tastebuds going, have a lovely weekend......

For more Folksy Fridays see:

Seventyseventyone design here - retro

Top Floor Treasures here - Matroyshka dolls

Niftyknits here - featuring Haptree

Helen Limbrick here - mittens

Muddybarefeet here - birds

Ellies Treasures here - rabbits

Haptree here - keep warm

Niche here - tea and cake

Veryan here - seaside

FairlyGirly here - yellow

New Year Resolutions - Number 2

Well, number one is going well so far. I've caught up with the washing and have had the iron out at least 3-4 times this week - doing well on with that one at least.

Not doing as well with number 2 - which is GO TO BED EARLY.

In the run up to Christmas, from around the beginning on November, I started to go to bed later than usual, mainly due to the fact that I had some commissions to finish, Christmas pressies to knit, pressies to wrap, cards to write, decorations to put up etc., and not to mention the normal activities of cooking, cleaning, working, dance shows, costumes to sort etc. Phew!! Didn't get to bed before 11.30/11.45pm each night, which is late for me - I like to be in before 11.00pm. The house starts to rise early (about 6.30am) as my daughter has to leave for her school rather early. So as you can see I hadn't been getting enough rest, and was consequently very tired over the Christmas holidays. Despite lots of lies-in and lazy days, I'm still feeling a little tired, so I definitely need more hours sleep.

What's keeping me up now then? I hear you ask. The answer is Celebrity Big Brother. I love it this time - it's making me laugh a lot. We all have our own favourites in the house, from Sisco, Vinny and Heidi to the latest housemate Yvana. I think she looks amazing and is very likeable.

We're looking forward to more activities like the 'Hunk Off'. How funny were those thongs!!! We were all in stitches.

So we'll have to see how my second resolution turns out..... but it's not looking promising!!

New Year Resolutions - Number 1

A happy and crafty 2010 to you all.

It's that time of year when we're all making new year's resolutions. What are yours?

Well mine are many and varied, so I'll dedicate a blog to each.

Number one, stemming from today - keep on top of washing and ironing!!!! (Shouts loudly at self!!!)

Why - well because at the moment, due to poor housekeeping (Oh well, it was Christmas after all!!), I have several mounds of washing and ironing, spread evenly around the house to try and disguise the fact that I've been neglecting my household chores.

I've blitzed a few wash loads today, although the problem is getting things dry in this weather and I don't like to use my tumble dryer unless it's an emergency. That was one of last year's resolutions and I'm pleased to say I kept to it - thus helping to reduce our electricity bill and also reduce my impact on our changing climate. My other resolution from last year was to make sure we all wear our clothes more, before washing them. So if we're about to pop something in the wash basket - we check it (for stains) sniff if (for pongs) - if neither are present, then we wear it again. Thus reducing washing loads (water, electricity, powders etc) and extra ironing. This was another success last year, yippee.

I also did a spot of ironing this morning - first time in weeks!!. I made it into a contest of how much ironing could I do in half an hour - the answer was loads, as long as I did it quickly. So no more faffing around trying to get all the creases out of stuff. This year, I'll be just wizzing the iron quickly over clothes - and NO IRONING UNDERWEAR!!! (Shouts again at self!!). It's a habit I really need to get out of as it's totally unnecessary.

I let you know how quickly I can get my ironing pile reduced to an acceptable level. Oh, bytheway, hubby irons too - we each do a little stint, so we should get through it quickly between us.

That's my first resolution. There's lots more to come......