Button clock

Yesterday i made this button clock inspired by pinterest post that a friend had directed me towards. The site shows lots of crafty (& very different) ideas of how to make use of an old embroidery hoop. I even had to venture into Maplin to get the clock parts but it was worth it!

Macaroons

Recently my baking has been rather boring; for the sake of time and convenience I have stuck to what i know - making usually cakes like lemon drizzle and brownies. However this evening with Martha asleep and Tom out at a college event I thought I would try something totally new and re-create those popular fancy macaroons you see in posh boxes. The macaroon mixture was simple enough - I followed Lorraine Pascale's  recipe from her lovely book 'Baking Made Easy'. However I really struggled making them neat and delicate, and this was even using an icing bag like suggested! I opted for a chocolate filling as I thought it made a nice colour contrast with the yellow macaroon. They don't look great but they taste good and it was fun trying something new!

New cards

I have been busy increasing my stock of cards for Friday's craft fair. I have included some mother's day cards and hope to get some time to make Easter cards as well. I love my new elephant parade fabric and bicycle fabric and pleased how they look on the cards. I am happy to make personalised cards if anyone would like them.

Craft Evening

On Friday my lovely friend Erin (Click here for link to her blog) and I had our first evening craft fair. We filled her living room and kitchen with our handmade wares and baked lots of cakes for our guests. There was a really cosy and friendly atmosphere and I was really pleased with how it went. It was my first time selling lamps (I felt quite nervous as it was totally uncharted territory for me and was unsure how they would sell!). So I was really pleased that I sold 3 and got a generally positive response towards them! The lovely 'elephant parade' fabric shades were very popular but didn't go, so Martha now has one in her room! Cards sold well and I ran out of Mothers Day cards. So all in all, a fun and profitable evening was had. Now we hope to embark on more craft fairs and events in the area.

My husband (Tom) and brother-in-law (Dave) generously spent much of Saturday afternoon planning a new website for me....I am really excited about it and can't wait for it to be finished!

Shades & pictures on display

Cushion For Sale!

Martha & Me

My blog is called 'Martha and Me' and It feels like it is about time that i gave a little update about Martha (my daughter) & me!

Martha is now a fully fledged toddler and this has made it both easier and more tricky for me to pursue my crafting career/hobby.  I now find she (generally) sleeps better so i usually get about an hour in the daytime and also most evenings to myself  but find it impossible whilst she is awake  (she just wants to join in with what I am doing or when my back is turned she gets up to all sorts of mischief.) So with all this time I now have, I am embarking on a new season of craft fairs and stalls. The first is this Friday with my lovely friend, fellow vicars-wife-to-be and all round talented crafter Erin.

This week Martha has shown an interest in drawing! I was so delighted that she was willing and seemingly pleased to participate in a creative pursuit!  Her first artistic experience has been with wax crayons and scrap paper. I'm not sure what the subject matter was, probably either books, bananas or biscuits (she seems to have a penchant for "b"words) so i will just leave it to the viewers interpretation. I wasn't so pleased the next day when she found a discarded crayon and went to the rug where we had previously sat to draw (on paper) and scribbled on the cream rug...I will have to watch out!

Sewing themed cushion

Amy Butler fabric lampshade and my growing collection!

Just made a new lampshade using some lovely Amy Butler fabric. It could be used as either a large table lamp, Standard lamp or ceiling shade. I have now run out of lampshade frames so tomorrow i must hunt around the charity shops!

An elephant parade lamp i have made for Martha's bedroom - matches her elephant mobile nicely!

Recent cards....

More lampshades!

A couple of large drum lampshades with appliquéd designs and machine embroidery.

Also a pair of small lampshades in Tilda fabric, perfect for bedside lamps. Will be for sale at next craft fair.....

Lampshade #3

Another lampshade!! I love making lampshades and for this one appliquéd on 6 little dogs...perhaps this one may make it to my etsy shop. Any help or advice on how much i should price them at would be appreciated!

Lampshade #2

Lampshade project #2

This time I have made a 'Coolie' shape lampshade. This was slightly more tricky than i had anticipated as it was difficult getting the shape right, the drum lampshade was so much easier as it was all straight lines!This time I also used some cotton lace and tassels to decorate......not sure if it is a bit too old fashioned but i like it!   

I'm looking forward to making lots more lampshades in the coming weeks as a massive roll of sticky backed pvc & tape arrived today from NeedCraft! If you are interested in lampshade making i can really recommend them for all lampshade supplies and really speedy delivery.  

My homemade ironing board cover

How to make an ironing board cover

What you need: 
1.3m fabric (However this depends on size of your ironing board)
Cotton
Sewing machine
Pins

Instructions:

1) Draw around your ironing board onto a large piece of fabric
2) Cut out the cover leaving an extra 2" seem allowance around the shape
3) Turn in at the edges about 1.5" of fabric (raw sides together) and pin in place.
4) Sew the hem ensuring there is enough room to tread string around the edge. leave a gap of 1" so you can insert the string.
5) Use a safety pin to help tread string into the channel you have created.
6) Now you can adorn the ironing board with your new cover and pull on the string to tighten and secure it in place.

Bedroom makeover

I just love the Echino Fall 2011 fabric that I used for the lamp shade I made a few weeks ago and I have decided to frame some of the remnants. I know this isn't really a craft project as such, but why not frame fabric when it is just so gorgeous! It has made the room look really coordinated and it's nice to have a change of picture without any extra expense.

Button heart picture

I have been inspired by a few button pictures that I have seen recently in shops so I have made a button heart picture for our bedroom. It took only about an hour to make (and that was whilst I was also watching sunday eve tv) so a perfect quick evening craft project. It was also a great way of using my stash of favourite buttons that I keep (well hoard is probably more accurate!) for 'special' projects as it seems a good way of displaying them.

To make a button heart:

1) find a piece of fabric and a stack of buttons (I used about 60 of varying sizes for this project but kept to 1 colour theme)
2) draw a large heart on the fabric
3) sew the buttons onto the fabric using the lines as a guide
4) pop the picture into a frame and there you have it a lovely new picture for your wall!

Handmade drum lampshade & 'The Eternal Maker' review

It turns out today has been super productive. Alongside the usual jobs associated with caring for a 1 year old, I have been swimming, had a trip into Cambridge, done some bread baking and have done lots of crafting!

The crafting was inspired by this mornings exciting delivery from the 'The Eternal Maker'. I had ordered all the components needed for lampshade making and a selection of beautiful fabrics. The fabric I used for the lampshade (pictured above on a charity shop find lamp base) is a japanese fabric: peck stripe faded pink & aqua - echino fall 2011 fabric by etsuko furuya. It is a lovely slightly chunky weave and the colours are intense and bright.

I would also like to highly recommend The Eternal Maker's Internet shop and service, my products arrived in under 3 days and were perfect. I used to frequently visit their gorgeous Chichester shop during my lunch breaks from the gallery and I was always tempted to buy something (and sometimes lots of things). I sadly now live too far away to visit (Tom however is very thankful for this!) but i will definitely be shopping online with them again soon. I loved making the lampshade and may try out a few more designs.

New home cards

I recently received an order (via Mia Bella Casa in Ferring) to design and make new home cards for an estate agents in Worthing. They will be sending them out when they sell a home. I was really excited to get this order and really enjoyed  making them. It has made me think that i should work a bit harder at selling cards...perhaps that should be my new years resolution!

Cath kidston fabric covered box

Using some scrap Cath kidston fabric I have covered our bedside table. Well what I call our bedside table is actually one of those old bathroom storage boxes with a weird cork lid perhaps fashionable in the 70's?! Quite handy to have extra storage space as I am such a hoarder and now it looks much better. I am going to slowly rejuvenate things in the bedroom as I am a bit bored of its decor; next targets are to update duvet cover and lamp shade! I can't really buy anything new so i am going to try and use things I already have in my craft stash to up-cycle.

Cushions - seabird print

Granny Annie gave Martha a lovely chair for Christmas. I have just covered some cushions for it to make it super comfy.

Coffee sack wall art & pin board

Jute coffee sacks are amazing for craft projects. I love making things with them. In the past I have made wedding invites, christmas stockings and even seat covers using the humble hessian coffee sack. My latest coffee sack creation has been making a pin board and a wall art picture for my husbands corner of the shabby (definitely not chic) area of our lean-to/conservatory space. He is a huge coffee snob/nerd so it is the perfect decoration for him!

Handmade sewing machine cover

I have just completed my first project from a great book i received for Christmas. It is called '101 ways to sew a metre'. This book is full of brilliant ideas and covers items such as bags, cushions, clothes and even ironing board covers! The selling point of the book is that all the ideas in the book use less than a metre of fabric so they are also fairly cheap and cost effective to make. The sewing machine cover was really quick to make, instructions easy to follow and I am pleased with the result. Making your own also ensures you get the cover to fit and i think it looks much nicer than the boring white cover the machine came with.