NEW :: Upcycled wool fabric needle books

You may remember a few weeks back I showed you a lovely wool fabric skirt I picked up from a charity shop £1 rail. Although I didn't know exactly what I was going to make with it I knew the lovely fabric would lend itself well to a variety of projects and the colour offers the perfect backdrop for many different colours

The first thing I made was a cute little needle book as a gift for my dad who loves to do cross stitch.

I used some lovely ribbon from my Jane Means stash for the button loop and decoration. If you watched the Great British Sewing Bee you might recognise the narrow grey stitched ribbon - it's the same one Anne used to great effect embellishing her blouse in episode 1 .  I adore the simple red, grey and white stripe ribbon too - a decorative touch without making it girly!  The button came from Nan's button box.

I lined it with a pale blue and white striped cotton and made the 'pages' with black felt.  Then I finished off the gift by filling it with a selection of gold plated needles.

He loved it!

So did I!! In fact I loved it so much I made a couple more...

This one uses Jane Means stitched gross grain ribbon in sage and the same narrow ribbon as before but this time in green. The lining fabric from my stash matches beautifully - right down to the stitched lines as part of the pattern!

I have used pale green felt for the pages and another vintage button holds it all together.

On this needle book I have used Jane's beautiful red ribbon with grey polka dots - it looks like it was made to go with this fabric!  The narrow stitched ribbon comes in red too and once again has been used for the button loop. A lovely etched button and matching red top stitching finish this one off nicely.

Inside I have lined it with gorgeous Lama Love by Monaluna Organics sold by one of my favourite fabric suppliers Seamstar (stay tuned - I have an upcoming blog post all about their great new monthly craft club!) It's cute and quirky and goes with the grey and red theme perfectly! Bright red felt pages hold your needles safely.

Both these needle books are available now from my Folksy shop priced £8.00 each. I am still offering free post and packing on ALL UK orders through Folksy so why not go take a look?

I feel there are few more needle books to be born from this fabric/ribbon/vintage button combo yet - perhaps you have a colour combo you'd like to see? I may have to create some matching pin cushions too...

Folksy Friday :: Mums for Mum

Next Sunday (March 10th) is Mothers Day so I thought I'd show a little selection of lovely chrysanthemum inspired gifts - Mums for Mum!

1. Chrysanthemum Cushion, RibbonReal  2. Mosaic Birdbath, JoSara

3. Oxidised Silver Chrysanthemum Studs, Alison Moore Design  4.Greetings card, Linen Prints

5. Chrysanthemum Clutch Bag w/silk lining, Emma England  6. Floral cabochon necklace, Josephines

Fancy sewing your mum a little gift yourself? This gorgeous fabric called 'Garden Memories' from the Tilda WinterGarden range is available from my Folksy shop. Tilda fabrics are beautifully soft, 100% cotton and this one is bursting with chrysanthemum blooms and cabbage roses in pink and red on a pale teal blue background.  Excellent value at only £4.99 for an extra wide half metre and free postage and packing too!






I hope you enjoyed my selection today. If you would like to see more why not hop over to my 'Mums for Mum' pinboard on Pinterest.

Folksy Friday :: What's New Pussycat?

In this week's Folksy Friday I am celebrating all things cat. I hope you enjoy my selection.

If you want to see more feline fancies please visit my pinterest board here

1 Cat & Mouse linocut, JDBee; 2 Cat & Mouse silk applique cushion, Liz Foster Designs

3 Azure Blue bicycle bell, Claire la Secretaire 4 Siamese Cat Amigurumi pattern, Little Owls Hut; 

5 Sleeping Cat plate, Illustrator Stephanie Hosmer 6 Cat Necklace, Hand Over Your Fairy Cakes

Happy Friday xx

Folksy Friday - Stow it away

Definition of stow

verb

[with object and adverbial] pack or store (an object) carefully and neatly in a particular place

Now all the Christmas decs are back in the loft I have an overwhelming urge to get some order back into my home. Luckily I found some lovely items on Folksy to help me stow my clutter!

I am always losing my keys so this key holder made from an old oak cupboard door by skiprat creations would be an ideal addition to my kitchen! (I love the vintage key embellishment - I wonder if it fits the keyhole in the door?)

This beautiful and functional shelf is designed by Gafyn Owen of MijMoj Contemporary Furniture Design I love the dip in the shelf for loose change or keys and the inclusion of the single stem flower vase into the design is inspired!

This one off from Revival Furniture would make a great storage box for toys - quirky enough for kids to love and stylish enough to stay in the living room! Plus it doubles up as a handy stool.

I just love this idea! Vintage vinyl becomes useful book end in the hands of When the Music's Over who also produce clocks, letter racks and even jewellery from old records and tapes. This is repurposing at it's best!

Keep all your bills and lists in order so they are there when you need them with this fab wooden star peg organiser from Emma Lane Designs 

 

I love these cute owl print storage baskets from Alexia Claire . They are quite dinky but the larger of the two would be perfect for storing my latest knitted socks WIP!

There are more storage and organisation ideas on my pinterest board here

Enjoy!

Folksy Friday - My 'Handmade on Folksy' Style

I love clothes. I'm not a fashionista by any means (typing right now in the sloppiest Joe jumper you have ever seen...) and I am certainly no slave to fashion but I do appreciate quality clothes.

I have never really investigated the clothes and shoes section on Folksy before (mainly because I would consider bespoke handmade clothes to be waaaaay beyond my budget) but this week I thought why the hell not?

Here's a selection of my favourites!

I love this gorgeous shirt by Fashion Couture - made to measure in stretch silk satin and fine cotton lace. You can't get much more luxurious than this!  (Yes it IS waaaaay out of my budget but a girl can dream!)

Lovely wrap around jersey top from jaworska.  I love her drapey cowl neck tops too!

Isn't this just the cutest dress? I love the colour. I love the style. And I adore the screen printed umbrella motif dancing around the hem!  Visit There's Only One Amy Laws and check out the cute 'Cowgirl' dress too!

More screen printed loveliness - this t-shirt comes from Proud Cloud Creations  at the most bargainous (yes I know that's probably NOT a real word!) price of £16!  I am definitely gonna have me one of these . . .







 

I adore this floaty accordion pleat LBD from Recycled Love. Lovingly made from recycled and vintage fabrics, all of Helen's designs are completely unique and one of a kind.  Absolutely guaranteed not to bump into someone wearing the same outfit as you!

And last, but by no means least, no outfit is complete without gorgeous shoes.  These cute ballet pumps are made from upcycled leather - scraps and off cuts from
larger projects and are available from The White Ribbon in a variety of colours.








This is just a small selection of the gorgeous handmade clothing available on Folksy. Check out my Pinterest board for more of my favourites - Folksy liked it so much they featured it on their home page earlier this week!

Back to Business...

Now the Little Man is properly settled into school and I have caught up on all the paperwork that didn't get done over the summer, I am finally getting back to my sewing and giving Forest Flower Designs the attention it has been craving all year.  Yes I let things slide a little but now I am back!!

After an absence of several months, I have re-opened my Folksy shop. I must admit I am enjoying the 'new' Folksy very much. It looks sleeker and more contemporary and from a sellers point of view, much easier to use. I really love that they have fully embraced the Pinterest phenomenon too! Just create a board of Folksy pins (with Folksy in the title so they can find it) and if you're lucky your selection may make the home page! My '50 Folksy Shades of Grey' pin board was featured last week and I had a lovely message of thanks from one of the makers on my board whose featured item sold the same day! 






I have added some of my Rustic Country collection hearts and birds this week - these were best sellers last year and are just perfect for those of you looking to create a Nordic style red and white Christmas decorating theme...

Rustic Country Collection felt birds

My favourite red felt and gingham heart was featured on the Folksy home page this week thanks to Melissa's Ceramics pinboard.

Brand new items listed are these two fab drawstring pouches - fully lined and featuring metal eyelets for the drawstring.

Skull and crossbones pouch - fill with gold doubloons for your little pirate's stocking. It can be used to carry treasure around long after the chocolate coins have been snaffled!!

Pretty fairy princess pouch - adorned with fairies, butterflies, glittery crowns and cute castles and lined with the loveliest patchwork print fabric in candy colours, your little princess will just love finding this in her stocking. Fill it with hair accessories or jewellery as well as chocolate!

I have two more designs in production (hope to list next week). One is a mermaid theme - gorgeous mermaids swimming against a back drop of turquoise blue with a fab multi coloured stylised fish scale print lining. The other is a farmyard design featuring ducks, cows, pigs, chickens and tractors! With a colourful spotty lining and a cow print drawstring channel this one is great for younger children (or wannabe farmers of any age!)

Mini bunting banners to match are also in production and I hope to list those very soon too!

I have some other products I am very excited about too (if you like my Forest Flower Designs facebook page you may have already spotted them)  I will share those with you here when I am ready!

I am also offering free post and packing throughout November to all my UK Folksy customers so there's never been a better excuse to treat yourself! 

A little something spotty for me!

I spend an awful lot of time making things for other people - either as sales from my website, stock for shops or presents for friends and family. This weekend though, I decided it was time I made something for me!

So I did...

Can you guess what it is?

Maybe a little more...?

Forest Flower Designs - I'm dreaming of a (Red &) White Christmas...

I am very excited about my new Forest Flower Designs collection for Autumn 2011!
Inspired by my love of Scandinavian Chic, Rustic French country elegance and English Shabby Chic, along with my desire to create a stylish, co-ordinated red and white Christmas decorating theme that wasn't overtly christmassy and so could be enjoyed all year round.

It all began with these fabrics...

I spotted the cute polka dot and the gorgeous retro floral print at my local quilting shop The Patchwork Basket in Newent...

I am so totally in love with this fabric - from last year's 'Lumiere de Noel' collection by French General for Moda. I just knew I HAD to do something with it. Unfortunately for me it is, as I said, from LAST year's collection and, as I had the last FQ the shop had I then had to track down further supplies. There seemed to be plenty of it still available in the States but for UK sellers it was like gold dust. Finally found some at Thread Bear , thanks to the power of Twitter!! (or more correctly, the helpfulness of my lovely twitter friends!)

So this is what I have done with them

Six gorgeous felt birdies with patterned wings...

...six hand-stitched felt hearts with patterned fabric inserts...

...and these cute fabric hearts with felt panels and heart shaped shell buttons.

I absolutely love this collection I have named 'Rustic Country', and it seems other people do too! It has already been picked up by a gallery in Oxfordshire - The Tube Gallery - who want to feature the hearts and birds as part of their 'Wonderland' exhibition running from October into the New Year, alongside loads of really talented artists and designers whose work they consider 'an eclectic mix of all that is wonderful and covetable'. I am so proud to be part of that! If you live in (or are visiting) the Forest of Dean area, the full range will be stocked by Solid Objects Gift Store in Newent and the award winning Forest Bookshop will be incorporating them into their Christmas window display and selling a selection.

I have added these designs to my Folksy shop and I am in the processes of uploading them to my Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous boutique. (There will be some online exclusives being added there shortly too!)

All of these decorations would look just gorgeous anywhere in your home but I reckon they would make an amazing display on your Christmas tree for a relaxed and stylish red and white 'Handmade Christmas' decorating theme. Coming up in the next few weeks I hope to add some more new designs 'Rustic Country Christmas Collection' will include bunting (including one special design/idea I can wait to unveil), mini stockings, full size personalised stockings and garlands.

Following my popular Handmade Christmas Giveaway last year I have something bigger and better in planning for this year. Stay tuned!

And this is what I do when I am not blogging...

Those of you who have only been reading the blog or getting to know me on Twitter in the last couple of months would be forgiven for not having a clue what I do when I am not blogging about the Little Man, reviewing stuff or sharing scrummy recipes.

Forest Flower Designs is my own little craft business. I design and make everything myself and sell through a local shop, craft fairs and online.  It's all been put on hold for a bit recently while other stuff (you know, life) got in the way but now the Little Man is in nursery an extra day a week I finally have the time to devote to MY passion again so, just a warning, you will be hearing a lot more about Forest Flower Designs in the coming months.

There are a couple of exciting developments in the pipeline that I can't really talk about yet and a really interesting project/collaberation in the very early stages of planning that I DEFINITELY can't talk about yet too!
But in the meantime I am re-filling my shop at Folksy.com with some old favourites and some brand spanking new stuff too. Here's a little selection that I added today - I hope you like them. More lovelies will be added over the next few weeks :)

My Handmade Christmas (pt 1) The Tree!!

So I have been a naughty blogger... I have completey failed to post anything since November 1st but I do have an excuse. To be fair I have a number of them but among the more relevent ones are 'I have been really busy making things and attending craft fairs and Christmas Shopping events (as a seller and shopper both)', 'I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on...', 'I'm soooo tired...' and 'I've been gearing up for my own handmade Christmas...'

Actually it's the first and the last one that have taken up the most of my time. My plush scented decorations have sold really well and kept me busy since the end of August - there are only a few left now (I don't want to think how many of them I actually made...) and they have ended up on my own tree :) The Christmas Fayre Frenzy has more or less finished and most of my Christmas stock has been sold (for the few remaining things check out my Folky shop and if you are on Twitter search #handmadechristmas for loads of other fabulous present and decoration ideas.)

And now on to my own Handmade Christmas...

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will know that this has been my project for the second part of 2010 - promoting the idea of a Handmade Christmas to the world and encouraging you all to ditch some of the more commercial trappings of the festive season in favour of a more homespun approach. So have I been doing my bit? You betcha!!!

So first up is the tree...

Now I will confess that not all the decorations are handmade - I have been collecting baubles, stars, garlands, lights and tinsel for some years now and it would be a shame to waste them...

I love my red mirror baubles...

...and my glittery snowflakes. (The snowman was bought for Riley's 1st Christmas)

And I can't get enough of fairy lights!

But nestled in amongst the regular decorations are a few of my handmade scented ones, adding their festive fragrance to the room...

There are also a number of pine cones that I have collected with Riley over the past few months. Last week we had great fun painting them with glue and dipping them in silver glitter. I think you'll agree, the effect is lovely :)

and here's how it looks altogether...

So how many of you have your tree up now? I hope you had as much fun decorating it as we did!



**HANDMADE CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY** And the winner is...

Firstly can I say I am overwhelmed by the response to my giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who has taken part and a big "HELLO!!" to all new followers of the blog, Forest Flower facebook page and Twitter.

So now for the result you have all been waiting for........ Drum roll please......

Gosh this is nearly as exciting as X-factor!!!

And the winner is....

Kerry LouLou Milne

(better known to many of us on Twitter and Folksy as LouLou'sLuxeries)

Kerry chose the Vintage Patchwork design as her favourite and her bespoke set of Scented Tree Ornaments will be winging their way to her shortly. :)

Congratulations Kerry and thanks again everyone else for taking part.

Showcase Sunday - Feyth Crafts

Every now and then I stumble across a shop on Folksy that makes me stop and go 'Wow!' It might be something bright and colourful or beautifully simple, sometimes it's the uniqueness or sheer craftsmanship that catches my eye and that is what makes sites like Folksy so special.

The other day, whilst refreshing the home page over and over in the vain hope that I might spot one of my items there a beautiful face beamed up at me and I fell in love - head over heels. I truly hope my OH won't get jealous when he reads this but I must confess Mr Dimbleby stole my heart from the very first moment I laid eyes on him...

Mr Dimbleby

I simply had to see more so I clicked on the image and went to the shop of his creator Traci Howard,  Feyth Crafts and found a whole collection of fabulous fantasy creatures.

Now I have a life long obsession the artwork of Arthur Rackham whose illustrations filled a childhood copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales that I loved. (If you are not familiar with his work you could start here) His art is not your typical cute fluffy fairytale artwork we are used to seeing in kids books these days but quite dark and gloomy and at times even creepy - look closely at the twisted branches of his trees and you will see faces, old, wizened and utterly fascinating to me when I was 7 and still now 30 years on... At around the same time (when I was 6 or 7) my dad took me to see the amazing Jim Henson movie The Dark Crystal a fantasy collaboration with the artist Brian Froud (you may also recognise his style in another Jim Henson movie Labyrinth ) whose fairies, goblins and other fantasy creatures have captured my imagination ever since.



Nerval


So you see Mr Dimbleby and his associates (including Nerval here) immediately resonated with me - it was like discovering a physical manifestation of all my childhood fantasies. Here were the tiny, wizened Little People and Tree People I had always been looking for whenever we went for a walk in the woods or set up a den behind the garden shed...


Sleeping Elf








So why not let a little magic into your life and add introduce a Twog to your garden :)




Twog




 Exquisite is not a word I bandy about unnecessarily but I think it perfectly sums up Traci's work!
For more Twogs, Dragons and other fantasy creatures please visit Traci Howard's lovely shop Feyth Crafts or her website feythcrafts.com