Time to focus...

You may have noticed I have been a little quiet over the past couple of weeks.

This is mainly because I have been pretty busy trying to get my dress finished for the 60's dance and getting a couple of large Sweet Kitty orders started but also, after my post last week about what makes a good blog, because I have been having a long hard think about what I actually blog FOR and where I see myself and this blog heading over the next year...

Truth is I need to be making some money ( which reminds me - see that Mollie Makes banner at the top? If you click on that and subscribe to Mollie or any of the other magazines available I get a small commission. It all helps.) Trouble is I don't drive and live out in the styx so the only real job opportunities that are open to me are stacking shelves in the local supermarket or care work, neither of which really appeal...   I already have a part time job book keeping for my other half's motorbike shop and I do a day's cleaning every couple of weeks. I recently took in some ironing for a friend who is just too busy (and hates it anyway) and will be doing that regularly too but what I REALLY want to do is earn a living - or at least a regular income - from Forest Flower Designs.   I love designing and making my products. I get a warm glow every time someone else likes them enough to part with their cash and take them home. I really want my little Forest Flower to grow and grow and grow...

With that in mind I have set up a new blog - dedicated not just to Forest Flower Designs but to handmade business in general. I know I could have just posted more FFD posts on this blog but I really felt it deserved a home, and a URL, of it's own.

So now it does - www.forestflowerdesigns.co.uk 


I will still be blogging here (albeit not quite as regularly as before). It's taken me best part of 4 years to build this blog up to the place it is now  and I am not about to abandon it just yet! I still have plenty of makes, tutorials, recipes, days out and reviews to share with you but from now on I will be focusing my energy on growing my business and getting my own little brand of handcrafted cuteness into as many homes as possible.

I would love it if you would join me - my google friends box is looking a little empty right now although I'm sure it will fill up in time - I can't wait to share my new designs and inspirations with you not to mention all those other fabulous crafty businesses out there! 

Thanks for your support, dear readers, over the past 4 years and here's to many more blogging years to come!

xx

#WIPsLinky No 2 - Sharing our Work-in-Progress

First of all I would like to say THANK YOU to those of you who joined the linky last month, and those who tweeted and shared. I realise these things take time to grow - it's a work-in-progress in it's own right! Your support is much appreciated.


Now Summer is nearing it's end (boo!) my crafting mind is turning to the Forest Flower Designs Christmas range. The first batch of festive fabric (from the fab Fabric Rehab) arrived a couple of weeks back and the first 'Merry Christmas' embroidered hearts stuffed with gorgeous Christmas spice scented aroma beads have gone into production and should be heading into my Folksy store soon.



This doesn't leave much time for other projects but I am pleased to report that I have nearly used up all the green 'Galaxy' yarn and have a small pile of granny squares ready to create something with. I now have four balls of white chunky yarn to use too (courtesy, once again of my lovely MIL's wool stash!) but I am still not sure what this finished project is going to be... Any ideas readers?

granny squares galore!

 The cable throw is also coming along quite nicely. I completed three panels - including the first of four Celtic Knot panels - whilst on holiday.
However I have already nearly finished the first ball of yarn and the blanket still has a long way to go so I now I am starting to worry that I won't have enough to finish it!






 So - are there any NEW projects for September?

Well I had a lovely surprise this Bank Holiday Weekend when my subscription copy of Mollie Makes arrived a full week before it is available in the shops. I always find Mollie Makes so inspirational, and this month's issue is no exception. In fact I think I actually DO want to make everything in it! I may even put the granny squares to one side for a while to have a go at the fab crocheted High-tops... and I'm not just talking about one pair - these will make perfect Xmas pressies!

What projects do you have planned for the next few weeks? Are you starting to think about winter woollies or Christmas pressie makes yet?
If you blog and would like to join in, please add your post to the linky widget below.  Alternatively share your #WIPsLinky pictures with me on Twitter or Facebook or you can email them to me at forestflower@hotmail.com.  I will add them to the #WIPsLinky Pinterest board and maybe feature some on next month's post too!

Happy Crafting! 

Sorry, I'm a bad blogger (but here's some lovely photos to make up for it!)

Well my 30 posts in 30 days challenge seems to have fizzled out somewhat embarrassingly.

I really thought I could do it.

I had a plan and everything!

But what I don't have is enough hours in the day...

I didn't even manage a Veg Box post last week - it was a lovely one too. We had a half a watermelon and some gorgeous cherries along with the more usual carrots, lettuce, chard, potatoes, a couple of leeks, tomatoes, green beans and some plums.

watermelon 

cherry anyone?

Would you believe I actually *forgot* to photograph the veg box before I put it all away? I know! Call myself a blogger? Tsk....

In my defence I was cleaning out the fridge when it arrived and I just automatically put the veg away as I was putting stuff back. But clearly it shows that last week at least I just wasn't in blogging mode!

I have been busy too! Last week I spent catching up on the housework and paperwork that had been ignored for the previous couple of weeks due to prepping for the Tintern craft fair and over the weekend I have mostly been making these...

 

A variation on the embellished lavender hearts - these are lavender free but embroidered with 'Best Teacher' and added button cuteness. They make perfect gifts for teachers (summer hols are only a few weeks away now!) These four are listed on my facebook page right now at a special price until 9pm Wednesday evening. Another four will be added tomorrow night until 9pm Thursday. Any left will then be added to my folksy shop.  

*end of sales pitch*

On Friday we rescued a bird that flew into our window. The poor thing was a bit dazed and confused so we made it a little nest with some moss and brought it inside - away from the cat! - to give it some time to recover. It's not often you get so close to a bird so obviously the camera came out...

Thankfully, after about 15 mins rest it recovered and flew off.  The cat was a bit miffed though!

I'll try and be a better blogger this week - I have at least one tutorial to share with you, this one is for knitty peeps, specially for those fairly new to knitting who want to have a go at something pretty, practical and not too time consuming.  And don't forget there is still time to enter my giveaway and win a lovely bundle of fabric, buttons, ribbons and lace!

And as for 30 posts in 30 days... well, technically there's still time, if I post twice daily for the next week but you won't hold it against me if I don't manage it will you?

Craft Fair at Tintern

So, today I did my first craft fair of the summer, sharing a table with my friend, craft fair newbie, Marie.  Under the name Miss Willow, inspired by her beautiful baby girl, she makes lovely kids dresses and fab baby hats. 

Sharing a craft fair table with a friend when you first start out is a great way to dip your toes into the water and is much less scary than doing it on your own! Neither of us sold masses but it was a lovely day with lots of chatter, meeting some new customers, making new contacts and eating biscuits :-)

Plus I got to have lots of cuddles with THE cutest baby ...

The eponymous Miss Willow

Tintern is a small village on the banks of the River Wye situated between Chepstow and Monmouth, famous for its fabulous Abbey ruins that have inspired artists and writers for centuries.

The view from the window behind our table.

Good ol' village craft fair advertising (balloons are NOT optional!)

Our table - Forest Flower on right, Miss Willow on the left

Cute Owl dress by Miss Willow

After setting up my table I went for a little stroll across the cricket field to admire Tintern Abbey before the tourists arrived.

When I got back all the other stalls were set up...

sweet crochet baby shoes

This table was full of toy dogs modelling the funkiest dog coats!

Colourful tissue flowers

There were several stalls selling antiques and collectibles - I nearly bought this entire vintage alarm clock display!

Pretty vintage hand painted ceramic door plate (this nearly came home with me too!)

A selection of beautifully restored chairs and stools

A lovely day in a lovely location with lovely company.

And although I didn't sell a huge amount of stock at least I have some lots of pretty new things to add to my Folksy shop next week!

Trying to keep up...

Well I am ashamed to say that I am already slipping behind on the 30 posts in 30 days challenge. So far I have missed three days. And it's only the 13th of June!

In my defence I have been prepping for a craft fair that wasn't even booked when I set myself the challenge and that is really taking all my spare time.  It's been a while since my last crafty outing and as sales on Folksy have been quite steady so far this year I really didn't notice how little stock I had left!

I showed you the hearts and birds I started work on last week. Today my marvellous mother in law picked Roo up from school and took him over to his cousins house for tea and play, giving me a whole 8 hours to sew like a mutha!! My fingers are sore, my back a bit cramped and there are bits of fluff, thread and the odd button scattered about the house. It was hard slog but look what I did today...

from this....

...to this.

ah, who am I trying to kid? I spent 8 hours playing with buttons and felt and pretty fabric and colourful embroidery threads. Is it really work if you love doing it so much?

In other news, my other challenge is going well - today was also my fourth fasting day. I'd like to be able to say just how difficult it's been and how I am such a martyr to weight loss, suffering in silence whilst watching all those around me tucking into lovely food I can't have, but it's not been like that at all!! I lost 2 1/4lb in my first week, which is just fine by me. If I can continue at that rate I will be back to pre-baby weight by October. Just in time for a special 60's dance I am attending, celebrating the life of local music supremo Joe Meek.  

And yes, I have set myself yet another challenge - I am going to make my own dress for the event!

*gulps*

 Never let it be said I don't enjoy a challenge...

On that note I will leave you with my favourite photo of today's makes.

New stock - Lavender stuffed hearts and birds

I have a craft fair in less than 2 weeks. It's the first one I've done this year and I am sharing a table with a friend who has just started her own craft business. She makes the most adorable baby dresses - mostly inspired by her adorable baby girl ;-)

I still have some stock left over from Christmas - mostly of the red and white felt birds and hearts like these - but I decided that this fair is an opportunity to try out a few new items.

After the success of my reversible tea towel I bit the bullet and bought a couple of metres of pure Irish linen to make some more pretty tea towels (or dish cloths if you are American!) - I am planning on doing applique motifs, ribbon and ric rac trim, maybe a little embroidery too.  Who says drying the dishes has to be boring? I can't wait to get going on those and show you the results!

In the meantime I have been making a few of my best selling lavender stuffed hearts and birds using some of the bright, pretty and just plain quirky fabrics in my stash...

Completely hand stitched using some lovely vintage Sylko mercerised cotton with fab names like 'green plume' and 'wedgewood blue'.

Did you spot the gorgeous vintage thimble I found in Nan's old sewing box?

I can't believe how much quicker I could sew whilst wearing it! The stitches were much neater and more even too as I got a good rhythm going and I didn't have to stop every few seconds because I'd pricked my finger again!

Adding the dried lavender - using a paper funnel is much easier and less messy than trying to just drop it in! I lightly stuff with super soft carded polyester stuffing first then add a generous scoop of home grown and dried lavender flowers.

I dry lavender from my mother in law's garden by tying it up in bunches then hanging it in a paper carrier bag away from damp and drafts for a few months. The bag catches any loose bits that fall off so it doesn't make a mess! Once properly dried out I strip the flowers from the stalks and store in a large glass jar.  Just coz it looks pretty, especially with a lovely piece of ribbon from Jane Means tied around the neck! :-)

This year I hope to start my own lavender border - it will be a few years before it is established enough to harvest from though!

Once the lavender is in I add a bit more stuffing then stitch up the gap.

Once they are all stuffed and sewn up I will embellish them and add little metal hoops to hang them by.

But that's a job for another day.

I do so love my work!

Personalised softies - elephants, dragons, giraffes and...?

I don't usually switch the laptop on BEFORE the school run. I spend most of the morning running around making sure Roo gets breakfasted, cleaned and dressed. Then there's the usual 'trying to find the other shoe' aggro. Not to mention forcing the Other Half out of bed which is a mission all by itself...

But this morning I had a nagging feeling that I needed to switch on... (being woken up at 6am by a playful kitten, shortly followed by a playful small boy resulting in us all being ready to go with an hour to spare probably swayed me too!)

I signed into facebook because I had posted a picture of my latest softie commission last night and was hoping the customer had seen it and commented. She had, as it happened but I was also overwhelmed to see that the photo had been shared and liked by lots of others too - in fact, Facebook stats informed me that a total of 1,375 people had seen it!!

This may not be a lot in the grand scheme of things but for my Forest Flower page it's nothing short of amazing!  Not only had lots of people seen 'Amelia' but my inbox was full of queries and even a couple of orders.

So what's all the fuss about?

'Amelia' is the latest personalised softie I have made.

Wanna see some more?   Meet Poppy...

...and Emily...

I haven't just done elephants either.   Here is Idris the Welsh dragon...

Idris didn't get the full on photo shoot treatment and this is the only pic I have of him - he's not quite finished here, haven't stitched his features yet!

And how about Willow - a fabulously girly dragon with wonderful Jane Means ribbon spikes...

And last, but by no means least - the softie that started it all...

Loki was commissioned by a friend for a lucky little boy whose mummy had a mild giraffe obsession (and who also happens to be Willow's big brother!).  I was so pleased with the way the black fur fabric tail and 'horns' turned out!

The personalised heart patch and the wooden button joints became the special features of these softies which make perfect new baby gifts (although I should point out that babies and young children should not be allowed to play unsupervised with toys like this as the button joints may be a choking hazard...)  Every one of these softies is made to order - I select some fabrics from my stash, based on colour options requested and let the customer choose which ones they would like their final softie to be made with. This means every single one is completely unique!

All my commissions so far have been from friends or friends of friends via Facebook but today, thanks to that photo shared by British Crafters, I have orders from customers further afield!

Maybe now is the time to expand my softie range... What animals would  you like to see turned into cute softies?


Personalised softies are made to order - if you are interested in having one made please don't hesitate to contact me either by email at   forestflower (@) hotmail (dot) com  or head over to my Facebook page or Twitter account and message me!

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...

So many projects, so little time...

I have so many little projects stacking up at the moment, when I get a little time to myself I hardly know which one to work on!

Here's a beaded necklace I am working on for my mum...

It's in lovely spring colours - fresh greens, blues and yellows. It is supposed to be a gift for her wedding anniversary next week. I hope I can finish it in time but beading work is so time consuming and the kitten always wants to join in...

Then there is little dragon softie...  I made one of these for a newborn nephew of a friend and it proved very popular amongst my Forest Flower facebook page likers!  This one, also commissioned by a friend ( I have some fab friends!) is unashamedly girlie with green leafy patterns and gorgeous Tilda roses fabric.

I've used a selection of matching stitched and polka dot ribbons from my Jane Means stash to make the 'spikes' down this dragon's back - don't they look lovely?  

Another 'new baby' gift commission is this personalised star... for a little Star!

Made with the reverse applique technique I use for my popular heart decorations using felt with a pretty fabric insert embroidered with baby's name. I am really pleased with how this one turned out - I think it may be coming to my Folksy shop very soon!!

Finally I have a very cute Easter make as part of my Abakhan Creative Budget challenge. I am currently putting a little tutorial together for this make that will go live by the end of the week giving you just enough time to source some supplies and make for Easter weekend. I hope you like them!

phew...  now I just need a few extra hours - preferably while everyone else is asleep!!!