DIY Heart Pompom Pillow Tutorial

All the way through February I have, in the name of Crafty Obsessions, been obsessing over pompoms - oooohing and aaaaahing over pompoms of all sizes, colours and materials and adding lots of lovely projects and inspirational ideas to my Pompomtastic pinterest board.

Judging by the response to the Pastel Pompom Garland tutorial I linked up with Tuesday Tutorials last week I guess you are all pretty much obsessing over pompoms too!

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! 

Handmade Heart Swap

I love blog swaps! It's an opportunity to get to know other bloggers a bit better and even discover new blogs you may not have read before. I took part in my first proper blog swap a couple of months ago - a button swap - and thoroughly enjoyed rooting through my button stash and picking out 50 buttons for my swap partner.

This month I have taken part in Mary Poppins' Handmade Heart Swap

I really am rubbish at not doing anything...

Sunday. The day of rest.

Yeah, right!

Usually Sunday is pretty much like every other day, except I have the Other Half under my feet as well as the Little Man and the cat! Today I decided that I was going to... take it easy *gasp*   I wasn't going to rush out of bed. I wasn't going to try and do any washing/ironing/tidying/gardening/cleaning or any other housework related duties. I was going to 'chill'.

In reality I have discovered that I am crap at doing nothing. I had planned on chicken pie and roasties for tea so made a batch of pastry before 10am, swiftly followed by a batch of chocolate cookies (coz I had the mixer out and I fancied some...) Then, because it seemed sensible and would save rushing around and doing it later, I made the pie filling. And prepared the spuds. And then, as I had made a bit of a mess, I cleaned the kitchen. Like I said, crap at doing nothing.

When I finally sat down at around midday (after making several rounds of toast/coffee/banana milk) I managed to hold off doing anything at all for, ooooo, about 10 mins. Then I got twitchy fingers so I grabbed a crochet hook, some lovely dark red merino wool I had in my stash box and made a lovely heart from The Crafty Seller magazine I picked up the other day. If you haven't come across this one, it's worth a look. Most of the designs are pretty basic and I would be wary of outright copying them (even though they are allegedly copyright free and the intention of the magazine is that you should make and sell these items yourself...) but perfect as inspiration and ripe for adding your own twist to.

As you all know, I am fairly new to crochet so I am always looking for little projects to have a go at and the little hearts in this months issue are just perfect for me. I tweaked the pattern slightly, adding a pretty scalloped edge, and a crochet chain loop to hang it with. I also added some dried lavender to the stuffing and a lovely vintage button from the bundle I was sent by my Button Swap partner, Michelle at My Handmade Haven . I love the finished heart. I may even make some for my next craft fair...

So, by planning on doing nothing, I actually managed to start something AND finish it the same day. Now that doesn't happen often. Maybe a should plan on doing nothing more often...