Christmas All Through the House!

 

Author: Chris Malone

Genre: Non-Fiction, Crafts.

Published: July 2015

Pages: 48 pages

With Christmas quickly approaching, I’m sure many of us are turning our thoughts to decking the halls and putting up the tree – if you haven’t already! If you’re a crafter you know there is nothing more satisfying than hanging your own decorations each year, for you and your visitors to admire. This year, Annie’s Craft Store and Search Press have brought out the most irresistible collection of stunning quilting projects for all abilities, that you will love making and hanging year after year!

Once Upon A Time in Crochet

Author: Lynne Rowe
Genre: Non-Fiction, Crafts, Crochet.
Published: May 2015
Pages: 96 pages

Once Upon A Time in Crochet is an adorable collection of crochet amigurumi projects from those timeless fairytales that we all know and love. I had initially been eyeing up this book because I’d always said that when I have kids I would want a fairytale themed nursery (although I’ not going to need that for about a decade I’m hoping!) As a literature lover all things that amalgamate my two loves, reading and crafts, always peaks my interest and this one certainly didn’t disappoint! The moment I first picked it up and started flicking through it made me want to pick up my hook and get started!

June 2015 Goals

Hello!

I hope you’re all doing well 🙂 I can’t believe June is here already! Where is 2015 going??? Almost half way there already! Anyway, here is the roundup of my May goals so you can see how I did, as well as my goal setting for June – these lists seem to be growing and growing!

May Outcomes:

Once Upon a Time Sampler – In May my aim was just to fill in the square for that month and I managed that without any problems. I seem to fly through these at the beginning of each month then it gets shelved and almost forgotten until the next month comes round! It’s a shame because it is such a lovely project and I do want to dedicate more time to it to get all of the extra elements in but until the Barcelona Sunset is out of the way it will have to wait!

Barcelona Sunset – This month I wasn’t too far off my goal. I still had some of the third quarter to finish off which I did, then I wanted to complete half of the next quarter. Ideally, I wanted to get the lizard stitched in so that I just had the big grey wall at the bottom to finish off this month. I didn’t quite make it there due to illness and various other things taking up my time in May, however, I’m really pleased with what I achieved. If I hadn’t been full of cold for the last five days I would have managed to fill in that grey section that I’m working on, and I would have felt satisfied with that, but I’m prepared to let it go because I still feel rubbish!

Books that Inspire…

Hello! I hope you are all having a lovely bank holiday weekend!

As you all know, I’m a book lover. I always have been since I was a child (a long time before I was old enough to read them!) and right now my house is crammed full of bookcases as well as boxes of books that I can’t fit on them!

What I do love more than anything though are the books that really inspire you, and I was lucky enough to find two of them on a recent trip to Salts Mill with my parents while James was away.

What inspires me most about these books is that they are completely unique – I have never encountered books like them before. They have stunning graphics  that really speak for themselves, so prepare yourself for a photo heavy post. Because of this, I’m only going to  give them the briefest of introductions, then let the pictures get you inspired too!

The first book that I bought was Snail Mail: Celebrating the Art of Handwritten Correspondence which is simply an essential for anyone who, like me, loves snail mailing. It is a stunning hardback volume with over 200 pages crammed full of inspiring stories, tips and crafts for avid snail mailers. The author is truly passionate about the art of snail mail and really presents it as an art form through the beautiful photographs. Mackintosh shares the origins of her love of snail mail from her Dad’s romantic telegram messages to her mother, and walks you through the etiquette of the hobby. The most inspiring thing about this book however, is the wonderful abundance of ideas that this book invokes – everything from font styles to handmade envelopes and gifts, to stamps and decoration, which really urge you to dig out you stationary straight away and get started! See if you can make it through the next twenty photographs without rummaging around for a pen and the address book!

May 2015 Goals

Hello!

A little later than anticipated but here is my round up of my April goals and how I did! Also, goal setting for May too!

April Outcomes:

Once Upon a Time Sampler – No progress on this one sadly! I didn’t manage to get those last two frames in because I was spending all of my time working on my Barcelona Sunset as that is my priority right now. I am staying with my parents this weekend though so I am packing my sampler with me since I obviously can’t work on my Mum’s present! I have saved this month’s design to stitch while I am here but if I get that done before the end of the weekend I might have time to add a frame too.

Barcelona Sunset – I am so close to finishing this quarter right now! i just have a block of grey across the bottom that no matter how much I stitch it just doesn’t seem to get any smaller! However, I should be on track to finish this quarter by the end of next week at the very latest (since I am losing this weekend!) so then I’ll be ready to tackle the final one.

Raining Cats and Dogs!

Hello!

My latest Lucky Dip Club subscription box arrived this week and I wanted to share all of the amazing goodies with you! This is a really cute box with a sweet cats and dogs theme. See what wonderful stationary and accessories are inside and let me know in the comments what is your favourite item in the box!

***WARNING*** for anyone who hasn’t yet received their box, it does contain spoilers.

Craft A Creative Business Review

Author: Fiona Pullen
Genre: Non-Fiction, Crafts.
Published: 2015
Pages: 240 pages

Craft A Creative Business is a book for anyone who has ever considered running their own creative business; whatever your craft might be! It is a really genuine exploration of what it means to run your own business, not just looking at the advantages but presenting a realistic image of what you can expect, which unfortunately does require a fair bit of hard work! However, Pullen’s honest portrayal of running your own business is drawn from her own experience so she know what she is talking about, and though realistic, she doesn’t make it look scary. This is a complete handbook to everything you need to know about setting up a successful creative business and it is explained in such a straight forward and easy to understand way that won’t leave you confused or frightened (even the scary legal stuff!)

April 2015 Goals

Hello!

Last month I set myself some monthly goals to try and achieve everything that I wanted to in March. By setting myself the deadline of the end of the month I hoped that I would feel motivated to complete everything on my list to get it all done. Overall it didn’t pan out quite as I had hoped! However, I’m not going to let that put me off setting monthly goals; here I have written a summary of how my March goals worked out (or didn’t!) and what I want to achieve in the month of April. Hopefully although I didn’t get as much done as I was hoping to last month, I will still be able to achieve big things this month!

March Outcomes:

Once Upon A Time Sampler – Last month I set myself the goal of stitching the four remaining frames on the bottom of the sampler. Unfortunately I didn’t get all four done but I did manage two so that it something! Easter Weekend also spurred on my productivity with this project as I dedicated it to stitching this month’s design so I feel like I am off to a good start with this one in April, even though I didn’t manage to do everything I wanted to with it in March.

Barcelona Sunset – Again, I had hoped to get a bit more of this done than I did. You can see from the photo below that I did make progress, but I was hoping to have that big gap in the middle filled in by the end of March! I just really wasn’t in the mood for cross stitching in March for some reason, but I do seem to have been bitten by the bug again the last few days so hopefully April will see a lot more productivity!

Skirts and Dresses for First Time Sewers Review

Author: Christine Haynes
Genre: Non-Fiction, Crafts.
Published: January 2015
Pages: 144 pages

Dressmaking is a craft that I have been toying with the idea of for a long time. I desperately want to make my own clothes and dream of having a wardrobe packed full of my own creations, but the idea of it also terrifies me. I imagine there is nothing more satisfying than replying to someone who comments on your outfit, “Thanks, I made it myself!” however, the realm of darts and invisible zips is a pretty frightening one. Recently, I took the plunge and dipped my toe into the murky waters of dressmaking and discovered that it is actually more accommodating than it first appears. If you’re a first time sewer just beginning to explore the craft or a more established dressmaker, this book is an ideal resource for everyone!

20 to Make: Papercuts

Author: Louise Firchau of Paper Panda
Genre: Non-Fiction, Crafts.
Published: March 2015
Pages: 48

I’ve always been a huge fan of the Twenty to Make series; they cover every craft imaginable, have a great range of projects and are amazing value for money – and Papercuts is by far one of my favourites! This book first appealed to me as over the last year or so papercutting has started appearing everywhere! There are a number of small businesses that specialise in it popping up and suddenly there are papercut cards in every high street shop! And obviously, as a crafter, my first question is, how can I do that myself? Luckily, Twenty to Make: Papercuts has the answer!