Time flies

Well, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve put pen to paper. Somehow I can’t find the time to make stuff and write about it BUT if I don’t write about it how does anyone know I’ve made it.

I have a Twitter account, an Etsy shop with associated teams and forums, this blog and a Facebook page. Finding time to contribute to all of these on a regular basis is impossible. I spent a lot of time, a couple of months ago, networking on Facebook.  For anyone who doesn’t know this seems to involve checking out pages of like minded people-in my case crafters-‘liking’ the page, making nice comments and hoping the effort is reciprocated. In this way you should get more ‘likes’ for your own page and therefore reach more customers.

This doesn’t seem to have worked. I like about 100 pages. Only 61 people like my page and at least 10 of those are friends and family!! Maybe that’s because my work doesn’t appeal to many other crafters maybe it’s because not everyone returns the favour. Anyway it seems a lot of effort for very little reward and it can be really discouraging.

There are pages out there with thousands of likes (something I can only dream of) and many, many very talented people. Here’s one of my favourites

https://www.facebook.com/lilymaedesign?fref=ts. I’ll mention some more over the next few weeks.

Well that’s my moan over for today. I have been busy making one or two things in the last few weeks so I’ll pop back soon with photos and stories behind the makes.

In the mean time if you want to visit and ‘like’ my Facebook page here’s the link https://www.facebook.com/pages/Raggleberry/205823329585361?fref=ts

 

 

 

 

New skills

Well it’s coming up to the end of my two weeks off. Next weekend I will open up my craft cupboard again.

I’ve cleaned the house, done a bit of DIY and the washing and ironing is up to date.

I couldn’t manage to switch off the creative side of my brain entirely though.

I had an urge to try my hand at Irish crochet.  More about this another week but in the mean time here is my first effort.

Hands off for two weeks

Nobody could ever accuse me of being too fastidious about housework. As I look around our lounge now I can see bits on the floor – mostly assorted crafting detritus  – cotton thread, bits of material and the like. There’s dust on quite a few surfaces. The cushions definitely need a good old puff and pummel. Can’t see any cobwebs but that might be my eyesight!

From time to time, though, I look around and I can’t live with it any longer. So, for two weeks I’m going to pack up the craft room and get to grips with the washing, ironing cleaning and tidying. Before I touch another piece of material I am going to have a reasonably organised home. I’m not aiming for perfection, you understand, just an acceptable degree of cleanliness and tidiness.

 

This weekend I finished a bedroom cushion which will be going into the shop later today. Click on the ETSY logo above to go to my shop.

 

I thought I’d try my hand at something a bit more modern. After finishing the front of the cushion cover I couldn’t find anything for the back. I will be using cotton but despite a shelf full of different shades of cream/beige/taupe I didn’t have a colour that I really liked. So…something to finish off in a couple of weeks.

Worth it in the end

The wall hangings took me longer – much longer – than I thought.

I was going to post updates but, as they were a surprise gift, I decided to keep them secret until they were finished.

So here they are.

They are slightly quilted to give them a bit of body and, as you can see, I’ve added special dates as well as the first name of each twin.  I’ve avoided making them too ‘babyish’ so hopefully they can feature on their bedroom walls for a couple of years to come.

 

 

I don’t think I’ll be making any exactly like this for the shop but I may try to adapt the idea to make it more manageable.

 

A few days off work

This weekend I have BIG plans. We have six whole days off work and we intend to fill them.

Mike and I are stepping outside again. We both like walking but we are, most definitely, fair weather walkers! The wet winter has kept us in but the time is right to break out. We’d planned to go Sunday but the forecast is for rain so, not to be deterred  we have decided to go tomorrow instead.

I will be opening up my craft room later today to start on two wall hangings for Sophia and Louis. They will be one year old on 1st May and are being Christened on 4th May.

I’ve been scouring the internet and have been inspired by several things – cards, cushions, quilts and wall art. I plan to use  (steal?) ideas from a few of the pictures I’ve found and make them into something new.  I wonder if I’m being a bit ambitious and I’m not sure if I will finish on time, but as ever, I will keep you posted on my progress.

Have a happy Easter everyone.

Pillow Talk

Many many years ago when everybody started tarting up their beds with myriad cushions I decided that I would like a couple of bolster cushions. Decoration and practicality I thought – cushions to look pretty when we weren’t in bed and to prop us up when we wanted to read or watch TV.

Thing was I hadn’t realised that the bolster cushions featured in my favourite house magazines were tiny. I looked around for bigger cushion pads without success so I decided to make my own.

I re-shaped a couple of old feather pillows. It’s so long ago I can’t quite remember how I did it, but I do remember the mess – feathers all over! The resulting ‘sausages’ were (and still are) a little squishy but they are large enough and comfy enough to squash behind our necks.

When it came to a cover I needed something I could remove to wash and made some rather basic covers which, although they weren’t exactly fancy, I was happy with at the time.

 

They’ve become very scruffy over the years so, when I stripped the bed yesterday, I decided the time had come to do something about them.

I had some white polycotton lurking in my craft cupboard. Wouldn’t you know it though – I didn’t have quite enough! A quick rummage around through my stash and I found some cotton which almost matches the bedroom colour scheme. So…

…here’s one finished cushion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s only one cushion. The second one will have to wait. It’s a lovely day today and I’ve been forced to take the opportunity to tidy up the garden.

 

 

 

Halfway There?

It’s too dark to carry on so I’ve packed up for tonight.

I got on very well this morning. I quilted some cotton and attached it to some pretty, pink, linen mix fabric to make the front of my cushion.  Now for the rose motif.

I’ve just bought some lovely 100% wool felt in a natural ecru colour and I really wanted to use this but then I had second thoughts. I messed around with several ideas, discarded some but I haven’t made a final decision yet. Sometimes it’s better to sleep on it.

So… felt flower?

…or frayed fabric flower?

…lace trim?

…or a fabric band to give extra colour?

Actually – I think looking at the photos has helped me decide.

Inspiration

I’ve been looking forward to this day off work for a couple of weeks now.  A whole day to spend in my conservatory/workroom to make things.

Now here I am but I don’t have any ideas – Help!!!!!

I did have a hankering to make a cushion featuring a guitar – I love my music – but I’m not sure whether it’ll work or not.

Last weekend I tried a wedding heart and it wasn’t a success.  The red and white are too much of a contrast I think.

Now I’m not sure whether I should work with it or abandon it.  

I started a black and white cushion last weekend too, but the black felt shed too many fibres onto the white linen mix making it look grubby.

I know this works as a colourway because monochrome is so popular but my fabric choice isn’t right.

So I ended the weekend with nothing to show for it and now, this weekend …. no new ideas.

 

 

So I’m taking a couple of hours off to watch Britain in the curling final.

 

COME ON LADS !

 

 

 

 

 

A (belated) Happy New Year

Well I took a break over Christmas and Mike and I have been away in New Jersey and New York City during January.

I’m back up and running now. Whether that’s a good or bad thing I’m not sure.

Anyway I was brimming with ideas for a while. So much so, that there were nights I couldn’t sleep for thinking about how I could realise what was in my head. I’ve now got a few items ready to put in the shop and I’m very pleased with them.

My day to day life has changed somewhat this year. For the past ten years or so I went out to work four days a week and spent Friday working on my crafting.  Now, although I still work in an office four days a week, on my ‘spare’ day Mike and I look after our twin grandchildren. Saturday has now become the day I work on items for the shop and just lately this has encroached into Sunday too.

I haven’t quite got the balance right but I’m still working on it and Mike, who has partially retired, is taking on more of the cooking and housework.

So I’ve taken my photos this weekend and the first new listing for the shop is finally out there now. I’m much happier with this heart than my first efforts.

Long Time

Well hello there!!

After my last post I was ill for a couple of weeks with a flu bug. Then I caught a sickness thingy. I felt a bit ropey for a while and it’s not like me to be poorly so I was pretty fed up.

Anyway, since then, I’ve been finishing off a commission.  I can’t tell you about this until after Christmas in case the secret gets out.

This weekend I’m back in the shop and listing my last items in time for Christmas.  For the next few weeks I will be working on new things for 2014 and hopefully crafting some presents for friends and family – watch out you lot!

Here’s a taster of the items I’ve put in the shop over the last couple of days.