Buy Handmade this Easter

I've been spending time recently getting my website Make Time Together up and running.  It's focused on spending time with your children doing creative activities together.  I've still had a little bit of sewing time and have added a few items to my Folksy shop.

The days are ticking away and if you want to order something for Easter from one of the beautiful Folksy shops then you need to do it soon.

Here are five of my favourite Easter finds from Folksy.

I love all the cards in Paper Daisy Cards but this is my favourite Easter one.

Dottery Pottery has always been one of my favourite Folksy shops and this pretty little egg ornament is just the sort of thing I love.

This mug by Hannah Madden Printmaker would make a great Easter present for anyone who isn't a chocolate lover.

I don't know how I haven't spotted this shop before but Lucy and Jane Ceramics looks to be full of lovely items.  This bunny egg cup is perfect for Easter. (check out the ceramic guinea pigs too)

What is Spring without daffodils? And this daffodil pin from Bird and Monkey will make you smile.  This is definitely being added to my Folksy favourites.

I've been busy sewing for Easter too so please visit my shop and have a look.  This little pair of bunnies are still available.

I also have a tutorial to make a set of felt Easter Eggs on my website MakeTimeTogether.com. Try it here.

A place for everything...

...and everything in it's place. It's the time of year for resolutions, for recognising flaws and for raising the bar. I am so desperate to make changes in my life. I need to be more organised and more tidy. Since Merry Berry and the Little Panda opened, I have been feeling increasingly like one of those plate spinners who used to appear on Record Breakers. They would set hundreds of plates spinning on top of sticks and then dash round madly trying to ensure that none of the plates stopped spinning and fell to the floor. I love my shop but I really need to become more organised at balancing running the business and running my home. I seem to have so many opportunities opening up but I can't take advantage of them until I'm sure that they won't compromise my number one priority, which is taking care of my children and my home. So I am determined to get myself more organised and get more accomplished each day.

Wellie Rack (£19.50) from The pine Studio

With two small children it sometimes feels like the cleaning, washing and cooking never ends but I am hoping that improving our routine will help. In this search for the secret of domestic harmony, I came across the Organised Housewife blog and I think I'm in love. It is a beautiful blog full of inspirational photos and quotes and full of actualy useful tips and techniques to get your house organised and keep on top of the chores and clutter. I bought the cleaning checklist from the online store and I love it. It tells you what tasks to do daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually - perfect for a procrastinator like me. I probably spent more time trying to decide what to clean first than I did actually cleaning. The checklist prints out beautifully (in a choice of colours) and I have put acetates in front of mine in my file so that I can just mark off my tasks with a whiteboard pen and then wipe clean as needed rather than print more checklists off.

Storage Basket Tutorial (£2.50 charity donation) from Helen Rawlinson

 

The other steps in my plan to take over the world organise my life are:

• Learn to drive
• Cook faster (I was given a copy of Jamie's 15 Minute Meals and a food processor for Christmas). I'm also planning on trying the 5:2 diet (if you haven't heard of this yet, this blog has an explanation and some yummy recipes).
• Mind control - well not really but I've bought a hypnotherapy CD that is supposed to make me more organised and tidy. I'll keep you posted on whether it works or not. Currently I'm doubtful as I am rarely able to stay awake much after the warning not to use while operating heavy machinery - as soon as they say 'relax' I'm gone!
• A more focused business plan for 2013.

I'd love to hear about your New Year's resolutions and any resources you've found to help you accomplish them.

The images from this post are all items available to buy from Folksy - just click on the image to see the item in the Folksy store.

Carrier Bag Holder (£5.99) from Cush-n-Craft

Hair Clip Holder from Merry Berry and the Little Panda

 

Posted with Blogsy

Folksy Friday - Fish

We're all on holiday at the moment. Pretty much every holiday we've had since the Little Panda and Merry Berry were born has been at my parents house in Devon. I'm so lucky that my lovely parents let us descend on them with mountains of luggage, two noisy children and still offer to baby sit in the evenings. 

 Today was a perfect day. The sun shone, my husband (Monkey if there is anyone reading from my old blogging days!) finally managed to get off work and join us on holiday, and we went for a ride on a miniature railway (I think I might have mentioned before that a holiday isn't a holiday without a ride on a miniature train - choo choo)! Anyway, as we've been having so much fun I'm a bit late putting my Folksy Friday up. This week I've chosen 'fish' as the theme as it's Good Friday and we've been eating a lot of it! Here are some gorgeous Fishy Folksy Finds...

Articulating fish by Jeff Soan

Fish Coin Purse by Handmade by Edwina

Handmade Notebook by Dab and a Dash

Handmade Pewter Keyring by The Owl and the Pussycat

Lavender Fish by Kirsty Elson Designs

Big Blue Sock Fish by Welsh Egg Designs

Hold my hand

I've been thinking about motherhood a lot recently. Revisiting my old blog and striving to establish this new one has highlighted to me the changes that my children have made to my life.

Becoming a mother is like suddenly becoming a secondary character in the novel of your life. Surprisingly though, this actually makes it a much more fascinating read (well maybe not for the long-suffering friends who now get to hear every 'amusing' anecdote). Your days, your thoughts, your conversations all orbit the tiny people who have suddenly become your world.

Lately though I've felt a need to try to get back a little of what I was before, and finding time to sew, knit and write are, I suppose, my way of reclaiming a little of the limelight from Merry Berry and the Little Panda. However, even the way I write and create has changed now, my children unconsciously alter my mood, aspirations and my inspirations. I once read an interview with Michelle Obama, in which she was asked how happy she was. I forget the exact quote, but it was along the lines of 'a mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child'. That says it all really. From the moment you give birth the highs and lows of your life become anchored to those of your children. It is a petrifying thought and an equally petrifying reality.

We are fortunate that we seem to have a lot more highs than lows at the moment. One of my personal highs is that I've made three sales and one swap from my Folksy shop! I've been trying really hard throughout June to list an item every day. Today I listed this cupcake apron as modeled reluctantly by the Little Panda (he only modeled it on the understanding that I would make him one featuring a space rocket). I also listed these sweet little nappy covers, Merry Berry has been doing her best to ruin the set I made her, by sliding into muddy puddles and covering them in Ribena but they are still going

strong!

Pin-up

This week has been busy. I decided to have a big clean up and not a single grubby finger print or dusty corner in the house escaped (although can I just say don’t open the cupboard under the stairs). I needed a quick make to bring some necessary craftiness to my poor hum drum life (serious violin playing here folks).

My parents-in-law had recently given me two old wooden frames (I think they were hand carved) and I've been debating what to do with them for a while. Finally I decided to turn them into two very sweet mini notice boards, which I have hung over my sewing table. If I'm feeling a little pretentious in future I may refer to them as my mood boards (don’t hold your breath).

I'll go through making the notice boards step-by-step just in case anyone else fancies making one.

Supplies

• Two cork tiles


• drawing pins


• wadding (batting)


• A piece of fabric about 4cm longer and 4 cm wider than the frame's aperture


• Small nails

Tools

• Stanley knife


• Scissors


• hammer

1. Using the Stanley knife cut the cork tiles to fit snugly into the back of the frame.


2. Cut the wadding to the same size.


3. Stretch the fabric over the wadding and the cork tiles (make sure the untreated side of the cork tiles is facing towards the wadding and the fabric). Pin in place using the drawing pins. It’s best to place one pin and then do the pin opposite to ensure that the fabric is stretched evenly. Make sure that the pins go through both cork tiles to hold them together.


4. Fit into the frame. If you’re lucky your frame may already have fittings to hold the back in place. If it doesn’t just use some small nails to hold it in. Knock the nails into the fame so that they are about half in half out (see diagram). Knock in at least one nail on each side (the exact number you need to put in to ensure that the notice board is strong enough will depend on the size of the frame.

You could also put some ribbons across the board to hold postcards etc, but the prints on the fabric I used were quite busy and didn’t need any extra detail.

I finally got my Folksy shop up too. I’d welcome any constructive criticism.

I‘ll leave you with some photos of the hair clips that I’ve just added to my shop.