Christmas Card for nearest and dearest

Welcome to Thursday blog hop with Handmade by Me

All welcome all we ask is that you join the forum, introduce yourself, visit and comment on the blogs participating.

A Christmas card for my husband, every year I struggle to come up with a different theme but this year just love the tatty Teddies, here's hoping he feels the same.

He hates 3d decoupage but loves embossed cards, so kept it flat but found the blue embossed snowflake paper yesterday at Art of Craft.

Back on Monday for 'Handmade Monday' and look forward to seeing you them.

A week of sorting

Sorting? a week? well not quite. I have been wanting to sort my stock for some time but craft and life just gets in the way, well I got in the way. The thought of trawling through oodles of stock, checking price tags and listing was daunting to say the least and I love to create but took the plunge on Saturday and have 2 boxes full of lovely goodies all easy to find. Have another 3 boxes to fill and think I will need to buy some more bit have made a start! Have got to buy some proper numbers next week.

Thought I deserved a break from all the hard work and having received some new fabric through the post on Saturday and it was just sitting and calling to be made into what? as lavender print thought sachets:

Strawberry sachets from fabric in my stash

These items have been priced and stock listed already, just hope this new super organised me continues and putting old, old stock on ebay next weekend as think another free listing is due.

Last week my blog was selected by Popular Crafts Magazine section Word on the Web, very proud and feel privileged that out of all the wonderful blogs out there mine was selected.

Check out:

Show and Tell Monday with Make Mine Pink

&

Handmade Monday with 1st Unique Gifts blog

Handmade by Me Thursday Blog Hop

Another week nearer Christmas and still finding it hard to produce festive themed items just seems too early but have made another door hanger this time with a snowman and gold print tree background. Planning on at least another 9 of these making 12 in total.

Have a good week and check out the other blogs with Handmade by Me in the link below

Caroline

Red and white, Santa and a tree must be Christmas

Another week has crept past ever nearer the festive season and another Handmade Monday with 

1st Unique Gifts and Show and Tell with the wonderful ladies from Make Mine Pink.

Good News this blog is in print, well in recommended blogs in Popular Crafts magazine along with Jills' Christmas Pie Crafts. We are both so excited  and good after all these years to be recognised. Have to buy a copy or 2 and plan to add a pagelet to my website as any press coverage is good.

Red and white tutu was the make of the weekend, took a look outside and such beautiful weather and as due to change for the worse later this week thought better try to see the lawn again and get rid of all those leaves

Door hangers one with a Father Christmas and the other with a tree and gifts, machine embroidered onto mistletoe fabric backed with white felt, a perfect decoration for any door handle.

More of these will be added over the coming weeks, with different backing fabric and designs.

Check out Show and Tell with the wonderful ladies of Make Mine Pink

&

1st Unique Gifts Blog

Have a great week peeps getting ready for Halloween on the 31st and Happy Crafting

Caroline

Saturday Challenge

I am a lover of glitter and a girl can never have too much in her life, only problem I find is I end up with just as much on me as on the item I am decorating, not to mention the workroom and the dog, lol.

My admission for this weeks challenge is a simple but I hope elegant card, stamped in smokey gray with a hint of colour and glitter

Caroline

Continuing a theme of ghosties and ghouls

The year is racing past and not sure will get everything done I want to this year, always happens start off in January with all good intentions and new ideas interrupt my organisational chart and in a blink of an eye the year has gone. Indian summer over and autumn is well and truly here the last few months to Christmas will be gone in an instant, so some comprehensive planning needed with 'To Do' lists expanding daily. Plan to put on some Christmas music for my planing session, always gets me in the mood for the festive season, so watch this space......

Back to Handmade by Me Thursday blog hop and continuing with Halloween a purple and black tutu, did not quite finish as still have the purple ribbon to sew around the waist but almost there.

this tutu may already be sold but they can be made to order, appearing on my website any day now.

Check out the other participating blogs in the link below, off to hunt for white pom pom trim for a red and white tutu for Christmas and Halloween decorated rosettes on lolly sticks to come next Monday.

Spooky, It's Halloween

Well not quite but getting into the spirit early:

Spooky Bow Ties

made in cotton fairy frost diamond black fabric, fastened with velcro and the pumpkin just had to be added for extra spookiness.

Pumpkins/Jack 'o' Lanterns

Fun decorative stuffed fabric pumpkins with glitter leaves and black features:

Halloween tag set, only 1 made so far hoping to make some more later this week along with some lolly stick rosettes, all will become clear....

I would like to thank all of you that do comment on my blogs, your thoughts are important to me showing me you care

Show and Tell Monday with Make Mine Pink a group of caring professional women

Check back on Thursday for Handmade by Me blog hop, with more tales of daring do and creativity.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming

The geese are getting fat

Please put a penny

in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny

A ha'peny will do

If you haven't got a ha'penny

Then god bless you

by Edith Nesbit Bland

Ha'pennies have long gone  but the magic of Christmas remains, I still look forward to the festive season, decorating the tree and house, hanging the stockings over the fire. The smell of mincemeat cooking in the oven, memories of Christmas past and present.

For Handmade by Me blog hop this week a fairy vanilla scented door pillow:

Check out the other blogs on the handmade by me blog hop, a place to show how you have been creative, read other blogs and most of all spare a few minutes to comment on the posts. We all love to read the comments made on our blogs plus it shows you care and all part of joining in.

A Pink Show and Tell

As mentioned in my blog last week October is a Wear it Pink Month to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness, the main day is 28th October  when every effort should be made to wear something pink. I love Pink as do a lot of my friends from Make Mine Pink.

Pink hand towels trimmed with print fabric and broderie anglais, tied with organza ribbon and a rose to decorate

 Miniature drawstring bag for jewellery, messages or just because...

Secret Pocket Cushion made in a pink heart and ribbon print fabric, the flap has a seed bead and pearl tassel with an organza flower at the point. The pocket can hold a paperback book or maybe a diary.

Also this weekend has been World Cardmaking Day check out Christmas Pie Crafts blog for more details and my offering? well had to be pink off course, a bookmark card suing vintage prints with that extra touch of glitter:

Have a happy crafting week Friends

Caroline

Handmade Monday with 1st Unique Gifts

Show and Tell Monday with Make Mine Pink

International Card Making Day with Christmas Pie Crafts

& also check out a fantastic website directory Crafts 4 Charity thank you for your support Mick

The Joy of doing what you love

How many of us start off with a hobby which eventually we are able to turn into a business. I took the plunge in 2003 with Carole Crafts, starting out with purely textiles evolving into a variety of crafts, some self taught, some not over the period of the last 8 years.

Since 2008 I have been luck enough to be creating 24/7, no boss to answer too except myself, no longer a wage slave trying to fit a business into free time in the evenings and weekends. To be able to follow my dream of living and working from home is my bliss and I am eternally thankful that I have had this opportunity.

It is hard at times and especially during the current climate handmade gift buying has taken a battering being replaced by cheap imports. I am still passionate about handmade, with care and attention to detail being able to produce something that little bit different, most of my gift line is OOAK (one of a kind). I am a bit of a crafting butterfly and production line making is not my forte being able to design and create something different each time is a joy and hopefully customers will appreciate that fact, they are able to buy something that hopefully would not have been seen before or certainly not an exact replica.

Inspiration is all around me, today being 81 in the temperature stakes enabled the windows to be flung open, the birds are singing and hard to believe that not 2 weeks ago contemplating turning on the heating, this sort of day with the peace and quiet of the garden except for the wildlife gives me time to sit and reflect the direction I want to go in next. As a crafter you have to evolve and move with the times, what worked 5 years ago will not today.

My style is predominately vintage, love traditional tea parties time of eras gone by when ladies would sit and embroider, drink tea from china cups and tiered plates filled with cucumber sandwiches and fresh cream delicacies, dresses draped in lace and pastel prints. I know not practical for today but that love of vintage fripperies is still here and whilst I have to at times add a modern twist my true love is never far away.

Advice to anyone is hard as we are all different and so very unique, that thought must be held onto at all times in your life but one thing I do agree with is follow your dream, whatever that may be however small you start, never get to an age and look back and regret that you never did. Life is so very short and I am making sure that if I should reach the grand old age of 85 that I can look back sigh and say yes it was a good life and I don't regret one minute of it, any mistakes I made, made me stronger and the person I was and am today and most of all I lived my dream.