Little Birds Market - Sunday 11 September

I'll be making my return to craft markets at the Little Birds event on Sunday 11 September. You'll find me upstairs in Sloans, with a new selection of Girl Industries products, some of which you won't find online, so it's well worth dropping in!

I'll update you nearer the time as a little nudge. Hope to see you then!

Card making

Can you believe my little girl is nearly a year old? I'm in the middle of making a TV birthday card for her in enough time to send in to Milkshake for her birthday. We're big fans of the sea side at the moment, and of course, Peppa Pig (thank you BT Vision for hour long back-to-back shows without ads, you are cheaper than employing a cleaner) and here she is making sandcastles with her little brother George.

The obligatory photo of the birthday girl will be hiding under the sunshine!

Some good news and some bad news

Well, I'll get the bad news out of the way first. I wasn't lucky enough to be picked for a Heartsy deal, gaining only 18% of votes from potential buyers (the usual threshold is 28%) but I think it was a pretty valiant effort and I certainly won't be deterred from trying again with a different micro range to test on people. Some sad news, too, Answers on a Postcard zine contributor Titchables (Issue 8, Crafting Spaces, still to be printed!) is closing down her supplies shop on Etsy. Use the code sale40 for a generous additional 40% off her already reasonable prices.





The good news is, I have a fantastic new online stockist over at Scotland-based http://www.ethicsgirls.co.uk/- where the ethos is very much on the reclaimed and recycled...primarily with clothing, but also with gifts, which is where I fit in. Head over there to take a look!

Unfinished business

Nothing quite focuses the mind like knowing you're back at your day job in 12 weeks, and your MSc dissertation is due just after Christmas. In the meantime, I have a ton of unfinished projects around the house, some for home, some for Girl Industries and I really need to pull my finger out and get them finished. One of the projects I've been working on for a while is a rag rug for Amelia's room.

In true upcycling style, it uses worn out t-shirts from all of the family that we really couldn't have given to the charity shop or popped into the Salvation Army hopper at the supermarket. I've just about finished chopping up all the t-shirts, and the next steps are:

Check there are no more t-shirts to use up.
Chop up all remaining useable t-shirts.
Decide on size of rug and cut rug canvas to size.
Use spare canvas offcuts for a bit of a practice.
Go at it on the main canvas.

I'm not knitting as much these days as I find most of my crafting time is in the evening and is often interrupted. Amelia is pretty good at going to bed and falling asleep, but occasionally is woken by the light-ish nights, noises outdoors (curse you, ice cream vans), or a runny nose, or the threat of teeth coming through. So it have to work on something that is easy to put down and even easier to put away. As she gets more mobile, the putting away aspect is going to become even more important, wish me luck! I'll try and keep you updated on the rug as it develops, but if it's anything like the still unfinished but in constant use curtain I made for our front door, you could be waiting a while!

Washday browns

My neighbours are going to think I'm mad. But me and my rotary cutter have big plans for this gorgeous floral print!