Something lovely in the post

I'm getting more and more keen to try and make my own recycled paper from the offcuts of paper I generate in my crafting. I try to be as practical as possible with getting the most from my supplies, but I'd love to take it one step further and be super-green about it. Especially so when I receive handmade paper items like this beautiful card from my good friend (and bridesmaid!) Jen, who's currently living and working in Nepal.

The world's least exciting make-along... Part 1

Excuse the not very dramatic photo, but we have a drafty front door. As I'm not back at my day job until July, we can't afford to replace it, and kind of want to replace all 3 of our external doors at the same time anyway, so an interim measure was called for. The husband put down some draft excluding tape stuff in the gap at the bottom of the door, but frankly, its insulating properties are debatable and it keeps getting unstuck and tripping me up. A solution was needed, but what?

Around the same time as I was mulling over what we needed, I was listening to a programme on Radio 4 where a new challenge was issued to clothing manufacturers. Basically, the guest pointed out that while the success of polycotton is in its durability and easier care, it also means that once polyester is bonded with cotton, it never dies, it never degrades fully and it's an eco disaster waiting to happen. He encouraged all of us to rethink the way we buy clothes, and to buy classic pieces that last - we'll look better, and less with go to landfill. Now, of course, this isn't news to probably most of the people reading this blog, but it reminded me of something I'd been meaning to do for ages - reuse a duvet cover that got ruined by a project involving superglue being spilled on it, and also to reuse a fleece blanket that was attracting too much cat fur to be sanitary or nice to look at or touch - case in point illustrated by Clyde here.

Ordinarily I'd just give the fleece blanket away, but this is a fleece blanket with history - bought while this commotion was going on in the background. I am sentimental about silly things like that. And glad I was buying synthetic fabrics that day.

So I measured up the door and here's the fix I came up with. More to come next week, as I'm having to work around unpredictable naps!

I cut down the blanket and duvet cover to the size of the door frame, long enough to cover the letter box. I didn't do it full length as the blanket and usable portion of the duvet cover wasn't big enough, and the main drafts come in at the windowed portion of the door as well as the letter box.

Next step - iron the duvet cover inside out so the seams sit nice and flat - using two of the seamed edges already on the duvet cover means more chance of my edges being nice and square.

With the duvet cover inside out, pin together a duvet cover and blanket sandwich. I sewed all around the edges, leaving a hole just bigger than my fist on one edge, for turning.

I also made a pair of tabs for hanging the draft excluder, these were sewn into the shortest edge. I sewed along three of the edges of a pair of fabric rectangles (right side together), then turned them inside out. Then realised I only needed to sew along two edges but it was quicker just to keep the needle down and turn.

I really do struggle with ensuring that my fabrics line up in the corners and that I end up with straight and more importantly, level, lines where I need them. Especially when working with a stripy fabric! This piece of thin MDF makes a great template for use with tailors' chalk. The weight in it ensures the fabrics stay put, too.

After letting loose with the sewing machine, I remembered to trim out the bulk at the corners as well as all around the piece.


So my tabs work perfectly and my door is technically covered in all the right places - with the exception of that droopy bit in the middle. It looks a bit meh, though, definitely still recycle and not upcycle quite yet... I have my thinking cap on for how to make it a little more interesting and I'll bring you an update soon!

At last!

I finally got my act together and submitted my entry to Rhonda's Recycled Craft Challenge. This original and entirely eco-friendly work of beauty and staggering genius (maybe not...) can be found in my shop, quick, snap it up before you miss out on a future classic!

Looking at the 'ingredients', I was tempted to make some kind of stitch holders, embellished with the beads, but the milk cap confused the heck out of me.

I decided on a container ship, but with a sail, on the high seas. After a burst of Eric Cantona-stylee inspiration, I added some security envelope seagulls. So maybe it's a trawler? Boats are not my area, no wonder I was fired from that shipping company I used to work for. And, yes, rain figures pretty highly in my everyday existence, so I couldn't miss that out.

There is a wide range of imaginative and eye-catching finished products in the flickr pool, so take a look!

Leave me a comment if you took part in the contest, or if you have a better idea for the components...

STOP PRESS: Turns out there are more procrastinators than me out there. Rhonda has extended her deadline!

Rhonda's Recycled Craft Challenge

You know I like a challenge, and I consider myself an authority on making new stuff out of old stuff... Well here's something that's right up my alley!

Visit junkstop on Etsy.com before the start of June, and buy a challenge packet - which only costs 20c and includes international postage. On the 2nd of June, the packs will be posted out to everyone containing identical contents mined from landfill and the instructions for participation. You have to make something using the items you've been given, and your ingenuity, and post the results in the flickr group set up just for the contest, before the closing date of 15 July.

I've bought my packet, and a really cool looking zine of thriftshop finds, and I'm looking forward to taking part! Around 60 Etsians are signed up already, and the contest has only been underway for a few days. The winner gets a $20 gift certificate for junkstop, but I'm in it for the glory.

Cataloguing

I've been busy for the last week or so with a huge task, of which I'm about a third of the way through. I've been very lucky recently to have come into a supply of yarn. A big supply of yarn. Three bin bags full of yarn (we're talking 50 litres plus) from a colleague who had odd skeins left over from literally tens of projects, and someone on freecycle who didn't like posh yarns as much as my colleague, but has definitely given me plenty of acrylic to turn into turtles over the course of the year. Of course, this is all in addition to the probably two bin bags (a big-ass drawer full and a hol-full) that I was already hoarding.

I'm still only halfway through my big count (and a little scared to continue). Now I know in bag-fulls how much I have, I'm a little scared to break it down to colours, balls and grams. But never fear, I will do it! I've decided for this year that I'm going to challenge myself to try to get it used up and transformed into lovely new things to make and sell. One of the reasons I want to count up how many balls of yarn there are is to make sure that I make at least one of my Innocent hats for charity for every ball I have been lucky enough to receive. I managed to make around 20 for Innocent last year, and would like to triple that this year.

Photos of the stash will follow, but I'm blogging from the couch tonight and for reasons too tedious to explain, the photos are on the other laptop, which I can't use on the couch. It's a Monday... that's my excuse!

Lots of crafty goings-on

I haven't been updating the blog as regularly this week, because I've been really quite taken by Twitter. It's the kind of social networking, well technically micro-blogging, that I can cope with because everything's in 140 character bursts. And it's got celebrities. You can even join in by phone. You can sign up and follow me by clicking on any of the linkage over there ------------->


I've also been very busy crafting in anticipation of my hen weekend, which is this month! I'm so very excited. If you are reading this and you are one of my hens, look away now, you'll only spoil it for yourself...

First up, I made some cards with a guide on what to bring for our weekend away, and some instructions for where we are meeting up. I ordered some gorgeous rubber stamps from Corrabelle, of the Mayberry Sparrow. When I told Corra what I was making, even though she wasn't selling them already, she designed and sent me a suitcase stamp, isn't it adorable? I love her vintage style and the craftsmanship on the stamps themselves is wonderful. They even have a very special tin to live in, it used to contain ink cartridges but they have been demoted for my new favourite things!

For the rest of the week, I'll be sending these lists out with hand-drawn maps and links to relevant driving instructions for all the girls. After much fighting with my laptop and printer, I've managed to put resize, format and print hand-drawn or altered maps on the back of three of the cards, I think it took me about two and a half hours for each one, and I've run out of card, so that's that. I hope it's worth all the effort!

Once the pre-weekend stuff is sent, I have a whole 'nother to-do list to get started on. With upcycled t-shirts, fabric ink (thanks for the tip-off, Marceline), this felt and some pin backs from Muer, as well as some super-special-top-secret purchases from the amazing Magda of Craftpudding, I'll be making felt brooches for everyone in a dazzling array of colours.

They'll go into a gift bag (these guys make the best recycled bags and boxes ever), decorated to match the brooches and orange checklists, along with sweet treats, cosmetic samples, lip gloss and all kinds of crafty bits and bobs that came in the Little Silver Box from Aileen in Aberdeen. The company I work for in my ever-diminishing free time, AQA, recently had a book out, so they'll all be getting a copy of that too! I'm on p44 talking about David Niven - woo-hoo!

Once I've made them, I'll post some photos of the place-cards, door hangers, and menus (yes, that's what the spoon and fork stamps are for), and once I've finished sewing them, I can show you the hot pink legwarmers I've made for my bridesmaid Jenn. She's currently stranded in Nepal, so she won't be back in time, but she might need the legwarmers once she's back in Blighty if the weather carries on the way it has been! For a sneak peek, check out my chunky fingerless gloves in my etsy shop. Don't worry, she REALLY loves that colour!

So between this, the radio excitement, the tweeting, the guest-writing of the GCM blog, the sales in my little shop and moseying on down to country crafting!, it's been a busy old week!

I nearly didn't have time to mention this miniature upcycled banner, in the shop right now in time for Valentine's Day.

Radio Cafe, BBC Radio Scotland

Check me out, I'm going to be on the radio!



For more information, or to listen in during or after the broadcast, just click here.



The last time I was on the radio was in Nashville a couple of summers ago, when I was here for the evening:

And the time before that, it was co-presenting with this guy, when I was a radio DJ back in my student days...

What I did at the weekend...

Our little car went in for a service on Friday and needs a part to fix its gearbox. So we were reliant on Shanks' Pony yesterday and we decided to have a walk just along the road to Glasgow Green, and the People's Palace. I've been to the museum a few times before, but not in a little while, and it was a lovely day so I tore up my to-do list, got the fiance all motivated with a promise of a pub lunch and off we went.

By the time we'd walked, ooh, all two miles, we were ravenous, so first stop was West, which is technically our local, if you don't count football-related pubs (we live next door to a football stadium). It being a Saturday, I indulged in a chocolate fudge cake and I was not disappointed.

After stopping to admire the disused railway station, our next stop was the museum. The People's Palace is dedicated to the life of the everyday Glaswegians, way back into history, and right up to the present day. I'm fascinated with social history, and particularly enjoyed the air raid exhibit and the example of the one-room living from tenements at the beginning of the last century, about the time when my own tenement flat was built. It also put me in mind of the tenement museum in Manhattan, which is a must-see. We have our own equivalent in Glasgow, the tenement house, which I'm still to visit even though I'm into my 8th year of living in this city.

Of course, crafts are never far behind when you're thinking about social history, and there were a great couple of examples of upcycling from back in the day - a footstool made from powdered milk tins bound together and upholstered, and the traditional crocheted rug made from old sheets and clothes that you see all over the world.

I even picked up this postcard...

Today we're not so lucky with the weather so I'm having a day of crafting - I worked on a new project last night which I'll be sharing with you shortly. A good friend is singing at the Cathedral later during an afternoon of celebrating the poet Robert Burns, so I will be popping out to that later.


Hope you have had a fun and productive weekend, wherever you are!

Christmas and collaborations

So a little while ago, before all the Christmas craft market madness got into full swing, I had a few irons in the fire that I wasn't ready to chat about just for the moment. I'm glad to say that the moment has come and I'm proud to present what our American friends call the 411.

Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of days at the beautifully composed blog of Sydney-based Etsian Tabidesigns. Still staying fairly tight-lipped on that one, but it's worth a look out!

If you're here via Tabitha's blog, welcome, and just for you I'm offering FREE SHIPPING down under from 19 to 24 December. Get stuck in!

A surprise collaboration came about when one of my photos was spotted over at Flickr. I celebrated my 30th birthday last summer with a life-changing road trip across North Carolina and Tennessee, by way of the Smoky Mountains, then down through Mississippi on to Louisiana and finishing up with one long and unforgettable night in my old stomping grounds in New York City. A shot I took of the Grand Ole Opry has been selected for use in an online guide to Nashville. I'm so very proud of myself! You can check it out at Schmap.com Nashville, just clicky!

For more photos, check out my flickr account...

Etsy is often the source of great collaborative efforts, and I wanted to thank Glitzy Gallery for giving away some samples of my envelopes at her recent craft fairs. She blogs her experiences right here: http://glitzygallery.blogspot.com/ and is also an all-round lovely person. My hearts and views shot up the weekends of her fairs, so I know she did a great job in promoting my etsy shop. Thanks a million!

Another project still in the pipeline is being worked on over in the States on an ongoing basis. We're trying to find out if fluffnfixings can make similar envelopes to these using some of my enormous stash of video plarn. I mean, it has to be good for something, right? If this is the case, I'll be sending all future purchases in super-eco friendly mailers.

If that isn't busy enough, I've also been spending some time getting to know more local sellers and finding out how multi-talented they are. Tahira, of TahiraIqbal.com doesn't just make amazing cards, she has an intriguing novella unfolding over at Soul Wipe - go and check it out!

I also had tons of fun at the recent Glasgow Craft Mafia Christmas Social and am looking forward to lots more Crafty get-togethers in the New Year. Hurrah!

And of course, besides all that, I've got a shop to run. And new products. Double hurrah!

Look at me, I'm multi-tasking!

Right now THIS MINUTE I'm listing some of the products I previewed at Made in the Shade this weekend over on Etsy.com.

Here are some teasers....

Alchemy

You know, it's a funny coincidence but I've heard the word 'alchemy' on 3 different occasions in the last couple of days. Once on the radio in some political debate programme yesterday morning, once from my fiance in some lame conversation I don't even want to remember about an online game thing he plays, and once when I was explaining to him about alchemy in the etsy.com sense.

It's a brilliant tool, and I've always had excellent results from using it. The latest is today! I had a seller in mind on etsy to make up a rubber stamp so I could personalise the back of some note cards I'm about to work on. It was looking a little bit on the pricy side, so I clicked onto Alchemy to see if anyone could put something together for the amount I wanted to pay.

Within literally seconds of my placing the ad, I had a response from etsy seller AssPocketProductions. In the ten minutes it took for me to stop laughing at the name, I had a mocked up design in my inbox and a price quote exactly half of my original find.

While I was putting together new photos and listings for my Laura Ashley envelopes, Stacey came up with the idea of 'thank you' stamps with my logo and some promotional extras to send me, which I'm planning to share out with my new Glasgow Craft Mafia colleagues. All in all, a successful day.

I can't wait for the stamps to arrive so I can show them off here. In the meantime, thank you Stacey, and everyone else, go and check her out!

Keeping it green

In my etsy shop I have a mini-range of plarn (with more to come). What's that you're saying? What the heck's plarn?



Contrariwise explains it far better than I ever could over on her blog. There are plenty of completed plarn articles for sale over on etsy, but if you're all about doing it for yourself, but have moved on from plastic bags or don't have the patience to make your own plarn, that's where I come in.