Maggie Rabbit

Life is a bit hectic right now so it's very rare I get to sit down and actually make anything for the sheer love of crafting these days.

So I treated myself recently to the Maggie Rabbit pattern over at Posie gets Cozy, mainly because I hadn't finished a project for Amelia in ages - the rug and the quilt are STILL on the go - and I wanted a little quick win that would help me use up some of my fabric stash in the process.

I'm not sure what's going on with her ears here, but they are lined in blue and grey dotty fabric, which co-ordinates perfectly with her skirt

Downloading the pattern made it even quicker to get started, although I did wait a couple of days for some felt yardage I ordered on eBay - I didn't have quite enough of the same colour to make all the rabbit parts.  Now I have enough for several rabbits but that is no bad thing - there is a family baby being delivered AS I WRITE which is super-exciting and of course will require lots of gift-giving opportunities.

Anyway, I cut out the pieces for the rabbit in about half an hour, then sewed them up over the course of 3 one-hour train commutes - although if I'd remembered my scissors on the first day it would have been a bit more productive.

I hadn't had time to actually get the sewing machine out and set up for months, and we had a bit of a false start on Sunday morning, when I finally decided that the rabbit needed more than a single pair of boots (one of which has been lost for the last two weeks, anyway) to keep her warm.  Thank you to everyone who gave me technical support over Facebook - I think it was down to the fact I was sewing with denim - it was pretty lightweight denim but still.  So by the time I got the sewing machine out and ready to go, I wanted a bit more of a challenge and decided to have a go at adapting this skirt pattern by House on Hill Road.  I want to make a not-quite-as-twirly version for Amelia, so I took the opportunity to test my maths, but in miniature.

Maggie seems to have a bubble skirt effect going on, but I think that's partly down to the stiffness of the denim as well as the shortened main pieces of the skirt.  I'm looking forward to showing you the results of the child size skirt as soon as I get another chance to sew - and hopefully this side of Christmas!

Eating from our garden

Slightly scattergun approach to radish planting effected by child making run for front drive

We've had nearly two whole weeks of sun tan weather here, what a difference it makes to our life at home.  Our garden has been fairly neglected since we moved in, but after knocking down a dilapidated shed, moving MANY barrowfuls of pebbles, digging up lots of old paving slabs, a full carpet, miles of plastic sheeting (maybe an exaggeration) and making do with only plastic troughs for our (eventually drowned) home grown food last year, this summer we are on track for a much improved outdoor space.

We're not there yet, as the mound of pebbles where the shed used to be will tell you, but since last Friday we've been eating from our garden with the first few crops of radish.  Next job is making the shed we're keeping a bit less friendly to woodlice and wasps, replacing its roof and if I can convince the husband, painting it in some pretentious National Trust colour.  I want sage green with beige accents but I'm fairly certain I'll be getting Creosote and told to like it.  Hey ho.

So only the radish came from the garden, and the child only ate a babybel and some ham but it's a start

Oregon honeymoon flashback

Happening right now on the Posie Gets Cozy blog.  A visual feast, if you like rain and lush green trees, interesting buildings and well-used solid wooden tables.  And knitting.  There's always lots of knitting.

Calling all stationery fans

I'm in love with this website, LagomDesign.co.uk 

I want ALL the cards.  Sigh.  At just £1.20 each, I think I can indulge myself a little.

Here are my favourites, in no particular order:

Tiger card


Sausage dog card



London card

But where would you keep it?

Image courtesy LacklusterCo on Etsy

Reasons why I shouldn't buy this:

I haven't been within a 100 mile radius of anywhere in Pennsylvania since Christmas 2007
I like to model myself after the traditional English eccentrics, but I'm not sure that mounting this in a perspex box on the flat roof of my craft room is really viable.  We get a lot of gulls, for one.
I kind of wish this was still on a coaster somewhere.
I'm not made of money.
I'd want the blue one, too.

Reasons why I should:

Just look at it!
Also I have a lime green and tan living room.  It fits right in - well, colour-wise if not space-wise.

Wedding season!

Wedding season is well and truly upon us.  I've been neglecting my blog in favour of some really fun custom orders, a little bit of last minute market activity (how could I turn down the chance to go to a duck race?!)
and lots of finishing off those little jobs that just don't seem to do themselves.

We've also been trying to catch plenty of rays while the weather has been so lovely in Scotland over the past week or so - it's not often we get one over on our south of the borders neighbours where weather is concerned!

I was lucky enough to be featured as an entrepreneur of the month for my business school alumni newsletter, over at Mountbatten.org  If you know any recent graduates who'd like the opportunity of a lifetime to get excellent business experience and a qualification taught by some of the world's best academics, I strongly suggest you send them over to the website.  I think everyone who does the Mountbatten Programme is an overachiever by nature, but let's just say that I know a fair few people who are doing spectacularly well for themselves as a result of it, so it's a great investment.  I was lucky enough to have two placements as part of my course, one in HR at the North American HQ of a well-known international shipping company, and one with a well-known European couture house.  My research project was about setting up a virtual PA agency called MoreLife - in 1999 - I was so ahead of my time!  We decided that the PAs would get around Manhattan on scooters and wear special embroidered polo shirts.  We actually had a proper business model in there somewhere, too - I still have a bound copy of my dissertation to prove it!

I also had some amazing volunteer opportunities while I was working abroad - taking shelter in WTC1 during a sponsored walk that turned into a blizzard was a great experience, being a marshal at the NY marathon, meeting Hillary Clinton during a women in business breakfast event and having to tell her I was an intern, at the height of the Monica Lewinsky thing, not such fun times, but my excellent communication and diplomacy skills got me out of that one.

Back at Girlindustries HQ, I've been doing a lot of destashing of supplies and thinking about which products to discontinue.  After temporarily closing my books for orders of bespoke envelopes, I've decided to discontinue the stock I have of pre-made envelopes, and you can find the bargains in my shop by searching for sale envelopes.  I will bring back the option to buy custom-made envelopes, but they are taking a little seat on the bench for the next couple of months while I focus on tags and stickers, which are doing ever so well right now.  My craft room is very much in the 'worse before it gets better' zone right now, so no photos, sorry!

I've also been doing a bit of Etsy shopping so more on that in the next couple of days, while I take advantage of the good light for photos!

Putting my feet up in the garden

As we have been gifted with some lovely sunshine (and I actually sunbathed in Manchester yesterday, imagine!), I thought I would treat you all to a discount on something to read in the garden.  If you're new to the Answers on a Postcard zine series, they are themed little booklets, each based around a single interview question I asked of various creative types over the course of a year.  If you look in the top right hand corner of each issue's front page, you can see the names of a few businesses featured in each issue, to get a taster of what and who to expect.  The interviews themselves were so much fun to do, and the answers vary from wise, to surprising, to hilarious.  The first issue was a book review issue, and had a lot of info about some popular and less well-known papercraft, knitting, sewing and all-round making things books.  Issue 8 is mainly pictures of craft spaces - a theme I never get tired of!  There are 12 issues altogether, so definitely something for everyone.  If you just want to try one, they work great on an individual basis, but equally well as a series.  They're a bit addictive once you get started.

All my hard copy zines are reduced to half price - including subscription packs.  You could buy the whole series for $15 plus shipping - bargainous!   All digital zines are still $1, and my job for today is to make them instantly downloadable, using Etsy's new instant download feature.

***ETA  NY Zine is fully downloadable, but as you can only add 5 files to any one listings, AOAP digital zines will have a turnaround of 12-24 hours following purchase***

But for now, I'm heading into the garden to get the last of my seeds planted and contemplate pressure-washing the patio, which apparently is meant to be pink, and not sludgy grey.  No, much too much like hard work!  Back to relaxing.