Latest Monster!

Thought you guys might like a quick peek at my latest monster creation.

There haven't been many monsters recently so I was pretty pleased when I came up with this scary fella. He was actually created to be one of my PIF gifts but my mum saw him and has claimed it for herself! Aaarrggghhhh - back to work!

Dotty xx

PS. I am starting a photography course this week so hopefully we'll see an improvement in my pics!

Its been a long time.....

Hellllooooooo! Anyone still there? Its been a long time since I wrote my last post....a very long time! Sorry! Its been a bit of a strange summer but I'm back!

I lost my crafting mojo for a while and motivation was at an all time low but something has finally happened to kick me back into gear. A lovely package arrived on my doorstep. And what was in this lovely package I hear you cry. These beautiful things:

Look at those pretties sent to me by the lovely Bonita of Beaky Crafts. Aren't they gorgeous? The little Russian Doll is lavender scented and oh so cute. The felt ball bracelet is almost permanently on my wrist and the cute little crotchet daffodil brooch is pinned to my black coat ready to brighten up my winter.

My dodgy camera can't really do them justice - check out Bonita's shops on etsy and folksy for some much better shots!

Thank you so much Bonita :o) I have two reasons to say thank you - first for the lovely PIF gifts and secondly for giving me a kick and making me feel like a spot of crafting again! The people who signed up for my PIF gifts will be pleased to know that i am nearly finished making my gifts (finally! sorry guys!) and they will be winging their way to you shortly - I am setting myself an absolute deadline of the end of September.

Right - time to get back to crafting!

Say CHEESE!!

I do like a bit of cheese. Well, more than a bit actually, often a lot! And on everything.... But I'm trying to cut down so had to feed my addiction another way. A few months ago I decided that I simply MUST make a pin cushion that looked like a block of cheese. Once I had the idea in my head I couldn't rest until my creation was complete and ta-da:


Oh dear....not good, not good at all! Not really how I envisioned it! I showed it to my mum, who said, and I quote: "Ooooh that's nice, love the colours. Erm, what is it?" What is it? WHAT IS IT???!!! It doesn't even look like cheese when I put it on a plate with crackers and grapes.

At that point I had to admit that it didn't really look like a piece of cheese at all. It was too curvy. But I couldn't rest until I had my perfect felty piece of cheese, there must be a way to make it work, I couldn't embark on anything else until it was done! (Hmmm....maybe I am a bit stubborn and should learn to admit defeat...)

Some head scratching, felt snipping, bondawebbing and blanket stitching later I thought I might have cracked it:

What do you think? Much better I think (hope?!) you'll agree. Almost good enough to eat!

Although I have no idea what to do with the original....a similar thing happened on my quest for giant liquorice allsorts but I think that is a story for another day!

Dotty xx

TWIT TWOOO!

Have you noticed that owls are everywhere at the moment? For some reason crafters love owls. Maybe its that the big eyes mean you can make an impossibly cute softie. There's so many around that it takes something really special to catch your eye.

So imagine my joy when I was browsing round Paperchase (my favourite shop EVER) and I saw the owl range designed by jilly p. I couldn't resist the tea towels - gorgeous design and such a bargain!

Man, I really wish I'd ironed them before I took those pics! If you want to see more pictures of the range then take a look at this Print & Pattern post - much better pics than mine!! (Print & Pattern often features other Paperchase designs and is a fab blog so you should read it anyway!)

But the more I looked at my tea towels the more I didn't want to use them for drying dishes - they were way too nice for that! So, I formulated a plan to turn these fab prints into little softies. I embroidered round the design, added some buttons and used the small owl print fabric on the back and ta-da!

My own set of four jilly p. owls. Not bad for £5 tea towels eh? I leave them sitting amongst my books looking wise and learned!

I'm hoping they haven't sold out in Paperchase because I need to go back and buy another set to actually dry my dishes on!

Dotty xx

Exciting Times

Its been over a week since my last post - eeeek! I've had a bit of a tough week with very little crafting but some exciting things have been happening in my absence.

Firstly, thanks for all the lovely comments on the Disco Fish I featured in my last post. I had some great comments and emails and a couple have people have asked if I sell them or sell a kit to make them. I don't sell them at the moment but I'm currently thinking about prices and whether to make them into kits or not. I'll keep you posted! Thanks for all your support guys :-)


The lovely Patti from It's a Wonderful... was so taken with the fish that she featured them on her fab blog. And look at the little bubbles she added to my pic - such a cute idea. Thanks Patti :-)

Buoyed by every ones comments on the fish I decided to submit a picture of them to the One Pretty Thing flickr pool. If you don't read this blog then you MUST check it out - it is basically a roundup of all the craftiness going on in the blogosphere - loads of tutorials, advice, party ideas, giveaways....everything you could want really. It is one of my favourite blogs so imagine my excitement when I saw this post - my disco fish are featured - I am so proud. Thanks Rachel :-)

As if all this wasn't enough I got an email yesterday from Alex (full name Aleximo Croissant!) telling me that my strawberries had been featured in a strawberry based posting on the FolksyFinds blog. If you want to check out all the other lovely strawberries featured then take a look here. Thanks Alex :-)

I'm so excited I might burst!! And its motivated me to get back to my machine so hopefully I'll have some new goodies to show you soon....

Dotty xx

Disco Fish!

These are some softies I've been working on recently. I call them disco fish - partly because of the bright colours and partly because I think they look like they are grooving away :-)

The blue one is supposed to be a puffer fish and I just made the others up. Haven't decided what to do with them yet - considering making a mobile and I might put some in my shop. For now they are just hanging from my mirror - chilling and looking cool!

Dotty xx

Changes (WARNING: non craft related post!)

I've been thinking a lot about getting old recently. Or not so much getting old as time passing and what I am going to do with my life. It was my birthday a couple of days ago which always makes me reflect on these things. And although I know that 29 isn't that old I am not where I expected to be by this age. I certainly didn't expect to have been off work sick for the last six months and not knowing when I would go back. And I'm not even certain if I do want to go back even when I do get well. And I'm going to be 30 next year - aaaarrrrgghhhhhh!! Maybe I'm just getting worried because I noticed my first grey hair when I was at the hairdressers yesterday - eeeek!

I've read several blog posts where the blogger has made a list of things they want to do in a certain time period or before they die (I think these are called bucket lists after the Jack Nicholson film). I am particularly inspired by Sarah Von's list of the 30 things she is planning to do before she is 30 and Holly's 101 things in 1001 days. I've been thinking about making my own list but with my future so uncertain at the moment it is difficult to make plans so I decided to start with this:

99 Things

This list has been floating around the blogosphere for a while now and I can't remember where I first saw it. The rules are to highlight in bold the things you've done already and put in italics the things you'd like to do in future. Its just a bit of fun really - feel free to copy and play along (although remember to let me know so I can nose at your list!). Here goes....

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band - I have zero musical ability

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo - this is the kind of thing I have nightmares about!

11. Bungee jumped (maybe)

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (in progress)

15. Adopted a child (I don't know of I want kids)

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb - why would I want to hold a lamb?

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon - never gonna happen!

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run - this one doesn't really work in the UK

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - having enough money doesn't make you truly satisfied!

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted - only if a caricature counts

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - doesn't really work in the UK - I was a brownie!

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar - eeuurrgghh no

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - eeeuuuwww - never gonna happen!

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Got a tattoo

94. Had a baby (maybe - don't know yet!)

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

PS. Just to let you know that I have been doing some crafting recently but it has mainly been working on my PIF gifts which I obviously can't post about here - don't want to ruin the surprise!