More lovely swap goodies!

It all seems to be swaps and giveaways at the moment - normal service will resume shortly! BUT before it does I had to show you the amazing swap goodies that Wendy sent me. I've been reading Wendy's blog The Crafter's Apprentice for a while and loving all the different crafts she tries so I was very excited about this swap. And with good reason, look at all the lovely things she sent me! First up some gorgeous granny bunting:


I haven't decided where to put it - probably in my bedroom as I think it will look fab hanging above my bed.

Next, a gorgeous owl softie. Wendy knew how much I loved her bunnies in a similar style but if its possible I think I love the owls even more.


If you love them as much as me then you could head over her shop and snap one up yourself!

If that wasn't enough look at all the other goodies I got too:


Wendy sent me a lovely lavender filled heart (the package smelt amazing), a gorgeous pouch which I have already started using:


A really cute card with a mini quilt on:


And finally this beautiful bracelet:


Hehee - I am a lucky girl! Thanks so much Wendy - I love it all so much. Once again I feel that the package I sent is nowhere near as good as what I received!

Wendy told me she liked red and blue together and I think I went a bit mad on the theme. Here is what I sent:


One of my octomonsters! I never would have made one in these colours but I am really pleased with the results.


I know Wendy loves bunnies (she has FOUR!) so I included this cute little amigurumi rabbit.


And I put the two fused glass necklaces I was sending in this little pouch:


I've really enjoyed doing the two swaps I've done recently - what could be more exciting than receiving a package full or surprise goodies in the post? It is so fun! If anyone else fancies doing a swap then please feel free to get in touch (although I might need a little break to get on with all the other stuff I need to make!) and I'd love to arrange something :o)

Hope you all have a lovely week xx

PS. The bunny and pouch will be going up on ravelry soon so if you want to know where I got the patterns you should be able to find them on there!

Patchwork Scottie Dog

Hello there! More pink patchwork today I'm afraid....!

I fell in love with this pattern for a patchwork scottie when I saw it on Denyse Schmidt's website.
The pattern is based on an old traditional pattern and it says on the website: "We're not sure where the pattern originated, but it probably appeared in a very popular women's magazine (due to the proliferation of Scotties out there), possibly around the 1940’s."

I'm actually fairly sure my Grandma helped me make one of these when I was little so seeing it was a bit of a blast from the past for me. I couldn't wait for an opportunity to try it again. I decided to make one (using my extensive stash of pink materials) for my friend's daughter's 4th birthday. Here's what I came up with:

And the other side:

Cute eh? I'm really pleased with how he turned out and don't really want to give him away! He's been sitting on the sofa for a while now and I've got used to him being there - I'm going to miss him! I'll just have to make another one for me!

If you want to check out more patchwork scotties there's even a flickr group devoted to them here.

Dotty xx

PS. This scottie and I are getting up very early (4am eeek!) tomorrow and travelling to Germany to go and visit my friend. I won't be around for a little while but look forward to catching up with all your blogs when I get back!

PPS. I know it seems like I go on holiday loads but I don't really!! Just happened to have two short trips in September!

I’m back!

Hellllooooooo! Anyone out there?

I’m back! Finally! It’s been a while….and I’m sorry I left you for so long. Things got pretty complicated in my life for a while and I wasn’t very well. And then by the time things started to improve I’d got out of the habit of blogging.

Anyway, you don’t want to hear about that – you want to know all about the crafting! You’ll be pleased to hear that the lull in blogging wasn’t combined with a lull in crafting. In fact I think I’ve been doing more and more. I find making things very therapeutic and it has been very helpful in improving my health. I’ve carried on with sewing and monster making but I’ve also learned some new skills which I am looking forward to telling you about.

But, before all that, I wanted to talk about this post. I signed up for pay it forward AGES ago and started working away on my gifts for the people who had signed up. I had most of my gifts complete months (years!) ago and then things went a little bit downhill and the PIF project fell by the wayside. I feel really bad about it, especially as Beaky sent me such a lovely gift. So, before I started blogging again I wanted to make up for it and send my PIF gifts on and start with a clean slate. I managed to get hold of Sue from BeeDesigns and her gift is on its way as I write. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get in touch with Sandra or Wilkie and both of their blogs seem to be defunct now :o( Guys, if you are out there then please get in touch…….

Right, that’s the business out of the way. Now for some sneaky previews of what I have been up to in my time away……

There’s crochet:

And fused glass:

Screenprinting:

And stained glass:

Patchwork:

And Tapestry:

And finally a spot of mosaic:

More detail in later posts…..

I’m looking forward to it.

Dotty xx