Photo Frames and Famous Footprints! - Handmade Monday #27

My goodness, how can it be August already?! I hope you're all enjoying some nice weather, and that you will find time to visit the 1st Unique Gifts blog to look at other crafters who are taking part in this 27th (!) Handmade Monday.

The summer holidays have descended upon us here, so I now have to fit my work/crafting in around my two children for the next six and a half weeks - oh dear!

My handmade efforts have mainly been these two personalised photo frames.

As usual, I've been crocheting some more baby boots - I'm trying to build up some stock for winter!

I also run a baby casting business - a franchise called Little Impressions - so have been busy finishing off little hands and feet too. I love the detail that my casts capture - all down to using the right sort of clay and plaster, and usually some luck too (babies can be extremely wriggly!).

I love all the detail on this cast!

The highlight of my week (even my year, actually) was that Little Impressions as a whole, was invited to the Eurostar Terminal at St. Pancras to take part in an Olympics '1 Year to Go' event. We took footprints from some famous sportsmen, and also footprints of some lucky competition winners from all over Europe. The prints are going to be turned into paving slabs (a bit like the Hollywood Boulevard thing) and will be placed at the station, leading everyone to the Olympics next year.
I'm afraid I didn't get to take prints of anyone famous, but my colleagues took prints from Lord Coe, and also Colin Jackson who was so nice and posed for lots of photos for us :)

Here are a few photos of our very busy morning - all these are courtesy of Little Impressions - thanks guys!

Lord Coe and Colin Jackson having their footprints taken

The Sports Minister, Lord Coe & Colin Jackson with their prints

Me in action (holding the bin!) - with a lady from Paris
who won a competition to take part.

We all had a great time - although it was hard work preparing all those slabs of clay. My arms were aching the next day!

Anyway, it's back to normality now - trying to get on top of my baby casting orders before we go away on our holidays - not that we're counting the days or anything.

Oh, and the sock monster has hardly grown at all - I've been too busy :(
Maybe next time....

Handmade Monday - sort of!

Since my last post was rather long, this is a very quick and nearly late Handmade Monday.
As always, many thanks to Wendy at 1st Unique Gifts for hosting this. Please have a look at her blog and click through some of the other handmade links on there :)

So, this week I have been painting and decoupaging lots of wooden letters - so here are a few!

I have also made a start on my daughter's Sock Monster - she chose a lovely yarn with shades of brown, green and aqua, so maybe it will be a sea monster! Here it is in progress...

Sock Monster in progress!

That's all for now - I must get on with some 'proper' work!

Handmade Monday 11 - more knitted bunnies!

It's Handmade Monday again - yay! Many thanks as always to Wendy at 1st Unique Gifts for hosting this. Do please visit her and the other crafters' links - there are some lovely things!

This week, it's been the usual mix of personalised gifts...



Personalised Photo Frames

 ... baby castings....

A teeny, weeny hand cast!

... and, of course, knitted bunnies!


Work in progress...



Bunny Nuggets - new colours!

The one on the right is about the same colour as my son! We all spent all day Saturday out in the sunshine at Clumber Park (near Chesterfield) where we met up with some relatives and had a great time - but didn't realise how strong the sun was :(

Next on my knitting list (apart from lots more Bunny Nuggets) is this Sock Monster!

Sock Monster by Danger Crafts

He's been designed by the same lady who designed the Bunnies, and when my son saw this he literally begged me to make him one - he even wants one instead of an easter egg (that really shows how much he wants it!!) The pattern for these, and lots more cute knitted toys is available to buy from Rebecca Danger's Etsy store.

This week I've also done my bit by ordering a custom item from Made by Emma. She is a lovely local lady, who is making a personalised cushion for me, for my parents' Ruby Anniversary - I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Last but not least, here's the knitted chicken that didn't make it into last week's blog:

I'm not 100% happy with the beak, but as a first attempt it's ok - I will probably tweak the pattern to suit me next time!
See you next week, if not before :)

Handmade (Manic) Monday - again!

Many thanks again to Wendy at 1st Unique Gifts for hosting Handmade Monday again - it's a lovely way to share handmade things, and have a look at what everyone else has been up to. I'm sorry that I've been absent for a while - I did have a quick look at some of the links, but didn't get through them all!

The last couple of weeks has been rather a battle - lots of baby impressions, as mentioned in my previous post and also a few last-minute Mothers' Day orders, coupled with my daughter being off school with a tummy bug! Not a very relaxing combination of events!

Here are a couple of the Mothers' Day photo frames I did:

Here are some New Baby frames I've done too - I know the design isn't exactly original. Polka dots are everywhere, but it's such a classic and a bit less 'fussy' than the daisy frame I do.

Finally, I did finish the little crochet baby pumps - so here they are.

I've also just finished a knitted chicken - so I'll photo her for next time, and there are more bunny nuggets on the way too - not long until Easter now....

Apart from all this, I also took part in 2 concerts - one in the lovely Lichfield Cathedral, and one in Stoke on Trent. I play the oboe in a local orchestra - the only musical thing I do nowadays. Having studied music at university a long time ago it's great to be able to keep my music going as a hobby.

This is what an oboe looks like (in case you were wondering!)

Maybe I'll see what musical-themed handmade items I can find for next time - any suggestions welcome!

Handmade Monday: Lots of variety!

Here we are - Handmade Monday again! Thanks to Wendy at 1st Unique Gifts for hosting this - it's really helping to keep me motivated to blog regularly and share my creations! I originally planned to blog twice a week, but hey - once a week is better than nothing isn't it?!

It's been a very varied week - a combination of baby impressions and other handmade bits & bobs. Just the way I like it - I love the variety of working from home and choosing what to work on each day.

Here are some baby casts that I finished - so sweet! It does have a little foot on the right hand side, but it didn't fit into the photo without catching reflections off the window! Still, you get the idea...

Baby hand cast with a sweet poem

On the knitting/crochet front, I made a knitted letter 'B' for my daughter - what do you think? I've also started making an 'L' and 'O' - probably to make 'LOVE' but maybe 'LOL' if I'm feeling lazy!

Knitted Letter for my daughter

I also started (but haven't finished) some crochet 'granny' bunting - I want to finish this off before the weekend when I'm at my monthly craft market near home. Nothing like a deadline to keep me focused! There are going to be some other colour combos in it, I'll try and photograph it when it's all done.

Crochet bunting

Finally, I sent off one of my photo frames to be professionally photographed for my Giftwrapped & Gorgeous boutique, and I received the files back. I was really thrilled at how well they came out - much better than I could ever manage. Now I just need to sell lots of them!





I started making these last year, but recently changed the style and size of the writing to make it look like it's written by a child - actually it was really difficult to write like that! My natural instinct was to try and be neat rather than the opposite. The little shapes in the corners are made from polymer clay, with the images stamped into it before baking. By the way, the cheeky little boy is actually my son (not called Harry!) - the photo is quite old now but he is still just as cheeky!!

I hope you enjoyed this week's post - now you've read this, please visit 1st Unique Gifts and have a look at the other bloggers and their lovely creations! See you next week (if not before...) xx

Handmade Monday: Campervans!

It's handmade Monday again - sorry I missed last week, but it's been rather busy here with lots of wooden letters needing painting, covering, varnishing, posting out.... whew!

Anyway, don't forget to check in on Wendy's blog 1st Unique Gifts to see what she's been up to, and to have a browse through the other Handmade Monday blogs.

I've also been busy with baby impressions - here's one I finished this week:

Little Impressions: hand casts of 3 sisters

So you might be wondering why this blog post is called 'Campervans'!
Well, as part of my business is dealing with cute cuddly babies, I'm often browsing the internet or looking on twitter for great and unusual baby products - anything I can talk to my customers about whilst I'm squashing their baby's hands or feet in clay!

This week I came across some fabulous little baby shoes - they just made me think "Oh wow! How sweet are these? I wish I'd seen them when my daughter was a baby." So here they are:

Campervan Baby Shoes!

They are made from lovely quality leather by the British company Pre Shoes . There are loads of lovely designs, including a blue/red campervan design for boys too!

Following on from that, I thought I'd have a browse on Folksy to see what else I could find with campervans on! There are loads of things!! However, some of the nicest I found were these cushions:

Handmade Campervan cushion

They are made by Kindred Rose and there are other lovely cushions in gorgeous colour combos. She is patiently waiting for her first Folksy sale, so please do visit :)

That brings me nicely back to Wendy at 1st Unique Gifts who, of course, makes these which you can buy here

Personalised Campervan wall canvas

Wendy very kindly nominated me for a 'Stylish Blogger' Award as did Angels and Diamonds . Thank you both very much! I haven't had much chance to return the mention and nominate my 15 blogs, but I haven't forgotten....

Perhaps, once I've got through my piles of painted letters, unframed baby impressions, bags of knitting wool etc. I'll be organised enough!

Handmade Monday: Happy Valentines Day!

Another week gone already - here is Handmade Monday again! There seem to be quite a few of us now sharing what we've made recently, so please visit the 1st Unique Gifts blog to see more links, and read about what Wendy's been up to over the weekend.

In case you've just arrived from another planet, today is Valentines Day so I couldn't resist knitting this when I found the pattern on Ravelry, the knitting/crocheting website! I think I might do one in cream, perhaps with some sequins or beading - might make a nice wedding gift idea. What do you think?

Knitted Valentine message

Hubby and I got a lovely handmade card this morning - from my daughter! She must have sneaked off and made it sometime over the weekend - it brought tears to my eyes, but then I am a bit of a softie where my kids are concerned.

I was at a local crafts & collectables market at the weekend - the first one of the year. It was a bit of a shock to the system having to get up so early on a Saturday!! I mainly specialise in baby and young children's items so Valentines Day isn't a major selling event for me, but I did sell one of these to a gentleman looking for a last-minute gift. I hope his wife liked it :)

Romantic wooden hanging heart

Also at the market were the lovely ladies from Caramel Ocean who make gorgeous things! I took this quick pic when their display of Union Jack items caught my eye.

Items by Caramel Ocean, Stone Market

And finally, I know lots of you loved the bunny nuggest last week - I found time to make another, extra fluffy one who might have a new home soon ;-)

I think that's it for now - don't forget to have a look at the other Handmade Monday blogs. I'm off to have a look!



Things to brighten up a blustery day

I don't know where last week went, but it's Handmade Monday again! It's all thanks to Wendy at 1st Unique Gifts who came up with the idea -so please have a look at her blog and all the links from other lovely craftspeople who have been busy creating.

This week has been mostly taken up with finishing off orders for my Wooden Name Letters, which seem really popular at the moment!

Decorated Wooden Name Letters

I love making these - they are all either handpainted, or decoupaged with patterned paper. There is a huge pile of them on our dining table waiting to be finished, so I suppose that's an incentive to get them done before dinnertime!
I've made a start on my (currently very basic) Gifts by Jenny website, so they are now available to buy there, as well as direct from me at craft fairs.

As usual, I've also spent some time knitting in front of the telly. I sold this little cutie a while ago, and have had a request for another so have nearly finished and I think I'll do some more in lovely spring colours, all ready for Easter!

Knitted Bunny Nugget

Lastly, I popped along to the Spring Fair in Birmingham yesterday - mainly to have a good nosey and get some inspiration, and also to look for any lovely items that I can stock and sell online or at markets.
So, in keeping with the general Valentines theme (only 1 week to go) here are some gorgeous little hearts that I saw.

Fair Trade papier-mache hearts

They are made from papier-mache, and imported by a fair trade company. They come from Kashmir where they are made by local women - the quality of these was absolutely amazing and I'm looking forward to stocking some of these as well as their other lovely decorative items.

That's it for now - I'm hoping my next post will be about my baby casting business. I took some great photos of some baby footprints that I'm saving for you...

Enjoy the rest of Monday & see you soon. xx