Button Swap

When noodleBubble posted on twitter about a button swap I just couldn't resist ;o).  My partner was the lovely Anthea over at Tales from Mount Pleasant.  We swapped our buttons last week and here's mine...

 ...aren't they just gorgeous.  I think my favourites are the love hearts button and the yellow cats eye type button, athough it changes everytime I look at them.  Here's the buttons I sent to her...it's funny how mine are all bright, darker colours and hers are pastel colours.  I just love how we're all different and steer towards certain things :o).

I also sent a felt Button Fanatic brooch too...think I'll have to make some more of these ;o)

Busy as usual

I could really do with a few more hours each day, but anyway......Here's some scotch eggs that I made - some of them split but they still tasted ok.

And here's the "experiment" that JJ made while I was making said scotch eggs (egg shells, beaten egg, flour, breadcrumbs and some orange peel he took out of my little compost pot, just in case you wanted the recipe ;-) ).

Trying out flatbreads on my new griddle. Also great for mini pancakes.

More brooches for the craft fair. I've got a huge list of things I want to make, definitely need more hours. It's been a busy week - the builders are now gone, yay, so we've got Aaron and Nathan in their rooms now, which meant a trip to Ikea on Thursday. Remember the Ikea advert on the TV with the car overloaded with stuff - well imagine that with a campervan ;-). We drove home very carefully. The house is in desparate need of sorting out but I don't have the motivation as I just don't know where to start (although the wardrobe and chest of drawers are now out of the kitchen!). The garden needs sorting too.......

......I'm gonna stop there otherwise I'll get depressed. The sun is shining today so we're off to the beach (sorry house). Hope everyone else is doing something lovely.

Doh!

Well, here's the brooch I made to go with my outfit on Sunday - which I then forgot to wear!! I did manage to wear the headband which I will have to show you later as hubby is on nights and the band is in the bedroom.

I had an order for some cards over the weekend too, so I made a few extra to go in the shop. Must get my sister's door curtain made too - it's been on the list far too long.

Getting excited again

I think the anxiety caused with waiting for 'the phone call' regarding my Grandad has now disappeared meaning I'm getting excited about Christmas and crafting again. We still have the funeral on Thursday but I think that the waiting period is always harder somehow. Anyway, I knitted this hat on Sunday evening using the Twilleys blue and some other Twilleys brown that I had left from last years hat. This wool knits up very quickly at it is knitted using 10mm needles - just the sort I like ;-). No pattern involved - just measured my head then used the gauge on the label for the amount of stitches I needed. When I'd got the length as I wanted it I started to decrease, but kept it going so I ended with the pointy bit. The tassle-ly bit is made with the strands left from sewing up, with a couple of extra ones threaded through the end of the hat, and then plaited together (and knotted at the end). Easy peasy.

I want to make some more bits from the shop now that I've finished the 2 bag orders (I added the yellow liner but then forgot to photograph it before it went), so last night I sat and made two flower brooches. I'm spending this afternoon (hopefully) making a simple curtain for my Dad, then updating the website and shop. They have been rather neglected of late, so fingers crossed.

A little crafting

A brooch to brighten up my coat for the funeral.

Finally done the san pro order.

A rushed birthday card for my Dad.

I've managed to do a little crafting over the last few days. The funeral was yesterday which went quite well considering the circumstances. A packed Church and a very big VW convoy just showed the amount love for Webbo. We will miss you.

'Medals' and another off the list

My brother-in-law joked on FB about my sister-in-law needing a medal - she said she needed one for putting up with him. So, I've made a surprise brooch instead.

And, I've finally finished the things that my sister requested from my Mum's skirt. There's still a little bit left so I'll try and make her a shopping bag as well.

Bits for the shop

I've actually managed a couple of pieces for the shop - woohooo. Feels like I've neglected it since I got it set up.

Felt and buttons and bits

I made the green keyring last night - I just love all those buttons. It should go in the Misi/Etsy shops - think I'll have to do it straight after I've finished here otherwise it will end up on my keys.

Anyway, before hubby went to work he asked me to make him a felt bag/case for his phone. He wants an iron cross on the front and a drawstring top. I've made the bag part but I'm going to get him to draw me the iron cross bit as I'd hate to get it wrong (he's very big into old VWs and this is one of the prominent symbols) so I'll hopefully show you that tomorrow.

This evening I've also made the CND symbol keyring (after checking whether it is copyrighted) and I've started another button thing - not sure whether this one will be a brooch or a keyring. I'lll definitely be making the CND bit into brooches as well as I'm really pleased with how the first one turned out. I'm going to do different colours as well as I didn't just want to do the black/white one.

Few things

Sat and made a few things this evening. I started by making a lavender heart for out bed. Not entirely happy with it - think it needs thicker material - but it will do for now. After that I played with some felt. I've made a start on another felt keyring. This one has a car on it (sorry about the piccies). I ordered some keychains off ebay last night, so I will finish it when they arrive. The second one is a brooch. I think I might go and change the other brooches as I much prefer them this way - they seem more robust somehow.

Forgot a couple of things...

Forgot to show you a couple of things earlier.

Mini monster for my niece.

Our painted Valentine hearts - the left one is done by Ds3 (aged 27months).

And, a new badge/brooch for Ds1 who wanted a star and not a circle.

Catching up...

I got an offer through with one of my other magazine's to subscribe to a craft magazine: 3 issues for £1 - how could I resist? The first issue arrived yesterday. I like some of the things in there but I was especially taken with the supplement on Alan Dart. These gnomes are just fabulous, I'll have to see if I can track down a pattern.

The other thing to arrive in the post yesterday was my photo book. After I'd ordered some photos I got a voucher for a free photobook. As I'd not even heard of these before I just did it on the photos from my blog because I didn't know what the quality was like. I'm very impressed - you can add text and put the photo's where you want, add different backgrounds, styles and edges. Now the kids can do some with their photos, and we can make project/themed books.

Last night I made 3 more brooches - 2 flowers and a leaf. I had to do another white one for the shops as my sister took the other one.

Pictures

Here's the pictures from yesterday.

Quick post

No photo's until tomorrow but I've finished the handwarmers and I've made 2 brooches for a member of the GP LETS scheme. I put them on there and wasn't sure whether anyone would want them but I've done 3 so that's great. Still waiting on MISI to confirm/deny me my domain name so I'm not putting anything in the shop yet.

More brooches!!

Another couple of brooches - a flower and a spiral for Ds2 who didn't want a flower!!

Just adding a different brooch

More brooches

Needed to make something quick last night so I made a couple more flower brooches. I've also been thinking of others I could do, so you may see more piccies later ;-).

Meet the newest members of the family

Here they are.....2 are destined for a new home.....arn't they gorgeous ;-). I also made another brooch. Very simple, but I like it.

I also changed the name of the blog. Shell's crafting didn't seem right - I'm no good picking things like that so when I first started the blog that was the only thing I could think off. The name had been bothering me for ages.......then this morning the new one just came to me.

Felt brooch

I've managed to make the felt brooch for my hat - took about 20 minutes altogether. It's 2 pieces of felt stitched together, then a shell button added to the front. I then stitched a brooch fastener to the back, then pinned it to my hat.