Making Gnomes (and a winner)

I have been making these two little people. How cute are they!:

 They are from a whole family of little gnomes from Nature Table Treasures, they are quik and easy to sewup and stuff. I used 100% wool to stuff the little baby and polyester stuffing for the adult gnome (which I prefered in this case as the bobbly-effect doesn’t shoe through the fabric with the polyester stuffing.

The little gnomes are part of a large gnome family and come complete with instructions and little friends (which I am yet to make – I’ll let you know when I do as they are super cute!)

I think they’ll make great little car companions for ‘T’ as well as play around the home. The link to the store where you can purchase the easy to follow kits is here – I’ll be back soon with updates on the rest of the family of gnomes when I have made some more………….

(Taking part in this week’s Handmade Monday from 1st Unique Gifts xx)

……………and a little announcement for the winner of the ‘Eleanor Makes Nice’ Giveaway…………. the winner is ‘Oh Abigail’!

Congratulations!!!

GIVEAWAY: Little Shoes Pattern & Little Dress Pattern

It’s giveaway time again!

Ann has the Etsy shops  Little Shoes Pattern and Little Dress Pattern – adorable little shoes and dress patterns for little people! I have given the little shoes a go myself and they were really easy instructions to follow, no measuring required as the patterns come accross via email and can be simply printed off. I did the shoes by hand as I wanted to watch TV at the same time!

There will be 2 x winners for this week’s giveaway!

The first winner will win any 2 x little shoes patterns from the store, just look at some of the cute designs:

The second winner will win any 2 x little dress patterns from the store, here are just some of the options:

There are 3 ways you can enter:

• Leave a comment in the comments section below
• Blog, tweet, facebook or share this giveaway somewhere on the web (and let me know)
• ‘Like’ my facebook page – over there on the right at the top

The winners will be drawn during the second week of February by using random.org.

Good luck! (Oh and Ann has another shop – go take a peek!)

Oh and it’s time for another round up of Handmade Monday – don’t forget to head over and take a nosey! x

Handmade doll and felt food swap

Do you remember a while I go I did a post about a swap I was going to be doing with Laura from Under Rainbows? In November I noticed that Laura ‘liked’ some of the felt fruit and veg in my Etsy store, so I contacted her and thanked her and had a look at her shop too and noticed that she made the most beautiful Waldorf dolls, I left a note saying I would like one some day for ‘T’ though couldn’t afford one at the moment and then she wrote back with the fantastic idea of doing a swap. I was delighted!!!

I quickly got to work making the food for Laura’s children for their Christmas present. I made:

• a fish
• a pumpkin
• a carrot
• 2 x mushrooms
• 2 x strawberries
• a pepper
• an onion
• an apple half
• an egg
• a lemon
• an apple
• a tomato
• a turnip
• 

to swap with THIS beautiful doll! :

I am SO pleased wih her, I cannot wait to give her to ‘T’ for her Birthday at the end of March – I think she fits in well at home don’t you?! Laura was so kind as she even made an extra dress out of the same material that I made ‘T”s first Birthday dress from as well as her little dungarees, blouse, knitted cardigan, hat and socks.

It has been so nice to take part in this swap, it feels much nicer to trade in this way and to really make something and think of other children opening them on Christmas day – has anyone else taken part in a swap? Oh and we need a name for dolly too – so if anyone has any names then do let me know!

Thank-you Laura for your amazing talent and for making such a beautiful dolly, it will be treasured, looked after and cared for for years to come. x

(PS – I’m hosting 2 x FAB giveaways at the moment – the one here is to win some adorable Japanese fabric and the other one here is to win some Japanese craft books of your choice!)

……………and of course, don’t forget to head over to another week of ‘Handmade Monday’ over at 1st Unique Gifts xx

GIVEAWAY!: Miss Matatabi Japanese Fabric

The lovely Frances at Miss Matatabi has kindly offered to giveaway 3 prizes for this fantastic giveaway so there are loads of chances to win! Miss Matatabi is a lovely shop based just outside Tokyo in Japan selling adorable printed Japanese fabrics.

Frances is kindly giving away 3 prizes, the first prize will be:

Kokka Japanese Fabric Melody Miller Ruby Star Spring – Bee Tomato Vine – 1 yard (see image below):

The second prize will be:

Kokka Heather Ross Far Far Away III Girls with Horses Japanese Fabric – grey – 1 yard (see image below)

The third prize will be:

Kokka Yoshie Miriporun Sunny Farm Japanese Fabric – orange, white – 1 yard (see image below.

You have 3 chances to win one of these adorable pieces of fabric, to enter:

• leave a comment below.
• share this giveaway on the web (blog post, twitter, facebook etc) and let me know that you have done so.
• ‘like’ my facebook page (over there at the top on the right) and let me know that you have done so.

The 3 winners will be picked by using random.org at the end of the month.

Good luck!

 

FREE Toy tutorials and a January Sale!

Happy New Year everybody!

I thought I should share some of the fantastic toy sewing  tutorials I have found online lately, just in case you have some time off! :

Woodland Fox PDF Pattern:

http://feltorama.blogspot.com/2011/01/gingermelon-etsy-favorite.html

Modular Star Tutorial:

http://kidgiddy.blogspot.com/2011/09/busy-monday-accuquilt-go-modular-star.html

Recovered doll stroller tutorial (amongst many others on this link!)

http://vixenmade.blogspot.com/p/tutorials.html

Cot book/toy holder:

http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2010/01/crib-booktoy-holder-tutorial.html

Ribbon baby toy tutorial:

http://chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com/2010/02/tutorial-and-pattern-rainbow-sunshine.html

Big rocket toy sewing pattern:

http://sew-whats-new.com/photo/big-rocket-toy-sewing-pattern-pdf

Tea for two:

http://mymommymakesit.blogspot.com/2010/02/tuesday-tutorial-tea-for-two.html

Felt Royal Crown:

http://www.gsheller.com/2006/02/blog-post.html

And as it’s January and I’m trying to clear down some stock in my Etsy store – I’m currently offering 25% off of all items excluding the felt sewn fruit, vegetables and food.

A crafty week

I’ve been busy adding some more goodies to my Etsy store this week. I’ve made a donut, a couple of fish and a lollipop. I used a different type of felt for the lollipop though I much prefer working with the 100% wool felt. I also finally finished off a little tunic too and thought I would add a dress to the collection. I finished it ages ago and I have spent months deciding if I should list it on Etsy or dress my girl in it. Judging by the amount of hardly worn pinafores that my little girl already has I decided it best to list it in my store! :

Have you entered in the giveaway yet? NO?? Make sure you do! – You have a chance to get your hands on a great trio of cleaning priducts from Natural and Clean – click here for the giveaway………there’s nothing to lose!

And head over to ‘Handmade Monday’ too to catch up with some more crafty bloggers.

I’ve got a few patterns here for some other things too – I think I’m going to start on a super sweet pair of baby shoes next. Hope you’ve all had a good week too!

Pumpkin and pepper

I’ve been busy making more vegetables! I’ve completed a pumpkin and pepper for the doll swap (here) this week, the pumpkin took a lot longer than the others as it is a lot bigger so more sewing but was good to complete. I’m really going to have to make one for ‘T’ now as it is one of my favourites!

It’s also going to be in my Etsy shop for sale too so take a look here PLUS if you’d like 30% off enter code XMAS when going to the checkout for your discount (think Christmas coming up!)

Don’t forget to head over to Handmade Monday to catch up with all of the other crafters!

Have you entered the giveaway yet for the gorgeous Bubba Boom ‘Rockin Robin’ T-shirt? No???? then click here!

Felt fruit and veg & Waldorf doll swap

When ‘T’ was just a few months old my friend showed me this absolutely stunning Japanese craft book of Felt fruit and veg – I thought they were adorable so made a few for little ‘T’ to play with. She has had hours of fun with them and the best bit is that I can make as many or as little as I like.

I noticed that someone ‘liked’ one of them in my Etsy store and noticed that this person made Waldorf dolls (something that I have been looking to buy soon for T’s Birthday in March). He dolls are stunning (photos and facebook page here) so I sent her a message letting her know how much I liked them. From that message a conversation started and we have since decided to to a swap – I’m going to make a bundle of felt fruit and veg in return for a beautiful custom made doll! How fab is that!

It’s great to ‘trade’ our skills in this way and it feels nice to be making a bundle of toys for some children to open on Christmas Day. I cannot wait to receive the doll in a few months time either!

Remember to head over to 1st Unique Gifts to catch up with some other crafty bloggers!

Right – enough time on here – I’ve got some sewing to do!

Another tunic made

I dressed ‘T’ in her Birthday dress/tunic today – well it’s more of a top now as she has grown so much! She looked so sweet in it that I thought I’d finish another one whilst she slept at lunchtime today, I started it ages ago and put it aside so it felt good to finally complete it. Don’t forget to check out the other blogs at ‘Handmade Monday!’

Our weekend…..

We’ve had quite a busy weekend so far. Yesterday morning I went out for a lovely run in the sunshine, I ran just over 5 miles and I was hoping to go further only the soles of my feet were begining to blister whilst I get used to this ‘barefoot’ running.

The rest of our Saturday included the usual daily chores, washing, cooking, hoovering, I cut my husbands hair, a trip to the shops and I made a braised lamb shank for Saturday night’s dinner. Unfortunately I picked up the saucepan after it had been in the oven for 3 hours, I did that last time too, I think I need to get a casserole dish instead as dinner didn’t taste so good with a hand so sore!

Little ‘T’ has been really suffering with her big teeth coming in these last few days so it’s been a bit harder to keep her entertained, but a walk through some lovely gardens and a picnic helped to cheer her up. She loved leading the way through the narrow paths, sometimes stopping to smell a flower:

I’ve also made another felt tomato as it has been a little while since I made anything crafty!:

Don’t forget to head over to have a nosey at all of the other blogs at ‘handmade monday’!

Now we’re off to the beach this afternoon……….