Swap: Christmas Decoration on CTNY

Here's the decoration I received from the wonderfully talented Carolinne... my lovely handmade felt snowman.

We had a Christmas Decoration swap on the Crafty Thread 'n Yarns forum a few weeks ago but this is the first opportunity I've had to post a piccie of him in all his glory.

I absolutely adore his little black felt hat! He's perfect. Thank you Carolinne!! :) xx

Read More...

Summary only...

My Etsy Shop: update - Needle Felted Goodies!

I'm listing these two little critters this evening in my Etsy shop.

The purple bugeyed bird is a petite 2" small. Needle felted in lovely merino wool, the colour is more of a mauve than the bluey purple pictured.


If you're feeling a little grumpy or know somebody who does, how about a teeny Grinch to bring a tiny grin to their chops! At only 2.5" small, this little Grinch is not going to spoil your Christmas spirit!

UPDATE: Mr Grinch has gone bye-byes!

Both of these are sold as seen. I can add either a brooch pin, keychain or hanging thread. I think the Grinch would make a fun addition to your Christmas tree or even to the car rear view mirror!!!

Read More...

Summary only...

Swap: Christmas Decoration on CTnY

As it's been received I think it's safe to update this post with the who, what, when and why of this photo.

We had a Christmas Decoration swap over on the Crafty Threads n Yarn forum and this was what I made for my swap pal, Jacky. If you scroll down the post a bit you'll see the fairy hanging on Jacky's tree (as well as her two beautiful dogs standing in front!)



It's basically a spare wooden curtain ring, over which I crochet some DB Aran Tweed. The fairy is made as all my fairies except I didn't use floss or flowers for her dress - it's made from a piece of a fleecy scarf that I picked up in the Charity shop.

Her boots are needle felted and she's holding a little wooden heart (button). There was a bit of foot stomping when I sent her off so I've got another one in the works for Little Miss CB!

Read More...

Summary only...

Holiday Softie Awards 2007 - UPDATE

The competition closed last Wednesday and the finalists in each category have now been announced.

Voting is open until 14th November 2007. Anyone can vote, so here's the link to Softies Central where you can check out the finalists and cast your vote if you so wish!

Mother Christmas is consoling herself with a bottle of Pernod, so best leave her alone for now (pssst - she didn't get through, shhh!)

Read More...

Summary only...

Holiday Softie Awards 2007 - Mother Christmas

This is my traditional Mother Christmas - made from Calico cloth and Alpaca fleece.

Her dress is made from green felt and her apron is a piece of gingam fabric that I recycled from an old pair of summer trousers.

I have trimmed her apron with white broderie lace and a white satin ribbon. Her dress hem and cuffs are trimmed with Christmas themed gold braid.

Mother Christmas' hair has been needle felted using Alpaca fleece. I also used the Alpaca fleece to create a softer, kinder face. The eyes and mouth are stitched using embroidery thread/floss.

I made her glasses using silver coloured beading wire and my round nosed pliers. They are attached with a small amount of embroidery thread.

I had two more items to enter but didn't manage to get them finished on time. The closing date & time was midnight 31 October US Eastern Time (which was approx 5am here in the UK). Sadly my camera died before I could photograph the other two items (major bummer). But at least I got this little lady entered on time. I think I need to take a time management course one of these days as things are a little bit disorganised at the moment. I'll post some piccies of the other softies once I find some batteries for the flipping camera!

To see more entries, visit the Flickr HSA group page. There are 9 different categories and hundreds of amazing softies!

Read More...

Summary only...

Ornamental 2 - Swap items rec'd (with pic)

I received a wonderful package the other day from my Ornamental 2 swap pal. My pal, Bethiee, really spoilt me considering it was a simple Christmas ornament exchange.

It was a lovely pick me up to get a nice surprise in the post - when you're feeling a bit rotten you can never have too many presents! (and before anyone starts, I do realise that I've just celebrated Christmas and my birthday but something unexpected always seems that bit more special). My pal had e-mailed me to say the gifts would be a bit late and I'm glad to say that the decorations still made it on to the Christmas tree!

I'll post the pictures tomorrow when I can find the camera cable. But in the meantime, here's the things I received:

two lovely hand knit decorations; a gorgeous bar of almond and cranberry dark chocolate which I absolutely refused to share with anyone (it was soooo wonderful and went down a treat); a couple of balls of the most gorgeous wool by Adrienne Vittadini in a perfect shade of dark/olive green; some fab Sharpie markers; a beautiful sparkly iridescent beaded garland for the tree and a packet of snowflake themed tissues.

I love fancy little packets of tissues - they're really great for 'napkin decoupage'. Everything was colour co-ordinated to perfection: shades of green, turquoise, blue and white. Fab!

Thanks again to my pal, Bethiee.

Best wishes everyone for a Happy 2007,

Bernie. X

Read More...

Summary only...

Christmas Wish List (for 2007)

Dear friends, family, admirers, fellow crafters, here's a list of some rather lovely desired goodies. It's just a guideline but if you feel compelled to purchase EVERYTHING on this list then please feel free to do so!! ;)

Books & Music: My Amazon wishlist.

Fibre Stuff:

- Top of the list i.e. absolute must have!!! is a Drop spindle. In order to fulfil my remaining goal for 2007 which is to learn how to spin on a drop spindle. I don't mind if it's new, used, top or bottom whorl. I just gotta spin.

- KnitPicks Harmony Wood DPNs set OR Nickel Plated DPNs set

- Subscription to the Yarn Yard Club Plus

- a Yarn Swift. Nothing fancy schmancy. A used one will do.

- Feltedhandbag Workshop Patterns available via PDF on Ebay.co.uk:

Felted Short Row bag or Felted Entrelac bag or Felted Modular Triangles bag.

Sewing: (more to follow but for now..)

- Quilter's rule. Afterall, using a metal ruler with a rotary cutter is a disaster waiting to happen.

- Message for Santa - Mummy Bevan would love a NEW SEWING MACHINE. Her £10 charity shop special is dying an agonizingly slow death. Help her Singer retire after a long life of stitchery goodness and bring a smile to Mummy Bevan's face on Christmas morning. :)

Read More...

Summary only...