Another Share

My machine has been going like the clappers (where does that expression come from?!?) since it returned home on Friday, but I haven’t had the chance to sort any photos yet, so they’ll have to wait.

So instead I have another share…look what I got in the post on Friday!

How exciting! Its my first ever Japanese pattern book! It was possibly the best wrapped ANYTHING I’ve ever had in the post. My mum bought it for me here.

Not only did the seller send a bonus pack of stickers with it, but the she also popped in the cutest handwritten note to say thank you for the purchase.

 

Hows that for customer service!

Its going to be a while before I get to make anything from (mainly due to the fact that I have yet to learn how to read Japanese patterns) but I’m in love with the book already.

Sweet Williams

Its been a bit miserable weather wise this bank holiday weekend, but I’ve had a good one regardless (especially after getting my machine back on Friday. It was well worth the effort to get it!).

Anyway, I bought these flowers last week to make the flat look pretty. They have helped it feel cheery inside this weekend even when it was pouring outside.

Thought I’d share the prettiness. Hope you have had a good bank holiday too!

After the rain...

Double rainbow!

ed. Sadly when I hear 'double rainbow' in my head now, I always hear this dude from utube. Brilliant!

Not raining but POURING!!!

I dont know if there are any other London dwellers about in blogland today who may also have experienced this, but today i got soaked! I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was literally soaked to the skin - dripping in fact! I've not seen rain like that since living in the tropics.

Here was the picture that greeted me from our flat when I finally got home. Would you believe this is completely unedited. It literally was that dark and threatening out there.

In other news my poor sewing machine is being held hostage! Booooo!!! I was soooo looking forward to having it back!

I went over to pick it up this afternoon with wheelie bag in tow (the argument against having a car in London "because you can just get public transport everywhere and its just so convenient" doesn’t ring quite true on occasions like this) only to find the shop locked up and no-one home.

I was fuming! Not only had I left work 2 1/2 hours early under disapproving looks from my boss to get there, and travelled 45 minutes on the number 8 bus (‘fun’ at even the best of times), but I had also rung ahead yesterday and today to double check they’d be there and open - and then they wern't!!!!!!! The cheek!

THEN it poured!


...and poured....


...and poured some more....

I obviously have some bad Karma hanging over me today or something. Maybe its the assignment spirit sent to tell me that I shouldnt be lusting after my sewing machine or spending time in blogland but should be focussing on my assignment due in tomorrow.

Before I go appease the pesky assignment spirit, I'll say a quick thank you to all the lovely people for the fab feedback and comments yesterday. The orange dress is obviously a hit. Looks like I'll have to make cutting it up count!

My Creative Space – Thrifting and Planning

Without my trusty sewing machine and awaiting new wool, I've not had huge amounts of crafty things to do, so instead I have been scouring local thrift/charity shops to see if there was anything I might be able to use for repurposing...purposes.

I found a couple dresses that looked like good contenders…

 

 Dress no.1

Dress No.2

Now whilst the dress no.1 is just a little bit too ‘busty milk maid’ for me, I just I love love LOVE the embroidery on the bottom.

Goegeous detail isnt it! I'm going to have to find a special project for that one.

As for the other top/dress thing -  i kind of think its...   well...   pretty awful actually!

However, taking aside the fact that I wouldnt ever wear it, I reckon that the pattern itself, is pretty darn AWESOME! Its got something of a vintage sheet or set of curtains about it. Imagine seeing a little flash of that from inside a linen purse or something. Yummy!

Luckily my machine is due back from its spa vacation tomorrow – hurrah!!!  I have all kinds of plans to get it back into the swing of things. Nothing madly inventive, but a few purses (lots of birthdays coming up) and a few phone/camera covers (I got a ‘fun’ camera from Mr T. for my birthday that needs a home!) will do the trick. Plus it’s a bank holiday this weekend so EXTRA sewing time – double bonus!!!


For more creative spaces have a peak at the new Our Creative Spaces page

Vintage Leather Buttons

Yesterday I spent some time in my favourite thirft/ vintage markets and junk stores. Typically I went looking for one thing and came away with something entirely different! I was especially pleased with my find though...

...these gorgeous, vintage leather buttons!
 

Arn't they great! With that gorgeous, glossy, chesnut colour they almost look like conkers!

I've got no idea how old they are, but they have a really worn, shiny look and feel to them.  I love that fact that they genuinely look like they have served a purpose in some previous life.

They are that old school that the fixings on the back are made from leather too!

Not sure what I'll use them for yet. I'm leaning towards coupling them with some chunky knitted thing, but I'll have to see.

For more Flea Market/Vintage or Thrifty finds pop on over to Her Library Adventures 
and Apron Thift Girl

Paper Bunting

Was a bit bored this afternoon (and was procrastinating because its assignment time again) so a made some more paper bunting to cheer up the living room.

Mr T. used some gorgeous double sided wrapping paper on my birthday presents last week so I used that.

 

Hope you are having a good weekend!

p.s. Comments are back – hurrah!

My Creative Space - Snippety Snip Snip

So I’ve done it, I’ve made the cut!

No, not my coffee habit or the hair, the nursery rhyme book!

If you read the nursery rhyme post you’ll know that I was so taken with it when I first got it that I was considering keeping it as it was, and not using for the express intention I had bought it in the first place (to paper craft with like i did here)! I was clearly in danger of adding to the stockpile of books and other ‘nice' things that currently clutter decorate our flat.

So to aid my decsision and knock me off my perch on the fence, I ran through a quick mental checklist:

• Do I have children...?   No
• Do I ever have children visiting who would enjoy the rhymes...?    Very infrequently... so no
• Will I ever read the nursery rhymes to myself... ?   Errr, no
• Will I ever read the nursery rhymes to my husband...??? Definitely no
• Do I like crafting ...??? Silly question - next!
• Do I want to experiment more...? Why yes, yes I do

So the answer was clear and danger averted - I chopped up the book!

I have to say the first snip was incredibly painful! It went against almost every fibre of my being and felt soooo wrong (to put this in context, my parents house is almost a library, I have a literature degree and if asked what I'd grab first in a fire, there are definately a good few books that would rate high on the list!). But after a while of just getting on with it, it actually felt quite liberating and I’d created enough nursery rhyme strips to start sticking.

Heres the results...

(Sweetheart Mobiles. Note to self, put window cleaner on the house 'to do' list asap!)

 (Mini Flag Bunting)

(Whirly Twirly Whirly Mobile - or nursery mobile as I'm calling it)

They spin in a really pretty way in just the lightest of breezes. I have packaged a few of them up as a little gift box for an expecting friend. I hope she likes them.

I cant wait to see what other things I can find to chop up now!

For more creative spaces have a peak at the new Our Creative Spaces page

One year older...

{cue singing}

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday dear Katie.
Happy Birthday to me!

{cue clapping and whooping noises}
 
If I owned my own house and had the time to plan such an affair, this is what today would look like… or maybe this, depending on my mood.

As it is, I’m having a sneaky day off work and enjoying a blissfully peaceful flat with pampering and baking indulgence.

(Birthday Carrot Cup Cakes - yum!!!)

To be honest, its nice just not to be in work with the phone ringing and email pinging onto my screen every two minutes. If that makes me seem a bit old, I’m having Mr T. take me out for midweek cocktails later which should reset the 'I'm getting old' balance of things!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Work in Progress and Biscotti

Its another lazy Sunday here in Greenwich. I started out by having a shoulder and neck massage in the market (I’d highly recommend the guy with the ponytail if you are ever over this way) which set me up very well for the restful day ahead!

Next I moved on to the biscotti. Amy from Angry Chicken posted about her biscotti recipe the other day so I gave it a whirl.

Its a really simple recipe to follow (I went for the chocolate ones) and the results are lovely. I went for the chocolate ones. Admittedly they could have done with being a touch sweeter, but that was totally my fault for using granulated sugar and not putting as much in as Amy had specified in a bid to make them “healthier”. Why on earth do I bother!?!

Anyway I’d recommend them. The white chocolate and cardamom sound gorgeous too so they’re next on my list of things to bake. I have been enjoying the results with my tea whilst knitting up a storm this afternoon.


Whilst waiting for more stocks of Debbie Bliss to finish off the endless journey that is the creation of my summer shrug, I’m going completely off-piste with the creation of my own pattern. Probably a stupid move for a novice, but I don’t enjoy patterns quite so much! I’m going for a kind of summer vest top, something  this one that I got some time ago...

I’m using a garter eyelet stitch to get lacy/ crocheted look (as I just cant crochet yet) and am kind of making it up as I go along.

So far its quite shlumpy feeling which I am taking to be a good sign. Hopefully I’ll be able to post the results up next week.

Frustrated Much!?!

Blogger has gone a lost loads of my comments! I'm gutted! I had loads of lovely comments from yesterday's 'Creative Space' that I was really looking forward to responding to - and now theres a big fat nothing! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

So if you did leave a message, thank you! I hope you arn't experiencing the same frustrations!

My Creative Space - Even MORE Buttons!

If you’ve ever visited my blog before, you might know that I’m a fan of buttons. And whats not to love?! Ranging from kitsch plastic funniness, to beautifully ornate vintage loveliness, there is a button for every occasion!

If you've never adventured here before, on Thisel and Bean so far, there have been buttons on cards, buttons as decoration, buttons as badges and broaches, buttons as eye candy, practical use buttons and many more.

So, this week as my machine is on a well deseverd break (its at the shop having the sewing machine version of a spa weekend) I have been ummming and arrring about what to do with my very bored hands. I was about to do another button sort (what can I say...its a compulsion – they are so pretty and you always find some gorgeous ones you had forgotten about!) when an oh so obvious thought popped into my head – I could MAKE some buttons!!! Perfect!

So i did....

Now I’ve never made buttons before, and admittedly it was all a little bit fiddly, but I’m pretty pleased with how they came out.

The Buttons all packaged up


Next time I’ll probably experiment with a few different types of material though: I used a reasonably thick cotton this time which created a bit of roucheing/folding around some of the edges (can you see that in the picture below?) which I would prefer to avoid in future, but I think its probably a trial and error thing. 

Nevertheless, I am now hooked – so expect plenty more buttons in the future!

To see more creative spaces go to the all new Our Creative Spaces.

And whilst you are over that way pop in on Kootoyoo - the original creative space to see where things are taking her these days...

Anglo Saxon Crafting – actually pretty cool!

Whilst I was away last weekend we happened to encounter an entire village of camping ‘Saxons’ and ‘Vikings’ who were basically doing re-enactment thing at Corfe Castle (Dorset)!?!

Whilst my rather judgemental side was inwardly giggling at the people who were giving up their whole bank holiday weekend to dress, sleep, eat and ‘role play’ like a people long gone, there was actually quite a lot of crafting going on that was pretty cool.

Two women in particular really impressed me.The first who was the weaving lady...

I watched her set up her weaving tools for about 15 minutes (imagine the worst wool spaghetti disaster and that was pretty much was she was contending with to set up), and then she used the blocks to act as some kind of loom. To make the patterns she twisted particular blocks.

It was very slow progress (about an inch per half an hour) and very hard work but the results were pretty good.

The second was the glass bead lady...

She’d done her PhD on Anglo Saxon glass wear and had spent tons of time trying to re-create the methods used to put colour in glass beads using iron, copper, tin etc.

Apparently the purples were the most difficult to get!?!  Amazing how these kind of beads are around everywhere right now and they were first being created hundreds of years ago! Love the colours.

Still - thats still a bit too much dedication to your craft for me!

Joining in with 'This Moment'

{this moment} – Hopefully a new friday ritual for me (when I remember anyway).

Over on the Soule Mama blog she encourages readers to put up 'A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember'.

To see more photos or if you’re inspired to do the same, visit  Soule Mama and leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to see.

My (Lazy) Creative Space

So it turns out that I’ve been enjoying holidays, time in the sun and family giggles too much to do any new crafting. Not that I'm complaining – I’ve had a couple of awesome bank holidays!

So instead here’s a belated post about the other bag (the one I said I’d put up at the weekend – oops!).

As you can see, its much closer to the ‘design’ I had originally had in my head, but it morphed into a summer tote bag instead. I put a zipped pocket on the inside of the bag and it is has a lovely 'not to big, but not to small' dimension to it.

I have mixed feelings about this one though: loving the blue and pink panels on the linen, but I decided to use all three of the Indian cottons I bought, including the orange one in the middle. Now I'm not quite so keen. It feels like the orange in the middle was a step to far. Mr T approves though, so we are divided on opinion! Not that it matters much as I’m probably too lazy to take it out again, but what do you reckon?

Orange in the middle - love or loath?

To see what other creative peops have been up to, pop along to Kootoyoo

Two weekends in a row!

What a luxury! I have just spent 2 weekends in a row enjoying unseasonably good weather (sun and warmth in April in the UK is almost unheard of. Would you believe it – I even broke into shorts!!!) in beautiful countryside/ beach surroundings with my entire family.

We had sooooo much fun...

We walked (many many walks) and talked, giggled until our sides and faces ached and ate tons of very tasty food. I loved every second!

As for that wedding, I don’t know about you, but I did end up watching it and thought the dress was lovely. I thought it was suitably regal on the bottom half and I LOVED the lace on the top half. Gorgeous! Mind you, now that every detail of the wedding has been on the TV and radio about 10 times over already I have more than reached saturation point. Enough said...