Hanmade in Cornwall

Hanmade in Cornwall

Friday 31 August 2012

recently...

Life is pretty busy, but here is a round up of what I have been up to recently...
 
 
So I have got back into crocheting, I have been making small flowers and playing around with different flowers
We went to a local abbey, with a picnic and then the sun came out!
Our sunflowers have finally come out, hooray! Its about 6 feet tall
Been picking lavender from the garden
Pansies are looking pretty
My daughter and I do lots of baking together, including these very chocolatey chocolate cookies, umm!

Thursday 30 August 2012

New crafty bits!

Look what I bought!
I splashed out and bought some coloured card (desperatly needed) and my first roll of washi tape. I have never used it before and seen it used in so many ways. So I went for it! I bought some purple checked tape. I haven't used it yet, but am looking forward to it!
 
 
Keep an eye out on what project I will make with my new washi tape!
Have you used washi tape before?
What proejcts have you used it for?

Monday 20 August 2012

Sewing programme

I am quite excited about applying for this

The makers of BBC Two's The Great British Bake Off are on the hunt for a new kind of talent.
Are you serious about sewing?
We're looking for amateur sewing enthusiasts to take part in a brand new TV series.
From skirts to shirts, blinds to bags, if you're at home behind a sewing machine and a dab hand with a needle and thread, we'd love to hear from you.
New sewing series is produced for the BBC by Love Productions

I am going to apply for fun! Why not ah?!
Apart of the application I will add a photo collage of some of my sewing projects that I have done.
Watch this space to see what I come up with!


If you want to see more info on this new programme click here

Hanmade birthday card

Its always fun to sew stright onto paper, I love it, as you may well know. I think it adds another element to anything your making whether its for your scrapbook or a greeting card, it look great.

I needed to make a birthday card for a special friend, so I whipped one together. I hope you like it!



Tuesday 14 August 2012

Hanmade scones: book club

We met together to talk about the thirtenth tale by Diane Setterfield and it was my turn to host. There are a couple of American ladies that are apart of the club, so usually the refreshments are a new tasty treat. I wanted to make something different and very English, so I got out my scone recipe and made some.
These are super easy and very tasty.


Ingredients
8 oz self raisng flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 oz butter plus extra for greasing
2 oz mixed fruit (I used cheeries for half the mix)
5 fl oz milk
3 tbsp milk to glaze

Preheat the over to 220C.
Stift together the four, salt, baking powder and sugar. Rub in the butter and add the fruit. Stir in
150 ml of milk using a round bladed knife and make a soft dough.
Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and lightly flatten the dough until it is of an even
thickness about 1cm. Do not be heavy handed, scones need a light touch.
Using a pastry cutter, cut out the scones and place on the prepared baking tray.
 Glaze with a little milk.
Bake in the preheated over for 10-12 minutes until golden and well risen.
Remove from the oven and coll on a colling rack. Serve freshly baked.

I am from Cornwall so any cream tea has to be served with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam. Scrummy! Wrap in a tea cloth hot until your guests arrive and cut some strawberries, perfect, enjoy!





Enjoy your cream tea!

Saturday 11 August 2012

Hanmade baby giraffe

I made this seriously cute baby giraffe as a baby gift for some friends who just had a baby. I wanted to make something different and quick and simple. So I came up with a giraffe shape and got stuffing!
See below for 10 simple steps to make your very own stuffed animal.






I used two contrasting fabrics, for the front and back. With three matching ribbons on one side. I added my hanmade badge on the leg.

Steps to making your stuffed animal...

1 Cut out a shape you want from some card
2 Draw it onto the wrong side of one piece of the fabric.
3 With two pieces of fabric together (the wrong sides together)
Fold the ribbons you want in half and add those into the seam. The folded part of the ribbon will end up being on the outside, but for now put them on the inside sadwiched between the fabric. With a gap between each ribbon.
4 Sew on the line that you drew. But don't sew completely round, leave a gap of about 4" if you can (on the straightest part)
5 Cut around the sewn edge
6 Turn the shape the correct way round
7 Sew a small eye in place
 8 Stuff the shape with wadding
9 Pin the gap closed
10 Hand sticth the opening with a double thread securly

Dadadaaa!

I hope you enjoyed making your stuffed animal, what next?!

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Mixed paper journal idea

I love reading the Creative place blog, full of creative ideas and how to's. The lady who writes it Ashley also has a small online shop where you can buy some of her paper journals.
I have never made my own journal as I scrapbook using my photos, but there is something about it that I like, maybe its all the pretty papers. I have made something similar for a friend before, but to have something already made that you can write in and add pages, seems like a nice idea.

I found this journal that she has just added to her shop and I like it. Go here to check out her shop
Here are a few sample pages from her packs...






Isn't this a cute journal?! I like the use of envelopes and its always interesting to see what embellishments people use.
So you might see me make a journal soon!... maybe.

Have you ever made your own journal?

Monday 6 August 2012

new Hanmade!

Welcome to this new day and a new look for my blog! It is something I have been meaning to do for a while.
I wanted to make it bright and not too cluttered and colourful. I hope you find it easy to get your way round and enjoy reading.

So what craftiness are you up to this week?
I have some curtains to alter for a friend and start planning a craft fair I am going to in the autumn - more of this another time.

Have a good day!

Saturday 4 August 2012

New Fabric!

Hooray for new fabric! I love it!

I was given these small pieces of fabric. They are so nice. And I have a few ideas of what I am going to do with them.

Take a look...




Whats your latest project?


Thursday 2 August 2012

Hanmade thank you's

I made lots of thank you cards recently. They are really simple, if you didn't know I like sewing onto paper and card! I also made some envelopes. Here are a few that might help you be inspired!











For the insert I sewed the paper inside rather than glueing - just because I can!
To make the envelopes: fold a large piece of paper (I used wallpaper) around the card. With the card inside and already written, fold the two edges around the card and sew the edges together.
Simple and unique.

Have fun sewing some cards!

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Handmade wedding

Life has been busy and the most excitng recent thing, is my little sister got married! It was a lovely day and the sun shone.
They had made some pretty things for the day and I thought you might like to see, so here you go...

 The bride wore beautiful colourful shoes, why not?!
 Flowers, including, roses, thistles, gerberas. So pretty.
 The tables, everyone had a small paper sewn pouch with sweets and a small personalised note inside.

 Table plan

 Table decorations, including pot plants, the pots painted in colour paint. Blackboard signs with table numbers on. Roll of wallpaper down the centre of each table. Simple and effective.
 Tea cups for the toasts, about 180 tea cups collected. Thats alot of tea cups!



 Dessert table, handmade desserts made by the brides friends.