....and now for something completely different........

A short while a go a lovely lady approached me for a custom make. Being an avid fan of Harry Potter and needing a cover to go with her kindle she decided to combine the two. The design was up to myself, the only stipluation was that the word "lumos" should appear somewhere on the cover. Designing long distance is not  easy but it is do'able due to the marvels of modern day technology and helped by having a such a nice person to deal with. So there was many a communication whizzing back and forth across the Atlantic.

Suggesting designs......

......and materials.......

.......and then by jove the actual thing!

 




Harry's glasses were the obvious choice, embellished with a little gold thread......

 


....a cosy lining to protect the precious gadget......

........and a button and loop fastening to hold it all in place.

It got me thinking about the last scene of the last HP movie, you know the bit where the three main characters stood in the ruins of Hogwarts. I know for some people it was the end of an era, certainly for those three. I watched it with a tear in my eye.

So a little spark was lit, linking kindle covers to characters or quotes from books, should keep me busy for a bit.

Anyway it's Handmade Monday today and with a bit of luck I might make it over there just in time. I look forward to savouring all of those lovely crafty blogs.

Hints, Wrinkles and Kindle - ness

Good morning. I've been meaning to share this with you for a bit. When Dad had his 'sort out' one of the things I became custodian of was this little book.....

The Book of Hints and Wrinkles

Published in the early 1930's it is the most amazing piece of modern social history. It's basically a guide to running the home and I've been chuckling away and doing a few 'flippin' hecks' as I've been working my way through it. I won't bore you with too many at once, perhaps just share a few with you over the next few weeks.

First of all ladies let me draw your attention to the 'Daily Routine Time table' and the 'Daily Cleaning Routine'

Where does it say, "Sit down now with a nice relaxing cuppa?"

Chop. chop ladies, not finished yet......

I think that's enough now....don't you?

For those of you who might wonder what the 10:30am 'Special Work' entails allow me to enlighten....

The fortnightly turn out

Could I ever be,....... would I ever want to be, this organised!?

I don't know about you but I'm worn out just reading it all. Labour saving devices or not this is a pretty hefty workload for the SAHM of the 1930's - don't you agree?

Other enticing snippets include 'The Management of Young Children' (said in my best 'Maggie Smith as the Downton Dowager Countess' voice), advice on 'The Laundry' and 'Room layouts' but I'll save those for another day......

.......because...... rather than cleaning my windows with newspaper and ammonia yesterday, .....I was making these in stead. More Kindle covers off to Folksy and Etsy land

Some with boats.......

..........or little houses.

Flowers.......

.......and hearts

..............and of course a cuppa and a cake.

Enjoy your weekend everyone. I can't believe another week has passed already, can you? x

Tea Cosies, Decisions and Movember

Good morning everyone and a very warm welcome to a couple of new followers. Before I start I'd like to know who is switching the lights off in the mornings, isn't it grim?!!

I was busy beavering away making tea cosies yesterday and I thought you might like to see.....


Had lots of fun thinking.......

.......snipping and placing .......

and sewing ........

.......a pink one...

and a red gingham one........

............and a little house one.

All now listed in Folksy. My needlecases have been popular and so todays' chores are to make a fresh batch but there again, I also received a nice big box in the post a few days ago

inside were these.......

...........and so I need to put them to good use as well. Decisions, decisions.


Before I bid you farewell, spare a thought for me won't you as I'm having to put up with this at the moment....

....well I'm not, my hubby is (tee hee). Whilst I'm all for supporting a good cause, why did he have to go for the 'trucker special'!! Seriously though I am very proud of him and after galavanising his work colleagues they've managed to raise a few hundred so far. Well done OHx

Speaking of good things why not pop over to Pickle Lily's blog, she's got a giveaway on at the moment and it's one not to be missed.

That's all for now, but do come back tomorrow when I can share with you what I gave to my friend for her birthday. I'm going out tonight to help her to celebrate and I know she sometimes dips into this blog so I can't show you just yet.

Have a lovely weekend and massive thank you to you all for visiting this week, I've loved reading your comments and your blogs and really appreciate my bloggy mates!

Beach Hut - Fabric Picture

One little beach hut all by itself

Hang it on a wall

Or put it on a shelf

Do you know someone

Who likes beach huts?

Best get on to Folksy

Before the shop shuts :)

Short and sweet today.

See you tomorrow x





Pink linen teacup - now available in Kindle flavour!!

Yesterday was the first day I have felt 'a little bit Christmassy'. With my folks staying with me at the moment and warming fires at either end of the house, I could be forgiven for getting that Christmassy tingle, couldn't I?

All of this cosiness set the right atmosphere for a little making, so here it is......
A little make to share with you, just about to go into my shops.

Luscious pink linen ........

.......vintage bark cloth lining......

......pearlised button

.......and a cared for Kindle

Visit my Folksy or Etsy shops to find out more. More Kindle Covers are on their way but if you have one in mind contact me direct, I'd love to help you out.

Have a great day

Embroidery feet - Compare and contrast

I have a confession to make, I ordered another embroidery foot, well two actually - shock, horror, well I'll go to the bottom of our garden!!! 

If you've followed this blog from the start (first of all well done and thank you for hanging on in there!!!) you may remember that I started my embroidery adventure with this little chap.....






Old faithful




My new ones are slightly different in that they are spring loaded and .....this one has a larger foot.....






Large metal foot



......whereas this one has a clear plastic foot.



Transparent foot




I thought it would be interesting to compare them in a sort of Gadget show meets the Which report fashion - Well ok, maybe not, just me, on my lonesome, crouched over my machine, with a coffee, playing.



All were straightforward to attach to the machine.

....and held the fabric well as I sewed, but of the three it is my most recent purchase which I prefer as I found it was easier to see the stitching as I was sewing .......




Large metal foot - my favourite!!


......and it really did effortlessly hold down the fabric pieces when I was doing a little applique work. (I don't like using heat and bond that much.) 

You'll notice that two have metal feet. I tried to use one with a plastic foot and therefore supposedly easier to see your work.....





I found it quite hard to follow my stitching through the plastic


........but to be honest, I found the visibility was much better with my large metal foot. But that's just a personal choice I guess.


I just thought I would share these fascinating Friday facts with you, just in case you are about to try a little free motion stitching yourself. I know there are a trillion and one sewing machine feet out there but hopefully you'll find some of this useful.

So marks out of 10?  Old faithful - 6/10, Clear Plastic - 3/10, Large metal foot - 9/10 (because you can always improve)

I bought my favourite foot from seweasy who I used to service my machines this year but they also have an ebay shop should you wish to peruse.

Fireworks on Saturday!!! and then I've got my folks coming to stay for a few days and they're bringing down a few things they thought I might like.........??!!?**!!!

Thanks for coming to say hello this week, I've loved reading your comments and have tried to get back to you all. Thanks for your sympathy regarding my sewing machine, which magically seems to have decided to 'play nicely' again, don't really know what went wrong there but a sentence involving the words 'workman' and 'tools' springs to mind.

 



Have a great weekend and stay safe x