Flashback Friday - Bunting and Tea Cosies

I love scrolling through iPhoto looking for inspiration for my Flashback Friday posts. I am reminded of  Jacob and Ruby's baby and toddler years and my past sewing projects. There is such a difference from the first items I made back in 2007 to the things that I make now. I would not have dreamed of making a parrot costume then.

Today it is mostly tea cosies and bunting that have caught my eye.

The tea cosies are made out of old jumpers and are adorned with appliqué and buttons.

The Bumble Tea Cosy is one of the first ones I made and it live's with my friend Lou. I think I could make a much better one now and will get round to it one day. If anyone has a yellow and black/grey striped jumper that is heading for the charity shop think of me!

These two are from 2010 and made out of Gap jumpers. Caroline Childerly, did you give one of these a home?

I think this beach hut cosy is one of my favourites. It was double sided and made at the end of 2011 as part of my "Brighton" collection.

I have lost count of the number of metres of bunting I have sewn over the last six years but I am guessing in excess of 100! Here are some of my favourites...

Camping bunting with appliquéd tents.

 Custom orders of personalised memory bunting.

Both of these sets were made using baby/toddler clothes that had been saved by the Mummy's.

And very cool Batman and Thomas bunting!

This one is my personal favourite and lives on our Bell Tent in the summer months!

Do you give any of these a home?

Craft in Progress

We've had a crafty start to the week...

It began with a trip to Fiveways Arts and Crafts yesterday morning to buy fabric paints and cartridge paper for today's craft plans. The rest of the afternoon was spent helping my friend Selena tissue paper a willow UFO for this year's Children's Parade.

Last night I sat under a blanket by the radiator drinking tea, peeping at the snow outside, watching Being Human on the iPlayer and starting an Easter wreath. Chris makes the Christmas wreath and I have been so inspired by all of the spring wreaths on Pinterest that I decided to make an Easter one.

It's a craft in progress!

My vision of a peaceful Tuesday afternoon linocut printing was disrupted by the kids being off school on a snow day. Rather than shelving my plans till next week I let them join in. 

As they are both obsessed with how far away Easter is we started making some decorations. They both drew Easter designs on Lino that I cut it out for them. This is Jacob's egg:

Ruby chose yellow ink and had a great time making about 6 sheets of prints. She picked up the process really quickly and had her own counting system for the length of time she spent rolling the Lino. We decided that counting to 100 each time was probably too long, especially as it was me doing the counting.

I was amazed by how much Jacob enjoyed it. He can be a reluctant crafter sometimes. Begrudgingly starting something to find he gets really into it after a while. The printing held his attention for a whole afternoon and he now has some lovely prints and posters that he is planning to decorate the house with.

I printed some more owls, this time in different colours. I love the yellow on the white paper background. I'm not sure about it on the fabric though. I think the fabric paints I have used were not the right consistency for what I needed. I'll read a bit more of this book before I have another go.

Some of the blue prints will be on their way to you soon Sara Brown!

The last project that I have on the go is making a little case for my Lino tools. It's cut and ready to go, I just need half an hour at my sewing machine...

 What projects have you got on the go?

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there it's a Disney kind of day!

We're back from an awesome time at Disneyland Paris. I now have a Sheriff for a son and a daughter with an ambition to be a Disney Princess and a Doctor at Disneyland. Chris has gone back to work and I have a load of unpacking and washing to do.

Before I make a start on it I wanted to get back to my blog and share some things with you. I wasn't expecting to find that much crafty inspiration whist we were away but there some bits and pieces that caught my eye. If you would like to see some of my other photo's check out my instagram!

We stayed at the Hotel Cheyenne which is set in a western village. Jacob has decided that he wants a cowboy themed bedroom. Which is slightly easier than the zebra theme he has been certain about for 18 months. Below is the wallpaper from the hotel bathroom. I'm now trying to work out all of my orignal ideas for his room to fit in the new brief. Yee haa!

Inside the park itself I was very excited to see lots of owl statues at the castle. I think my favourite Disney owl moment is in Bambi when the owl swoops down and the whole screen fills with his eyes. It used to frighten Jacob when he was two. I loved the tiles on the outside of the castle. Fired Earth do some that I would love on the chimney breast in my living room.  

In the queue for the "Meet a Disney Princess" attraction there are murals of each princess castle. I really like the sun, clouds and the way the sky is made up of different sections of blue. At the end of the queue Jacob and Ruby met Cinderella and I think it made Ruby's trip :) I was very excited. 

The castle at Disneyland Paris is based on Sleeping Beauty and there is a huge stained glass window displaying the story. There are also some tapestries continuing the story in sections where there aren't any windows. I've been into tapestry for a while now, I received some 1970's Golden Hands magazines  from a lady on Freecycle and they are full of interesting pieces of needlework that I love looking at.

Another owl on a pillar. Woo

 

I can't do a Disney post without Mickey and Minnie! We met them on Monday and they were being very cheeky!

Wordless Wednesday