New Storage Baskets

Introducing my new range of storage baskets. I feel very much like I have gone full circle with these baskets as portable toy storage containers were one of the first things I started selling when I opened my first shop online. I'm not really sure why I stopped making them as they were always very popular, but somehow and somewhere down the line baby bibs took over! But now they are back! The collection ranges from baskets to match the most popular of my baby gift sets for use as storage in a baby's nursery or child's bedroom to baskets like the Glitter Gold' one and the 'Black and White Monochrome' that would not only fit into a stylish modern nursery but would also not look out of place on a dressing table, in a hall filled with post and keys to your living one. Made using a selection of cotton and linen fabrics all the baskets have a white lining and a natural linen base. They are available now to buy from my shop.

Favourite Finds

Image credits: clockwise from top left lmkremer, TheBlueberryElephant, RGideas, MarinskiHandmades, BagDoRi,

Some of my favourite finds on Etsy.

• Wonderland T-shirt from Imkremer retro inspired clothing for kids. This shop is colourful. I really wish I'd found it when my children were still babies!
• Wool baby booties by The Blueberry Elephant another shop I wish I had discovered when my children were young. The colours of the woollen goodies in this shop are beautiful, Anja obviously has a real eye for colour. The layout is stunning such a gorgeous feast for the eyes.
• Knee high knitted socks by RGideas these look amazing. I've liked so many of the items in this shop. And if it doesn't warm up soon I think I will have to treat myself to these socks or maybe the leg warmers!
• Ceramic Bowl from Marinski Handmades this is a gorgeous shop filled with sweet hand painted bowls and ceramic jewellery.
• Yellow Backpack by BagDoRi now I really don't need another backpack, or do I! This shop is full of practical, modern bags to tempt!

I keep telling myself that I should be thinking of spring but I'm finding it difficult, what with the horrendous weather we have been having of late. I've started working with some lovely yellow fabrics but keep getting drawn back to my pile of greys! Well the colour does match the sky outside! I've even found myself back window shopping for warm cosy woollens, thinking that a pair of knitted knee high socks like the ones above wouldn't be a bad idea for this weather! Oh come on Spring hurry up and come!

On my Sewing Table - New Baby Bibs

I have added a few new baby bibs to my shop, they can be found here. I am not sure now why I thought adding new stock at Christmas would be a good idea, especially as the light levels are so low at the moment which makes taking decent photos of items that bit more difficult! I have had an amazing busy few weeks, which I am so grateful for but it does mean that my shop is looking a little bare! I am now unable to replace gift sets as they sell out, so if there is something you like now could be the time to buy it!

I wish you a Sunny Winter!

Yellow Lady Long Maxi Dress ... Lilyfashionsho... $79.99	bandit boy handmade soft scu... eviebarrow $65	VINTAGE COFFEE GRINDER - Wo... RedChiliPepper... $29	Alice in Wonderwall Meuadoraveligl... $29
Baby Bib and Burp Cloth Set ... acraftyhen $23	1960s Lunch Box / Vintage Fl... 86home $49.3	Toddler and Youth Girls Yell... CharlieandMeDe... $48	1960s Purse. Handbag. Mad Me... gogovintage $22
Cocktail pouch - Geometric d... octopurse $57.6	Crochet Cowl - Lacey Croche... LumiStyle $50	Mustard Mod Style dress with... MotekShop $149	Homework Leather Pencil Case presentandcorr... $30
heart shaped pottery bowl, m... karoArt $23	Handmade Fabric Letter P -12... Forestgirldesi... $32	Two pocket multi Backpack (Y... BagDoRi $60	Mustard, Cat Sitter, Mustard... thecattsuglyba... $22

What a lovely bright and sunny treasury to have my Baby Bib and Burp Cloth featured in. I rather like the cocktail pouch and the 1960's lunch box! Thank you to Hadas for finding such lovely items! You can find my baby gift set here.

Handmade Christmas: Greeting Cards

Image credits: Angela Smyth, Ashley Phal, Draw Abiding Citizen, Man vs George, Seeing Stars.

With only days to go until December now is a good time to start thinking of writing those Christmas Cards. For those of you that haven't yet bought the cards (that includes me!) here is just a small selection of the wonderful cards that can be found on handmade sites like Etsy, Not on the high street, and Folksy. For more handmade gift ideas take a look at my other Handmade Christmas selections.

1. Pack of five 'Crap Cat' Christmas Cards by a very talented artist Angela Smyth whose facebook page is worth having a look at as well.

2. 'All I want for Christmas' card by Ashley Phal whose Etsy shop is filled with wonderful papercut stationery.

3. 'Fairy Light Deer Christmas Card' by Draw Abiding Citizen which is a fairly new shop on Folsky. I have treated myself to this card as decoration! 

4. 'Cardinals in Snowy Tree' by Man vs George, a great modern greeting card with an added bonus of a another design on the flip side! This card comes in a set I also love their Retro Red Scandinavian Reindeer card set.

5. 'Penguin Card' by Seeing Stars. This is a lovely shop on Etsy, her work reminds me slightly of the artist Eric Carle whose books and illustrations my children adore. I have my eye on some of her prints especially this Lightning Bug print.

I'm back off to my sewing machine to get today's orders done. Please check back tomorrow to see what offer I have in store for 'Black Friday' - 'Cyber Monday'!

On My Sewing Table...............

It's been a busy few weeks and it doesn't look like it's going to let up, well not just yet anyway! I finally finished two custom baby blankets. 
One using my favourite deer fabric mixed with lots of grey and mustard prints. I was so happy with it and could have quite happily kept it! 
And in my excitement and hurry to get it sent out to its new owner completely forgot to photograph it finished along with the other blanket! 
Yes I could kick myself!! It's also been a busy time for baby gift sets, there are a few new ones in my shop and also lots of favourites in stock!

Handmade Christmas: Stocking Fillers

 Image credits. 1.Minifanfan 2.FionaT 3.KatieFew 4.Weegallery 5.ColourMeFun 6.KraKra 7.MosseryCo

One of the things that I struggle with when it comes to gift buying for Christmas is finding stocking fillers for my children. Managing to find small, relatively inexpensive items, yet worthwhile gifts can be difficult, and you can usually find me Christmas Eve in my local toy shop with a last minute handful of plastic bits and bobs that I know full well will end up discarded on the floor of their bedroom by the end of Christmas. So in an attempt to a: find gifts that will be enjoyed and cherished and b: support small handmade businesses here is my third part in my 'Handmade Christmas' series - Stocking Fillers.

1.  Sticker Set by Minifanfan on Etsy this shop is full of quirky stickers described by the maker as 'Happy Drawing for Happy People' and I completely agree!
2. Ninja Bookmark by Fiona T on folksy. An amazing unique shop full of zombies and ninja's what more can young boys want!
3. Apple Compact Mirror by Katie Few perfect for girls of any age including mums!
4. Forest Tattoos by Wee Gallery I can imagine these going down very well with my kids. Wee Gallery is a lovely shop on Etsy as well as temporary tattoos there are baby art cards and rubber stamps that also look very good.
5. Monkey Crayons by Colour Me Fun, a jam packed shop on folksy full of different crayons perfect for your little artist!
6. Wee Bird by KraKra I can imagine one of these poking out of my daughters stocking. It is well worth checking out this lovely colourful shop, especially her dolls, this one is my favourite.
7. 'We are all here' pocket notebook by Mossery Co. Stationery items go down very well with my kids and especially notebooks. They happily spend hours writing in them, filling them with drawings and stickers. 
My 8year old boy has a little stack of notebooks by him at night and I find it fascinating to see what he has drawn in them in the morning!   

If you have any ideas for handmade stocking fillers I would love to hear about them. 

On my sewing table.......

This week it's all been about catching up with orders, including an order to a stockist. It's nice to occasionally batch sew. It gives you a chance to build up a rhythm, all the cutting can be done, then the sewing up of the bib fronts, then attaching the towelling, etc. It gives you a chance to build up a bit of speed as it cuts out the stopping and starting. It is also very satisfying when you end up with a pile of bibs at the end of the production line! 
This pile of bibs have gone off to Inside Out a lovely shop who are now stocking a great range of goodies from smaller handmade businesses like myself along side items from Cath Kidston and Orla Kiely in their stores in Tavistock, Exeter and Dartmoor. 
I always find though after concentrating on sewing one item that I am desperate to let my creative juices flow! So expect lots of new gift sets to start appearing in my shop next week!

Handmade Christmas: In the Woods

 Image credits 1.2of2, 2.Inkkit, 3. Gunnaydri, 4.Lessandmore, 5. Peacelovebeach

Second part of my series 'Handmade Christmas' where I am featuring items made with love and passion by independent small businesses, like myself. This week 'In the Woods'. Gift ideas for me, for the gardener in my life, a stocking filler for my little artist and ideas for the rustic home.

1. A Tabletop Forest by 2of2 a very talented brother and sister design team.
2. Twig Pencils by Inkkit, a pretty stationery and packaging shop on Etsy
3. A Scandianvain Retro Deer Cushion from Gunnaydri, on Etsy and based in London. I love this shop and would be happy to have any of it as a gift!
4. A Tealight holder/Seed starter holder by Lessandmore. Their desk organizers are amazing too! 
5. Modern metal Bird Cuff/Bracelet by Peace love beach. I am deeply in love with the jewellery in this shop, and have about five of Beth's cuffs on my Christmas wish list!

Fabric Post

Fabric post has got to be one of the best types of post to drop through your letter box! And I've been eagerly awaiting this pile of goodies.
The strawberry and clover prints are from Heather Ross's Briar Rose collection, which is just beautiful and the other four prints will mean lots more organic cotton gift set and bibs coming very soon to 'a crafty hen'.

Handmade Christmas: Cosy Knits

Image credits 1. InnerWild 2.Sally Nencini, 3. Oeuf, 4. Homelab, 5. Moaningminnie

I have spent the last couple weeks getting ready for my son's birthday which is at the end of the week. I will then quickly turn my attentions to my daughters birthday which is a couple of weeks later. My OH also celebrates his birthday in November, so I feel it's impossible to even think about the big 'C' until after these events! But Christmas (there I said it) is coming, and quickly! One of the problems of celebrating birthdays towards the end of the year is that I usually use up all of my gift ideas on the birthdays and then draw a blank when it comes to Christmas. 
I also like to support small businesses like myself and buy handmade items where possible. Even with my boys who are star wars and lego obsessed I try and balance it out with handmade gifts. So I thought I would start up a new series of weekly blog posts featuring items I have found and liked, ideas for myself, for the home, for the kids and not forgetting men who can be so difficult to buy for! So here it is my first 'Handmade Christmas' feature this week featuring 'Cosy Knits' which seems very appropriate considering the temperature drop here in the UK!

1. Gorgeous fingerless gloves by InnerWild a lovely shop based in Scotland and selling on Etsy

2. Knitted Lambswool Tapestry Cushions by Sally Nencini, found on 'Not on the High Street

3. Eye Mittens for kids by Oeuf, perfect for playing peek a boo!

4. Legwarmers by Homelab, I've had my eye on these for a while, along with other items in her shop on Etsy 

5. Men's Neckwarmers by Moaning Minnie bought as a present for my OH last year, I can highly recommend.

 

On my Sewing Table.............

A customer order has been easing me back into sewing this week. 

I love the baby gift sets that she has chosen. The colours sit so happily together.  

I'm hoping by this time next week I'll have my shops back open as the school and preschool routine returns. It's going to be hard to settle back into the routine though as I enjoy having the kids around and I miss then so much when they go back to school, but I am looking forward to getting my mornings back at my sewing machine. 

I've already been pulling out fabrics that I want to start sewing with.
My head is so full of new ideas. Such a perfect way to keep myself occupied!