Handmade cards

I haven't made cards for a while but since I'm on a money saving kick at the moment, I thought I'd make the most of my crafty skillz and hoard collection of pretty collected scrap papers. I bought the plain card backs and matching envelopes off Ebay years ago now, for about £3 for 12 I seem to remember.  Bargain!



Chicken from recycled wrapping paper for Mary Jane from Paper Blossom Stationary.  You should definitely check out her Etsy shop, she's got some super cute stationary over there!



First birthday card from recycled Where's Wally books for Heather's baby, Alma.  I sewed the balloon with wool from my stash.



New home card for Victoria from work.  Maybe it's a bit morbid using vintage Cluedo cards on a new home card? 



And as always, my crafting buddy.  Nothing gets done without his nose being involved.

Christmas presents - the penultimate chapter

I think this is the second-to-last installment of the Christmas presents posts, the last one will be Vicky's skirt but I can't do the big reveal until she's opened the parcel (it's winging it's way to you even as we speak love!). 

These were made for 3 of my friends' babies, I managed to catch these little guys on camera before they flew the coop to meet their new little buddies.  They were another stash make, which is always satisfying, though I think in the future using real felt, rather than felted jumpers, is the better option for the facial features.  Real felt gives a much cleaner edge, you can see the first monster's features are a bit more 'fluffy' round the edges.







See those fluffy edges?

You can tell the difference between photographs, I made the first guy back in September when the sun shone every so often!  Also the difference between taking time to make and photograph presents when you're organised and starting months beforehand vs. rushing to photograph and wrap before instantly giving away when you leave it to the last minute.



This little dude has a pocket, for all his monster possessions



This guy's face looks a bit Clockwork Orange, don't you think?

So far I've had good feedback, apparently the babies like to rub their faces on them, which was kind of my idea, I thought they might appreciate the soft, fluffy fake fur.  It made me want to rub my face on it to be honest!

Christmas presents part 5

This was an upcycling make, turning a friend's final year vet jacket into a coat for her dog.  Alison graduated and went back to the States, so was limited in what she could take back with her.  I fished this jacket out of the charity shop pile, thinking it would be too sentimental to give away but with no fixed plan of what to do with it.  After a month or two of pondering, I settled on a dog coat for Pickle.  I already had a template I knew would fit her since I traced one of her coats to make Badger's rain jacket.



I stupidly didn't take a 'before' picture, but the coat was almost identical to this one, with the logos and name tags across the chest.





We each had the option to buy them in final year, it's sort of a badge of honour as only final years get them, but I'll be honest, I didn't like mine at all.  It's that horrid blousy design that makes me look short and fat, it basically only looked good on tall slim guys so most of us looked ridiculous in them.  I'm keeping mine because I'm silly and sentimental but it's definitely going to be a 'throw on to take the compost out' type jacket, I won't be wearing it outside of the house any time soon.



The dog helped by licking his wanger on top of the jacket while I was trying to cut it out





I'm pleased with how this turned out, the waterproof material was a complete bitch to sew, it kept slipping around all over the place but at the same time, kept sticking to the needle and machine so it wouldn't go through smoothly.  There are a few slightly bodged areas but nothing too horrendous and since it's for a dog, I'm sure Pickle won't notice!

Christmas presents part 4

These are some terrible photos, so apologies, but I finished this one and had to instantly wrap it for Christmas.  It's based on Adventures in Dressmaking's faux fur snood tutorial, it's super simple to make and I'm pleased with the results!



I made this one smaller than the original, with the thought that it could be worn as a snood or headband.  I'm a bit worried it might be a bit small for the intended recepient, it was a bit snug on me but I think I have a reasonably chunky head.  All those brains or something...



I'd like to make one for myself, it would be great for walking the dog in style.  Especially since I got fancy Hunters for Christmas!



I like that you could make this in a range of colours, I really liked Suzannah's original in leopard print!

We got engaged!

Just a quick announcement as it's Andrew's last day in York for a little while...we got engaged!  He proposed on New Year's Eve at midnight and I burst into tears and said yes before he even got the chance to get the words out.  It was a lovely start to 2013.

Source: secondfiddlecrafts.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Just so it's not a completely picture-less post (let's face it, none of you are here for the quality journalism), here are a few inspiration pictures I've been hoarding as potential wedding dresses.  I'm hoping to buy something vintage so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled over the next 18 months or so, we're hoping to get married in autumn of 2014.

Source: jeweledelegance.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

I'm so delighted!  Although it's a strange thought to think I'll be Mrs Amy Dyce, 'Mrs Dyce' is his mum's name...