HM@No27 - My December Makes

Happy New Year everyone!!

I know it's a little late but Martin and I have been struck down with heavy colds since New Year's Eve and 2017 hasn't actually started as normal for us.

There have been no lists, no plans, no goals or objectives and, safe to say, when I've not been coughing or sleeping, I've been feeling just a little purposeless.

So, today was the day that I fought back. Enough slobbing around feeling sorry for myself, time to get this year started, with my first post of the New Year.

There have been quite a few makes I've been having to hold off from sharing with you as they were made as surprise Christmas gifts, but now the big day has been and gone I can finally let you see what I've been up to.

Crocheted Cushion
This crocheted cushion is something I've been working on periodically since the beginning of the year and I was so pleased to have it finished in time for Christmas.
I bought the wool at the same time as I started this strawberries and cream one that I did last year, so it has definitely been a case of a marathon rather than a sprint with this one.

Christmas Stockings
Last year I was inundated with orders for personalised Christmas stockings. Fortunately it wasn't quite so crazy busy with these this year and I didn't have to turn anybody away.

Button Art
This button art 'L' was another make as a Christmas gift for a little girl who's had her bedroom decorated with wallpaper covers in buttons. How cool is that? I am sure it will give a really bright pop of colour.

Snow Families
I'd seen a tutorial for these 'sock' snowmen on Pinterest and had been hoping to have made some in time to have on the Christmas craft stalls, but never got round to it.

Just before Christmas I decided to have a go at them and I'm really pleased with how they turned out and ended up giving them as gifts to friends and family.

I will definitely be making more of these this year, so keep an eye out.

 

Taggy Blanket
Another make I've been meaning to have a go at for a while. I finally got round to putting one of these together for my lovely new nephew Bobby for Christmas. I am certain that these will be another returning make for this year.

and last but by no means least ...

Wooden necklace and bracelet set
It's actually been a little while since I've made any jewellery at all and, even longer since I've made anything using wooden beads. This set was my first attempt at a necklace and I'm really please with how it's turned out.

So that's it from Hand Made at Number 27 for another year. December 2016 was busier than December 2015 which was great news and, as I started with my Christmas makes earlier for 2016, it wasn't quite so hectic, which I was very thankful for.

I'm looking forward to a bit of a lull now for a few months, but do have a few orders to be going on with, so I will be making the most of this quiet time, but there will be plenty more to come for 2017, so please do keep reading.

HM@No27 - My August Makes

After a few quieter months, it's now looking like Hand Made at Number 27 is going to be busy in the run up to Christmas, and I thought it might be interesting to do a post about my makes for the month.

For those of you who follow me on Facebook you may have already seen them on my Facebook page, but those of you not on Facebook hopefully it will make for an interesting post.

So, here goes for August ...

Tooth Fairy Pillows
It's actually been a while since I've made any of these and I had an order for four from a lovely lady, to use as Christmas gifts.

Here are pictures of two of them, one for a girl and one for a boy. It always amazes me how many different options of design there are for these and these two are both brand new ...
These pillows are just great for hanging in a child's bedroom. When a wobbly tooth falls out, it just gets popped in the pocket on the pillow and the tooth fairy can easily swap it for a reward at the dead of night. So no more worrying about waking up a little sleepyhead whilst fishing around under the pillow.

I just love the unicorn fabric I've used for Pollyanna's pillow and Robert is a fan of Formula 1, so hopefully he will like these racing cars.

Pollyanna's pillow is backed with a small pink and white gingham fabric and Robert's the blue cloudy fabric.

Dog Walking Pouch
For the same lady, who is clearly very organised, I have made a dog walking pouch in this lovely white, pink and turquoise Scottie dog fabric ...

It's lined in pink and white gingham, has some ribbon and button detailing and comes with a wrist strap with lobster claw swivel clip, so perfect for clipping onto a belt loop when out walking the pooch.

It's just the right size for a few of those little bags that dog walkers take everywhere, a few treats, the house keys and maybe even your phone.

Clearly, it doesn't have to be used just as a dog walking pouch, it would also be handy for keeping all your bits and pieces together in your handbag.



Stretchy Beaded Bracelet
Finally, to finish off this lovely lady's gift shopping with Hand Made at Number 27 I've made this bracelet for a lady that just loves elephants.

It's made up in white howlite semi precious stone beads, with silver tone daisy spacers and finished off with a Made with Love and elephant charm ...








Doggy Bandanas
Following my recent Rag Market haul of Christmas fabric I've made a start on a large order of doggy bandanas for a local dog grooming business. I've still got a long way to go on this order, but I'm really pleased with how this gingerbread man fabric is sewing up ...
I've just got another 196 of these to make, so I'm sure you will be seeing more of these next month.

Papercut Picture Frames
My next make is for an order that I took at the Chancel Primary School Summer Carnival back in the Summer, where we had the craft stall on show.

Of all the makes I had available, would you believe that two lovely ladies both really wanted the same thing, of which I only had one. Fortunately one was happy to wait. She was after one of my heart papercut frames in the Sweet Paris papers, so I've made another up. I also thought I'd have a go at doing the same thing but in butterflies. What do you think?
Christmas Mini Bunting
Another Christmas order that I've made a start on is for some of this lovely Christmas mini bunting, which will look great used as a garland on the Christmas tree, or for decking the fireplace. I've got another order for some of this is some green Christmassy fabric, which hopefully I will be able to show you next month ...
You may notice some small green Christmas stockings in the middle picture, these are a work in progress and will end up as quilted tree decorations. I should definitely have some of these finished to show you for September's makes.

Mini i-Pad Case
And finally, for August, one of my friends asked me if I could make her a fabric case for her mini i-Pad. Well, it's something I'd never done before but decided to give it a go and here it is ...
I-pad not included, I'm afraid! I'm really pleased with how this has turned out and already have orders for two more, one for a full size i-Pad, so I shall have fun trying to adapt my pattern.

So, that's it for August, it's been quite busy over here and I've still got plenty to go at during September, including some pretty darn cute crocheted baby bootees, so watch out for next monthly makes post at the beginning of October.

And that my Friends ...... was 2015!

Hi there everyone

Well, here we are ... Almost at the end of another year, how quickly they seem to pass.

I've had a bit of a blog break this week, Martin and I have just felt really lazy and have made the most of that chill out time, between Christmas and New Year, by not doing very much at all.

I do have lots to tell you about though, including our family Christmas break In Yorkshire, a Christmas wedding and an update on where I am with my list of 50 things to do before I'm 60 so look out for my usual Monday posts, which should be back on track from next week.

It seems that this time of year it's 'de rigeur' in the bloggersphere to take stock and do a bit of a review of the most popular posts of the year, so, not wanting to be left out, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.

So here we go .... In reverse order .... the 10 (well, actually it's 11) most popular posts on Life of Pottering for 2015 ....

In joint 10th place you liked my holiday cottage reviews of The Rest and The Haybarn, two of the holiday cottages that we stayed in this year, both in the lovely Peak District.

In close competition for 9th & 8th most popular posts were two posts from our holiday in The Cairngorms.  You liked reading about our visits to Royal Deeside, in particular, Balmoral and Ballater.

Then we had my post about our visit to Sudbury Hall, A National Trust property that we had been meaning to visit for years, but never seemed to have the time to stop whilst passing.

The 6th most popular post this year was my list of the 50 things I want to do before I'm 60, an update on this will be posted over the next few weeks, so you can see how I am getting on.

Then we have one of my first posts of 2015, A Crafty Hand Made Christmas, where I shared my new bracelet making efforts with you.

In 4th place is another travel post, back in Derbyshire, with our wander around Leek.

In 3rd place came the recipe for Morello Cherry jam, one of very few recipe posts that I've done this year.

In 2nd place was another National Trust visit, this time to Stonywell, a new property, which opened just this year, in Leciestershire.

The most popular post of the year came as a bit of a surprise, it was the post about my decoupage placemats upcycling project. I am pleased to report that these are still in service and doing a great job.

So, that's it then, from Life of Pottering for 2015. I can't wait to see what 2016 brings. I hope you all have a great New Year and hopefully I'll see you all in 2016.

Hand Made At Number 27

One of the things I really wanted to do when I finished work back in 2014 was to be more creative. I really wanted to devote time to crafting and see what I could do. 

Well, if you know me, or you've been following my blog for a while, then you will know that I have done a bit of dabbling. 

I started out with beaded bracelets, which were the mainstay of my Christmas gifting last year. 

I now have a cupboard full of beads and have really exhausted my present giving opportunities for family and friends. 

I really wanted to carry on making bracelets but needed an outlet for the finished product so, after much deliberation, and lots of research, I decided to open an Etsy shop. 

I found this really great article at Six Figures Under that talked through all of the details and also offered a link that would give 40 free listings, so I decided to go for it. 

My shop is called Hand Made At Number 27 and I've gone through the process of setting everything up, including all my shop policies. I've even had some business cards made and have created some stickers too. 

I've added a link to Hand Made At Number 27 on Etsy to the left hand margin of my blog, so feel free to have a browse. There isn't much there at the moment, but I hope to build up my range over time. 

I've started off with some wooden beaded bracelets that I've made.

You'll also know that I've recently completed a crocheted throw as a wedding gift. This was quite an ambitious project for the first crocheting I'd done since my teens, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 

I really enjoyed getting back into crochet and I've also had a go at some cushions.  The first incorporated a crocodile stitch pattern, which I found on Ravelry.com.  This ended up being a birthday gift for my sister.

The second is made up of small flower granny squares and I love it so much that I just can't bear to part with it!  I am calling it my 'Berry Burst' cushion and have started to make another in different colours as a gift for a friend.

I am really pleased with how both have turned out, but I am finding that this kind of crochet is very slow to progress so whether or not it will be viable or cost effective for these to end up in my shop, time will only tell. 

Last week I had a bit of a crazy crafting week and tried a few new things out. 

I started off with these decorative clay hearts, which are made from bake in the oven modelling clay. 

I moved on to a cushion cover made from some owl design fat quarters that I have had in my stash for a while now. It's been a while since the sewing machine has been out and it took a while to get going but I love how this has turned out.  As well as the patchwork, I've added embellishments and even done a bit of top stitching.

I've already ordered a stack more fat quarters so I can make some more. I'm sure these will appear in my shop some time soon. 

As if that wasn't enough I went on to have a bit of a button art frenzy, as you can see below. 

Button art is great. It's quite cheap to do and, once you know what you are doing, you can turn out a finished article quite quickly. I do have one button art piece in the Etsy shop and hope to add more soon.

When it comes to my Etsy shop, I've not sold anything yet, but people are looking and I guess it will take time for someone to actually take a leap of faith and be my first customer. But hey, it's not costing me anything to give it a go for now, so I will stick with it and see what happens.

A Week in the Life ...

Last week was a funny old week. 

Martin headed off for the first of his, every other year, week long trip to Larbert in Scotland with work, with plenty of bad weather, including heavy snow, forecast. I waved him off on Sunday lunchtime in a big white van full of bits of rail and plenty of warm clothing. 

I had a bit of a surprise planned whilst he was away and, within 20 minutes of him heading off, I had made a start on a bit more decorating in the guest bedroom. This is a project that has been ongoing now for nearly a year. We are beginning to wonder if it will ever be finished. 

Whilst he was away I was hoping to get all of the airing cupboard woodwork and doors prepped, painted and re-hung. A small goal, I know, but progress all the same. 

He phoned at 5pm to say there was a problem with the van and he was at Southway services on the M6 waiting for an engineer. Happy days!! He finally arrived at 8pm, having left home at 12.00. He was not the happiest of bunnies. 

He had plenty of snow whilst he was away and we had just a little bit overnight here. 

I also had a few craft projects in mind for having a go at whilst he was away, including a few more bracelets and a start on my decoupage. That coupled with trips to the dentist and the doctor and a school governors meeting made for a pretty busy week. At least I wouldn't have chance to miss him too much. 

The bracelet making went well with no problems and you can see how I got on here. 

The decoupage experience was a bit mixed. I am trying to 'up cycle' some old table mats and coasters I have. When they are done I will do a post giving more detail of how I did it but for now here is a before and after of the first coaster that I've done. I'm quite pleased with it. 

The table mat didn't go so well and ended up covered in bubbles and creases so I pretty much had to pull it apart and will have to start again. I'll keep you posted with how I get on. 

Martin was due back on Friday and we were due to go and see our almost sister-in-law, Alison, in her 'Am Dram' performance of the Copacabana at The Brewhouse Theatre in Burton-on-Trent.

Luckily Martin managed to get away from Larbert early, avoid the snow and any bad traffic and made it back just in time for what was a very colourful and flamboyant show to start off the weekend.

Alison played Conchita Alvarez and looked just amazing as you can see for yourself!

A Crafty Hand-made Christmas

I have been wanting to write this blog for ages but have had to restrain myself as it would have

spoiled my home made Christmas present surprise. 

A few months ago a friend of mine showed me some jewellery she had made. She was thinking of a possible career change and was considering starting up a jewellery making business and had been having a bit of a play to see how it went. 

I had thought that I might buy some bits and pieces from her to give to friends and family as Christmas presents, to help get her started off. 

When she showed me what she had made so far, I was really impressed but, I have to confess, I thought ... Hey, I fancy having a go at that myself, not to the same extent, just as gifts for friends and family ... I know my limits!

So I got on the web, found some really pretty beads and other bits and pieces, watched lots of YouTube tutorials and decided to give it a go. 

I must let you know that I did speak to my friend about it before going ahead, after all, it wasn't worth falling out about and I didn't want her to think I had pinched her idea, even though I kind of had really.

I decided that I'd stick with stretchy beaded bracelets and have to say I've surprised myself at how well they have come out. I have even made a few to order which I've sold for £5 each.

Here are some of what I've made so far. The options for variation are endless with loads of different coloured glass beads, spacers and charms available. 

So everyone has now had a bracelet for Christmas. I've made sure I've made a list of who's had what, so I can make sure I do a completely different one for birthdays. 

I've also had a go at making some wooden ones, I won't tell you where I got the beads from but, let's just say, they haven't cost me much at all and, in my opinion, they look just as good as any you will see in the surfer shops in Cornwall. 

If you're interested in having a hand crafted stretchy bracelet, either for yourself or as a gift, just get in touch. I can make to pretty much any individual requirements. The glass beaded ones cost £5 each and the wooden are just £1.50. 

You can either contact me by leaving a comment on the blog post or by direct mailing me on Twitter @CarolDunhill

My friend's jewelry business is now pretty much up and running and gearing up for Valentine's Day. It's called 'Totallylovejewellery' and can be found on Twitter @tljdesigns. Go on over and have a look, I know she'd love to see you.