A few things i've been working on.

I have not been productive recently. This is bad.

I promised myself that whilst on holiday i would get lots of things made and be very good and creative. But i have mainly been sleeping and drinking chai. Naughty!

I did manage to get a few bits done. And i'm really pleased with them, so that's good. But i need to get a wiggle on and get lots more things finished. Repeat: i will be good, i will make new things...

What do you think? Do you like them? I am hoping to get lots of new and lovely things listed in my Etsy shop soon. Watch this space.....

The very best of times.

Hello there. How are you? Sorry i have been a mite quiet for the past week. I have been thoroughly celebrating turning 30. I have to say i have had a wonderful time!

Last weekend was amazing. The house was even more beautiful than i thought it would be and the snow made it even more magical (even though for a little while we weren't sure everyone would make it.... eek!).

My friends even threw me a surprise mad hatters tea party complete with a video montage of my life. I could not have been more touched (and shed a happy tear or two). I really do have the best friends in the whole wide world!

 

Oooh lots and lots of presents for me? Hooray!

The montage is about to start. I'm gonna need a tissue...

Happy Birthday to me!

Yup. That's right. On Monday i hit the big 3-0. Eek!

To celebrate me and my bestest pals are living it up for the weekend in a big old country house in Weymouth. Hooray! See you on the other side......

Just a quick one...

.....to show you this!

Crocheted chair of loveliness!

Exciting post!

You might remember that a few weeks ago i had a go at making a baby book for a little lady called Maisie.

Well now, the book was such a success and i have had such positive feedback from it that i thought i might make a few more! I will be putting them in my Etsy shop in due course. However, in order to do this i needed to order some more papery bits and bobs. Lovely things to make lovely books.

And look was i received in the post yesterday!

 

Such a wonderful package to receive and i loved having a look through to see what i had been sent. Perfect book making supplies!

My first published work!

I have just been sent the photos of a little something i worked on before Christmas. I am very excited about it!

I helped put together an article on Estonian Good Food magazine! Yes i did. Now this may seem a little strange but it's true. My friend Kreete (who is Estonian) wrote an article about handmade Christmas presents and we both put the recipes together. And some of my hamper favorites were included!

I cannot read Estonian but nevertheless was very excited to see my name in print!

 

If you look closely at the photo above you can see 'Anna's onion marmalade'. Amazing!

There i am! Hee hee.

(Part two).

So yesterday i hinted at another little present i made for Maisie's godfather to give to her. I haven't made a quilt in a while so i decided to make a little baby quilt. Much like the larger one's i have made before but scaled down for a little one!

I personalised it with Maisie's name and used lots of cute kawaii fabrics. I love it! And so did Maisie and her parents (hooray!). They even sent me a photo of her having a little nap on her new favorite quilt. Bless.

A commission for a special little lady (part one).

Happy New Year  to you all! 

Did you have a good night? Are you feeling a little fragile today? I don't want to sound smug (ok ok maybe i do. Just a little bit) but i am fine and dandy and clear headed. I spent a wonderful evening playing boardgames and eating good food with my lovely boyfriend. A brilliant way to ring in the new year if you ask me!

I am therefore spending today in my pj's taking down my Christmas decorations (boo) and generally having a bit of a life laundry day. And literally doing laundry. How do i always end up with some much washing to do?!?

I can also now show you a wonderful little commission i've been working on recently. For a little girl called Maisie who was born just before Christmas. Her newly appointed Godfather asked me to help and make something to celebrate her birth and wondered if i could maybe make her a baby book.

Well, i'd never thought about making books. But i thought why not! So i said yes, and then later on i started to worry about what i was going to do and how i wanted it to look. Yikes!

So i had a look through all the endless bits and pieces i have dotted about my work area and found this wonderful vintage Secret Seven book (see below) so i decided to use that as the basis for my book. I then planned how many pages i wanted the book to have and cut out the pages i didn't want and glued the rest together to form ten or so thick pages of my new baby book.

 
I then set about finding all sorts of bit and pieces i wanted to stick onto my pages and generally having a bit of a play with the layout. The whole book was also personalised to Maisie and her family.

I cut parallel slits so that Maisie's hospital tag could be attached to the page documenting the day she was born. As well as including space so information could be recorded such as the time and her weight at birth. 

On some of the pages i secured picture corners so that photos could be put into the book. And i included a page where a little footprint and handprint could be recorded.

On two of the pages i created a layout where Maisie's height and weight could be entered at various stages over the next four years on little note cards. The note cards are pull outs so they can be put back and kept secured within the page when not being used.

 

I also included a envelope on one page where a lock of Maisie's hair from her first haircut could be kept and a page that can be filled in with facts about her name.

The whole family were added to a family tree.

There was a page for first times. I wanted the book to be something that Maisie's parents could love and have fun filling out as Maisie grew.

 

And finally on the last page there was a little envelope for any keepsakes.  So what do you think? Do you like it? I am so so pleased with how it turned out. It took me quite a while to finish it but i think it's fab!

If you know anyone who would like a personalised baby book please get in touch as i would be happy to work with you on any future commissions.

I also made Maisie something else to go with the book but i'll show you that in my next post.......(hee hee).