Frosty Fancy giveaway

The lovely people at Mr Kipling have used my Frosty Fancies as a giveaway in their Christmas advent calender:

 

 

 

They asked for 24 Frosty Fancy baubles, it was a little manic whilst moving house at the same time but I managed it and I was very proud of them all boxed up! Hoping the winners like them. I have loads more of ideas for baubles for next Christmas so keep checking out the Folksy shop. I also have some left over baubles from a recent craft fayre which will be reduced in January.

 

 

On the topic of my Folksy shop, I am trying to create a new banner, but just don't get enough computer time. Hope to do this over the Christmas break.

 

x

 

Caught Kipling's eye!

A couple of weeks ago, the nice people at Mr Kipling asked to display my lemon slices on their Facebook & Twitter pages:

 

 

Obviously, I was more than happy for them to show off my lovelies! They have now given me a little Christmas commission! I shall keep it under wraps until they say so, but watch this space!

At long last...

...I might actually start writing on my blog again! So much time has passed, so many nappies and tears and milk, but now I actually have a little time for my things now, so here we go again.

 

The world of Pipinopolis will be back up and running soon. The content will change slightly, but I'm hoping to keep the original work there in the form of PDF patterns (need some to get my head down on these). I will also have more things for the younger customers! These are the circles I'm in now, so I thought I'd take advantage!

 

My little man is growing fast, already had his 1st birthday and is coming along nicely since our scare early on. He seems to like my work too, I often get told to 'ook at things I've made and hung in his bedroom. I am back at my 9-5 job, with weekends and a weekday off to care for Mister, though I currently get some blissful time to sew during his nap (its a nice, quiet way not to disturb him too).

 

So will see ya all soon

Nearly forgot, we have another new little fella in the family, My little man has a new male cousin to play with, almost an exact year younger than him. We made him this rattle:

 

 

x

Like another world!

Hi all

I know, I know, you thought I'd gone away forever! But I am still here. Would you like a catch up?

In April I was due to give birth, and right on time, my little boy arrived. (we didn't know what we were having, so it was a lovely surprise). As it was our first child it was such an eye opener, and my lord, the sleep deprivation was something else. As he got to two weeks old he started having what seemed to be bad wind, but then one day he refused to feed and was in pain. We took him to the out of hours GP and the referred him to the paediatrician on site. he was admitted into hospital which was so awful to see as he had tubes and wires everywhere. it turned out he had Group B Strep which had turned into meningitis. the pain was the inflammation of his intestines. we had some awful nights to follow, where he couldn't eat and was in so much pain, then one night he had seizures. the doctors didn't think he'd make it through that night.

Much to our delight, he started to get better, the infection was going due to him having antibiotics at just the right time. Our little man was strong and he started to change and grow, it was just a shame it was in a hospital setting, not at home with his family. We ensured he was always with someone, myself, my husband or my mother. he was never alone, and we talked to him and sung to him to let him know he was with us. my husband and i were a wreck. hungry and sleep deprived, stressed beyond belief, but we got through. And he got through. after 3 weeks we were eventually able to get discharged from the hospital and went home to start again. caring for a newborn in a hospital was so difficult, not only are you learning how to be a parent but you have nothing you really need to hand to settle him in and it is so confining.

moving on, he is now 4 months old, and doing brilliantly! he is a chunky monkey and i feel so lucky to have him. here he is:

We still go for tests and checks to see if the seizures had any lasting effects, but if they have, we will work with them. As long as he is happy, we're happy. I have just finished making some letters for his room to hang on the wall, I will try get the picture up on here!

Best go and get on with housework while my mum has him for the day, cant wait to see him later!

News and such

Ok guys, we're on baby countdown now, just 6 weeks left until due date, but you never quite know when they're going to decide to come out. So I am going to close The World of Pipinopolis in 2 weeks time, just in case, and will get some stock ready for reopening.

We've had a lot of business these past two weeks, which has been lovely, and I hope it continues after reopening. I am currently working on a fourth petite four, to send out to France this weekend, which should be finished tonight.

I only have 4 weeks left at my main place of work, so I can't wait to finish things up there for 6 months.

Now here are some delicious items I plan to recreate in felt:

Bakewell Slices

Macaroons

Viennese Whirls


I can't wait to have some spare time to sew...before baby of course!

Mr Kipling treats

I have finally listed those Mr Kipling treats I mentioned ages ago! Take a look:

Mr Kipling Angel cake slices

Mr Kipling Lemon cake slices

They are available in the Folksy shop. I also plan to make the Bakewell slices soon. I love working with the Tulip fabric paint used for the icing, there is so much you can do with it. I had to insert batting for the slices to keep their shape, and they worked out really well I think. I plan to put together a Mr Kipling selection in my shop, possibly containing: Battenberg slices, cake slices, French Fancies and some Viennese Swirls.

I also added a doughnut selection to my Folksy shop, made just for play:

Doughnut selection

There is a chocolate with nuts, pink with sprinkles and white with chocolate. These are made entirely of felt with no beads, so they're safe for play. The pink one is very Simpson style!

I have also been sewing on the tiny side, trying to make a brooch...but as untidy as I am, I've misplaced the brooch backs! humph! The only thing to do now is to finally organise my things and I'm sure I'll find them somewhere.

x

Petit fours in my shop

I finally finished the petit fours from Ruko's design, only there are 3 instead! :)

Petit fours

They are for sale in my Folksy shop now. It was nice to make something small and delicate again, and I love using the braid trimmings. I think I might try a wedding cake next.

x

Beautiful prints

Yesterday I stumbled upon a beautiful print:

Biscuits in a line. Limited edition giclée print.

Just looking at this makes my heart palpitate! And boy, do I wanna sew, sew, sew! I traced it back to the artist, Joël Penkman and found his Etsy shop.

These prints remind me of old Ladybird illustrations, which I adore, and obviously I love these as they cover the pop culture of food. Take a look at more of his prints:

Sweet selection. One giclée print

Rocket lolly ices. Limited edition giclée print

British sweets collection. One giclée print

Joël Penkman also has a website here. I am defiantly going to buy a print for the Baby's room! It'll look like WillyWonka's factory by the time I'm finished decorating!

I was also looking at Ladybird's website here, and found that they sell some of their prints too..... oh boy! Just look at these:

Oh how I love vintage Ladybird! My favourite book was called My Day:

It had some pictures of exasperated parents which made me laugh, and some excellent pictures of supermarkets. I see some on sale now and again on ebay, so I must start bidding.

x

Petit Fours

This week I will mainly be sewing these:

They are designs from the book: Ruko's Original Sweets made of Felt. Very tiny and detailed, but very satisfying to make. I will list them in my Folksy shop when they're done. I really want the champagne truffle box too, but can I justify £10 for a box??!! hmmmm...maybe!

I am also currently working on PDF patterns for the shop, and I just need a day to myself where I can take pictures of different stages of the sewing process. Hopefully these will be available soon.

x

Pipinopolis is back!

I have finally reopened The world of Pipinopolis on Folksy. There are more items to come which I shall get listed asap, but here are some pictures of the sweet treats on offer:

Remember, if there's something in particular you're after, just get in touch and I'll have a go at making it. Here are some commissions I've made for past customers:

Thanks for reading!
x

Christmas crafting

Ok...this year I have a slight obsession with vintage style paper ornaments, especially the honeycombe ones, so take a look at the offerings below:

Turkey ornaments from Apartment Therapy

DIY Paper ornaments at Marthastewart.com

Reindeer decoration at Cath Kidson

I'm quite chuffed I found the DIY info on MarthaStewart.com, so may give that a try if I have a spare hour before the festivities start.

Here are some other beautiful DIY creations:

Book tree tutorial at Creativetrials

DIY Christmas Decorations from Kim Vallee

DIY decorations from CountryLiving.com

So get crafting, and enjoy!
x

Hello again

Hi guys

Firstly I want to apologise for my lack of blogging for 4 months (thats awful), and secondly to tell you whats been happening.

Since moving into our new house rental in June, we have struggled to make it feel like home. We're not sure why, it just hasn't felt like us yet. We sterted on the dining area first and managed to make it slighty retro which I loved, and then that blank living room wall had us stumped! Our new sofas arrived in Septmeber which just made it more blah as they're the same biscuit colour as that blank wall. Although, the sofas are lovely and cosy and soft. Christmas has allowed us to inject some colour back in to the room with the tree and we now have an accent colour of burgundy with new curtains, throw and cushions. ......I think we might finally be getting there, although, still nothing on the wall.

We lost our beloved little cat Truffle in late September. One night she went out as usual and never came back. We called around all vets, posted fliers, asked around, but no info turned up. She was my little baby and I miss her so much, I still dream of her every night. She was so loving and full of life. We hope someone has taken her in and given her a good home. And we know that while she was with us, we gave her all the love and comfort a cat could want.

Truffle

A big reason I've been away from Pipinopolis is that in mid August I found I was pregnant. It came as a shock because, even though we had been trying, I had been in so much pain with my ovaries and having so many tests done that I felt something must be wrong. I went into A&E one evening with severe pain in sides again and from a urine sample, they then told me I was pregnant. It such a shock, and they were worried it might be eptopic, so we had to wait until I was 6 weeks along before they spotted a tiny little heartbeat on a scan.  I am now at 21 weeks. just gone halfway, and the baby is doing well. I am on medication for depression, so they are monitoring me and the baby to check that everything goes well. 

Morning sickness was awful! I could barely eat and felt so depressed. I didn't pick up any crafts for months, and have just started to look at them again. I closed Pipinopolis on Folksy as I just couldn't concentrate sewing. Migranes have also been a bad symptom and has kept me away from the PC a lot. But enough complaining, I'm feeling a lot better now and am back. So what has everyone else been up to?

Big Knit 2011

Ok, so I really wanted to take part in Innocent's Big Knit this year. For every hat knitted Innocent donates 25p to Age UK. The have the info here, and some knit patterns. I am a complete novice at knitting. my stitches are usually too tight, I drop some and gain some from some unknown stitch dimension and the thought of following a pattern scares me. So seeing the beginner pattern on the Innocent site, I tried.......and came out with this:



Embarrassing isn't it? I'd much prefer to crochet one, but couldn't find any info on their site regarding patterns, so I tried one out myself and came out with this...:

As you can see, I was more confident with the final hat, that I went ahead and added the bobble. I then thought it would help others if I wrote up the pattern for this, so here it is below. This is the first ever crochet pattern I've written up, so let me know if it doesn't flow or I've missed something out.

Crochet pattern for Innocent Big Knit 2011

You will need a 4mm hook and some dk wool (this is a great way to use up any leftovers)

Start using a magic adjustable ring

Rnd 1: Work 6 sc into the centre of the ring. (6 sc)

Rnd 2: Sc 2 in each sc. (12 sc)

Rnd 3: Sc 2 in next sc, sc in next 1 - repeat around (18 sc)

Rnd 4: Sc 2 in next sc, sc in next 2 - repeat around (24 sc)

Rnd 5: Sc 2 in next sc, sc in next 3 - repeat around (30 sc)

Rnd 6, 7, 8: Sc in each sc. (30 sc)

Change wool colour here.

Rnd 9,10,11: Sc in each sc, (30 sc) holding the wool more taut than before (this allows it to grip onto the bottle top)

Now finish off the end of the wool, and stitch in any stray strands. If you want to add a bobble you can follow a general pom pom tutorial like this one at thingstomake.com. I used a circle of card which was approximately 3cm diameter for the size of the bobble in the picture.

Stitch the bobble onto the top of the hat with the same colour wool and voila, one hat complete.

This pattern could be adjusted to fit dolls too, I think the one I made might actually fit my vintage Sindy!

Enjoy!

xx

Something for the weekend?

If the weather with you is anything like it is here, it'll be too wet to do any of those summer outdoor activities. So feel free to take a look at these tutorials, links and ideas I've gathered together on Pinterest and give something new a try. There are plenty of things to make together with children too. It should keep someone busy at least :P.

Felt Dahlia Pin tutorial - www.notmartha.org

Enjoy

Embellishing

I have just started this on one of my summer vests (mainly to cover a stain of tea I spilt on it)!! I really wanted to embellish something on one of my tops, so thought I'd give this a go as it's so easy. Although, if you're doing this with embroidery thread, put it through the wash first in a little cotton handkerchief. I used this source on how to wash embroidery threads.

Source: craftstylish.com via Catherine on Pinterest

This tutorial was found on Pinterest, so if you haven't been on there yet, check it out, it's a wealth of information and inspiration.

Sorry, just a quick one today.

xx

Meat and greet

Just finished another order for a customer:

Felt food - meat selection

Hope she likes it. It's the first time I've sewn any of these, but am so happy with them. The t-bone steak was straight forward enough, but I had to use picture references when designing the bacon rashers as the customer requested british style bacon. I never realised how everyone making felt bacon had been making the steaky kind until now, including myself. So glad I got to try them like this. The pork chop seemed simple in my head but I found I had to refer to pictures again when drawing out the shape, and placement for the bone.

I've also recieved an email from a very trendy London shop asking for a few of my things to see how they sell in store, so onto that project now...can't wait!

bye for now

x

What kind of girl has her own tea set? A lucky girl

Yes, I have acquired a bone china tea set with pretty flowers on them! 6 cups and saucers, 6 plates, milk jug, sugar bowl and bread & butter platter. Found in my mum's shed and donated by my sister! And yes, I have already had a friend over for tea and used them!

In other news, our new place is taking shape, we have a dining table and chairs, sofas on order and I have spotted a fab retro sideboard in a charity store for just £40. I shall be buying it later (if its still there)........It was! And here it is in it's new home:

Yes, that is one of my girls sat on top, not an ornament.

There is a fab retro glass light shade I am enquiring about on Ebay too. I am trying to craft for the home but I seem to hit a brick wall with most things. I have made these fabric flowers:

 using this tutorial, and want to place them in an embroidery hoop, but when I try to embroider words, it just isn't working for me. I will keep at it though.

Apologies for the lack of blogging lately. I've been in and out of the doctor's surgery the past few weeks and sent for so many tests I feel like a pincushion. I've been having very bad ovarian pain. It made me feel really miserable, but I'm feeling a lot better lately and more positive for the outcome.

oh, oh, oh, another find at my mum's place was this...

A beautiful Kewpie doll from my younger years! Gotta love that cheeky face! Sorry Mum if I have nosed around too much!!

xx

A quick mention of toast embroidery

My attention has just been drawn to Judith G. Klausner's work here. Look at her toast embroidery here.

Wow, wow, wow! How do you begin to even contemplate embroidering on toast? I am in awe of her work. 

Does anyone else feel in the mood for an extreme arty project?

More amigurumis and a crochet frenzie

I can't help loving the amigurumis!! Here are some more finds off Folksy:

From top left to right

Loves a good yarn  - Amigurumi elephant toy

Twixt sea and pine  - Hand crochet beehive and bee amigurumi

Cute designs  - Amigurumi kawaii green bear

SophieCat  - Amigurumi Mario character

Cinnamon Street  - Harold the pear

Orange Blossom Felt  - Crochet amigurumi teacup pincushion

Claire Sibley  - Little Donkey amigurumi pattern

MiniDreamz  - Amigurumi kokeshi doll

Element Arts  - Cheeky cheese on toast amigurumi brooch

I have also completed another of my own:

This is Teddington Bear. He had a little mishap at the seaside!!! hahaha. He is now for sale at Pipinopolis at Folksy. I've started another straight away, I think this one will be a girl, I have some lovely scrap fabric for a dress! On the topic of crochet, I'm trying to cover my old Klobo sofa, which is getting grubby now, and am loving the idea of covering it with granny squares. So I have made a start on some using this tutorial at Crochet with Raymond. Have a look at Alice's other tutorials, she makes some lovely tea cosies! I am hoping I don't lose patience making these and actually finish it! The sofa will then go into my workroom as Mr thinks it'll be too girly for the living room!

Here are some other finds of granny square covered things:

Sarah London

Nature Nut Notes

Teacup Lane

 Ok, I'll leave my obsessions here for now! But, has anyone else got any crochet covered things they'd like to share? I'd love to see them.
x

I like new things

Ok, maybe I'm a little slow in discovering new gadgets and the like online, but I get really excited when I do. I have just found Pinterest! It's a place where you can created all types of 'boards' adding images to them from the site. It's also easy to add any online image you find to the site. I've added a few pins of my own crafts but am enjoying looking at everyone else's.




http://lastejeymaneje.blogspot.com



Its a great source for inspiration and creating mood boards. Check out my Crafty Stuff board, so many cute items I want to own!!

I have posted out a few more orders today and have more in the pipeline, after that, maybe I can return to sewing my Mr Kipling collection. There are so many things I want to start, just never enough time.