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!

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

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

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?

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

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?

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.

Shop now open



A New Home OOAK Unique Handmade Owl birdhouse shaped Easel Card

 The world of Pipinopolis is open again for anyone fancying a snack!

In other news, we are finally moved into our new home. There are still boxes to unpack and clothes to sort, but we are very happy here. The cats seem to like the place too, especially the bigger garden, and they have both been exploring all the cool places to hang out.

The picture today is from Polly Purple Horse Crafts at Folksy. Beautifully handmade cards with sweet, pretty trimmings!

Shop closed for two weeks

I've closed both my Folksy and Etsy shops for a couple of weeks, whilst we're packing up at home and moving. I will still be around to answer any messages though, so feel free to get in touch. Truffle is loving the mayhem as she's getting to hide in all the boxes, a new box for every mood, and I am documenting her 'research' with my camera. I'm thinking of calling it 'Trufflelocks'. Jelly is hating the untidiness of everything, she is such a diva and likes everything in its rightful place. Just wait 'til we actually move them!! Oh dear! 

How cute is this pic too? It's a pincushion in a thrifted tea cup by Mck254 at Etsy, you can find it here. Be sure to check out her other items, she makes some amazing cloth dolls.

Ok, thats all for now, speak soon.

xxxxx

Origami wow!

Ok, I mentioned my sister-in-law and friend were making some cool origami crafts, well here they are:

Aren't they amazing? These are origami crane earrings. They're made from a tiny square of beautifully patterned tea paper and are finished off with beads and a tiny swarovski crystal. Here are some others:

The paper on the box lid is the same as that used to make the origami cranes. All proceeds are currently going to the Japan Tsunami Appeal.

And there is more, they are also making these wonderful origami kimono cards:

All proceeds from cards are also going to the Japan Tsunami Appeal. For more info contact: japanwales@gmail.com

I think I actually squealed with delight when I saw all these, they are beyond cute and the details of the papers are exquisite. The blue and orange earrings are now mine, I couldn't leave without them, and am so happy I got them, I can't stop looking at them! :) I suggested they open a shop on Etsy for them, which they hopefully will do. I will keep you up to date on any news on them.

x

So Inspired

I am feeling so inspired today! I popped over to give my bro his birthday pressie last night and found my sister-in-law and her friend had made some amazing origami crafts!! (I promise to post about these over the weekend). She has given me some great ideas of making my own rubber stamps and about the possibilities out there. Maybe, if I ask really nicely, she will put a tutorial online to show you how to make your own stamps.

I have also been browsing a little online, catching up on craft sites etc, and came across this pic on Craftzine:

Theres so much to love about this image. The clean whiteness of it all, the huge chunky knitting needles and yarn, and also the fact that I envy her big, clean working space. You could carpet a whole room with that knit!

Also, I saw these patterns on Craftzine too:



Crochet flower coasters



Crochet spring bunny



Valentine teddy amigurumi



How to: Simple skirts



Mainly crochet catching my eye today, such cute amigurumis and pretty, pretty coasters. And as for these skirts, well they are so simple to make! And yes, they can be made in grown up sizes too!!! Hooray..Can't wait to get my machine set up for this one!

Craft books!

Look at these cool books....

From top, left to right

World of geekcraft by Susan Beal

100 flowers to knit and crochet - Lesley Stanfield

Indie Craft - Jo Waterhouse

Big Little felt universe - Jeanette Lim

The handmade marketplace by Kari Chapin

Blogging for bliss - Tara Frey

Another cool item I found!

Poppy's play house sets at the Dot Com Gift Shop (Loving the 50s retro feel to this)
There are different scenes avaliable, all so quirky.

Finally Friday

Finally it's Friday, I've only been in work 3 days this week but it has really dragged! Hope you've all had a good week?

Yesterday I discovered Toffee magazine , whilst reading Twinkie Chan's blog. Its a PDF Indie craft magazine from Australia and looked awesome, so I bought a copy for the equivalent of £1.87 (excellent price) and downloaded it to the ipad for a good read on the sofa!

It comes with a craft section for printout (this issue had craft papers and projects to use them in), as well as other tutorials on different indie crafts, interviews and features. I really enjoyed it, especially the eco friendly projects and suggestions, it is definitely a turning point in modern crafts. The interviews were also inspiring from people who have turned their crafts into a business and how. Check it out people!

In other news, Mr and I are off to London for a couple of nights next week and I'm really looking forward to it. On the agenda is:

A visit to All the Fun of the Fair craft shop in Soho.

Coffee at this cool looking place: Prufrock Cafe, so steampunk, I might die of delight!

A visit to the Tate Modern, I love the surrealist exhibit there!

An evening of Ghost Stories at the Duke of York theatre. I love scary stuff!!

Possibly a visit to Camden, a toy museum and the National Gallery

And whatever else takes our fancy! But can we squeeze it all into two days? We'll see. I will try to take as many pics as possible of any cool stuff we find and inspiration!

P.S. I just finished sewing two slices of Arctic roll last night, and am so pleased with the way it turned out, will post pics over wkend to show you!

oh, nearly forgot, I'm going to start putting the odd tutorial up on here for some felt foods and stuff, anything in particular you'd like to see?

ok, I really am going now,

Bye!