Purple Cycling

I love the colours in this outfit. Purple is not one of my favourite colours but this particular shade is "tolerable", as Mr Darcy would say about Miss Elizabeth Bennet :). 

The outfit is put together with a number of favourites: the skirt, the brogues, the scarf, the bike neclace ... not necessarily in that order!

Outfit details:

- brogues - Joules

- tights - local brand

- skirt - Brora

- long-sleeve top - Boden

- tweed jacket - InWear

- leather belt - Jack Jones

- Liberty scarf - Etsy

- bike necklace - Etsy

- corsage - local supermarket

Hop on and go :)

Crafting Inspiration II.

I've been busy some more! This time a big thank you goes to Lucy. I admire her work very much and own many of her gorgeous creations (fabric brooches and key rings). I loved the mouse brooch and the heart ornament and with some scraps of beautiful Liberty Tana Lawn still in stock I got creative ...

::: choosing the colours & patterns :::

::: almost there :::

::: done! :::

::: so sweet, isn't it? :::

Thank you for all your inspiration, my dear virtual friends :)

P. S.: The mouse and the heart were spotted on Lucy's FB page:

:)

Crafting Inspiration

Or being plain copycat. 

Whichever you prefer ...

I saw this corsage and thought - oh, I could make something like this! So I did, using my precious scraps of Liberty Tana Lawn. Pretty, isn't it? Thank you so much for the idea, Helen!

I also loved these bird pegs. 

So I did some more crafting! 

Another big thank you to Caroline!

Only Blossoms

A little corsage I made to brighten up 

my already bright knitted beret :)

I used thick felting wool 

which shrinks by 40 % when washed. 

Should keep this in mind ...

The fabric, of course, 

is Liberty Tana Lawn. 

Teeny tiny scraps of it ... 

I keep them all :)

The beret came from Benetton. Years ago. 

As good as new now, though!

Owls & Blossoms Part II.

If by any chance you read this post then you know I have been doing a bit of crafting these days. I was really totally smitten with the two brooches by Brora and felt the urgent need to make them myself as soon as possible. But, as usual, it took me a while to get the photos ready to be posted.

The first project was the owl. I dug out some scraps of Harris Tweed (thank you so much, Alison!) and Liberty Tana Lawn, and some bits and pieces (literally, I should have taken a close shot of the branch but I didn't; it's practically glued together...) of felt.

And, ta-dah, this is the finished product. It lives on my tweedy coat and is admired by many :)

The next project was the tweedy corsage. Again, I found some lovely Harris Tweed in my fabric box (it used to be a lovely purse but it unfortunately disintegrated after frequent use), made a crochet flower and added a gorgeous Harris Tweed button (another heart-felt thank you, Alison!).

It helps a great deal to have lovely piggy scissors for crafting...

And another ta-dah: the tweedy corsage lives on my pink beret at the moment.

I love my new brooches!

P.S.: Can you spot the house pencil case in the first photo? My Mum crocheted it for me when I was about eight. I now use it for my crochet hooks. Still gorgeous after all these years!

T-Shirts For My Girl

I embellished these two simple T-shirts for my girl a little while ago. I put my signature crochet flower on the first one and Liberty Tana Lawn Suffolk Puffs on the second. They look rather sweet, even if I say so myself :)

My little girl loves them, which is the only thing that counts in the end, right?

Being Creative Again

Well, not all in one go. I made these lovelies over the course of the last year. I suppose the linen glasses case was made some time last spring - I used it over the summer, that much I can remember. I love the idea of a pretty crochet flower on just about everything (you might remember this or this or this or this)  and after several bigger ones I decided to shrink it a little bit.

I used some vintage linen (I guess) and some pretty Liberty Tana Lawn for the lining - I was quite pleased with it when I first made it so naturally, come winter, I decided to make a Tweedy version as well...

I got some precious scraps of Harris Tweed from my dear blogging friend Alison and I still haven't used many of them - they are very tricky to come by in my part of the world! - but I did make a 'winter version' of my Flower Glasses Case.

I used the exactly same pattern as with the linen one but I made a wooly flower. I picked some colour-coordinate Liberty Tana Lawn and, if you don't mind my saying so, was quite pleased with the Tweedy version as well.

The last Tweedy creation was this tiny little purse - another combination of Harris Tweed (thank you so much, Alison!) and Liberty Tana Lawn. With a zipper!

They are very well-loved, my little cases and purses. I don't use them all the time, but every now and then I take them out of my drawer and admire them. I'm weird like that.

Here's to more creative thoughts and ideas!

An Owl For My Girl

A couple of months ago, when Spring/Summer catalogues were being delivered to our home, I fell in love with some oh so pretty items from Boden - for my little girl. Given that she only wears clothes for two seasons at the most as she's getting bigger by the day the ones from Boden are rather on the pricey side for us (Mummy wears hers much longer...). After a considerable amount of thought I came to the conclusion that I could give it a try and after many many years produce a piece of clothing by myself. And I did!

Proudly presenting.............(hear the drums roll?)................ta-dah!!! The Owl Skirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd had the pink fabric for ages, I bought it several years ago thinking I'd have a skirt made for myself. Never got round to it, I'm afraid. It came in perfectly handy for my little project!

There's never a problem with scraps of colourful fabric in my home. I love Liberty Tana Lawn cotton and I have a tiny stash of some ancient Laura Ashley fabric in my box.

 After seeing this and this I had plenty of inspiration and, if you don't mind my saying so, I rather like the result of my endeavours. I even put a tiny zig-zag bow at the back of the skirt...

And here you can see the skirt in action : )

Japanese Flowers & Granny Squares

I still have some early summer crafting to show you. Months ago (seems like ages and ages ago...) I made these pretty Japanese flowers from my beloved Liberty fabric scraps.

They're really tiny and delicate. For quite a while, I wasn't quite sure what to use them for. In the end, I decided to make a necklace.

It looks very pretty around the neck. The flowers resemble tiny little buttons. My necklace has already received a number of compliments!

My other summer project was this Granny Square belt. I wore it several times but I always managed to leave my camera at home at the time so no photos I'm afraid. Until next summer...

It was really easy to make. I crocheted twelve squares but it turned out eleven were more than enough to fit my waist (the belt is very stretchy, actually). I added some pearly buttons, and voila! The pattern of the squares provides the button holes so there's no extra work!

The colours are my usual yarn colours, nothing new in that department, but I totally love them. The belt was mostly worn with my blue dress. Like it?

Rosette Necklace & Embellished Clutch Bag

I did a bit of crafting again. Quite a while ago, actually, but you know how it is... it takes me ages to take a semi-decent photo of my 'works of art'. So, here's one I hadn't been able to part with for days...

...until I changed my mind, of course. And transferred the rosettes onto my clutch bag (see bottom photo) - I couldn't make the exact replica of the necklace as I'd run out of my Liberty swatches. I really really liked the first necklace and wanted to have these rosettes on my clutch bag. So I made another necklace:

I love this one just the same. I even managed to find seven matching buttons in my button tin. Imagine that! I wear it a lot as well. It really spices up an outfit.

And finally - ta-dah! My pretty clutch bag! It usually lives in my big bag but I grab it when I only need my keys & my phone. I got the clutch at our local boutique, it had been on sale for years (literally). I went there the other day and inquired about it, 100% sure they wouldn't have it anymore. Wrong! It had been waiting for me all along, waiting to be embellished with Liberty rosettes... Go figure!

Like it?

Purses & Clutch Bags, Oh My!

I love purses and clutch bags. Particularly the hand-made ones. When I saw this beauty on Etsy it was love at first sight. We've been having an affair for a couple of weeks now, ever since it came into my post box. I love it to bits, it's one of the prettiest things ever. Thank you, Jane!

Clutch bag / purse: Etsy (designedbyjane)

Houses Part Two (And Three. And Four...)

OK, on with my crafting posts! The image below caught my eye when I was browsing through Marie Claire Ideas magazine (French edition, Jan/Feb 2011). I fell in love with the pretty house purse on the left. I couldn't quite work out its size but then I figured out I was limited by the size of my cream thick felt patch anyway so I made a lovely little coin/card purse to use when I go out for a cup of coffee with my friends.

... Mine turned out like this: ta-dah!

I used felt for the house, the roof and the door, I hand-embroidered some pretty flowers, sewed on a large wooden button, and found some scraps of Liberty Tana Lawn and some old lace for the windows. The green check ribbon is (almost vintage) Laura Ashley. I love my little house purse, if you don't mind my saying so! A very chic thing to pull out of your handbag...

But, this was not enough, of course. After googling around on the internet I spotted this sweet little needle case at Cath Kidston. I could have ordered it, of course, but why spend money and wait endless days for the postman to arrive when one can be creative? I made a tiny little version I keep in my crochet purse in case I should need a needle (doesn't this sound just splendid?) whilst crocheting (and finishing a project) out of home.

Next stop for my inspiration was Lucy's blog. To be quite honest with you, she's my continuous source of inspiration anyway. On a daily basis, would you believe it (more of that to come in the following days). I just can't help myself, I absolutely adore her colourful crafty blog!

Some time ago Lucy made a house keyring which (of course) I fell madly in love with. Had to make one for myself, simply had to.

Another ta-dah...

Isn't it pretty? And to make matters more interesting, I adorned the back side as well - there's a sweet little apple tree growing in the back garden!

I love my house keyring so much that I really wanted to make another little house in the same manner. I found this old notebook lying around and embellished it with my pretty house. Needless to say, it has now turned into my favourite notebook ever. Ever!

Alright then, let this be enough houses for today. Can you see this slowly developing into my obsession? Hopefully not. There will be other projects on display, promise. Soon. Very soon.

Stay tuned...