Charity Shop Haul

The patron saint of charity shops was smiling on me this weekend, I got a lovely haul have a look:

This vintage linen cloth with folk dolls pattern, it’s beautiful and I plan to turn it into a couple of tote bags, 75p,

These four lace edged cloths which are about cushion size I think I might embroider or quilt onto these and make some cushions, £1.25 for 4,

My favourite bit was two of these amazing celtic nightdresses, they were brand new with tags from past times £25 each, I paid £3 each,

I love it, it's very 'ghost of christmas past'...

Besides this second hand haul the British Heart Foundation were selling off lucky dip bags of new accessories, this was what came in the bag for £3!!

There were so many lovely bits in there, and the £3 went to charity:

There were some reading glasses in my strength, I love them when I tried them on I felt like a cross between Dame Edna and Jo Frost, they made me feel all school marmish;

I loved these bags so I dragged my friend with me and we bought another two each and ended up with a bag full of goodies, some we will keep and use and some we will give away as gifts and some are just plain bizzare or unsuitable but for the price who can complain:

Here we have minnie mouse type hairband, huge purple elastic hairbands, sparkly metal hair clip thingies and furry animal print hair clips!

and another two pairs of reading glasses, if you would use any of these weird hair thingies or odd glasses just leave a message and let me know which you would like I will send it to you, first come first served.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Stylish Blogger Award

I have been nominated for a Stylish Blogger award by the very lovely and talented Disco Goth – check out her fab coat creations.

The idea is to tell you five things about myself, that you may not already know,

1) I trained in Forensic Science many years ago with the aim to be a scene of crime officer (SOCO) but I didn’t have the stomach for it as a job and went in to civil engineering instead.

2) I have a missing large toenail on my right foot and in flip flop weather I have been known to glue a false toenail to the skin so that I don’t scare small children.

3) I was born too late, I have a love for all things vintage and would have been most happy sometime in the 1930’s.

4) I am pretty much tee total and don’t drink at all. I hate the feeling of being drunk and hate the feeling the next day. I have not been drunk in many years.

5) I am a true grumpy old woman, and I get mad at bad drivers, especially people who drive and use phones at the same time. My husband is mortified by this and swears I will be the victim of road rage one day when I glare at the wrong person.

I would now like to pass this award on to three others who's blog posts I always look forward to (amongs many others of course); please feel free to ignore it if you don’t partake in awards or if you already have this one, I won’t be offended:

Amanda of Amanda Makes



Lynda of Hookin' with LaaLaa




Hazel of Sewn Up Stuck Down





~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Shirring

Following an idea I saw on Flossie teacakes blog (have a look if you don’t already subscribe she is brill!), I have been shirring stuff!
It’s something I have never done before but I gave it a go and it was so simple and effective I was delighted!
I bought this top a while back and it is a lovely colour but I never wear it as it drapes like a small tent on me and I look pregnant in it!

So I followed the instructions and shirred it.
This simply involved hand winding shirring elastic onto the bobbin reel and using your usual cotton in the top and sewing! I did change my needle to a ballpoint as the top was a t-shirt/jersey material, but it worked a treat.

Apologies for the pics but I am too shy to model it.

It must have taken me 5 minutes from start to finish and now I have a new top! I must scour the house for other clothes I can fix up in this way!

Thanks Florence!

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

More Lovely Gifts

Recently I have received more lovely things through the post.

I received this lovely thank you gift from the beautiful Dana, look at the tilda goodies, cutest baby buttons, fab metal charms and the beautiful hand drawn card from Dana's little girl;

Thanks again Dana x I have already used all of these in one form or another I will post pics soon.

I also received these beautiful tiles from the clever and talented Crafty Ju Ju, she recently started making these tiles and is now obsessed, pop over and have a look at her blog, she sells these goodies, don't they look right at home on my fridge?

I love this gift tag!

Thanks Julie x

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Little Patchwork Pouch

Can I apologise in advance for the rubbish photos they look like they have been 1970'sified with that sepia/yellow tinge.

I have been Looking at my little pile of 2.5” squares that I had cut out to make my hexies, I thought that I might ‘borrow’ a few of them to make a little makeup bag. This was a great way to use up lots of different fabrics that you like so that you can see them all at the same time.

I found a pile in complimentary colours and made a front and a back.

I had a lovely birdie fabric that I used for the lining, isn’t it nice when you open something and get a nice little surprise like that.


I added a few buttons to the outside and added my little glass beads to the zip pull using similar coloured beads. This is not my usual type of thing but I am quite pleased with it. It is the closest I will come to a quilt in the near future.

On another note, I won a lovely Crafting Springtime Gifts Tilda book from the lovely LaLa's giveaway, thanks so much Lynda you made me smile! I can't wait to get it!

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Recycled Jewellery

I have got my backside in gear this week and am able to enter the jewellery challenge with the lovely ladies over at MSE. This week the theme was Recycled, this is my entry, this is a bracelet made from tigertail with a recycled clasp from a broken bracelet, and beads from two different old snapped necklaces with little pearls snipped off an old purse.

When I get more time I think i will make some earrings to match it as I like this one and think I will keep it for me!

I found it quite theraputic beading again. I have had such a horrible stressful week, roll on next week.

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~

Fabric Purchases

I have been a little fabric happy these last couple of weeks. Most of what I have bought though has been a bargain in some way. Fabric Rehab were selling off little discount bundles for £2 each and the materials were mainly scraps ranging from little 5” squares to almost full fat quarters. I ordered a few of these packs and was delighted with them, here is the range of what I got, many nice fabrics in there Alexander Henry and Michael Miller type stuff:

Following on from that Fancy Moon were offering a 10% discount on their new online store so I bought a few half metres from them (see sidebar for their store – type in kandi to get your 10% discount). (The tattoo fabric was from ebay).

The Cath Kidston sale started at the end of last month and I ordered myself a new handbag and some bits (well, I couldn’t help it) and I also ordered some of their lovely cotton duck:

Now I feel guilty as I have too much fabric already and should really use that up first but it’s a bit of an addiction of mine.

I have made another makeup bag from some of the owl fabric from Fabric Rehab, there were only small patches of this fabric so I had to incorporate it into my bag rather than cover the whole thing,

I love these owls.

As I use up my new stash I will be sure to show you what it turns into (If I can bear to cut into it!).

~ ♥ Back Soon ♥ ~