Space Invader!

Our rather precipitous return from our camping holiday meant that I had time to put together an entry for the Crafteroo Forum Summer Challenge (there's still time if you can get something made by Friday!). The theme is Space Invaders - which I've interpreted very loosely as anything vaguely alien!  I used Tom's (my youngest twin by 2 minutes) drawing of an alien as my starting point.  Here's the drawing - cute isn't it?!  Tom has just started drawing obsessively after barely picking up a pencil or felt tip before.  We are quite astounded and feeling very proud of him - we love his pictures - they are so full of imagination and verve. I've been wondering if I could try and get them printed up onto T-shirts and maybe even on some fabric.  I'm definitely going to look into that... my son the designer!

I thought about creating a softy with some felt, but in the end decided to turn to my trusty crochet hook, especially as I have lots of lovely new colours of yarn, picked up in the sale at my local wool shop. Here's the finished article - I dithered about adding a trunk-like mouth, but in the end decided I like it how it is.. poor alien is going to have to take in sustenance in some other way!  I also can't decide if it's a male or female, which is hampering any attempt to think of a name.. any suggestions gratefully accepted.  Maybe I should ask Tom...

The Craft Fair!

So, I really enjoyed my first craft fair...! I did lots of preparation and everything ran very smoothly - thanks to lots of really useful advice from my friends at Crafteroo. Unfortunately it was an incredibly cold and rainy day and so customers were very thin on the ground - I would estimate that only about 30 or 40 people came through the doors, but in spite of that I made 5 sales - which is about 4 more than most... It was also really useful to chat with other sellers, do some networking and get some recommendations for good events to go to. Here's some photos of my packed up goodies: One of the best things about the day is the lovely feedback I got from some of the buyers and other sellers. It was such a boost, and their kindness really helped me to ignore the buyers who clearly didn't share my taste... Can't wait to do my next fair now!

Looking back to Christmas & a big yay for 100 posts!

Wow, Christmas was a busy time here at Craft Matters Towers! I've been absolutely shattered since Christmas and it's been hard to pick up a crochet hook or plug in the sewing machine. But all the hard work was definitely worthwhile. Another Christmas project I signed up for was the Crafteroo Secret Santa Craft Swap organised by Vonnie of Blotted Copy Book. I stalked my Secret Santa partner - Helen from Kitty Ballistics Creations - for a little while and managed to work out that she liked the colour teal (which made life easier because it's one of my faves), and she needed a new pin cushion. So, in my ever-literal way, I made her a teal pin cushion! The base of the pin cushion is crochet and the top is foundation pieced patchwork (you see, I have learned something on my patchwork course..). I also made a sort-of-matching needle book and sent some lovely pins in a cute tin, some pieces of wool felt (Kitty Ballistics creates lots of very witty felt creatures like these...), some vintage thread, and some choc & posh tea bags. It was great fun putting it all together, and I think I am going to make more of the pin cushions - they combine two of my favourite crafts, which has got to be good. From my Secret Santa (Jane at Hooked Yarn) I got some fabulous goodies... She made this wonderful bauble which I absolutely love, as well as a very pretty red crochet angel, a handmade notebook, some choc (yes!), teabags, and a star-shaped cookie cutter. Judging by the great appropriateness of these gifts I know that Jane has been paying very close attention to my various posts and online activities! It was lovely to receive such a beautifully wrapped, thoughtful gift. So thank you Jane, Helen, Vonnie and Crafteroo for all the Christmassy fun and inspiration. And YAY! this is my 100th post. It's taken me a long time, but I got there in the end... It's amazing to think how much my crafting has changed and developed since I started blogging. I would never have believed that I would be writing my own crochet patterns for a start. Post number 101 will be the BIG CELEBRATORY GIVEAWAY! So don't forget to check back very soon.

Owl Swap Update and Crafteroo for Comic Relief

I had an email from my owl swap partner today to say that my swap parcel is on it's way - how exciting! I wonder how long it's going to take to get here from the USA?

Amazingly I finished my owl swap gift way ahead of schedule (early last week I think) but I haven't managed to get it all wrapped up and posted yet. The weather has made it a bit tough to get to the Post Office this week, and I was waiting for a delivery of something extra that I wanted to include in my package.

I didn't think it would be giving too much away to give a sneak preview of what Yvette will be getting... To be honest it's just an indication of how bad at drawing I am!

The other thing I wanted to mention is the Crafteroo shop for Comic Relief on Folksy. Generous folks from the Crafteroo forum are donating handmade items which are being sold for the Comic Relief charity. Great idea! Pop round there and have a look!