Valentine's Day - not long now!

It's that time of year folks when the little arrows of love are flying through the air.  I'm surprised some health and safety person hasn't put a ban on Valentine's day, it must be pretty hair-raising dodging those cupid arrows on 14th February!

So, what are you going to buy this year for your secret admirer, partner or bestest mate?  The supermarkets are full of the usual things - chocs, flowers and some mass-produced pink and red things.  Chocs are always welcome I know (can't be doing without a box of chocs at any time), but how about treating your special person to something a little different this year? 

The Folksy website has a special button to click that'll whizz you straight to all the lovely handmade goodies that have been tagged with the word "valentines".  That makes it a lot easier to pick something special doesn't it?  You don't even have to go over to the Folksy website, the big red Folksy heart is right here on my blog - look, it's there on the right hand side bar - click and off you go!

Before you leave though, you may want to see a couple of suggestions from Ellie's Treasures.

First, something traditional, unique and beautiful - for the lady.  Write little messages to clip inside with the two mini wooden pegs provided, or you could clip something else wonderfully special inside.



Don't want to go over the top with hearts?  How about this?  A great little gift.



Last posting day 1st class is Friday 11th February or Saturday morning for those in a mega rush but at always, I can't guarantee Royal Mail's delivery schedule so perhaps it's best you order asap!

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Stocking fillers

These brooches and my (so far) one and only key fob will make perfect stocking fillers this Christmas.  Here's my selection, all hand sewn and all with a silver safety bar pin secured firmly to the back.  Just click on the photo to go to relevant brooch/key fob in my shop.







Just thought I'd mention (don't scream) - here's a mini countdown to Christmas just to make you panic!


Make your own Countdown Clocks

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Brooches - how to wear them

There's a new brooch in my collection at Ellie's Treasures.  It's another from the "Patch" series - this time he's looking for love with a little purple heart beneath his paws.

Brooches make brilliant accessories.  Not only fabulous for dressing up your clothing, but wonderful too for adding style to your hat, scarf and even your handbag.



Here's my Ben modelling my fat cat brooch which has been clipped to the lovely burnt orange hat my hubby purchased from Folksy for me earlier in the year. 



and here's Patch again clipped to my handbag looking very smart indeed.

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Things I've made or finished this week:

I've been busy finishing a beautiful Patchy Pockets for my friend who is getting married on the 18th September.  It's a surprise little gift and I hope she will find it perfect for keeping safe all her little momentos from the special day.  I've personalised this one too, which makes it extra special, and I'm happy to do something similar for any of my keepsake wallets listed in my shop should buyers request it.

This Patchy is very similar to one I sold quite recently.  As I've mentioned before, the materials are gorgeous and very bridal in my opinion! 





I've also made a new little pussy cat brooch, as promised.  Again, I'd made one like this just a few weeks ago for my sister as a little gift.  I thought the colours of the cat on the purple background looked lovely, so I just had to make one for the shop too!

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Been busy on the sewing front ...

and made a cute little pussy cat brooch as a small gift for my sister.  It took everything I had not to keep this one, I think the purple is spot on and shows off the ginger furry body just perfectly.  I've just bought another couple of cat face buttons so will be making a some for the shop in due course.



I've also had a rummage in my materials bag, buttons and ribbons box and made a new keepsake, Patchy Pockets, fabric wallet.  I love making these as each one is unique and the finished product always puts a satisfied smile on my face.

Feedback from recent Patchy sales have been great - it's always lovely to know my items have made someone happy:

"Thank you so much! The item is GORGEOUS and arrived beautifully and safely packaged 2 days after ordering ~ you are fantastic! x"

"So cute, thank you! Perfect for keeping little pictures of my kids and other bits and bobs."

These little wallets are fabulous for keeping so many small things in one place.  Photos, notes, plasters, headache tablets, phone numbers, sewing items, memories from special occasions - the list is endless.

Here's my latest one, now available to buy at Ellie's Treasures:

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Patch plays ball ...

My new little collection of cute dog face buttons arrived and, being a little smaller than my last ones, sent me back to the drawing board.

With Katie's help I bought a wad of gingerish coloured furry fabric which we both thought would make a fabulous dog body for the new button faces.  Not only does it moult terribly, leaving ginger fluff absolutely everywhere, but, once cut into a small body shape, looked just a little ridiculous!

After much cutting out of our various shapes and positions of doggy bodies to fit the doggy heads, I settled on good old felt and added a couple of brown patches which seem to turn my newly formed hound into an adorable little pooch.

My dog, Poppy, loves playing ball.  As you can see from Poppy's blog post, she has a small collection of tennis balls.  Most are split, chewed or dented (and many, many more are strewn around the garden and probably in the house too), but she loves them all!  With this in mind, and knowing how dogs do like to play fetch, I added a little yellow ball to the brooch too.

"Patch plays ball" a new brooch is born and looking for a new home.

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Pussy cat brooches ...

seem to be quite popular at Ellie's Treasures.  My last cat brooch went to a fellow Folksy seller, Paulaz Jewellz.  I think she was very happy with it - in fact she even blogged about her new brooch (see her review here).

I have to say I love making these little felt brooches.  Each one is unique - no two could ever be the same as, apart from the actual button cat head or cat, all pieces are hand cut and hand sewn.  Each brooch slightly padded and stiffened, and each one has a sturdy catch bar pin secured to the back.

Brilliant for cat lovers and equally wonderful for the fashion conscious who are looking for something just that little bit different.

I have two little heart brooches available at Ellie's Treasures at the moment.  My first is similar to the one sold to Paulaz Jewelz - a darling little cat with its button face, fluffy curled up body and woollen tail.  I love the way it watches the butterfly!

My sister bought me a pack of ceramic pussy cat buttons (and a mouse) which inspired my second brooch.  "Cat peeking through the long grass" comes to mind when looking at this.  It has a lovely smiley face - perhaps seeing the pretty flower and tiny hearts puts it in a wonderfully happy mood.

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Wedding gift idea

I made a couple of these little heart shaped note wallets to sell for Valentine's Day and sadly, they are still in my Folksy shop! Hand-sewn from the most gorgeous fabric remnant in a jacquard style - burgundy, gold and sand colours, trimmed with champagne silky ribbon and two thin tie ribbons. Inside two little ribbon hemmed slits hold mini red pegs ready to attach special messages or other small items specially for the recipient.

A fellow Folksy seller friend is getting married this weekend. It was her that introduced me to Folksy and subsequent online selling facilities like Zibbet and Dreamaid so I wanted to send her a special thank you present for her and her fiance's wedding.

A "messages from the heart" seemed the perfect gift. Inside I attached mini hearts with their names and wedding date and then hand drew and wrote on cards three special messages, "happiness", "forever" and "good luck".

I'm updating my "messages from the heart" item in my shops on Folksy and Dreamaid to show these new photos. Anyone wishing to buy the heart can choose a simple message for me to print out on fabric to attach to a clip or to write on white card (or they can have blank cards to write their own special message).



Wishing my fellow Folksy friend a fabulous day on Saturday and happiness together for the years ahead.

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Mother's Day

Taking my inspiration from Katie with her lovely little dolly-peg lady (seen here), I thought I'd make something similar for my Mum for Mother's Day.

Found a good sized box, made up a pretty dolly-peg with polymer-clay heart and added it to the box with some pretty red sprinkly sparkles and tissue paper. Topped it all off with a felt heart mini book displaying some words that describe my Mum perfectly: "caring and loving ... thoughtful and kind".

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Who was St. Valentine and where did the heart shape come from?

Perhaps this post should be under "education" on my Our Day blog but to be honest, I wanted to put in a little bump for my Valentine "messages from the heart" that I lovingly hand-made for my shop ready for that special day. So, with just a week left of free UK postage on an item that is just perfect for the 14th February (or any other special event for loved ones), I thought I'd try and find out the answers to these questions.

So, as we all know, modern day drawings of the heart resemble love and romance and as a heart is usually coloured red, it resembles passion. The shape that we all associate as a heart was believed to have been modelled on a human heart as many ancients, including Aristole, felt all human passions came from the heart. As we know, the human heart is not shaped like this at all - it has four chambers whereas the heart of a frog, with its three chambers, looks alittle more like it! This and two other possible heart shape theories can be found on this site.

St. Valentine then, who was he? According to one of our well used sites, Woodlands Junior School, there have been, as shown in the Catholic Encyclopaedia, mentions of three St. Valentines who have had something to do with 14th February. However, most experts suggest that the actual Valentine that we associate with St. Valentine's Day was a Roman who was martyred because he refused to give up Christianity. You can read more on the traditions of Valentine's Day on the Woodlands site here.

I remember giving and receiving my first Valentine's Day card when I was about 15 when boys suddenly played a huge part in my life! I've still got the card in my special box as well as many others after that. This year I'm making up a small box of goodies for hubby Paul for this special day. The first thing I've put in is a colourful drawn heart card, getting my inspiration from the artist Jim Dine.

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