Handmade Christmas Gift Guide 2013: gifts for grandmothers, mums and mother-in-laws.

Hello,

Here on our second last Christmas gift guide, we've put together a few ideas for some of the most important people in our lives - our Mum's, Grandma's and Mother-in-laws.

I miss my mum and Grandma terribly now we live overseas.  I love to buy or make thoughtful gifts for them, I take their gift selection very seriously.

1. Porcelain replica vintage milk bottle : milk colour by Urban Cartel - $283 HKD available via the etsy store here.

2. One of Cat's stitched children's artwork pieces, starting at $290 HKD - her etsy store is here..... also, Cat is giving one of these away..... see below for details!

3. Fabric Greeting Card Set of 4 - Here we go Loopy Lou $140 HKD available via madeit here. I love Melinda's cards, they are all gorgeous. I have been buying and using them for years.  I am gifting some to my Grandma and the Shropshire boy's Grandma this year.

4. Small light & soft Felted scarf in red with purple tones and its matching brooch by SM Boutique - this just looks so divine! $363 HKD - etsy store here.

5. DIY: Make your own sweet DIY votives - a tutorial by fellow fellow here.

6. Mint Peony Brooch by Delilah Devine (Cat's Mama is getting one of these if she does not decide to keep it herself!) $155 HKD, available here. Look, it's a hexie, so I love it already!

GIVEAWAY: Cat would love to stitch one of our blog readers a little portrait for a special gift! She has taken to these small portraits set in 15cm hoops and she would love to stitch one for one of you! If you'd like to win, please just comment below telling me what either you, or your child loves to draw most. How cute is this?  Very, I say!

Entries are open to international entrants and will close on Friday evening, the 29th of November 2013. The winner will be drawn at random.

Happy day to you.

Cat xox

Felt Squishies go to Market.

Hi peeps,

Eeekkk, only one week to go until my very first market.  I am nervous and excited, I have no idea what to expect.

On the day, I will have a big bowl of squishies available.  I must thank my mum who made most of these for me on her recent visit.  What are squishies?, I hear you ask.  They are hand made little felt love hearts, for your child to squeeze if they are feeling anxious or missing you.

We love squishies in our house.  They have saved the day on so many occasions when Abbey has been upset before school.  I find one in her school uniform pocket most days if she is having a challenging week.  Some weeks she won't use her squishies at all (she has two of them).

Her squishies have been through the washing machine a few times too - and survived.

We have been using these little felt squishies for years now, they really offer comfort to children.

Have a great weekend.

Cat xox

Handmade Christmas Gift Guide 2013: Gifts for little girls

Hi peeps,

Today in our series compiled with Cat, it's all about girls.  I may know a few things about girls, being the mumma of two girly whirlies (as I call them) and I was a little girl once too.

My girls love imaginative play and can spend hours together making elaborate scenes with their toys.  The whole lounge room floor is usually covered with their imaginary world, they will include their toy kitchen food with My Little Ponies, Sylvanian Family toys, Little People, puzzles, books, anything they can find. I love listening to these games, they make up the funniest stories and scenarios.

1. Handmade Dolls, cats, koalas and more by A Little Vintage, various prices.  I personally want one of each.  We own a koala, her name is Mildred, and she is adorable.  Etsy shop here.

2. Wooden Toadstool house puzzle by Raw Toys $290 HKD.  We own two puzzles from Raw Toys and love them both.  Madeit shop here.

3. Dress up Rainbow bird wings by Sparrow and B Costumery $520 HKD.  My girls would love these, we adore anything rainbow in our house.  Etsy shop here.

4. Australian biscuits and cakes felt food set by Wombat's Picnic $215 HKD, madeit shop here.  I've had my eye on this set for so long now!

5. Crochet Rainbow bracelet by The Black Sheep Crafts $58 HKD, madeit shop here.  I know both my girls would love this.

6. DIY Tutorial: Make your own hair ties, this tutorial could not be easier.

What else do you buy for the little girls in your life?

Cat xox

My (tooth fairy pillow) Creative Space

Hi peeps,

OK, this is not really My Creative Space for this week. I am embarrassed to say this cute little Tooth Fairy Pillow was made (many) months ago.  Better late than never to share, right?

I wish I could say this was my amazing original creation, but it is not.  I found this fabulous pattern and tutorial years ago on the web, and thought I could not come up with a better one.  It is cute, practical and very easy to make. I had it printed out literally for years before it was needed.

Poor Abbey was one of the very last of her peers to lose her first tooth back in October 2012.  She was 6.5 years old, and so desperately wanted to be like all her friends.  Her two front teeth were wobbly for months, so many months.  It gave me plenty of time to finish her tooth fairy pillow at least (not that it takes very long to make.  I just took a while to make it in spits and spurts)

I just knew she had to have a doily skirt.  I threaded some fancy ribbon through the bottom of the doily shirt to add some more pretty.

I cut up one of the Shropshire boy's old silk ties to make the yo-yo.

I did not have many doilies to choose from to make her skirt.  There are not many op shops (charity shops) here in Hong Kong, and the ones I have been to did not have doilies (boo!) As a result, the best doily from my stash gives Ms Tooth fairy pillow a builders smile, otherwise known as a bum-crack.  Oh dear.



Luckily, Abbey does not care.  Neither do I to be honest, it is kind of funny actually.

Have a great weekend!

Cat xox

My (Red Ric-Rac) Creative Space

Hi peeps,

Wow, is it really Thursday again?  The weeks are passing by so quickly at the moment.  I want them to slow down a little.

This week in My Creative Space, there has been lots going on (again)  Yay to that, I say!

Of course, more zippered pouches are being made.  Always the zippered pouches.  I am seriously addicted to making them.  I am slowly building up some stock, ready to open my etsy store.  Soon, soon, I will get there.  I was buzzing last Friday as I sold a total of 7, yes seven, zippered pouches to two separate friends here in Hong Kong. It is such a thrill to see people love your creations.

Abbey is so excited to finally have some wobbly baby teeth.  She has watched so many of her friends lose their first, and subsequent teeth.  It was not until a few weeks ago that she got her first wobbly tooth, now there are 3 wobbly ones that I can tell.  I am secretly making her this cute tooth fairy pillow.

Lastly, I really need to finish this new skirt.  One for me!  I have had this fabric to make me a skirt for 2 years now. Ridiculous I know.  I have been making hair bobbles out of this fabric, but thought I better make my skirt now before there was no fabric left for a skirt.  

 

I am using the pattern New Look 6843, view A.  I already have 3 other skirts using this pattern, and I love and wear them all the time.  It is very quick and easy to make and very comfortable to wear.  This time I adjusted the pattern and tapered in the side seams a little.  I actually made it last month, really quickly one night, it was completed apart from the hem and the button hole.  I got it in my head I just had to have red ric-rac around the hem, so my new dress has been unfinished until now (I finally got to Sham Shui Po last weekend for the ric-rac)

Today I will sew on this cute little duckie button, and tomorrow I will be wearing my brand new, hand made skirt.  

What have you been making?

Have a great day lovelies.

Cat.

Bunting, zippered pouches, hearts, hair bobbles and more.

Hello peeps,

Yes, this does feel awkward.  It has been over a month since I paid my little blog any attention.  I am sorry to say it has been longer than that since I sat down and read some of the lovely blogs I follow and love.

Where do I start?  First there was Christmas.  A trip to my home town of Melbourne to catch up with family and friends.  A lovely trip, but a very busy one.  It was not really a holiday.

I managed to make lots of home made Christmas presents last year. I am really happy with how many presents I was able to make in the end.  I did some shopping on madeit, to buy hand made items that I did not have time to make myself.  Santa even bought my girls some hand made felt food (fruit, bread, cookies and tea bags) from madeit, he is clever!

I bought my girls their Christmas day dresses on madeit from the store Krumpet, how cute are these fabrics?

These are the presents I managed to make.  There was lego bunting.

There was pink and sparkly bunting.

There was orange bunting.

I even started two strands of Christmas bunting a few days before Christmas (and was literally finishing it on Christmas Day on my mum's sewing machine)  Here it is hanging up at my Grandma's house.

This gorgeous pile of fabric was sewn up into larger zippered pouches.  With straps.  I am now addicted to adding straps to my zippered pouches.

This was my first ever zippered pouch with a strap and patch-worked.  This one is quite big (approximately A4 size)  They are great as presents for children to put their toys in for outings or storage.  

I made an owl one too.

I am still addicted to making zippered pouches, so lots of friends and family were given my travel sized zippered pouches. 

Lots of little girls (and a few big girls) received hand made hair bobbles.  I think you can never give or receive too many of these.

My Shropshire sister-in-law collects hearts, so I made her a little hanging felt and beaded one.

My Grandma and The Shropshire boy's Nan each received a fabric wall hoop decoration.

I lost count how many snow man heads I made, it was possibly 15 (the last few were finished off in January, ready for next Christmas)

In the end, I ran out of time and not many presents were wrapped in fabric, furoshiki style, as I had intended.  There is always next Christmas, right?

I also underestimated how many home made gift tags I would need, I used all mine and had to buy more.  Next Christmas I will know to make lots and lots of them.

Now I have all my gift making here in the one blog post, there really was a lot of creating going on in the lead up to last Christmas.  I have impressed myself.  I better start thinking of some new, different gift ideas for things to make ready for next Christmas. I am sure my friends and family don't want more zippered pouches and bunting strands.

Did you get crafty or creative at Christmas?  Do tell.

Have a lovely day.

Cat.

Four happy snow men, all in a row.

Hi lovelies,

I am finishing up lots of little sewing projects, now that I have found where to buy stuffing in Hong Kong.

Four little happy snow men heads, all finished.

They really are so cute.  The felt works much better than the linen I used last time.  The snow man pattern can be found here.

Have a great day, Cat.

My (happy alien doing yoga) Creative Space

This week in my Creative Space, I have been busy making an alien.  A happy alien who loves to do yoga.  See, he loves it.

My yoga loving alien was almost a huge craft fail.  In my mastitis effected state, I kind of forgot felt is not that easy to turn inside-out when sewn into fiddly shapes like little alien feet, hands or head appendages.  I had to unpick all my sewing, cut off the seam allowance, then sew him back up again, this time on the outside, using blanket stitch.  I am so glad I could save him as I spent a very happy afternoon, during Zoe's nap time, hand sewing on his face and tummy detail.

Here is the happy alien, right way around, with a little help from my assistant (2 year old Zoe).

My assistant also thought happy alien needed a nappy change.  Aawwwww, too cute me thinks.

I am going to have to sneak the happy alien and my little squishy butterflies out of the house so I can post them to Pip for the Softies for Mirabel drive.  Both my girls love them, and would happily have them as their own.

Have a lovely Thursday, peeps.

Cat.

Little squishy butterflies

Hi Peeps!

My little squishy butterflies from Thursday are finally finished.  I made them happy ones with a smile and had to add antenna.  I wanted my butterflies to be anatomically correct, you see.

So three cute little squishy butterflies are all finished and ready for the Softies for Mirabel Foundation.  It is such a good cause, do check it out if you have not heard of it before.  Get your craft on and make a softie or two or more.

This is Super Hero Butterfly:

Abbey named this one Carrobell:

Abbey likes this one best:

Group hug:

I have one more Softie for Mirabel in the making.  There is a sneak peek of him over here, he is not finished yet and I am a little smitten with him.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Cat.

Happy Snowman

Yesterday I received the Christmas edition of Tickle the Imagination magazine in my inbox.  I knew straight away that I would be making a snowman that day.  And I did.  Even after I realised I had no white felt in my stash, I was not deterred.

I raided my scrap box and found some linen scraps (left over from making Abbey's kinder blanket)

I used blanket stitch around the edge of the linen and hope this stops it from fraying.  I will be making a few more of these, I am sure.

Have a great day.

Cat.

My (little heart) Creative Space

Tonight I have been stitching some little felt hearts.  I felt (haha) that we needed some home made loveliness after we had an eventful afternoon.  Abbey's dear friend from kinder fell over while running, split her head open and we saw it all happen.  There was so much blood as it was her temple and she did need a hospital visit and stitches.  Abbey was very concerned for her friend.

Abbey found it difficult to get to sleep tonight, I could tell she was anxious about her friend. She kept coming out of her room saying she had a tummy ache and asking after her friend.  When I got a text just after 9pm saying her friend was OK, stitched up and tucked up in bed, we could tell Abbey her friend was OK.  So Abbey was finally tucked up in her own bed with a heat pack on her sore tummy and a little hand made heart in one hand.  Made with love.  Some extra ones made for her friend (and her mumma)

Happy Creative Space day to you.

Cat.

One pink banana: My Creative Space

I have been making felt fruit and vegetables. I am finding it lots of fun. Of course, Abbey wanted her own take on the banana, and had to have a pink one. Looks rather odd to me!

This is my first time playing along with Kirsty for My Creative Space (after a long time watching)

Cheers, Cat