Poppy's Place Winter Craft Fair

Next weekend on Sunday 1st November I'm delighted to be taking part in the Poppy's Place Animal Rescue Winter Craft Fair in Marks Tey, Essex. I'm really looking forward to it and if you're in the area it looks set to be a fab afternoon. There will be plenty of opportunity to start your Christmas shopping, with handmade work from local crafters, a great raffle, food for yourself and your dogs and cats alike and a Mad Catter's Tea Room (my sort of afternoon!) Supporting a great cause and having a lovely time too, what more could you ask for? 

 I'll be showcasing some new jewellery designs and I've also been feeling festive and working on some handmade Christmas cards so I'm looking forward to sharing them. Hope to see you there!

Find out more about the great work that goes on at Poppy's Place and how you can help here

I will have a range of my Harris Tweed Button Brooches for sale on the day but you can also take a look at them in my Etsy Shop, they make lovely stocking fillers!

Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

At the weekend I went along to Hammonds Photography Studio in Chelmsford for a fab photo shoot for some new pieces I've been working on and today I wanted to give you a sneak peek! I've been working on some new Harris Tweed and Knitted Button Brooches embellished with upcycled fabrics and I'm so pleased with the photos! I'm about to start adding them to my Etsy and Folksy shops and I'll be sure to let you know when the shops are restocked with these new Autumnal toned pieces- they make lovely stocking fillers or a treat for yourself to brighten up your jacket on blustery days.

WIP Harris Tweed Button Brooches

Sharing my latest work in progress- I've added some new colours of Harris Tweed into my Harris Tweed Button Brooch range and I'm busy making these to add to my Etsy shop soon. I wanted to add some more autumnal colours to the range and I'm now busy choosing which upcycled fabrics to add to them, Watch this space!

You can check out the knitted and Harris Tweed brooches in my current range here

Make/Customise Your Bag For Life!

Unless you haven't been to the shops this week you'll know that large stores in the UK are now charging for carrier bags. I think this is a good idea if it cuts down on the amount of carrier bags going to landfill, so today I'm sharing two of my How Tos for making and customising your own "Bag For Life"!

This tote bag is really simple to make and all you need is a pretty fabric scrap and your basic sewing supplies. You could even upcycle the fabric from an old skirt/pillowcase/dress etc. A really thrifty make, it folds away and I keep it in my handbag ready for shopping trips! This is also a great bag to use for keeping craft projects safe.  Find the How To for this bag here

There are lots of fabric bags for life available but they are often plain and uninspiring. In this How To I share my customised bag for life, which is given a brighter lease of life with printing, studs and swapping the handles for old belts. 

The finished bag is lovely and bright and I've used it as a beach bag as well as on shopping trips.

Have you made or customised your own Bag For Life?

Wool Week Work In Progress- Fair Isle Brooches

Today sees the start of Wool Week in the UK so I thought this would be the ideal time to share some of my latest work... These are new square hand knitted Fair Isle brooches, made in beautiful British wool. I'm loving making these and transforming them from initial Fair Isle designs into wearable pieces and the Fenella 2ply wool I'm using to knit them is a joy to use and British grown and produced too. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be revealing more new jewellery work that I'll be adding to my Etsy shop soon. Watch this space!

What are you knitting at the moment and do you enjoy using British wool too?

On Instagram in September

I'm a little bit scared at how fast this year has gone- it's absolutely flown by! Today I'm looking back at my Instagram photos from September with memories of our holiday, a lovely workshop, new craft work and of course pics of Nelson cat. I'm a real Summer person so I don't look forward to the change into the chilly seasons, although I do love Autumn food- foraging for Autumn produce and making chutneys is something I love to do- as well as the excuse to wear my boots and woolly jumpers! Wishing you all a lovely October!

Nelson is taking it extra easy at the moment because he was bitten on the leg- we assume by another cat- and the vet said he needs to stay indoors until he has recovered. So he's enjoying extra cuddles at the moment, poor boy!

I started the new Tilly And The Buttons Bettine dress pattern this month and had hoped to get it finished to wear on holiday. Alas, life got in the way and I didn't get it finished in time, so that's my challenge for October!

Autumn flowers

I ran a workshop for 24 members of the Suffolk East branch of the Embroiders Guild, which I really enjoyed. The group made felt beads, upcycled fabric flowers and needle books

Mr Writer and I went on holiday to Sicily and had such a lovely time- what a beautiful place. Above is the view from our room- really missing the sunshine and good food!

We spent time on the beautiful beach, visiting the local towns and even took an excursion to walk on Mount Etna Volcano, which was an experience I'll always remember

A picture postcard Sicilian town. Really missing these sights! You can see some more photos I took in Sicily here

I've been working on some new Fair Isle designs and this is a detail of a finished necklace- see more in this post

What did you get up to in September?

New Work- Hand Knitted Fair Isle Necklaces

I've been busy working on some new pieces for my Fair Isle jewellery range and I'm excited to share the first of my new Fair Isle necklaces! I hand knitted the necklace to my own Fair Isle design in beautiful British wool and the knit encapsulates light wooden beads that tie with ribbon. This is my first prototype of Fair Isle necklace in this style and I am going to experiment with other colours and designs to add to my Etsy and Folksy shops soon. I'll keep you posted! 

I find the Fair Isle process very therapeutic and very rewarding. One of the reasons I love knitting so much is because you are creating your own fabric. Maybe one day I'll go one step further and try spinning my own yarn!

This is a real statement piece that can be dressed up or down and is a great way to wear wool every day! 

I've been following the Fair Isle tradition by using a maximum of 5 colours per design

The nature of the design means the necklace is reversible, so you have two looks in one!

You can check out my other Fair Isle necklaces and brooches here. Watch this space for more new designs!