I Was Featured!

Oh My Goodness!  The last two projects I did I linked to a few sites on these Linky Party thingamajigs!  And guess what?  My Lace & Burlap stocking were featured on Brag Monday over at the Graphics Fairy!  Woohoo how cool is that?  Thanks for featuring me Karen!

Burlap & Lace

Having finished all my orders for Christmas and with just one day off left before packing up for our trip to the UK I decided to make some pretties for myself and, inspired by Sugar Lump Studio's and Lost Bird Studio's beautiful vintage Christmas stockings I thought I would have a go myself.
First I printed off the cute snow girl and the vintage Santa from The Graphics Fairy onto some calico that I had ironed on to freezer paper.  Remember how I was so afraid to try this technique until a few weeks ago?  Well now I can't seem to stop!  Next I cut out two stocking shapes from a piece of burlap and two from calico.  I ironed on some wonderunder to the back of the burlap which made it much easier to handle.  Then I had lots of fun sewing on vintage lace, beads and ribbons.  I made a cuff from some lovely damask fabric from the thrift store.  Then I simply sewed the calico backs on and hemmed the top.
A little while later I decided to tear two strips of the damask and have a go at making some fabric roses.  Like the freezer paper technique I have been putting this little experiment off for a while too.  BUT how easy was it?  and how pretty??  So now I will be making these darn cute little flowers and sticking them just about everywhere I think!

So anyhow enough of the waffling already, here they are, and I am just so pleased with the way they turned out!

Oooh and did you notice the loverly Christmassy pillow too?  Another image from the Graphics Fairy, Joy to the World, some great red and white Christmas print fabric and Bob's your uncle!  Oh and I also made three little hanging cushion ornaments too...well was I busy or what?

This week I am linking up with:

The Graphics Fairy Brag Monday
Feckled Laundry
Shabby Art Boutique 
ShabbyNest - Frugal Friday
Creation Corner Linky party 

The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker!

Oh. My. Goodness!  I just made Candles!  I got the idea for making candles in a tea cup from a fellow blogger although now I cannot remember who so sadly I cannot give full credit but rest assured it wasn't my own idea.  I did find this very good tutorial tho for anyone who wants to have a go.  That was a few months ago and I set out on a quest to find pretty teacups and saucers in the thrift stores.  I already had a small bag of wax pellets and some wicks (can you believe for another project years ago that never got done?  AND I shipped the darn things over here!).  Anyhow I found a lovely on-line supplier, Niagara Candle Supplies, they are super efficient and very reasonably priced (I'm sorry but Michael's just doesn't have the range nor can they compete pricewise) and I just ordered a pink dye block and a 2oz bottle of rose fragrance.  It all arrived about two weeks ago and I finally got around to doing it today.

I didn't have a double boiler or the recommended thermometer but I did burn the ass out of the bottom of my milk pan the other day and now it won't sit on the ceramic hob (see photo LOL!), so that and my wok, with a preserve jar lid as a stand, became my double boiler!  I kept a careful eye on the whole thing and had a wet tea towel at the ready in lieu of missing thermometer!

My wicks were a little short for wrapping around a stick to keep upright so again, improvisation here, I sewed a piece of thread through the tip of the wick and tied that to the bamboo stick!  I used a dab of hot glue to keep the metal 'keeper' on the bottom of the cup!

Et voila!  Some of the more seasoned Candlestick Makers may well be clutching their pearls and muttering at my various 'improvisations' however what the heck...it worked for me!

Now I am off to make a pillow or two and some Christmas Stockings, inspired by another favorite blogger (and this time I remember who it was!)  Laters Taters!