Surprise!

What a wonderful surprise I got yesterday when my Fairytale swap goodies arrived from my swap partner the lovely Ali. All the goodies arrived individually wrapped...just like Humbugs!
In my swap parcel there was a lovely little selection of vintage type buttons & bias tape ( I LOVE vintage stuff!) & if that wasn't enough here is what else she sent!...

...A wonderful little cute crotcheted froggy, (my favourite fairytale is the 'Frog Prince') a super little lily pad shaped needlecase made from felt and a really lovely pearl button/ribbon bracelet that I have been wearing today!

Thanks to Ali for my wonderful gifts and to Apryl for arranging such a fantastic swap!

Festival

I am so tired! I have spent the weekend at the Leeds Festival which was VERY muddy however, it did mean I could try out my new leopard print wellies! Had a fantastic time, great music and great friends. What more do you need?!

I particulary enjoyed the sets by Queens of the Stone Age, The Enemy & Rage Against the Machine...& the sun came out!

Tea cosy

I couldn't wait to get started on a design from my 'Sublime Stitching' book! I found a plain tea cosy at 'Dunelm Mill' for £3.99 & chose the heart & dagger transfer to embroider onto it.....Not sure if it needs a word to go inside the banner?.... what do you think?

Bruges..almost done!

Probably the best way to see Bruges is by boat....it was such a fantastic, sunny day that this really was the icing on the cake!

I'm not going to bore you with any more pics but if you're interested I have uploaded them onto flickr

Bruges trip cont!........

One of the many, many chocolate shops! Think most people who have been to Bruges have a photo of this window!

Apart from all the food/drink shops you can find some really nice unusual shops inc, wonderful home furnishing shop (bit like BO Concept/Habitat), an Olive Oil shop specialising in yes, you've guessed it Olive Oil, dips and vinegars. A cat/dog clothing/accessory boutique?! & many more that you stumble along amongst the back streets.

On Wednesdays,(the day I went) there is a big food market on 'Markt' square (of course!) Really lovely & buzzing atmosphere.......

Had a fantastic time in Bruges. What a pretty City! I am so glad that I did a bit of research before hand however, as there is a fair bit of touristy stuff & without my trusty Lonely Planet guide book I think I would have missed some of the nicer things (always tucked away down little backstreets aren't they!)


Didn't find much in the way of vintagey things but there was plenty of other stuff to make up for it...





'The Beer Temple' (mind-boggling variety of Dark & Blonde beers)..........Well, you can't go to Belgium & not get some Beer!




'Diksmuids Boterhuis'-Wonderful Old-fashioned cheese shop, also stocks salamis, relishes and hams.........bit smelly!!

Sublime Stitching

My lovely new books arrived from Amazon today...full of great, modern/kitschy embroidery designs, printed onto re-useable transfer paper that you can use up to 9 times. I am now looking around for things that could do with a little embellishment!

Patterns

Found a lovely pattern yesterday for some vintage style aprons. I am thinking of making a couple of these for xmas pressies. Just need to find some suitable retro style fabric now!

Yay! Finished swaps!

I have had a busy afternoon packing up my goodies to send to my partners Pang (Robot swap) & Ali (fairytale swap) tomorrow morning. They have been my first ever swaps and I have really enjoyed meeting them via the swap- I am hooked! I need to look for another swap now!

Swaps

Today I have mostly been making.....Robots & Robot related stuff for the my swapee Pang. I have loaded up the Robot that I have made but am keeping a few things secret as a surprise!

I think I have go his eyes a little wonky....but I guess it gives him character!

roboswap

roboswap
Originally uploaded by paynedesign

Little James Bond Yorkie!

How time flies!...............Big baby!Dennis The Menace stylee!

The 'Sports Casual' look...

Bertie

Baby Pics..........

My little fur baby...yeah, I know I'm sad!!

Robot Swap

I have signed up for a new swap, this time the theme is Robots...I have been partnered up with Pang & have been searching for inspiration. Hopefully it won't be long before I find some!

Fairytale Swap

I have been really busy the last couple of days creating a swap for my partner Ali based around her favourite fairytale 'The elves & the shoemaker'. I decided on making her a little elf of her own, using needle-felting. I have done very little needle felting so I thought this would be a good chance to practice, I hope she likes it!

Of course, being the 'craftaholic' that I am I also went on to create some lavender bag shoes......

I love lavender, I always carry lavender oil (very good for headaches!) mind you, that's another story!................

Swaps

I am really looking forward to taking part in my first swaps. The first is a fairytale swap arranged by meridian ariel (http://www.meridianariel.blogspot.com/), where the inspiration comes from your partners favourite fairy story...& the second is a Robo swap (http://clairesblog.paynedesign.co.uk/), the aim to create a robot for your 'swapee'. I just hope my partners won't be dissapointed with my efforts!

Bruges....

I am due to set sail for Bruges on Tuesday evening for a couple of days. I have been doing loads of research on the internet to try & find the best shops to visit (especially vintage ones!) Not really having much look, but the place looks really beautiful so I am sure I will find loads to do either way! (beer or chocolate? decisions, decisions!)
Hopefully on my return I will be able to figure out how to upload photographs so I can share them...don't hold your breath!