I'm a Calendar Girl

I've never been a Calendar Girl before! But when Annie the Felt Fairy asked me if I'd like to act as hostess for the November Monthly Makes, I jumped at the chance. So I'm Miss November! 

You'll have seen my Monthly Makes popping up through the year, and the year before, when Annie started her Monthly Make campaign.2012 has been a tough one for our Mistress of Making; and I have so much admiration for the way she has handled everything life has thrown at her - without a pinch of self pity, just a healthy handful of dark humour. I'm proud to help her out this month; and I'll be checking out the other makes on blogs and in the flickr group. It's not too late to join in! Make something, take a picture, add it to the group. It's that simple.

November is going to be busy; and I'm hoping that I won't have to come back and add these cards as my Make.

After I'd used some of the skull fabric on my layout last week, I decided to take the same basic idea and turn the Pink Paislee frames (also from the Quirky kit) into cards. It's a twist on a card idea I spotted on the Pink Paislee blog and pinned to my Sweet Scrapbooking Pinterest board

The second one, with its "captured" motif got me thinking along a sheriff theme; so I made a badge with some ribbon and echoed it with a sunburst cut with the Slice. I spotted I had a left over piece of pink with a cut already made in it, so I used it to line the inside:

And that's me for today. All I have to do is remind you that next Sunday it's Storytelling Sunday time. Yes, really! So get thinking - for a theme how about "It was a dark and stormy night.."
But, of course, as always, stories on any subject at all are very welcome.

The Man Sweater - My Monthly Make

"Uncle Dave warned me about mothers like you," said The Tall One, as he eyed my knitting book with suspicion. "He said once you start talking about leaving home, they start talking about thermal underwear and woolly sweaters."

Which was harsh. I thought. Harsh. But also true..maybe he does need me to start now? if I knitted all winter, and right through the spring, I could have a whole woolly wardrobe ready for next September. Mmm..

After all, I've got the book for it: the one I made the page about for September's Month in Numbers. Knits Men Want; The 10 Rules Every Woman Should Know Before Knitting for a Man. I've even worked out how to use the patterns and I've finished up my sweater and everything. And it's not for The Tall One at all: it's for his dad. A man sweater for doing manly things in - so I took its picture like this:

..and I'm resigned to the fact that, despite the book (which does have lovely, basic-shaped patterns), there really is only one rule to remember. Men don't mind if you knit for them - they only mind if you mind when they wear it for gardening.

I don't.

And that is my Monthly Make for October. Annie the Felt Fairy, whose idea the monthly making was, is still in need of all our best wishes for her recovery - keep it going Annie! And if you would like to see more makes, the place to start this month is with Miss October, Joy of Perfect Little World

Life's A Circus - My Monthly Make

..or maybe my circus is a little like life. Some bits are funny. Some bits are dangerous. Some bits you wonder where it's going next, other bits you'd rather not be there for at all. The thing about a circus, for me,  is that I'd rather dip in and out.

And that's lucky, because I started making the felt circus over a year ago now  for the Monthly Make challenge in 2011! The (Not So) Small One and I worked on Auguste the lion and his cage; and then, it seems, the circus left town..

But we picked it up again this week and dug in deep to make the circus tent. The pattern for the complete set (which includes a felt ring-of-fire, clowns, elephants and monkeys) comes from a wonderful Etsy shop called Bugga Bugs. I recommend it! Next on my list, I think, will be the felt nativity set.

But for today - the tent. When everything else is finished, it will all fit inside

Oh, look, there's Auguste now..

and here he is again, standing on the opened up stage as the tent flaps come down

We've had fun with this. Maybe we'll manage the Ring of Fire this week? But at least we have finished the main attraction and it's my Monthly Make (read all about the challenge on Annie's blog here and find a lovely round up of other September makes on the September hostess blog Twinkles, Tutorials and Twirls here) for September. Annie the Felt Fairy - we hope you soon feel much much better! 

Next Sunday is Storytelling Sunday. Yes, it's that time again. I've made a start on my story - October? Halloween Month? In this house that means Fancy Dress. So, if you are interested in a theme, how about Let's Dress up! But, of course, as always stories on any topic at all will be very warmly welcomed. See you there.

The Hats Have It - My Monthly Make

Little E came for a visit yesterday. He brought with him his usual enjoyment of - mmm..everything plus a big box of Rice Krispie buns he'd made himself.

I gave him the hat I'd knitted to keep his ears warm. I wasn't fast enough to catch him trying it on, so here's a picture I took before he arrived:

Last hat I knitted, he looked like this:

I'm nominating the earflap hat as my Make of the Month for Annie the Felt Fairy's Monthly Make. I hope you are continuing to feel better Annie. Take care of yourself!

The pattern came from a neat little book called Simply Knit..Hats by Fiona Bailey. 

and I think someone involved must be a scrapbooker!

It's the last day of the holidays here..but that means Autumn is just around the corner. My favourite time of year.

Today I'm Sending..

If you managed to get hold of a copy of Scrap365 this month you might have seen my October Afternoon mini album. I found the scraps the other day and I decided to make some cards

The scaled down patterns in the 8x8 paper pads are full of shapes I want to cut out and stick down.

I pulled out a little "Today" stamp so that I could create a set of all- occasion cards. "Today" on the outside and I can follow that with any message I need on the inside

I think I'll nominate these as my Monthly Make for March. Have you been keeping up? It's definitely not too late to join Annie the Felt Fairy and her band of Merry Makers..

..and so today I'm sending you a reminder. Don't forget - Storytelling Sunday this coming weekend. The First of April! -  don't be a fool, have your story ready!

Hurray for Humf - My Monthly Make

Hurray for Humf. Humf is finished. Don't know what a Humf is? No, neither did I until I visited Little E and my sister produced the knitting pattern.

"I thought you might help me with one," she said, "Actually, no, I thought you might like to make one."

So I did. Humf is short, round, purple and stars in his own TV show. He looks like this:

Pattern bought on Ebay. "Don't forget your Humf card," Little E said as I left, and he pressed it into my hand

I'm moving swiftly past a certain family member who thought Humf looked like a Barney the Dinosaur who had let himself go. And I'm putting my Little E's Humf forward for my Monthly Make with Annie the Felt Fairy (more details here - it's not too late to join in!). Then I'm parcelling him up for Little E's birthday and waving him off with a sigh of relief. Humfs are hard.

My Monthly Make

I owe Annie The Felt Fairy a post. And an apology. Last year I took part in her year long Monthly Make challenge. It was a lot of fun and I was quick to say Yes! I'll do it again in 2012. It's even bigger and brighter this time round, with a monthly cheerleader to keep us all going. I'm going to be Miss November. But before then, I wanted to get stuck in cheering on January and February and - well, I hope to enjoy all the January makes by the end of the week.

And I have finally got round to posting my Make:

Felt pinafore and beret. Tights and tshirt top in jersey from an old tshirt

It's a set of dolls clothes made from some patterns I bought on Ebay about three years ago:

Patterns from D-Zinerclothes4dolly

Our doll isn't a Helen Kish, it's a Madeline (from the books by Ludwig Bemelmans). We have a collection of the characters, The (not So) Small One and I, gathered up over the years and pictured in an early blog post here. Sometimes we still find the time to dress them up; and sometimes I still like to make them something new to wear. Trouble is, once I start, it's hard to stop. I've got a rucksack to do..

But maybe that's for next month. There is still plenty of time to join in with the Makes - it can be anything at all and you may post a picture on the Flickr Group or find out more by reading The Felt Fairy. February's hostess will be Natalie of Hungry Hippie.

Annie, I think I'm back on track.

We're Off to Join the Circus

When The Small One was a very little girl, she had a t-shirt with the legend "I'm Off To Join The Circus"

printed on the front. It was an excellent kind of a t-shirt, because you could wear it when you were happy (and thought a bit of trapeze sounded fun); and you could wear it when you were sad and thinking about running away from home. It always worked.

We've been thinking about that t-shirt as we've been working on our felt circus. See,  The Small One liked the felt farm so much, she thought she might like a felt something of her very own. And when Jemma suggested a joint project, I said - Genius! and we made a start.





You've already had a peep at the lion in Sian on Safari. He was getting a bit boisterous, so I've made him a cage:

The film is set in the 1930's - it looks like my Buggabugs pattern from Etsy will give us exactly the right look

The Small One is on elephant duty at the moment. It was slow going, to be honest, until I showed her the pictures of Robert Pattinson's animal training act for the new movie Water For Elephants. Mmm..R. Patz modelled entirely from craft felt?  Remember - you heard it here first..

And my caged lion is this month's entry for Annie The Felt Fairy's Monthly Make. The Big Top, The Ring Of Fire, the clown, the monkey? - all in production. At a blog near you soon.

My March Monthly Make

Today I have for you my Monthly Make.  Annie The Felt Fairy has been busy passing out patterns for anyone who fancied a go at sewing Stanley. And I did, so I grabbed one.

My Stanley looks like a bit of a handbag dog:

The original, of course, was made famous by Cath Kidston. He started out as a pet and became a muse. I saw the real Stanley in one of her shops in London once; but he was curled up fast asleep in his basket and I just couldn't persuade him to part with any Cath secrets at all..

Here he is in front of a layout I made about a trip to a Cath Kidston shop. The story is here

February's Monthly Make

Got Tassel?

I've got my make done nice and early this month. Alright, I cheated just a little bit. Instead of trying to completely finish the green cable sweater I've been working on, I skipped to the matching hat and knitted it instead:

The pattern is from my favourite kids knitting book Designs For Kids by Lucinda Guy and the end result is meant for the head of that blonde scamp Little E:



"Whenever I see him I just want to cuddle him. But he always wriggles and he's usually sticky"

 The Small One has a point. But he's very cute and we love him to bits. So that's my make for the month. Keep an eye out over at The Felt Fairy's place - she'll be adding a linky to take you to all the other February projects. It's going to be worth a look!

One Farm. Finished.

Just squeezing in there before the end of the month, I've finished the felt farm.

The barn in the background

I love how it turned out and I'll definitely be returning to Bugga Bugs for more patterns (mmm..felt food..) - the instructions are excellent: clear and detailed with plenty of photos.

The barn unfolded to show the inside

And I was able to use up lots of little scraps of felt. The finished farm cube measures just about seven inches square. To be honest, Little E is probably still a bit too little to play with it (it has buttons and elastic holding it together); so it will be going on a high shelf for a while I think. "Mmm," said The Small One when she heard this. "I think I could probably do with a felt farm.."

Psst! Don't forget: Storytelling Sunday next week, the first Sunday in February. Have a think and come up with a tale to tell. No layout, craft project or added extras required. Just you and a few words...

It's A Farm - But You Mustn't Tell

Ssshh! I'm making a felt farm for Little E, but it's a secret..

At the minute the outside still looks like this:

and the animals to go inside still look like a big pile of felt scraps, but I'm sewing as fast as I can. I bought the pattern from Bugga Bugs - an Etsy shop discovered by my scrapping friend Helen, it's now one of my favourite places to browse. When I've finished the farm I think I might move on to The Three Little Pigs, or the Noah's Ark, or some felt food, or..any of it really. The patterns come as PDF's and the instructions are extremely easy to follow. Highly recommended.  

I'm racing to get the farm finished before the end of the month, so that it can become my project for this:

Annie The Felt Fairy's Monthly Make Challenge, which you can read all about here. One project a month - let's give it a go! Annie says she used to do a lot of scrapbooking - maybe if we work on her, we can persuade her back to the fold...