Lace with Style

I have always known that the lace that we sell on the Craft Fairy web site is beautiful, so it was a sheer delight to receive this photo from one of our customers, Jeanette. She's wearing this fabulous shawl that she made using the leaf guipure lace. I have to admit to being really envious. I do hope that this has spurred you on to make something similar yourself.

Spiral Rope Bracelet for fun

A couple of years ago I dragged my friend along to a jewellery making course.  Just for fun I said. Little did I know that I would love it to the point that I wanted to bring the beads to the Craft Fairy web site. I plotted and I planned and now they have arrived. So, of course, I had first dibs and this is what I made. It's a simple spiral rope and it is finished with cones and a toggle clasp to make it a bit more up to date. No fuddy duddy beading for me thank you.

I'll put a tutorial as soon as I've time after doing the Bristol Parchment Craft Show tomorrow.

How to make pearls pop

Well at least I think that 'pop' is the current phrase for making things look special. I decided that for this necklace, I would use pearls in a more modern way. I think that I achieved this by pairing them with some of the fab new beads that we are currently stocking on Craft Fairy. We have kept our prices so low that you can buy all of the things that you need for less than £4.

The materials used for this necklace can be found on these links:

Pale gold pearls

Drawbench beads in light olive green

golden eye pins

Some tools to make the links

So simple that there is probably no need for an explanation.

Shabby Ginghams

New in and hot are these wonderful shabby ginghams that have  just hit the Craft Fairy web site. I have tried and tried to get these and not success at last. Love them.

They almost vlook like they've beed dipped in tea. You crafters will know what I mean.

Bags More Ideas

Last weekend I exhibited at the Hobbycraft Show at the Cardiff City Stadium and had a wonderful time. I met lots of wonderful crafters and I hope that I was able to inspire them with what we had for sale. I believe that the most popular inspiration was the bag designs. You've all seen them before, but to may customers they were new. So it has spurred me on to come up with more designs and this is the latest. It's artistically arranged in my garden of course.

You will see that I've used a different bag this time. Well you do need a bit of vatiety in life and a girl can't have too many bags.

All of the following items are linked to the website.
You will need:

Natural Sage Coloured Jute Bag

Red Ribbon with Green Saddle Stitching
This is a 23mm wide fairly soft ribbon which allows you to make the folds easily.

A piece of Light Stone Felt

Embridery Cotton

Buttons


First of all, make the roses  as described in a previous post. I make three widths of rose so that they would look better on the bag. All the same size is not so good. Look at the picture below to see what I mean. The graduating in size looks best.

Sew the roses to the felt as shown. Then stitch a line of embroidery thread to make stems. No need to be too precise here.
Sew the felt to the bag with blanket stitch.

I then added some large red buttons because I love buttons and because they look good on the bag.

Organizing my Stand for the Stitches Trade Show

Every year I do a trade show at the NEC, Birmingham. I fully realise that there is a year between the shows and I always intend to improve on things for next year, but guess what, Next year is here and I am still not happy about what I am going to do.

So, my stand is only 5 metres by 1 metre. Small! So how come I managed to make it look so empty last year?

This year I have decided to miss out the wall lining in favour of the grey and to fill the stand with more colour. So I wlll take my gridwalls and they will provide me with hanging space and I won't have to pin things to the wall. Yeah!

So, this is it. 2013 show. Not the same as last year at all.

Red and Gold Inspiration

Many of you may now know how excited I am about Craft Fairy selling beads and findings. How could I not be as I love all that sparkle soooo much. I have finally uploaded most of them to the web site and now I can get on with a little craft therapy. So to start I've made this bright necklace using big textured pearls and acrylic beads. As they say here in Wales, 'Lush'.

If you feel inspired too you will need the following:

Golden textured pearls. 16mm
Spray Painted Acrylic Beads, Octagon, Crimson, Size: about 25mm 
8mm Golden Color, Iron JumpRings, Closed, Unsoldered, x 100
Golden Iron Eyepins, Size: about 0.7mm thick, 4.0cm long, hole: 2mm approx 100
Tibetan Style Toggle & T Bar Antique Golden, pack of 4 sets
Golden Color, Iron Bead Spacers, 4mm x 100

Rhapsody in blue

Well, here's my latest collage. I went for blue this time.

 

Strangely enough, the blues, rather than looking cold as blue is supposed to do, look clean, fresh and springlike. So, what do you prefer, orange or blue?

Orange Extravaganza

Orange is not usually a colour that inspires me as it isn't a colour that I can wear. However, the day has arrived when I wish that I could wear it as some beard to die for have arrived at Craft Fairy headquarters and I just had to out them together in this collage of colour.

So, now all that I have to do is use this as inspiration for a little crafting. I can't wait.

Chiffon ribbon

We'll you might see from the last and this post that I have at last discovered how to use picsart. So I do hope that I don't bore you all to death with my piccies. These chiffons are lovely though so feel free to share.