WOYWW

Thank you to all the lovely WOYWWers who have sent ATCs to me - some are still with Annie so I will put them all on next week's WOYWW post. It is so lovely to see what you have all done and each one is a little treasure. I made sunflowers and sea pinks for my ATCs - you can see them here. They were just little dumflings and I even made a couple more over the weekend so if you didn't get one and would really like one then leave a comment below.

It was so nice to have anniversary comments from so many of our WOYWW buddies - we only know each other because of our Wednesday snoop but we feel we know you well and love to see and hear what you get up to.

Today is another day of crafty fun with Maxine and Ben. We made a scarecrow over the weekend when he was here for a sleep over. He dashed out into the garden today and came running back saying "Nanny the scarecrow is moving!" Of course, it was just the breeze making it sway around but it certainly looked very real! Isn't life fun when you are two and three quarters.

Well that's it for today.
Have a great week and enjoy the lovely weather.

x Jo

WOYWW

Good morning to all our WOYWW blog buddies.
This week has been another busy one.
I finished off the little shrug that I knitted for my special, little friend's christening.
She has a beautiful christening gown and just need something to keep her cosy, if it is a chilly day.

I love the lacy pattern and just added a few tiny sequins to add a little sparkle to match her dress.

I have also been trying to make a few little dumflings as ATCs for the WOYWW 8th anniversary swap.

Annie and I always make a few and ask that anyone who would like one leaves us a comment. We usually try and post them out together to save on stamps. So, if you think you would like to swap ATCs with me, just say so in a comment and I will do my best.

I have found it tricky to comment on one or two blogs, especially if you are Google plus. So I just want to say thank you for leaving lovely comments. I do pop over and read your post even if I can't leave a comment.

So, today I am having Ben whilst Maxine goes to a meeting and also will be seeing my christening baby to hand over the shrug and bunting. Another fun day!!

I hope you are all well and certainly enjoying the spell of lovely weather.

Have a great week.

x Jo

Friday smile

I have just finished a little set of dumfling cards for a friend's birthday gift....

They made me smile so I hope they do the same for you too!

If you want more smiles and even a giggle or two then pop over to Annie's "A stitch in time" blog.

Have a great weekend.
x Jo

Friday smile - My little dumflings.

A cheery little photo of my dumflings!

Or for the uninitiated... hand embroidered needle felted creations.

They are about 10cm x7cm and worked on recycled woollen blanket.

I just thought they might make you smile this morning.

Have a good Bank Holiday weekend.

Join Annie for more smiles and a giggle or two over on her "A stitch in time" blog.

x Jo

WOYWW

 Good morning all!
The sun is pouring through my window and the birds are singing as I type.
I love these bright Autumn days don't you?
My desk is covered with little frames that I have collected for Maxine.
We will use chalk paint and soft wax to "up-cycle" them and then use them to frame our little embroidered dumflings! (See here if you don't know what this means).
I was given two huge boxes of frames to add to my already huge pile so I was forced to have a good sort out and took some to the charity shop. A girl can have too many frames!!!

My latest sewing/crafting activity is below.
I was given a little chair which needed a facelift.
I delved into my fabric stash and found this piece of silky curtaining.
Once I had painted and waxed the legs( - the chair's not mine!) - I recovered the the seat and made a fitted back piece, stapling it all in place.
Not a bad renovation but it did take me all day to plan, cut, sew and staple!

Well that's it for today.
Have a great week and don't forget to show us what you have been up to by revealing all on WOYWW.

x Jo

WOYWW - dumfling delight!

 My table is covered with dumfling delights this week!
I have done a bit of sewing but nothing I can show just yet.

My friend is coming over tomorrow to choose a picture from Maxine's latest dumflings.
So, I set them all out nicely on my sewing table.
Don't they look pretty?
I am sure she will find something to suit.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

 

 

Now a quick update on that much younger sister of mine - Annie aka Wipso!

She says to thank you all for your lovely messages and that she is settling nicely into her new home. I think she is enjoying sorting and putting things in order but still has a long way to go.

She is so happy just to have moved at long last and is finding life in a bungalow much easier.

As yet, they don't have broadband so she is missing being able to contact friends/family etc but hopefully it won't be too long.

 

Well, that's it for this week.

If the sun shines today, I am going blackberry picking and having friends to lunch.

Have a good week all.

 

love

Jo



Finished by Friday with a smile!

Just two of my "dumfed" (needle-felted) creations for this week's smile.

Above is my sunflowers picture which I made using the wet felted backround piece on the earlier post. I added wool rovings, yarns, silk ribbon, and yellow chiffon. Then I free machined a few details.

 

Below is one of my little dumflings which I mounted onto a canvas that I painted with acrylic paint.

 

Just a bit of crafty colour to add to this stunningly beautiful day!

 

To see some really happy pictures pop over to Annie's "A stitch in time " blog.

 

Have a great weekend.

Thanks for calling by!

 

x Jo

WOYWW - latest crafty activities!

Good morning all!!

This week I have been mostly dumfing little "fairy gardens" and sewing camouflage fabric for a fellow WOYWWer. It's lovely to be able to help out other craty folk isn't it.
Caro asked if I would make a curtain for her little boy's under-bed den. I love a challenge!!
So we bought a double duvet in camouflage fabric and I have been busy with my little project.
I will let Caro show and tell the finished item when it is in place in the "top secret" den. Don't you just love the imagination of a child.

So - here's my table - well it's definitely there somewhere beneath the sea of camo- fabric.

AND here is a little collage of some of my favourite dumflings.

I had a brainwave for mounting and selling them.
These little canvasses are 10cm x 10cm.
I painted little scenes as a background and then attached my little dumflings.
(If only I had LITTLE dumflings!!!)

Let me know what you think.
Some of the others will go on cards.
Some may even go in my little frames that I am re-cycling.

Never a dull moment here!!

Join in the blog hopping fun over on Julia's Stamping Ground.
It's a great chance to see what we crafty WOYWWers get up to and you can give Julia a virtual hug and help her get better!

Have a great week.

x Jo

WOYWW

 Good morning all!!
Just sharing a few dumflings on my desk today!!

Annie and I had and afternoon of dumfing fun on Monday and I worked on a small scale with my little Clover hand dumfer. Then in the evening I added a few beads and stitches to finish them off.
I might put a few on little canvasses - what do you think?

Also you can see a few of my poppy brooches which might be scattered around Maxine's exhibition in July. Jo had the idea of making a 100 year remembrance display, linking in Maxine's lovely poppy pictures, so we might just do that.

AND below - the stunning array of ATCs that Mr Postie has been delivering over the last week.

 

 

 

It never ceases to amaze me how different they all are and what a talented bunch you clever WOYWWers are!

A huge thank you to all.

Annie and I posted most of ours together and if you haven't received them yet, they are on their way.

 

Have a great week.

See you next week.

x Jo

 

 

WOYWW

Another happy Wednesday has come around – thankfully!

What a busy week we have had too.

I never really plan my crafty activities for the week, as I prefer just to tackle each day as it comes and do what ever takes my fancy – how lucky am I??

After a lifetime of work when every minute was filled and even my evenings and half my nights seemed to be spent thinking, planning and creating, it is lovely to be able to “cherry pick” the jobs I choose to do.  (And when I say jobs I don’t mean WORK – just crafty activities!)

So imagine my delight when I had an email asking if I could make a Katie Morag style dolly for a Christmas gift. (Scroll down if you want to see the finished dolly and travelling bag).

I had two days of fun making them and the pleasure of thinking how much the recipient will love little Katie.
 

click on photo to enlarge

Today my work desk has been my long kitchen unit where I have been mounting the gorgeous little dumflings that Maxine made.

We have used mostly re-cycled frames which I have painted/distressed and waxed.

I love them – I just hope Maxine approves – then they will go on her Tilly Tea Dance stall at Craven Arms craft fair on Dec 14^th. All together she has 20 pictures ready plus a few left over dumflings.

 

These little Christmas tree decorations were made with the little hearts Maxine and I made together. I think I shall make a few more as I think they are quite pretty.














 

I also knitted a little hoodie for Annie’s grandson – forgot to take a photo but it was knitted in Crofter baby wool in shades of blue and looked fab.

Well that’s it for this week.

Thank you for calling by and leaving such positive comments – it really does inspire us to do more!

Now -  over to Julia’s Stamping Ground to join in our blog hop for this week.

See you around!

X Jo

WOYWW - dainty dumflings

Good morning all - happy Wednesday!
Another week has flown by and here we are again, checking out each other's work desks.
Join in if you dare show us yours - follow this link to Julia's Stamping Ground and see what we are all up to!

My table is covered with dumfing goodies today.
Maxine made some pretty pink dumflings and mounted them on cards - perfect as a little wedding/engagement/thank you notelets. You can see them in detail on her blog - Tilly Tea Dance.
I think she is joining is WOYWW today.

The bags of wool rovings are to share with Annie - lots more scrummy colours from Sara to use in our needle felting. You can also see a piece of wet felted wool that I made over the weekend - waiting for a fun day Monday dumfing day. If you want to see what we have been dumfing this week - pop over to our blog shop -Sisters Crafty Creations - the needle felted pictures look so gorgeous and colourful.

This Monday I cut out 3 little broiderie anglaise pinnies for the little flower girls to wear at the wedding reception.

I think they will look pretty and keep their little frocks clean - at least for a while!!

The 3 little waistcoats that I made a few weeks ago went down very well.

I think I have started a trend - I now have 2 more to do for October.
One little boy loved his so much he wore it all the next day and even had it on over his pyjamas!

That's it for this week.
Enjoy your snoop and thanks for visiting - leave me a comment if you have time - I love to hear from you all.
x Jo

WOYWW - felting or dumfing

Good morning all!!

Before you is a nice neat room and tidy table - I just had to clear out some of my untidy mess after my weekend of crafty activity (See gorgeousness on post below!)

On my table this morning are three pieces of handmade felt. I spent yesterday morning wet felting these.

This one is for Annie. She finds wet felting difficult because it hurts her wrists and shoulders so, I offered to make a piece for her to use as a dumfing background.

This is what it looked like when all the wool rovings were laid out ready to wet felt.







And below is my experiment.
I fancied making a flower garden so I wet felted a background piece and then I will work on it with my embellisher (dumfer) and see what happens.

The little pictures below were needle felted onto a piece of wet felted background  and then machine embroidered and beaded.

I think we will pop them in the shop once they are finished off.

I have started the "mini felted picture" shelf already.

I put a few of my little dumflings in there so click here to have a look, if you are interested.

And lastly....

the latest little ATCs to arrive through my letterbox.

They are all so beautiful and will just about fit on my A3 collage board, so I will be finishing that off later. Thanks lots everyone - it's been a fun going global!

Now to see what Julia has been up to in her Stamping Ground this week.

Have a great day.

See you later

x Jo

Dumfing workshop.

Saturday was dumfing day!!
When M came home to see her Dad for Father's Day we had time for an hour or two in the sewing room.
She loves to craft with me and uses it as a good stress buster.
Having seen my poppy picture (last pic on this post), she decided she wanted to make some.

She had already made the tiny dumflings in the picture but fancied a different style.
So with a little direction from the one who knows......
She made the 3 gorgeous little poppy dumflings in the front of the pic above.
They are made with wool rovings and yarn, dumfed with the needle felting machine into felt.
Then the detail is added with free machining and beads.
Here she is at the sewing machine..
 


















And here are my little poppies that I made earlier.

It was just lovely to spend time together and share a crafty session.
She went home happy, with a box of baking that we made for a fund raiser for the charity she works for and her 3 little dumflings.
I just cleared up the mess and then carried on where I left off......... pop back tomorrow to see a few more dumflings.

Thanks for calling by.
x Jo

WOYWW - Dumfing magic!

Our WOYWW ATC fun continues.

As our little dumflings are winging their way around the planet, then by return, come these wonderful little works of art.

Many are accompanied by cards, notes, good wishes and some even included lovely crafty bits and bobs.

Thank you all for your lovely comments and beautiful ATCs.

We have had such a lovely week - made even better on funday Monday when Annie and I got together to play - you show me yours... I'll show you mine!! We both think we should make a big collage of them so that we can keep them all together and display them as they deserve.

 What a wonderful way to "meet" new and old WOYWW friends. I think our Julia deserves a medal for having such a brilliant idea.

As for fun day Monday.....
well it didn't get off to a good start...
Look at the girl - she has been so poorly.
As I looked across the table at her peeping over her dumfing machine it reminded me of those captioned war time posters (Chad? Mr Wot?)

WOT NO MOJO?

                                                                                                             

But then we started crafting and somehow it worked its magic.
The needles dumfed, the felt flew and before we knew it she was back on top form and creating the most fab and gorgeous crab apple blossom dumfling!

Of course - I was busy dumfing on my machine opposite her.
So we chatted and giggled, drank coffee, ate chocolate - oops did I just admit that!!! YES we ATE CHOCOLATE! How else does a poorly girl get better?
Here are my little dumflings.

 We have had such a giggle over Maxine's suggestion re clearing her mortgage by selling my dumflings.
Seriously though - they have turned out rather well so, we think we might make dumfling mini-felts with them and make a shelf in our blog shop for some of them. So keep a look out after next fun day Monday.

Lastly, here are my latest little jumpers and beanies for the fish and chip babies.
I posted them to Dawn yesterday. She is the blog friend who wrote a post about them (read here)and who has kindly collected them and passed them on to a local organisation ready to send out to Africa.

Well what a colourful post that is!!
Have a great week everyone - see you on my blog hop.
x Jo

WOYWW - a little dumfling update

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

What a wonderful weekend of jubilee celebrations it has been - I hope you have all enjoyed it.

AND - what fun WOYWW was last week.

Thanks to all who visited my blog and especially a big thank you to those who joined in the ATC swapping fun!

Due to popular demand I spent a day making a few more.......

Some of my ATC dumflings, that I posted on Thursday, have already reached USA, Canada AND Australia!! So dumfing has officially gone global!!!

However - lots of you wanted to know what it is and how I did it.
So I took a few snaps as I went along this week.

Here is my piece of green pre-felt from Sara of www.SarasTextureCrafts.com
I have used my needle felting machine to attach yarns and wool rovings for the foliage.

 Now I have added some bright petal coloured wool roving for the flowers.

Then I use dark thread to free machine the detail into the flower shapes and foliage.
I put some firm vilene on the back and zig-zagged round each one to make them ATC size.
That's it!!!
Here are a few fuschia ones....

My daughter M had a brilliant idea to help pay off her mortgage....

She thinks if I make thousands of little dumflings and sell them at £1 each then she will be debt free in no time!! Something didn't quite add up to me  ...
I make - she sells - her mortgage is cleared mmm!

I wonder what Alan Sugar would make of that as a business proposition!!

Hope you have enjoyed my little dumfing class - do email if you want to know more.
Now let's pop over and see if Julia our WOYWW queen enjoyed her anniversary celebrations too.
Have a great week .
x Jo

Happy WOYWW 3rd Anniversary!

I can't believe it's 3 years since we started joining Julia and her mad Wednesday blog hop!

A big thank you Julia for keeping it going all this time and enabling us to meet so many lovely crafting "buddies"!

Now.....

In order to be able to join in the ATC pass it on scheme, we have been busy making a few little dumflings.

(To the un-initiated... a dumfling is a tiny creation, made using felt/fabric/yarn etc and "dumfed" together with our "dumfing" or needle felting machines.)

Here are my dumflings - I like to get them out on a sunny day, on the grass, for a nice photo!

Whoever is my buddy on Mr Linky will get one of these.

Some of my dumflings were a little too large for an ATC so I stitched them in a random fashion onto cards for my friends' birthdays etc.

Being the generous soul that I am - should anyone else wish to swap an ATC for one of my little dumflings just email me with your details and I will see what I can manage - first come first served I guess.
UPDATE - just busy with a few more so please email if you would like one.
Have a great 3rd anniversary Wednesday - let's raise a glass of something bubbly by way of celebration!! CHEERS!
x Jo

WOYWW

Summer is here at last!
We have had a couple of gloriously sunny, warm days - let's make the best of it.

 My table is covered with Jubilee bunting this week. I made all the flags ages ago but only stitched them onto the white tape this week. Daughter M has a float at a Jubilee event - do you think 40 metres is enough!!!!!

This little fluffy blue heap is the reverse side of some little "dumflings" that I have been making.
I will reveal more when they are finished.
I love working on pre felt - it makes a quick and very colourful background to my little dumflings.
I am just about running out of it, so ordered a bit more from Sara of www.SarasTextureCrafts.com
- it should be here this week so I can make a few more.










And lastly a little sign of summer...
A Lacewing on my kitchen door...

It looks huge but of course it's only about an inch long, including its delicate green lacy wings.









Well that's it for today - only a couple more weeks one week till we celebrate 3 years of WOYWW - where does the time go?!! Pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground and join our crafty blog hop!

Have a good week everyone.
x Jo

WOYWW - dumfing fun!

A different view across my table today.
Notice a lovely little pin cushion attached to my sewing machine - thanks Jo - just what I needed. I love my pin cushions and have several which are great when I am hand sewing. BUT when I am machining they seem to bounce off my table - yes I work that fast and my table vibrates! SO  the little dragon fly covered one is perfect and means the pins will always be handy just where I need them.
I made a little Christmas mouse to post to my little Aunty in a residential home. She used to love all my crafty bits and bobs and I still feel the need to send her something even though she really doesn't take much notice these days, bless her.
Scattered round are a few of my latest dumflings. It's not a good photo - so dark and gloomy here today.

Now below you can see the stalls I loved best at the German Market in Birmingham on Sunday.
Lots of fab felted items - bags, toys, puppets, shoes etc. The colours were so bright and cheery. We had a great time - even though it poured down most of the day. We made up for it with cups of hot chocolate - and Gluehwein - and hot potatoes and mushrooms - and hot cheese sticks. YUM!
I didn't buy much but enjoyed seeing all the traditional German wares.

OK folks - only one more WOYWW before Christmas so let's see what you are all up to this week.

Join in the blog hop by following me over to Julia's Stamping Ground -  have fun!

x Jo