Finished by Friday and smiley snippets!!

How much can I squeeze into this Friday post???

 Firstly five smiley faces on my little dancing dollies.

I am going to enter them in Di's Snippets Playground this week. I have never entered before but thought these little dollies made from tiny fabric scaps would be perfect for her Snippets Playground this week.

Secondly I thought I would show you the "princess" skirt that I made for a friend's grandson to give as a little girl's birthday pressie. I think she will love the lacey underskirt and swishy blue fabric with its silver bows.

 

Lastly, as promised on Wednesday, my latest draught excluders.

I have made them with cosy furnishing fabric and they will be just right for popping behind a door to keep out these cold winter chills!

 

 

So that's it for this Friday.
I am going to the Frost Fair at Attingham Park today.
It's always a good place to visit - lots of craft stalls and delicious foods for the Christmas season.
I might even take a few photos to show you next week.
Have a good weekend.

Thanks for popping by. If you want to see more Friday smiles then pop over to Annie's "A stitch in time" blog.

x Jo

Finished by Friday and a smile.

 

Well how about this for a Halloween outfit then?!!

 

I have been sorting out cupbards and drawers in an effort to get my fabric stash in order.

Now, my dear daughter has had her own home down here for about 4 years, so I wonder why I am storing all her school and college projects/favourite bits and bobs?

This item was her prize purchase in the market in Marrakesh!

It is a huge heavy woollen jalaba - extremely warm for those cold desert nights!!

Why then, is it sitting in my wardrobe and why oh why did I parade myself in it, looking like a massive bar code! Enjoy the giggle.

 

And here is a chuckle for Annie - I managed to get two sleeves almost identical from that lovely marbled wool - only Annie will know how totally brilliant I am - we spent an hour trying to get it right on Monday!! I know it isn't necessary for these random wool items to match up but I just can't make one with odd sleeves.

 

 

Lastly here is my Mark 2 version of my denim/velvet draught excluder. I gave the first one to Maxine for her charity office.

Have a good weekend everyone.
Join in with Annie's smiles over at "A stitch in time".

x Jo

WOYWW

 Good morning to all our WOYWW blog buddies.
Just look at the pretty bits and bobs of vintage linen/embroidery heaped on my table today.
(Its covering  another heap of fabric scraps left over from the projects below)
I really do need to have a big tidy up before I start to work this morning!!
I am going to make some little lavender bags so I cut up some vintage linen and found ribbon and tape to go with them. Hopefully, I will have some finished to show you next week.

Below is a little cushion that I made to go with one of our draught excluders. I have had fun with Maxine designing them and just to prove I had actually learned from her tuition, I designed and made the cushion all by myself!!!

Then, because I needed a little card for a special new baby, I got going with my free machining and designed this one. Cute isn't he!!!

 Well, that's my show and tell for today.
I hope you are all well and enjoying your crafty activities. I will pop round the desks in the next few days - I really enjoy seeing your workspaces and all the things you are busy with.
Thanks for dropping in here and leaving your kind comments - you are such a nice bunch.

x Jo

WOYWW

Happy Wednesday everyone - well what's left of it!

I am late posting this week.

I had two lovely crafting days with my daughter Maxine, here at home, on Monday and Tuesday.

Followed by today helping Annie play with the twins.

So, I am sorry to say WOYWW came last in my order of priorities!

BUT here I am ready to show and tell.....

 

Here is Max, already beetling away on my machine on Monday.

We were making our gorgeous little draught excluders using offcut furnishing fabric, leather flowers and vintage buttons, with just a flourish of hand embroidery here and there.

We had such a brilliant couple of days. We always get on really well and make a great team - she is good at the designing/colour combo side of things and I am there with the technical expertise - he he that sounds grand doesn't it!!! (Older + wiser, I think don't you?)

 

And here is my out door work table today!!...

 

 

 

These are just a few of our patchwork draught excluders waiting for their stuffing.

I know it's not likely that anyone will be thinking of buying draught excluders in this sub tropical weather but in a few weeks time I am sure the need might arise for some!

 

 

OK short and sweet and better late than never.

I will be round to check out a few desks later when I have had time to chill with a long cold drink.

Have a great week in this wonderfully sunny weather.

 

x Jo



Finished by Friday and smile!

Here is my latest finished item.
I have all sorts of little projects on the go but this draught excluder is the only thing completed this week.

It is made with a variety of furnishing fabric and embellished with vintage buttons and hand embroidery.
It is in shades of grey with a plummy pink mix of fabrics. It is filled with polyester filling so that it is light to post but also it squishes nicely into a doorway to keep out the winter draughts!

I will pop it in our Sisters Crafty Creations blog shop later.

Now the weather forecast says more snow followed by heavy rain, snow melt and FLOODS!
So I thought you might like to see how I aim to be prepared for that possibility.....

If you would like similar adaptations let me know - it didn't hurt - honest! lol.
Join in with Annie's Friday Smiles here!
Happy Friday!
x Jo

WOYWW - January sale!

EARLY WARNING!!

These pretty little sets are a bargain!
They have been sitting patiently on our crafters' shelf in our Sisters Crafty Creations blog shop.
Annie and I had a fun day Monday morning re-vamping all the shelves.

We have a had a good sort out and decided to have a January sale.

So we thought our WOYWW friends should have an early chance to pick up a bargain.

There are 3 pretty sets like these - selling for £3 (Originally £9)

Also we have filled four pretty tote bags with useful crafter's accessories - pen rolls, desk tidies etc.
Each bag is selling for £10 (They each have about £40 worth of bits and bobs inside!!)
AND there are lots more lovely hand crafted items at reduced prices...........

if you want a few bargains then follow the link to Sisters Crafty Creations blog shop.


My table is piled high with fabric today.

I am busy with a couple of draught excluders and some pretty Valentine's zip pouch goodie bags.
It was such a wet gloomy Tuesday - a perfect day for crafting cosily in my sewing room.
I think Annie and I will create a Valentine's shelf in the shop so keep a look out for my finished items.

And lastly.....

These little primroses are bursting into bloom in my back garden.
A reminder - if a bit premature - that Spring is just around the corner!!

Happy Wednesday everyone.
Follow me over to Julia's Stamping Ground and join our happy blog hop!
x Jo

Finished by Friday - draught stopper!

I call them draught excluders others say draught stopper and some even spell it draft!
Whatever it is - it is a handy item for helping to keep out the cold!

This one is extra wide and made for a special friend's Nan. It is about 114cms - I usually make them about 90cm. It is tailor-made to fit her doorway and to match with her carpet and curtains.
I hope she likes it. I had fun choosing buttons and hand embroidering the decoration.

If you want to see others that we have made - there is a gorgeous black and shades of grey one in our blog shop...
Sisters Crafty Creations

or you can see the one Maxine and I made on New Year's Day here.

Two more are on eBay at the mo...
Burnt orange/beige

Warm reds/cream

If you would like one tailor-made to suit your needs - just email me!

Thanks for calling by.
Happy New Year
x Jo

WOYWW - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!
I hope it is a healthy and prosperous one for you all.
We had a quiet New Year's Eve and then today hubby went off to watch Shrewsbury Town win for a change and Maxine and I had a fab crafty day together.
Here she is at the dining room table - she needs to spread out when she is crafting!
We are busy making another draught excluder.
She chose the colour scheme and then we worked together so that I could show her how to do the feather stitch and fly stitch hand embroidery.
The end result was gorgeous - the photo doesn't really do it justice - it was too dark and gloomy to do a proper job.  She took it home to show everyone but I guess it will go in the blog shop or on ebay sometime soon.

My earlier crafty days were spent making dressing up outfits for Annie's daughter in law to be.
She needs them for the new school term so I quickly ran up a princess dress, jesters outfit and knights tabard. I think the children will have fun with these!

That's it for today folks.
I hope I can get around to see a few desks this week - I don't know where last week went.
Join in with Julia and the gang over at her Stamping Ground!

x Jo

WOYWW

 Well, as Christmas is only a few weeks away, I thought I would let little Chrissie start our post today.

She is about 7 inches tall and has a little hanging loop so she can hang on the tree.
I have been collecting junk beads for legs and arms. You can see some more which I found in the pound shop, on my table below.

My table is a bit of a mess - it's a bit of a dumping area at the moment.
You can see some gorgeous red babycord waiting to be made into a little frock for Lexi. Then there are the little notebooks I bought from the NEC last Thursday. The rest needs sorting and tidying away.


My latest project is spread over the chair back waiting to be finished.
I made two more draught excluders to sell at the craft fair.
We saw some at the NEC and they seemed to be selling quickly so perhaps I am "on trend" for once!!
Can you see angel's legs peeping out from underneath? I am joining in Jo's angel swap so they are waiting for their name labels before I pack them up ready to post.

 The belt and packs of beads were some of my car boot sale bargains. I should have enough for my dollies' legs now!!!



Below are the beautitful hand embroidered napkins all freshly laundered and starched ready to be transformed into a crafty item or two.

Well that's all from me for this week.
I will post all my finished bits and bobs on Friday.
So, pop back if you want an early snoop or just scroll down and see what I made last week.
Join in our Wednesday blog hop - pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground and follow Mr Linky!
See you soon!
x Jo

Finished by Friday!!

Handmade crafts

 "Finished by Friday" is going to be my showcase for all the little items 

that I have hand crafted during the previous week.

I usually have a "show and tell" on my WOYWW post each Wednesday 

but I decided I would really stretch myself and do two posts a week!! lol

 

So - here goes.......

Hand knitted baby cardigans

Above is the latest little sleeveless cardi that I have knitted for Lexi.

It should fit a 20" chest and has hand embroidered lazy daisy flowers and knots with little, floral buttons.

Just a cosy extra layer for the cooler Autumn days.

Below are the three tissue box covers that I have made for our craft fair.
I am also putting them in our blog shop - Sisters Crafty Creations.

For those of you new to my blog -  Sisters Crafty Creations  is where my sister Annie (Wipso - A stitch in time) and I put all the items we have made in order to sell them online.

So, if you are interested then follow the link and then check out all our "shelves" in the shop by clicking on the links down the left hand side of Sisters Crafty Creations.

Tissue box covers

Poppies tissue box cover

This tissue box cover is made from cream fabric decorated with panels of recycled vintage embroidery on the front and on top.


At the craft fair I will sell them complete with tissue box - they make a lovely gift.
Online it makes postage really cheap if I just sell the covers without the tissues.
I will package them in a cellophane bag.

White vintage lace n linen tissue box cover

This tissue box cover is made from white vintage fabric decorated with vintage cotton lace with a little lace/buttoned flower on top.

Vintage embroidery tissue box cover

This tissue box cover is made from white fabric decorated with a panel of recycled vintage embroidery on the front with a vintage embroidered flower on top.
















AND lastly
Here's one I made earlier....


This patchwork draught excluder is made from various furnishing fabrics.

It is embellished with buttons and hand embroidery and has polyester filling.

Patchwork draught excluder

That's it for this week ...see you next week!

If you would like to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you. Thanks!  x Jo

WOYWW - birthday, bargain, beastie and bolero

 Happy Wednesday everyone!
Just a few things to share with you today.

Don't you just love my flowers??
Dear little sister Annie gave them me today when I called for coffee - as she loves to remind me - I am her "much" older sister!!
In fact, 61 this week. AND if I say I am 6 years older than Annie and its her birthday soon then you will know how old she is too!!! Ha!

Above is a little pine spice rack that I found at the car boot.
I thought it would make a useful little display stand when we go to the next craft fair.
I have painted it with off-white Annie Sloan chalk paint and distressed it a bit.
Here you are....

Now I know you love to see the view from my kitchen window....
Well this week it wasn't nearly so nice!!

I don't like spiders much and this giant was sitting on the outside of the window frame.
I know it's ridiculous but it kept catching my eye and in the end I had to go out and brush it off gently.so that it could run and play where I couldn't see it!
As Grandma used to say.."If you wish to live and thrive - let a spider stay alive"

 Much prettier, is the little cream shrug that I made for my friend's granddaughter.
I have had a busy time knitting - it keeps me awake when I am watching TV.

Below is the draught excluder I made for Maxine.
It has fabric from her hall roman blind, furnishing fabric scraps and vintage buttons.
I added a few rows of hand embroidery too.
It looks just right in her hallway.
I have lots more fabric remnants, in all ,shades, so I think I might make a couple for the craft fair.

That's it for this week.
I had a lovely time last week checking out lots of your desks - I try to do as many as possible and a few extra "new" desks that I haven't visited before. I do a lucky dip on Aunty Julia's Mr Linky list!
It's great to see what you are busy making and I am always so impressed by the beautiful cards etc on display. What a clever crafty bunch!!
Keep crafting!
x Jo