Lisa Rupp May Freebie

I am a big fan of Lisa Rupp's style of illustration (this Zebra is a fav) so I have no idea how her beautiful monthly calendars have passed me by until now?

Thanks to Kelly I am now happily in the loop! She always has the best links on Friday which with out fail send me down the rabbit hole and all over blog land as one thing leads to another, and another and, well you know how it is.

May's 'Life Is Good' calendar is so pretty I spent a good while filing and deleting all the clutter on my desktop so it could be displayed in all its glory without my icons sitting all over it. Don't you just love the colour palette too? If I were an illustrator (ha!) I would hope this sort of loveliness would flow from my pencil.

Hurry only 22 days left of May to enjoy!

psst!...if you sign up to the newsletter Lisa will email you each month with the new calendar so you wont miss out again!

image source: lisa rupp

Pocket Money Picks 07/May

It's Friday and look... my Pocket Money Picks feature is back! Lets all buy ourselves a little treat :)

 

1. Little Red Riding Hood Embroidery Pattern $5 - Comfortstitching

2. Trimmings Pack (hand screen printed!) $10 -  Umbrella Prints 

3. Fabric Bag with Bird $6.50- Jodii

...

It appears we are in for another dreary, grey London weekend so I can definitely see myself working on some Comfortstitching embroidery. How about you, what's in store for you and your family this weekend? 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, perhaps you too can find some time for crafting. See you back here Monday...

Karolin Schnoor & The Working Proof

Have you heard of The Working Proof? Artists like Karolin Schnoor are paired with a charity who receive 15% from each sale made through the project.

The pieces showcased by The Working Proof are mostly limited edition prints created exclusively for the project which are printed by the artists themselves, signed and numbered so you know you are getting something unique and special when you make a purchase.  

Forest Lady by Karolin Schnoor

The crisp, clean lines, smooth bold blocks of colour and Karolin's use of pattern and shape really made her work stand out to me so I wanted to share it with you all here.

This print is something I could really live with in my home. I think it means something when you keep being drawn back to an image, I cant stop looking at it! Do you like Karolin's work too? You can see more here, she's a very talented illustrator with some wonderful projects under her belt.   

Who's your favourite artist taking part in the The Working Proof? I'm also pretty fond of Sol Linero who supports Medecins Sans Frontieres. Let me know what you think of Karolin's work, I hope you are inspired too.

image source: the working proof

Update: Karolin has an Etsy shop too!

Free Digital Kit With The Design House Digital Blog Hop

I have never come across a 'blog hop' before but I'm sure glad I did because it is alot of fun and you even get to come away with a goody bag for joining the party!

Intrigued?....Well let me explain what the 'Designer Blog Hop' is and how you get the goodies shown below ;)

The Designer Blog Hop is pretty much an online treasure hunt. Cool, right? 

Design House Digital have put together this fantastic free digital scrapbooking kit but there is a slight catch. You can't just download the kit at DHD you have to find all the pieces by following a trail around blog land.

Designers Kate, Jen, Tiffany, Carina, Melissa, Audrey, Deena, Meredith, Sara and Gennifer have each posted their contribution to the free digital kit on their own blogs so you need to make 10 stops in all to complete the kit.

If you start here at the Design House Digital blog you will find this piece of the kit and a link to the next blog which will have another part of the kit to download for free. Each blog leads on to the next so you shouldn't miss anyone or anything out!   

When you have completed the challenge and hopped on over to all the blogs taking part you should have found 18 papers, 19 elements, 3 alphas and 1 hybrid box for you to download for free along the way.

I cant say I'm really into digital scrap booking but I love playing around with all the elements you get with kits like this. You can print the frames out and use as labels or gift tags and the beautiful papers can be turned into note cards and envelopes.

I am sure you will come up with some crafty uses, I'd love to here what you would use the kit for! If you create a layout for scrapbooking or use these elements in a crafty project I'd love to see what you come up with so do drop me a line.... :)

Olive Manna Coloring Book

This is another reason why I love Twitter. Every single time I check in I find something to swoon over and yesterday was no different. Natalie Jost was tweeting about these new colouring books which she'd made available to pre order so I decided to investigate further ;)

I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised because this is not just any old colouring book but one for the grown-ups!  

Colouring is one of the few things you can do to really rest your mind and help you switch off from all the distractions that vie for our attention when we try to relax. If something is bothering you or there is so much going on around you that you find it hard to wind down I think activities like colouring can be really therapeutic, do you agree? 

Natalie has a beautiful online shop Olive Manna which stocks really lovely paper goods, fabrics, and craft/wrapping supplies which have a clean simple aesthetic to compliment the original pattern designs she uses in her work. In fact you might recognise some of the patterns featured in the Olive Manna Coloring Book from her fabric collections which are available on Spoonflower.

When I think about when I would actually use a colouring book for some reason I can picture myself on a sun lounger, pool side at Vilacampina with this drink in one hand and my pencils in another. This might not be quite what you were expecting to hear but to me that sounds like bliss. V.relaxing!

In fact if your summer hols entail a long haul flight this is probably perfect for you as there are only so many magazines you can lug on the plane. I'm sure there are hours of enjoyment to be had.

I'm interested to hear how you imagine yourself colouring? Does it appeal to the big kid in you too? Just make sure you stay in the lines ok! 

Pssst...order before 15th May and save $5, plus Natalie is including a free set of mini colouring pencils with pre orders while stocks last.

 image source: olive manna

Table Tonic Update - 20% off

Pssst... if you loved the ikat throw pillows and hand embroidered suzani bedspreads I blogged yesterday you will be please to know there is a mothers day sale now on at Table Tonic! Click here for all the info ;)

Ikat

Louise Bell's passion, ok, slight obsession, for anything Ikat is truely infectious. If you follow her decor blog you will know what I mean and if you dont you really should ;)

I cant get enough of the vibrant textiles and soft furnishings she has sourced for her Australian online boutique Table Tonic. These bold colours and organic patterns are so striking im drawn to them everytime I look through my inspiration file.

Louise has sourced striking, colourful textiles from as far afield as Afghanistan, India and Uzbekistan. Don't you think this exotic hand embroidered suzani bedspreads is something really special? I really wish I could see one up close because im sure the craftsmanship will be outstanding.

I'm sure I'm not alone in my love for Table Tonic let me know what you think....

image source: tabletonic

Creature Comforts DIY Gift Wrapping Kit

Did you see this fabulous gift idea Ez posted on Friday? 

I've been hunting out all sorts of things like this for my Lovely Package Exchange partner in the hope that the exchange is still going to happen so I almost felt this post was speaking just to me!

Rather than just packing up a load of crafy bits and bobs I love that Ez has stuck to a colour palette which ties everything together. Everything looks like it has a place in the box even though the items have been sourced from all over.

If I received something as lovely as this I would definitely think someone had put a lot of care and attenion into such a thoughtful gift.

If you were putting this together for a friend what would you add?

For links to all the free printables Ez used be sure to check out the original post! ;) 

On a side note... I can never decide whether to feature some of the projects that I love from the 'big' blogs because I think everyone's probably already seen them. These past few weeks however, I've come across some amazing 'new to me' blogs with thousands of followers. I figure not everyone's always in the loop so I hope that there will be someone reading this today that will be introduced to the wonderful world of Creature Comforts for the first time. Ez is definitely one of my all time favourite bloggers so go check her out! 

imagesource: creaturecomforts

What's Next...

I thought id let you know I’ve decided to loosen up a little on what I post at Make, Do & Send so you might find more than the usual crafty posts popping up around here.

I'm looking forward to posting about some of the things that I have a real love for like illustration, textiles, print and pattern so I’m interested to see how the blog evolves and most importantly whether you will all like the new content! 

As for this weekend I will be finishing the binding on the Chick-a-dee quilt Im working on for my good friend Mandy's babyshower. Can you believe this will be my fourth quilt this year!....

 

... I will also definitley be making some time to play around with these scrummy fabrics that arrived yesterday from Fabric Rehab.

What are your plans for the weekend? Is spring in full swing where you live. Right now im sitting at the dinning table blogging on my laptop with the most beautiful cherry tree in full blooming blossom right out side the window. Its such a shame blossom lasts for such a short time it really is sooo beautiful. Happy Weekend all!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Ta Da! Zig Zag Cars and Trees Quilt

Soooo its finally finished, what do you think?

I used a yard of Pale Blue fabric (although I didn't end up needing it all, I have about 13" left), 1 fat quarter in Lime and 1 fat quarter in Purple from Pelenna Patchworks. I love shopping at Pelenna for solids, they have such a great selection of colours! The 1/2 yard of Cars and Trees fabric came from Fabric Rehab and the white fabric was from a 100% cotton flat sheet I picked up at Ikea for peanuts.  

As I said before, I used this tutorial as a guide for the zig zag design and for the back I reused the applique pattern from my Make, Do and Mend quilt. 

To make the binding I cut out strips from the lime, purple and patterned fabrics and sewed them together alternating colours until I had enough to go round the whole quilt for a lovely colourful binding.

I was rather brave this time and decided to try and quilt in zig zags using my sewing machine with the standard foot and the stitch length set to the longest possible. It worked pretty well, although I wouldn't say the result was perfect but good for a first time machine quilter who didn't have all the correct equipment :)

I will be gifting the quilt to baby Joshua this afternoon so I will let you know how its received tonight! What are your plans for the weekend, I hope you have the gorgeous spring weather we're enjoying here in London today. How about crafting, any projects on the go? Id love to know what your up to so feel free to leave a comment below. Happy weekend all!

 

Zig Zag Cars and Trees Quilt

Here's the beginnings of a zig zag quilt for a very special little boy...

I thought it would be fun to post a little teaser but I'm afraid you will have to wait until next week for me to reveal all!

I've been using this tutorial from A Quilt Is Nice as a guide so if you're looking to start a quilty project over the Easter break click on over there now as its a lot simpler than it might appear once you know how.

I'm sure you could whip up a zig zag quilt of your own over the weekend so if you do feel inspired to have a go be sure to come back and let me know how you get on. Have a lovely Easter All! xx

Three Cheers for Debs, Hip, Hip, Hooray!

I have just seen the wonderful news that Debs from Make, Do & Mend Quilts has her AlphaDots quilt and pattern featured in Sew Hip magazine this month!  

You might remember that it was one of Deb's gorgeous quilt kits that sparked my new found passion for quilting so I am really pleased that these refreshingly modern and uncomplicated quilt designs are being celebrated by others too.

If you feel inspired to try and make one of these AlphaDots quilts yourself click here to get the complete kit!

image source: make do and mend quilts

Fabric Basket Tutorial

I've been getting organised this past week as my fabric stash has been growing rapidly since I started quilting!   

I found a tutorial to make these lovely fabric boxes over on a new favourite blog of mine, The Sometimes Crafter. They are really simple to put together and are perfect for keeping my fabric neat, tidy and accessible.

I hate rummaging through a whole stack of fabric so I love that I can see what I have at a glance now. I'm also really happy that I found a good use for this heavier weight Kawii fabric I got recently.

So what do you think, are you going to run up a few of these to get your stash in order? You can find Christina's tutorial for the fabric baskets here...

Printable Monkey Tags By Ishtar Olivera

 

If you read Decor8 you've probably already heard all about Ishtar Olivera's blog this week as she was Holly's blog of the week! Ishtar's blog is not only full of her beautifully styled photos and illustrations but she writes the sweetest, thoughtful posts. You should definitely find some time to browse her archives with a cup tea in hand.

As a thank you to all the new fans commenting on her posts this week Ishrar has kindly designed these cute monkey tags that you can download and print over on her blog today. Isnt that a lovely thing to do! 

Click here to download your printable monkey tags :) 

Image Souce: ishtarolivera.com/blog

Lovely Design Pattern Downloads

Ok, so it's been a bit quiet round here and I admit, the no. 1 reason is probably because I've been procrastinating. I decided the only thing to do was to gave myself a kick up the bum and just jump right in and post something, anything to break the cycle.

I am now really glad that I did because I'm really please with these little note books I knocked up and am excited to share this Lovely Design blog find with you all.

You have probably heard of Sharilyn and her company Lovely Design before as she sells probably the most coveted address files on the blog circuit. What you might not know is that Sharilyn has a blog of her own with some really lovely projects and tutorials that I'm sure will inspire you just like me.

Here I have used some of the pattern downloads I found on the Lovely Design sidebar to make these sweet little jotters and some mini envelopes.

For the envelopes I used a template from the Designers Tool Box and added a little label I had previously downloaded from Givers Log.

To put the note books together I printed the patterns onto off white card stock which I then cut in half to get the right size cover. I used some Muji paper I had to hand for the pages which was lined on one side and plain on the other so I could sketch and take notes. The Muji paper was also quite thin which made it a good choice as I wanted to sew my book instead of stapling. Once cut to size I folded the pages and cover to create a book and used a couple of pegs to hold it all together while I stitched with my machine down the fold line and finally rounded the corners with a craft punch.

I have also been thinking of printing these patterns on to card stock and using as an alternative cover for the mini travel journals I made for Simple Blueprint recently. They could also be used to make really cute calling cards if you add your name and no. in Photoshop....oh the possibilities are endless aren't they!

You will find some really thoughtful and creative ideas at Lovely Design so I hope you have fun browsing the achieve over there! You can let me know what ideas you have for these gorgeous patterns by leaving a comment below.

Valentines Day Twitter Backgrounds from Ollibird

This Ollibird Twitter background I found via Design Crush simply makes me smile everytime I check my tweets. 

I thought I should spread the love and share with you too so click here to choose from the six Ollibird valentine Twitter themes Alma and Mike have kindly posted on their blog. 

 

psst...Find these lovely bird valentines over on Ollibird too!

Fetching Fingerless Gloves Pattern

Do you like the gloves I've been knitting? I am telling you, this is t-h-e perfect knitting project. 

You only need a ball or so of yarn and they are a really fast knit so you wont find them lurking in the bottom of your knitting bag come the spring because you lost interest. I think I completed these in about a weeks worth of lunch breaks!  

In a recent interview Jane Richmond said that her advice for beginners was to 'choose a pattern that is just a little out of your reach, a pattern that will teach you something new' and I think I would totally agree with this thinking after tackling this Knitty glove pattern.

With just the knit and purl stitches under my belt and some help from YouTube I was able to complete these with not too much trouble even though Id never done cables or knitted on double point needles. I will admit I had to start over a couple of times but with only 15 stitches on each needle it wasn't too heartbreaking to rip out a few lines.

I hope you like the Fetching gloves as much as I do. If you have any other glove patterns you would like to share feel free to leave a link in the comments section. I think I'm a little bit in love with knitting gloves right now.

Craft Hope for Haiti

Are you all ready to get your craft on? Click here to see what Craft Hope are doing for the victims of the Haiti earthquake and how you can get envolved through crafting. You can even help  raise money for Doctors Without Boarders by shopping at the new Craft Hope Etsy store.

Let all go on over to Craft Hope and find out how we can do our bit!

Paper Doll Downloads from Wee Wonderfuls

 

Doesn't this take you back! I used to love playing with paper dolls and was so excited to find these for download over on Hillary Lang's blog Wee Wonderfuls. Wouldn't this be fun to work on if you have little peeps at home what with all these cold wintry afternoons we're having? Pop on over to Wee Wonderfuls to get your paper dolls now.

psst! Wee Wonderfuls is on Twitter, follow Hillary by clicking here :)

Ta Da! : My Make, Do and Mend Quilt

Hello all! I hope you had lots of time for crafting over the holidays and that you are feeling refreshed as we go into 2010 after a lovely break. 

I wanted to pop in an tell you all about this amazing quilting kit I got from my lil sis for Christmas, (following some major hinting on my part I should add!).

You can see the finished quilt below which took me just under a week to complete. 

                              

I had been wanting to make a quilt for ages but came away overwhelmed with the choice of fabrics, batting and designs to choose from and ended up with a million things in my Etsy cart but no orders placed! When I came across Deb's beautiful, modern kits which have everything you need to get started, and I mean everything - fabric for your quilt top, bottom and border, batting, freezer paper, template, instructions, I literally did a happy little dance. I could stop procrastinating and get started :)

I found the kit simple to put together as the instructions were easy to follow and have now been totally bitten by the quilting bug. The best thing about completing the Make, Do and Mend Quilt kit is that its given me the confidence and know how to get quilting on my own as its really not as complicated as you'd think! As we speak I have a whole bundle of gorgeous Erin McMorris fabric winging its way to me from the Fabric Closet for my next quilting project.  

So, did you all get what you were hoping for? I'd love to know what projects you've been working on so leave a comment below and tell me all about your christmas holidays.