Press and a humorous name

So, looks like they printed my tutorial in Metro New York after all, although hilariously re-wrote it and called me 'Beddard' throughout. I find it entertaining to think that even a journalist whom I have never met before should decide to call me by my surname (the same nickname everyone else gives me - although it is worth pointing out here that this has never happened to anyone else in my family!)

Nice gloves!

Found these today by the way of Craft: magazine's blog; a white velvet pair of boxing gloves, complete with Swedish folkloric embroidery, made by Inger from Hello Craft Lovers! How good?

And apologies, I'm being quite a lazy so and so at the moment, both blog-wise and craft. However, a scheduled catch up with my friend Nicky tomorrow should put pay to that :)

Gypsy and Twink

I'm feeling a little hungover today following an evening of Christmas silliness, so please excuse me if I seem a little lacklustre! Just wanted to point you in the direction of Gypsy and Twink on Etsy, whom I found by the the way of More Ways to Waste Time.

Happy Friday!

A little hint for Christmas...

I am completely and utterly in love with this print by Chrissie MacDonald of Peepshow. Annoyingly I can't seem to find a direct link to it, so you'll just have to wade through the site yourself, but I'm sure you won't complain, it's all absolutely lovely.

I've always made it along to their Christmas fairs held in the EastEnd, and have even been lucky enough to pick up prints by them for £5, and one from Rob Ryan for £10 - both a steal I'm sure you'll agree! Anyway, my studenty ways mean I'm not feeling half so flush this year - so for any of you generous readers out there I would absolutely love one of these, and would repay you with untold amounts of jam and general goodness!

Etsy goodness

It is so good to come home from a had day at college to find that not only have I made a sale but one of my things has made it onto the homepage, via The Storque! Small fry to some perhaps, but it means a lot to me, as The Storque is run by the chaps at Etsy itself.

Many thanks also to the lovely Bueller Designs for the mention on her blog - you should check out her great beach shots for sale too!

A little flurry of fame

Well, hardly. But I was pleased my Christmas edition of Craft: magazine had arrived - featuring my gift tags from their competition earlier on in the year. Better still, I was then asked to submit a tutorial on them for Metro New York for their magazine. I've yet to see the finished result, but it was nice to have the attention. I'll have to see if I can get hold of a copy.

More Christmas Goodies

I've been trying my hardest to make presents for Christmas this year rather than going out and buying all of them. I must admit I can imagine that the dawning realisation that I have given them a potholder may not be the most exciting, but I am still rather pleased with the way they have turned out - well, they look good in my kitchen at any rate ;)

Volksfaden

I have just come across this lovely site via Bloesem. Never have I seen an online fabric shop presented in such a beautiful and creative way... and what's more you'll get a 25% discount on fabric purchases made before 13th December if you enter the code 'Bloesem' when paying up!

Granny extended

I started this a little while back, and little by little I'm pleased with how it's come along. Of course, progress would be a lot quicker if it weren't for the fact that I'm also making two other blankets at the same time!

Christmas crafting

I've been crafting like mad in preparation for a fair I'm doing next weekend... it's a mission on top of college work, I'm tellin' ya!

Mette's Owlie

I have been following Mette's blog for a little while now, and have always admired the things she makes - so much of it is really really lovely. Anyway, this today, particularly caught my attention! What a lovely little fellow...

Gocco anyone?

A little extravagant perhaps, but last night under the influence of a couple of glasses of wine and a sledgehammer or so I purchased a PG5 Gocco machine. I'm so excited about this, I have actually fallen asleep dreaming of all the projects I can work on when it arrives. Sad, no?

My only problem now is the justification to myself about the enormous amount of plastic I'm having shipped from Japan - not to mention the international shipping I'll need for new screens, bulbs (2 every exposure!) and inks. Gawd.....

just an old bag lady

I don't know about you, but this whole idea that women are either into bags or shoes sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. Personally I've been into both for quite some time now, and I cannot see it changing in the near future! Anyway, courtesy to Lena Corwin for the tip off, I bring you Something Old, Something New from Le Souk. Isn't she lovely?

Apologies

I've been pretty rubbish at posting lately, as college has consumed my life pretty much, so less time for making and perusing the Internet sadly. Still, I had a visit from my Ma this weekend, who had visited the Knitting and Stitching Show last week. She'd very generously bought me some lovely wool to see my through my student days - so I got stuck in to making this Granny Blanket over the weekend yet. I'll be sure to post it's progress.

In the meantime in case you're interested, the wool came from these people - they have such a brilliantly bright array of colours to choose from, although the pics on their website don't really do them justice. At the centre of the blanket, although not visible here is some lovely natural grey wool, which was a gift from my Dad from the Shetland Islands. Apparently it's so rugged the sheep live by the edge of the sea, happily munching on kelp all day.

INKE Recycled Wallpaper

I'm really loving these animal silhouettes, made from recycled wallpaper pieces by Inke Heiland (courtesy of Inhabitat). They're so lovely, I can just imagine the personalities kids would attribute if lucky enough to have one or two on their walls.

Bad Girlfriend

Like the bad girlfriend that I am I completely got swept up in college, and forgot to blog about David showing in Designers Block (part of London Design Week).

Luckily for me, not everyone was quite so lackadaisical, and he's picked up some mentions along the way: Crib Candy, Design Boom, Moco Loco, some pics on Flickr, and even a piccie in the Observer Magazine a few weeks ago.

Well done sir :)

Vote on Threadless

My mate Cookie has a tee submitted on Threadless at the moment - of two romantic hedgehogs. Please help him fulfill his mission by voting for it, so he can get one printed :)

The Rapture

The Tasmanian Devil

Here's another. This one's called 'The Tasmanian Devil', nothing to do with the real Tasmanian Devil of course, but there ya go.

Daisy Mutt and the Red Ants

I've recently received some paintings back which have been with a gallery following a couple of shows - hence, I'm uploading them here one by one.

Today's is 'Daisy Mutt and the Red Ants', which I painted following a conversation I had with a friend's daughter about how we both loved to climb trees. She'd been telling me about how she'd spent the summer sitting up in the tree tops fending off red ants.

The Newlyweds

This is a painting of a couple of friends of mine, just after they had got married in 2005. It's painted (like all my others) in Gloss on MDF board, float mounted in a white gesso frame, 11" x 11". Available on etsy soon.

Small Stump

I came across the world of Small Stump this morning (courtesy of Poppytalk - thank you). Cited as 'an art and craft collaborative based in northern California. we have a weakness for things that are tiny and old. we are happiest when our hands are dirty' I can't think of a lovelier biog. You can get your hands on some of their creations here

Stripe Blanket

This originally started life intending to be cushion cover, but my measuring was a little out, and actually it would probably make for a very lovely baby blanket (if only I keep on going, that is). Hmm... what to do?

Anyway, if interested, I used this very simple and straightforward tutorial. Again I've been using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, but you could pretty much use anything for it.

These little birds...

Won the Craft zine contest! I'm so pleased - the tags were sent off yesterday to be photographed for the magazine. Anyone know of where you can get hold of a copy in London?

Granny Blanket

These are the colours I'm using for my new blanket. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, which is super soft and comes in the lushest colours. I do think that I might be at this for quite some time though - so far I've only managed to complete two rows! Anyway, this is how it's shaping up.


And this is another one that I started, because let's be honest, you can never have too many blankets!

My first Granny square

I've long hankered after making a proper 'Afghan' or 'Granny Squares Blanket', but today, after many unravellings and much swearing I have finally succeeded in completing my first proper Granny Square, pattern and excellent tutorial courtesy of Purl Bee.

The Gandalf Tree

One can never paint enough trees! This particular one sits at the top of a hill on the grounds of Eastnor Castle (home to The Big Chill). It's a particularly fine specimen, under which I have caught my breath, had a little sit down, and contemplated the night ahead of me.

Pirate Infested Wallpaper

Threadless have just ventured into the world of the wall sticker, together with Blik. My personal fave has gotta be this pirate-themed set!

mix tape

This is nice! I totally support this sentiment "a zine about making time for the small stuff."

Hailing from Australia, it has definite crafty leanings, but (looks to me at least) to just be about enjoying the simple pleasures of life. And with a cover like that (by Aunty Cookie btw) it's easy to see how it's sold out so fast!

Nice cards

Shameless self-promotion? Well, sort of, they are available in my etsy shop, but really I just think they're beautiful. Designed and made by a local gal based in the East End called Jelly under the name of Splendid!, it's gotta be good to get them out there.

badges, badges, and more badges

Some of the badges I've made recently for Etsy.

Micro Revolt

I was sent this link by the lovely Willow the other day. Micro Revolt are a group of people in America that work on knitting, crochet and needlepoint projects as a little fingers up to sweatshops (and globalisation it looks like). Personally I've never quite got into the whole craft feminist movement - I just enjoy it - but definitely like the look of knitpro. Knitpro claims to translate an image of your choice into a knitting, crochet or needlepoint pattern - it's just a shame it's not up and running at the moment.

Little Doodles

Some really lovely illustrations on Kate Wilson's blog Little Doodles. Also nice to see that she's started selling prints on etsy.

The Make Lounge

One to watch: The Make Lounge, it will be interesting to see how this turns out, and whether or not it'll be an affordable option (one point which is really nice about joining a normal pub-based knitting club!)

clams

C is for Crabline

Hello!

Why have one blog, when you can have two? Silly, but there you go.