Busy Doing Nothing . . .

Busy spotting little red robins - two in fact which have been hopping around my garden this morning. Very difficult to photograph as they disappear as soon as I rush off for my camera. You'd think I'd have better things to do, hehe!

We're enjoying a lovely lazy time after a very enjoyable Christmas with family, and no, I didn't poison anyone with my first ever Christmas turkey!! Well back to spotting robins, it's very hard work - hope you all had fun :)!

'See' you in the New Year (or thereabouts)!

Seasons Greetings!

Today will be my last post before Christmas, as this week will be a whirl of last minute preparations - so I'd better go and get on with it! I'll leave you with a pic of 'Little S' throwing a snowball at the living room window this morning - it seemed appropriate, hehe!

It's been fantastic to meet such lovely people through my blog this year - back after the celebrations to pick up my crafty tools once again! A very Merry Christmas to all, or as we say in Gaelic: 'Nollaig Chridheil'!

Cheerio an Drasda :)

Busy Week not Crafting!

I am an absent crafter this week, and also a redundant one as everything else has taken over - from School concerts, work parties, school parties, Christmas shopping - it's all gone a bit pear-shaped!

Well, it's that time of year and I promised myself an early finish to 'crafty' business this year so I could concentrate on festive preparations, and very nice it has been too! Here's a snowy scene from this afternoon - the poor sheep in the fields looked pretty chilly, but I'm sure they're well used to it!

I'm busy trying to figure out how to cook a turkey for Christmas as having a vegetarian 'Other Half' means I've never prepared one over the festive season - hmmmm, there's a first time for everything I suppose, here goes!! : )

I'll keep you posted on my progress in the kitchen, hopefully no one will suffer in the process!

Bye for Now :)

At Last!

At last, the Christmas tree is up - much to the delight of 'Little S' who wanted to do the honours and put the tree together (sorry, it's not a 'real' one!) after school today. I usually let him decorate the tree which results in quite a bizarre spectacle but I sort of like that slightly chaotic, spontaneous look! He perched this little red-robin 'softie' in the branches which I thought looked quite cute - it's definitely a 'kiddie' kind of tree!

The robin 'twitters' when you squeeze it - how cheesey is that, hehe!! I'm beginning to look forward to the countdown now - Tra la la la la la!!!! :D

What, no 'tweedie' bauble on your tree I hear you gasp - there is one - really, it's just not in this pic, honest!!

Cheerio an Drasda :)

Jack Frost

It's lovely how the frost changes the landscape - I nipped out to the 'garden' this morning to take a few pics while the sun was shining and the ground was all sparkly and glistening:

Happy Sunday :)

Winding Down

This week has been mostly about tying up loose ends before I can get stuck into festive preparations - finishing off the last of my custom orders, (both local ones which was nice!) and a little bit of ordering new craft supplies for next year (the fun bit!). Sorry I have been a bit absent but craft-wise now I will be mostly pottering about, maybe trying out some new ideas if I have time and hopefully making a few Xmas gifts next week - well, that's the plan! And we all know what happens with plans, hehe . . .

I picked up a package from a lovely family friend this week - inside there were two copies of Selvedge and a fab collection of embroidery floss. It would be so nice to sit and pore over them, but I think they will have to wait a day or two as this weekend it's our office night out (wey hey!), time to put the Christmas tree up, sort out presents for posting off and maybe write some cards - ooops, I have a funny feeling there's too much on my list!

If I'm not here, I'll be busy ploughing through that never-ending list. Hope you are getting through yours - Cheerio an Drasda! :)

Red sky in the morning . . .

This was the lovely view outside my home this morning as my youngest left for school on his bicycle. "Oh, red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning", he quipped. Yes, I replied, more like a warning that you'll be sent to the Headmasters office for being late today!! He sped off pretty quick then - hope he didn't get into trouble!

Getting to that time of year when everyone is beginning to run out of steam I think! :)

Weekend Crafting

All done apart from the addition of string - I really enjoyed making these tags as they were custom made for someone I met up with at my last fair. A lovely girl, who is a friend of a friend and we actually went to school with each other for a period of time in Secondary School. I hadn't seen her for years so it was nice to catch up on what we both had been up to.

These tags will be gracing her homemade Christmas hampers which she will be selling at some of the Christmas Craft fairs - she makes lovely preserves, baking and other yummy stuff - what better products to hang my tags on! I hope they will make her some extra sales :)

They're making me feel quite Christmassy - I'm trying to hold off till next week to put up our tree though - wonder if I'll last last?? We'll see :)

Happy Monday - hope you're getting into the Christmas spirit! (No, I didn't mean the 'drinks cabinet'!!)

Oh My!

(Close-up pic of Gretchen's beautiful embroidered Matryoshka)

Oh My! Because that's all I could say when I opened the beautiful parcel I received in the post from Gretchen today! A few weeks back, Gretchen and I decided to do a swap and after a few e-mails to and fro, we decided that it would be a Matryoshka-doll inspired swap.

In between arranging the swap, I also won Gretchen's Giveaway prize of 3 beautiful embroidered cards - well, I never usually win anything so I was totally delighted! She has always inspired me with her beautiful embroidery and I was really pleased when she opened her own Etsy shop recently. Here you can buy some of her fantastic patterns and some beautiful hand-embroidered items, which have been snapped up pretty quickly - so you need to act fast!

Well, between the Giveaway and the Swap, I was the recipient of a wonderful parcel, which was beautifully put together - I tried to take some pics of everything today before the light faded. I had requested an embroidered Matryoshka in exchange for a set of my own Matryoshka 'tweedie' softies - well I was not disappointed, it was simply stunning!

I couldn't get all the little extras into the pics - a lovely little lavender cushion, some ribbon, buttons and the beautiful fabric which you can see in my photos.

Thanks so much Gretchen - I'm afraid my little parcel seems quite humble in comparison but I was eager to post off my Matryoshkas in case they wouldn't reach in time for Christmas, as I think they are intended as a gift.

I'll have time to drool over my lovely gifts once 'Little S's' pal has left after his afternoon visit - plenty hoots of laughter and a huge mess - well I got a little crafting done while they were raiding my kitchen and turning his bedroom upside down. There's a price for everything isn't there, hehe!

Bye for Now :)

P.S. You can purchase the pattern for this lovely Matryoshka doll in Gretchen's Etsy shop - I've got mine, but I might have a job making one as beautiful as this!

my creative space . . .

. . . getting ready to make some tweedie gift tags for a lovely girl I met at the craft fair. I'm not sure that this space will change much today but I'm all ready to have a go with these at the weekend :)

I'll post a pic of them when they're all done.

P.S. The red plier tool may look impressive but it's absolutely rubbish, so I think it's back to the hammer for me - it's a long story!

More creativity over here :)

Something Completely Different!

My first ACEO - there, I've said it! A fun e-mail from Lynsey at the weekend prompted me to take up my pencil and do some drawing, which I haven't done for a while (apart from designing softies, of course!).

Today, I decided to take it one step further and have a go at creating an ACEO - I'm really not sure why, it just sort of happened. Anyhow, I really enjoyed the freedom of the pencil, and of course some Harris Tweed managed to make its way into the picture too! I decided to use the tweed to make 'accents' on the drawing, which to my mind worked quite well. I always think of Harris Tweed as part of the landscape, so perhaps it was a natural progression.

This one's available in my Etsy shop (the grown up one!). Well, it filled a space where my 'tweedie' draught excluder was! (The view is from my kitchen window by the way - the above pic is a detail from the ACEO).

P.S. ACEOs are miniature works of art for trading, collecting, framing, or just treasuring, and measure 3.5 inches x 2.5 inches.

Added Later: I spent some time at the weekend taking photographs of the landscape around my home - I thought this blurry one taken through the sun and the rain was quite interesting! Blurred because my camera wasn't powerful enough to zoom in this far (we live a mile or so from the sea):

Bye for Now :)

my creative space . . . where it all began!

I've been feeling a bit reflective this week after winding down from my craft fair and a very busy month or so spent mostly making stock for the local Art Gallery shop here in Stornoway (I hope it all sells over the Christmas rush!).

Earlier in the week I hauled these two Harris Tweed jackets out of the back of my wardrobe. Believe it or not I made them myself many years ago when I was actually capable of following a sewing pattern (prior to having two children!) and made a few simple items of clothes for myself. They are both still waiting to be lined as I got a bit stuck at that point!

It was the remnants of these two tweed jackets which inspired me to start experimenting with making soft toys at home. I thought it would be a great fun idea to do something a little creative at home and earn myself a few pennies at the same time (I'm not so sure if the last part worked out according to plan - haha!).

It suddenly occured to me this morning just as I was about to do this post that I still had the prototypes I'd made with the remnants of fabric and here they are!

You can see the same brown and blue Harris Tweed in all the prototypes - they look really funny to me this morning, but I'm glad I kept them intact in their original packaging (I toiled for some time over how they should be packaged!)

It's now pretty much 3 years since I started my little 'tweedie' enterprise - I did my first craft fair on December 2nd 2006 to be exact! I'm not sure where it's all going to go from here but it's fun to look back at how it all started! Off to enjoy our Thanksgiving holiday now :)

More 'creative' types over here!

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving if you are celebrating it!

Craft Fair Update

Tadaa! Here's the craft fair venue - our very own local Town Hall, lovely and draughty, and I froze my butt off (sorry, there's no polite way to say that!), sitting right next to the main entrance all day, hehe! Oh the glamorous life of a crafter - and would we have it any other way? Erm . . . don't answer that one!!

I think this was the start of the day where there was still some unpacking being done. I had a cosy spot in the corner which was actually quite well lit so it had some advantages (apart from being draughty!). I wouldn't say it was a very busy day but there was a slow stream of visitors and I made enough sales to make it worth my while (OK, about 50% of my customers were people I knew, but . . . hey, that's cool!!).

Here's a pic of part of my stall . . .

. . . and the stars of the show - my little lavender pouches!

. . . of which I sold 4 out of the 5 I had made for the fair! Well, it's only taken me 3 years to find something slightly less time consuming to make which I can price quite reasonably - these things take time you know! I did think they turned out quite nice and would make sweet little Christmas gifts - one lady was going to post her's off to family in Dubai, I hope it arrives safely!!

I was going to take my 3 'tweedie' draught excluders but only managed to take 2 as the previous evening I sold one on Etsy, which will be travelling all the way to Illinois, USA - needless to say this caused me great excitement and lots of jumping up and down! (Well it was quite exhilarating at the time!!)

Hope you are having a nice relaxing day - I plan to :)!

Cheerio an Drasda :)

More Bling!

Sorry I have not managed to respond to any of My Creative Space comments - I feel very rude! However, I will be catching up with everyone over the weekend after my craft fair tomorrow. Here's a close up of the 'tweedie' baubles I've been working on. I did manage to do some more quick items, but I will post pics of them later. Off to get organised, and hopefully will enjoy my day out, whether I make many sales or not!

Bye for Now :)

my creative space . . .

Getting ready for my craft fair this Saturday . . .

Scrabbling about on the floor making some of my 'tweedie' Christmas baubles, they look nice and take an age to make - crafter's dilemma - eeeek! I'm making them because I like them, so there! Harris Tweed, toy stuffing and some 'bling' - what more could a girl ask for!!?

I heard on the grapevine today that the craft fairs have been really quiet of late - just what I wanted to hear! Och, it's a day out - I'll report back on my return and hopefully will list some of my 'tweedie' bling in my Etsy shop.

The weather's not sounding too wonderful either and it sounds like the wind is whipping up here - another reason to keep the Christmas shoppers at home - Aaaargh!!! Wish me luck :) (I think I'll need it!!)

More creative space-making over here!

Cheerio an Drasda :)

Wee Beasties

These little beasties are bound for my local art gallery shop tomorrow. I hope they behave themselves - they're looking a bit mischievous!

Only a couple of days to get some new stock for the craft fair on Saturday - Oh dear! - anyone got any time I can borrow?!

*Off, running, to get my crafting tools out* - back later in the week :)

Bye for Now!

Monday, Monday . . .

Half eaten toast and mugs of tea . . .

Perhaps I'll get some crafting done later today after I've picked up the remnants of 'teenage son's' breakfast, collected the army of shoes which accumulate after a Sunday at home and done a few other domestic tasks . . . of course, I don't leave any mess 'cos I'm super tidy, hehe!

What does Monday have in store for you - hope it's a fun one :)

Cheerio an Drasda!

A Lovely Week

I'm sorry, I've been a bit absent this week. No, I haven't been ill, or anything, just been having a busy week with one thing or another, and quite a lot of nice things happening in between!

This lovely package arrived for me from Mojca this week which was a total surprise and an absolute delight! Isn't the packaging sweet? :)

Inside was this beautiful bracelet - the colours are fabulous! Whisky inspired, haha!

I've really enjoyed following her blog and she very kindly featured my 'tweedie' bumblebee in a fab post all about her love of Harris Tweed.

I think he looks vey happy on her lovely Harris Tweed rucksack!

I can honestly say 'craftwise' that I didn't manage to complete much of what I had intended to do - some other things happened to come along which redirected my path, but in a good way! I had my first international order from my own website this week which gave me a lovely buzz and 'teenage son's' first school parent evening was nowhere near as intimidating as I expected and was actually quite a nice experience! How odd, haha!

On Thursday a nice man came to fix our dodgy central heating system - it turns out that he used to be a Harrris Tweed weaver not so long ago, funny old world! Anyway, we're all nice and toastie now - hurray!

I have a craft fair next Saturday so will probably be a bit absent again - wish I had more time to make lots of shiny, tweedie things but time is running out, again!!! Back soon :)

It's 'that' crazy time of year isn't it??

Cheerio an Drasda :)

Last of the Dinosaurs

Hurray! This is the last of the dinosaurs for the Gallery shop order - I do have 5 more 'beastie' tweedies to make, but they will have to wait until the end of the month now.

Starting to see quite a bit of Christmas 'bling' on the go amongst my fellow craft bloggers, so I fancy a little fling with the sequins myself, to fit in with my next Craft Fair on the 21st November. I do like a bit of sparkly Harris Tweed! With any luck I'll get a bit of 'bling' into my Etsy shop before Christmas!

Last Christmas I got a bit caught up with doing online custom orders at the last minute in December so I've decided to draw a halt to custom orders at the beginning of December this year.

In summary, I will most likely be closing my own website on December 1st - January 4th (as all items on this site are made to order). My Etsy shops however will remain open until the second week in December (for items in stock). Now's the time to get your custom order in!

Now on to some fun 'tweedie' creativity at last - what shall I make today?? :)

Lovely Blog Award!

Hooray! - I've been awarded this lovely Blog Award by WendyCarole . The award was instigated by Auntpittypat.

The rules of The Aunt Pitty Pat's award are: Accept the award and post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here goes FIVE lovely 'newish' blogs which I'd like to pass the award onto (I couldn't manage 15!) Enjoy :)

Angels and Blossoms - fab blog about love of craft, style and everyday life! (Slovenia)

The Mrs - lovely, sumptuous blog about sewing, craft and family life. (The Netherlands)

Embroidered Originals Blog - the ins and outs of running a successful crafts business. (Scotland)

Uist Lady - entertaining reflections about life on a Hebridean Island (North Uist, Outer Hebrides)

The Empty Nest - great fun blog by a very crafty lady! (Virginia, USA) - not so new to me!

All of the blogs have something different about them that I like and there's a bit of an international mix! Some are newly discovered and some not so new. Hope my recipients don't mind me mentioning them, and I understand that not all will be able to/or have time, to pass the award on! But it's nice to get an award anyway on a Monday morning :)

Hope you enjoy visiting them - you never know, they might even offer you some tea and cake while you're there, hehe!! (I'm sure they all make some kind of cake - they're very hospitable!) I'm off to have my breakfast now 'cos it's very early for me to be blogging - byeee :)

P.S. If you get any cake, tell me - I'll be demanding some myself, haha!

All Ablaze . . .

Our leftover palettes made a good bonfire last night - Guy Fawkes was of course on November 5th, but quite a few folk leave their bonfire celebrations till the weekend. It was the perfect night for it, clear and still. 'Teenage Son' did his own thing with his pals, so we were a small group, but I think 'Little S' enjoyed it all the same.

It was nice to see various bonfires all lit up, dotted about here and there, and to see our neighbour's fireworks bursting into the sky (that's the advantage of living on top of a hill - we have a good viewpoint of the surrounding area!).

There's nothing like a good bonfire on a lovely starry night (and the toasted marshmallows were quite nice too, hehe!)

Happy Sunday :)

my creative space . . .

Pattern (c) Tweed Delights 2007

More work on that Gallery 'consignment' order - but I will be pretty much finished by the weekend. Here's a pic of my 'tweedie' dinosaurs being cut out - I'm going to be sewing a few of them up today. I think this is really a crafter's dilemma when you are making multitudes of the same item (in my book FIVE is a multitude!!).

It has to be done sometimes, and I think you just have to get your head down and get on with it! It is satisfying though when they're done and I must make a point of going in to the Gallery shop next week to see how my 'tweedies' look in their little bundles!

Outside, my 'creative space' looks pretty good this morning - a view out the back . . .

. . . and a view out the front . . .

The plan is to schedule in a nice bracing walk later on today, so I'd better get my skates on and get 'tweedying' and 'tidying' - the former, of course, being the preferable option!!

More lovely creative types over here!

Cheerio an Drasda :)

Teddy Bear Mountain

Sorry, I've been a bit quiet of late - due to this little pile of teddies above. This is part of the Gallery shop order I'm working on this week. Very hard work as they're all individually handsewn and the features are hand embroidered too. I think I will try and have a little stock of these guys in the future, as making them in batches like this can be exhausting (note to self for next year!) Anyway, it's nice to see them all done and ready for packaging.

These are really my 'bread and butter' line and sell quite well in the Gallery shop. I'm looking forward to finishing my 'tweedies' this week though and getting back to some fun, experimental stuff for the craft fair at the end of the month. It'll all go a bit mad from now till Christmas, so I'm just going to go with the flow and enjoy the ride!

Many apologies if I haven't been commenting much on blogs (or responding to comments), but I will be back on track next week hopefully!

P.S. The little teddies are also available to order on my own website too :)

Watch the Birdie

This little bird was making a menacing, scratchy noise inside the guttering of our house this morning as I took a little plod around 'the garden' (I use the term loosely!). When he eventually emerged, he looked quite friendly and fluffy - I was beginning to envisage some huge spider with scratchy claws, so this little fellow came as a bit of a relief! Sorry about the fuzzy pic - best I could get with my 'point and shoot' camera.

He's quite a nice compact little shape though isn't he?

Happy Sunday :)

my creative space . . .

A little pile of 'tweedie' teddies, on my living room chair, waiting to be handstitched . . . . but not today, as I've lots of errands to run! More busy, creative peeps over here!

P.S. Many congrats to all those involved in The Quilt Project - I thought it was brilliant and hugely inspiring! Quite a feat - go have a peek :)

Inspiring Stuff!

I didn't mean to do a post today, but while taking a photo of a custom order for a lovely fellow blogger/crafter, I used this pear as a prop - I don't know why! It was sitting in the fruit bowl and when I took it out it had a lovely leaf attached, so here it is. I love organic shapes in fruit, nature, flowers, etc - always inspiring.

It's also a good excuse to mention that Mariana (Florcita) has moved here to a fabulous new blog/shop/website - Hurray! Go have a look - fabulous stuff :)

I knew I'd find an excuse to post this pic, hehe!

Happy Tuesday!

Pumpkins and Dinosaurs

Hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend - I did! I had a few bits and pieces of crafting to do, packaging up some stock for the Gallery shop (it's amazing how long things like attaching labels takes!) and a little order for two dinosaurs for a lovely customer. Not too much to be stressful, but enough to keep me busy - which is exactly how I like it! Here are the little dinosaurs (sorry for poor pic - taken late last night). Made to order from my own website.

I bought this lovely big pumpkin for 'Little S' on Friday - I'm beginning to get attached to it sitting on my kitchen table! It's quite a beauty, isn't it - they're such a fabulous vegetable, really decorative - it's almost a shame to slice into it, but then that's the fun part!

Happy Monday :)

(P.S. If you see anything on my own website you like, but would prefer to purchase via my Etsy shop - just give me a shout and I will set up a Custom Order - easy!)

my creative space . . .

Some of my 'tweedie' birds ready to go the Gallery shop (when I finish the other 5 of them - pheeew!). In the background, to the right, is a 'grandmother' clock which we acquired earlier this year (originally from my Other Half's grandparent's house). It's probably a bit incongruous with the rest of the furnishings in our living room, and it's stuck at 12 o' clock forever - but I like it like that! Forever midnight, hehe!

More creative peeps over here :)

Birthday Weekend

Sorry, have been a bit quiet over the weekend - it was teenage son's birthday so we celebrated with a takeaway in the evening which was very yummy (we don't have takeaways very often, so this was our treat). I'd bought a cake but we were so stuffed after the meal that we kept it for Sunday, the day after the birthday.

I took a very nice photo of him with his cake but being a teenager he wouldn't have it on my blog - which is a shame 'cos I can't show him off, Awwwww! I'm in a bit of a cake-free zone at the moment, (much to my family's amusement!!) so I only allowed myself a tiny little slice - honest!

In between celebrating, I made a small start on some 'tweedie' birds for the Gallery shop - work has progressed a little slower than I would've liked but it is school holidays after all! Here they all are ready to be sewn up (by hand), which is the nice part - I can pick them up whenever I have the time, do one or two, here and there, in between hollering at my boys, in the nicest possible way of course, as they're little angels really, hehe! (I don't really holler, well, just a little bit - don't all Moms?!)

Happy Monday :)

P.S. You can count the candles to see how old 'teenage son' is - Aaaargh, I can't believe he's reached that age already - scary!!

my creative space . . .

Just finished the last of my 'tweedie' matryoshka dolls last night, and so here they are! This little pile are bound for my local Gallery shop, who kindly take a range of my products. I've had a few nice comments recently from people who have spotted my pieces here, so it's obviously a good retail outlet to stick with! It's a busy little shop and I think the right target market for my kind of craft - a little bit quirky with a local (tweedie) twist!

I added some backing fabric to add weight and smoothness, otherwise the matryoshka fabric was too thin against the weight of the Harris Tweed. When I started them on Monday, I was all set to make them on my sewing machine but after one test-drive I decided I got a smoother, softer finish by hand-sewing them, which is how I usually make individual ones anyway. I am a hand-sewing nut anyhow, so I might as well continue in that vein! (will probably not make me very rich though!!)

I love the colours of this one, which I backed with a rich co-ordinating teal/cream check Harris Tweed. Not so much of a 'creative space' today, as a 'creative heap'! The boys are on October hols and I will be taking 'Little S' to the dentist later on, which will be a good excuse for a browse around the shops and some retail therapy I think!!

Bye for Now! More creative spaces over here :)

Getting Started

In Gaelic we have a proverb: "Se obair latha toiseachadh", roughly translated it means "starting a job, is a day's work in itself". Yesterday I decided to get started on my Gallery shop order, got all the colours of tweed together, materials, tools, etc, by which point it was almost time to pack up and make the dinner! However, I'd made all my colour choices, and by the end of the day I'd cut out all the pieces, pinned them together, ready to start. So there's a lot of truth in that saying - starting a job IS the biggest hurdle!

Anyway, today I'm ready to get stuck in - which feels quite good. The boys are on their October hols, but I'm not! (I had my October break a bit early this year!) Just means we can be a bit more relaxed though and if we fancy a jaunt into town, then we'll just down tools and scoot off! Although I don't want to spend too much time on my laptop while the boys are about this week, I will try and pop in and report on 'tweedieness' back on the croft, in the usual way. Horsing on with some 'Tweedie' Matryoshkas now!

Cheerio an Drasda :)

Gutted!

I happened to pick up a copy of our local rag, the Stornoway Gazette, over the weekend - it was last week's edition so I'd missed it due to my jaunt to the mainland. Who happened to be on the front cover but Mr Luciano Benetton, the Italian fashion guru, meeting with one of the Directors of one of our local Harris Tweed mills.

The two gentlemen looking very handsome in their tweed jackets were posing in an 'impromptu Harris Tweed recreation of one of Benetton's iconic adverts'. So the one weekend I manage to escape for a city break, Mr Benetton happens to be visiting Stornoway - sheeesh! What a missed opportunity, I could have showered him with some of my 'tiny-tweedies', or thrown him one of my beach-balls as a gift! Benetton and Harris Tweed - what a fantastic combination though, I think I'm star-struck!

Back to the real world, I've got a Gallery shop order, and a craft fair coming up - it's time for some good old hard graft!!

Happy Sunday :)