Fabric Friday - Window Shopping

Hip hip hooray it's Fabric Friday!!  I have been digging around my studio this week looking for some patterns as I have felt inspired to create some new clothes for myself and maybe my girls too....if the boys are lucky I may even run them up some PJ trousers!  Whilst my Boden wish list is as long as my arm I know I am capable of running up some fantastic new clothes, especially as there are so many gorgeous fabrics available. I have some great Amy Butler patterns and Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross  which has some great clothes patterns and Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner even teaches you to make your own skirt pattern, so I'm sure I can add to my summer wardrobe.  Obviously the next stage is fabric shopping....ohh I love this part!  So I am now going window shopping and will share some of my favourites with you.

Groove - Caleb Gray

Heather Bailey - Pop Garden

Heather Ross - Mendocino Seahorses

Echino Nico - Furuya Cars

Michael Miller - Zoology

Alexander Henry - Birdseed

Amy Butler - Tumble Roses

Amy Butler - Paradise Garden

Kristopher K Designs - Daisy Garden

Birch Fabrics - Cars Circa 50

I could list many many more but this post has to end sometime!

(Appologies to regular Fabric Friday readers that I have not focussed on a specific designer.  Business as usual next Friday, with a feature about Cath Kidston to celebrate St. Georges Day).

Driftwood on the Beach

The weather has been great here the last few days and it's been low tide mid afternoon which is perfect, I can get some work done in the morning and then take the children to the beach after lunch.  Even though it's been a bit blowy by the sea it has meant we've found some great driftwood, small pieces of amber and shells.  My husband is now planning to create a driftwood heart for me, as I have wanted one for ages, so he is busy researching 'how to' advice on the net! 

Anyway I thought I'd share some of the driftwood finds whilst we looked on Folksy and Etsy, there are some great pieces to decorate your home.

I love Kirsty's work.

Kirsty Elson Designs

Driftwood Art

Heavenly Blue Driftwood Art

Dovetail Designs

If you are not lucky enough to be near a beach you can buy pieces of driftwood from Etsy and even Ebay!

Time for Tea

I love a nice cup of tea and cake, who doesn't?! Recently I was lucky enough to test the tea party set from It Belongs to Turtle.  This is a great pdf printable set, complete with cupcake wrappers and teabag envolopes, in pretty pastel polka dot design.  The set comes complete with easy to follow instructions and the set can be decorated with ribbons or buttons or looks great as it is. 

This set is a great idea to add the finishing touch to a garden party, a tea party or even a wedding.  Another great thing is once you have purchased the pdf you can reuse it any time to add to any special occasion or just an impromptu tea party with the girls. If you are unsure you could try before you buy....visit Turtle's blog and print some tea envolopes for yourself, for free.  I'm sure you'll agree they are lovely.

In keeping with the tea party theme my two eldest daughters have been busy making some felt cupcakes and ice buns after discovering a fantastic sewing book in the library, 'Sewing for Children' by Emma Hardy.  They have worked really hard and I let them complete the project without too much help apart from threading needles!  They can now trace and cut patterns, cut pattern pieces from felt and follow the pattern instructions to complete the project, which at age 9 and 7 I was impressed!  This book has lots of other lovely projects that the girls are now planning on trying aswell as making the cupcake brooch in this months Sew Hip magazine.  It seems my crafty enthusiasm has rubbed off onto my daughters!!

Fabric Friday - Helen Rawlinson

I can't believe it's Friday already!  My favourite day of the week as it's Fabric Friday. Today I am going to feature a textile designer I have met on UK Handmade, Helen Rawlinson. 

Helen is based at the Chocolate Factory Studios in N16, London, creating fantastic hand printed textiles that can be used for a number of home accessories or for fashion garments.  These hand printed fabrics are the latest addition to Helens collection, introducing them last year. Helen has also produced a range for children offering an educational yet fun printto be used for wall art, cushions or clothes.  In her London studio Helen also makes hand printed and machine stitched lampshades, which are screen printed by hand and then perforated by tiny machine stitches to allow pinprick sized illuminated patterns. 

I love Helen's bold retro prints that never shy away form bright colours.  Helen is a really inspiring designer and every time I read her blog or look at her work I miss my time in the studio at uni, where I would hapily spend hours screen printing. 

Available from Helen's Folksy Shop

Available from Helen's Etsy Shop

Available from Helen's Website

Sharing the Sunshine

I have been trying to write this post all day but it is the Easter hols and with five children insisting on trips to the park, playing Just Dance on the Wii, games of Scrabble and the like, this has not been easy! If I am lucky I may just manage to write this post before bedtime stories. 

I was delighted a couple of weeks ago to be nominated for a Sunshine Award by Lynwood Crafts.  This is a lovely award for crafty blogs and really brightened up my day.  So now I have finally maaged to narrow down my choices to the suggested twelve and can share the sunshine.  There are a number of reasons for my choices, some share great crafting tips, small business tips and design ideas.  Some are simply inspriring and I just love to read all my choices.  I have also gone gobal as I follow blogs from around the world, for some reason I seem to have alot of Austarlian designers / makers in my blogroll!

.....So......drum roll please......the Sunshine Award goes to.....

Monaluna

RicRac

Emma in Wonderland Photography

It Belongs to Turtle

Sixty One A

Haptree and Me

Helen Rawlinson Lighting & Textile Design

Giddy Stuff

The Hippy Hen

paper-and-string

Charlotte Macey Textiles

Kristopher K Design

These are not in order of preference and are all great reads.

Can't see the wood for the trees

It's been a lovely Easter bank holiday here in Suffolk, not as much sunshine as I could possibly have wished for, but better than predicted.  We had a little egg hunt yesterday morning and my three year old is still hiding the clues around the house in hope of more chocolate appearing!  To help burn off some extra sugar fuelled energy we took the children to Rendlesham Forest this morning.  Whilst the forest is mainly evergreen the ferns are starting to regain their colour and buds are appearing on the deciduous trees, we were even lucky enough to spy a young deer.  Hence the inspiration for todays choices, let's see what I find when I simply search 'forest' on Etsy & Folksy.

Available from Lilac Mist

Available from Terror Dome

Available from Leaping Gazelle Studios

Available from Hannah Skoonberg

Available from Pop Wall

Available from Chilli Von Chillison

Fabric Friday - Monaluna

Hip hip hooray...it's Fabric Friday!  Sadly the only fabric I am likely to see today is in the overflowing ironing basket but I have snatched a little time to indulge again. A few weeks ago I wrote about the fantastic new range, Circa 50, by Monaluna for Birch Fabrics and have decided today to find out more about Monaluna.

Monaluna is the design studio based in Oakland, California created by Jennifer Moore.  Like many young girls Jennifer enjoyed painting and sewing and then went onto study anthropology and studio art at university.  This provided further inspiration and led to a career in design providing an outlet for Jennifers flair for bold designs and prints.  Whilst Jennifers work is used in a number of projects, including homeware, stationary and illustration her favourite medium is textiles, allowing others to be creative with her designs

I adore Jennifers work for Robert Kaufman Fabrics and Birch Fabrics yet I am really looking forward to Jennifers own collection, Monaco, which was previewed earlier this week on her blog.  Jennifer writes reguarly about her own work awell as crafty projects she is working on and adds little snippets of her life, which really makes a great read.

My eldest daughter loves giraffes, sadly she is 9 years old so will not be needing this! Maybe I could try a similar for a t-shirt for her.

Using Mingle Polka Dots in Tangerine

Available from Oliver

The housework suddenly doesn't seem such a chore!

Metro Market fabric

Available from Buttercuppity Design

This would make any packed lunch more appealing!

Mingle fabric

Available from Rosy Und Posy

These are adorable!

Available from Seamingly Possible

The possibilities are endless with these gorgeous, bright, fun fabrics.

Monaluna fabrics are available from:

Fabricworm

Seamstar

Jennifer Moore / Monaluna can be found at:

Website

Blog