All of a Swirl

This week saw me make my very first cupcakes with piped buttercream. Whilst I make muffins and cupcakes I'd never felt the need to actually pipe the buttercream before but I keep seeing all these wonderful creations, yes on Pinterest,  so I thought I might just give it a go.

They're definitely not perfect (they are meant to be like roses) but I'm pleased with my first attempt. I have some very pretty floral paper cases so now I'm thinking..........mauve buttercream. Yes I could get carried away and end up with more cupcakes than I should be eating.

Source: glorioustreats.blogspot.com via Rachael on Pinterest

Do you like my photo mosaic? The template came courtesy of Pugly Pixel. With thanks to Sian and her recent better blogging post for pointing out the site it's very useful.

It Took Just One Trip

No, don't worry knee recovery has taken a step back. Today I'm lamenting the sad demise of my favourite sandals.

One day last month the phone started ringing and as I rushed to get to it before it stopped I caught my foot on a wooden floorboard and well, that was that. One pair of totally wrecked sandals - favourite sandals! You might think I'm being a bit melodramatic here but I loved those sandals and they were always the first pair put in my suitcase ready for holiday, the first pair to welcome the the warmer weather, the last pair I braved the chillier Autumn weather for. Not any more.

I spotted this sketch on Sketchy Thursdays and it really appealed to me and you can see how much I loved my sandals as I have a photo of them on holiday, no really. I can't work out if that is being a true scrapper or a little bit bonkers?

My layout has quite a lot of white space for me and I have to resist the urge to add something. You can't see it in the photo very well but I machine stitched down the circle and where each line ends I added the punched hearts. I had some tiny stickers that were perfect saying 'wear and tear' and 'such is life'. Says it all really.

......as my journaling reads.....goodbye my old friends.

The search is now on for a replacement pair - wish me luck

A Purple Patch

Hi. Are you a fan of purple? I didn't think I was until I read the first post in Julie's new autumn series - Purple Phase. She made me realise there are many more shades than just plain old purple. Not that there is anything at all wrong with plain old purple.

As I started to look around I found that I had been drawn to purple more than I thought. In the little bit of stitching I'd done to practice some embroidery stitches, made into a lavender bag. See? Lavender, more purple.

.....in the buttons and vintage cotton I'd plucked from their charity shop shelves.

And look at this lovely bit of hoop stitching that I pinned recently.

Source: tumblr.com via Amanda on Pinterest

You really don't get much more purple than that!

Blog Hopping with Miss Smith

Hi. Today I'm celebrating with Miss Smith by taking part in her embellishment blog hop so if you've just arrived from Becky then - Welcome. I'm sure you've seen some wonderful projects along the way already so without further ado we'll get right to it.

I love butterflies so the handmade embellishment that I received from Kirsty could not have been more perfect. Not to mention the kraft, dotty ribbon, cute tiny label, pretty blue gingham and book pages....not forgetting the stripy paperclip.

Inspired by the butterfly I created a shaped card and added touches of blue, embossed dots and brown lace to co-ordinate.

Next, what to put the card in? A normal envelope? No, not pretty enough so I set about making my own. You may have seen lots of versions across the web of envelopes made from paper doilies.

Here's mine, simply folded. But where is the embellishment you might wonder?

It's here as the perfect finishing touch. Ok, you're not going to be able to post them via Royal Mail but who wouldn't be impressed if you handed them a pretty envelope?

If you'd like to start right at the very beginning call in at Miss Smith's or if you'd like to carry on your merry way hop on over to Mel.

Thanks for stopping by.

Like Pebbles on a Beach

Hi. Sorry I haven't been around for a while I do have a proper excuse so bear with me while I catch up and get back to blogging business. Last week I had a knee operation and progress has been good but I haven't been able to do much blog visiting and commenting so I apologise I'm not ignoring you.

Anyhow, excuses out of the way I wanted to share a little project I squeezed in just before my operation. The weekend was warm and sunny so we took a visit to Deal where we ate the best fish and chips on the sea front. While looking out to sea I was dreaming up a project as unlike where I live Deal has a shingle beach not sand..........mmmmmmm pebbles.

I was humoured while I set about collecting some pebbles and even got some help with some brought for my inspection, were they the right shape, colour, size? So in return I made him a paperweight, the one decorated with the bicycle. Can you believe the Silhouette cut that! You might recognise the CK tape and yep, the tattered floral die cuts too. The other one has a bit of simple paper doily - my favourite I think. All were finished with a good coat of mod podge to protect them.

And I promised to show you a view of the messy half of my craft room, I'm ashamed to say it still looks like this but I just concentrate on the tidy bit.

.....and don't think I've forgotten the high hat too it's on my long list of things to do.

Bye for now

A Eureka Moment

Hi. Yesterday while flicking through Pinterest -  like you do, I came across a brilliant idea which used CD racks for storing fat quarters.

Do we still have our old one I ventured to ask? Luckily the answer was yes. So after a bit of sorting.........and wishing I'd never started I have a new addition to my craft room.

This section was the perfect size for old patterns with a bunny squeezed too.

And my Eureka moment? At last finding somewhere to store rolls of wrapping paper and using a bamboo skewer to hold them in place using the shelf placer holes to secure it.

I'm still sorting all my fabric but I'm getting there.

I love having a peek into other people's craft rooms don't you? I'll be back to show you a bit more of mine. Just don't expect it to be one of those craft rooms that's perfectly tidy!