Sunday 10 January 2016

New Year, New Items.

Is it too late to say Happy New Year? It feels like it, but anyway, I hope you had a great festive season and are now back into the swing of normality. My family and friends have been gallivanting all over the place, whereas our Christmas was relatively calm, so it's not been difficult for us to get back into work again.

And in saying that, I have a few new things to share with you, so without further ado:

 

You may remember that I made some of these Covered Notebooks last year, but this time I have added a closure and pen/pencil holder in one, to make it more user friendly. I looked at them and realised that it would need a writing impliment and yet there was nowhere to put it, so this is what I came up with. It's a lot better to have a pen with the book and hopefully they will be even more appealing to when it comes to sell.  I have found that if people don't need to think too much and items are 'convenient', they sell better! 'Tis true.

On a similar theme, I made this: 


This is actaully my diary, that I covered using the Freehand Machine Embroidery technique (which I love) and I used denim and cotton; an all time favourite combination of mine. This is an A5 size diary, whereas the notebooks above are A6 and I am really pleased with the outcome. I used a press-stud for the closure with a button sewn on top. I always use a pencil for my diary and so slotted one of them in using it's little clip and hey-presto. What do you think?

Next up:


The next in the line of Mobile 'Phone Cases, this one decorated using Freehand Machine Embroidery and this time I made a front pocket to house ear-phones. Like the book covers, it occured after thinking "where can I put...?" Like the cases before hand, these mobile cases are fully padded, made using quality materials and lined in smooth cotton to protect your 'phone and can be made to measure. There are many more to come in this style as they have had the thumbs up from those I have shown it to already....

Next up is a re-do:


These are the Mini Lavender Bags again using the above technique and filled with French lavender heads. My workroom always smells wonderful when I am working with lavender and I feel strangely calm... These are a re-do that will continue to be done as they always sell well at the fairs :)

And finally:


This was an order... Ceri, a great pal from the fairs who has a Phoenix Trading stall, saw a lady walking around a fair last year with a bag that had fury cats on it. Ceri, being a cat lover, came straight to me and asked if I could make something similiar. Of course I obliged! There was a bag already on my stall that she liked the style of and asked for it to be bigger, with a zip closure, internal pockets and fury cats. Ceri drew how she would like the cats to be designed which I copied with the material and we agreed it would look like they are sitting on a wall. Once complete, I took it to her and she liked it so much that she used it right away! What do you think? I really like it actually. And there is no other one like it in the world...

Just before I go, do you remember this?


This is The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop designed by myself and made using Freehand Machine Embroidery, well I have made a few and one lady from Birmingham in the USA bought one. She messaged me a few weeks ago saying that she liked it so much and that she would like a companion piece! She said she has visited the UK a few times and she was impressed with it's charm so after a few messages backwards and forwards about what she would like, she settled on Chatsworth House. Wow! I know it will be a challenge but as always, I am up for it and at present I am up to the drawing, colour/materials choosing and tracing paper template stage. Watch this space...

That's all for now, thank you for reading, please leave a comment if you wish as I'd love to know what you think and/or head over to my Facebook page for a more regular hello.

Take care,
Julie.

(C) FMN Crafts 2015