and the winner is.................

Hello!

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day :-) Mine was perfect, just the two of us and lovely presents (mainly money to spend on what I want which is the best present!)

So today I put all the names in a bowl and got the boyfriend to fish out the winner of my giveaway for Bunty Bunny. The winner is............

MILLEFEUILLES!!

Congratulations! Send me your details and she'll be on her way to you in a few days time :-) 

Thanks to all of you who entered and to my new followers a big hello and welcome to my blog. I'm planning on a giveaway for every 25  followers so watch out for the next one at 75 :-)

Have a lovely rest of the holidays!

love Lori x

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Just wanted to wish you all a lovely Christmas, hope Santa brought you lots of goodies and everyone has a lovely day!

Christmas goodies and it's ami swap time!

Firstly I want to thank everyone for the lovely response to my request for opinions on the Valentine Cottage yesterday :-) It's much appreciated and you all made me feel more positive about it so it's now in my shop.

I said yesterday I would be posting pics of the fabulous pressies I have got this week so here they are. I'll start with the lovely stitched cards I've been sent,

The red one is from Elspeth, lovely sparkly aida that's stitched on :-) The silver card with the lovely tree is from Helen. They are gorgeous!

Although technically not cards these two fabulous stitched ornaments were sent to me by by lovely friend Jeanne instead of a stitched card, as she said so it doesn't get put in a box afterwards and they can be out every year :-) They are fabulous, I love them Jeanne!

Jeanne sent this fabulous decoration to, not Christmassy but fabulous :-)

This arrived yesterday from the lovely Chris! A fabulous stitched calendar and beautiful card too, thanks so much Chris they are gorgeous! She has a lovely blog HERE if you go and say hello I'm sure Chris'll be happy to see you :-)

The wonderful Laura sent me all this!! There's the xmas pud ami, stitched key keyring, angel earrings, festive stitch markers, a super cute bookmark calendar sewing themed buttons and the thread is strawberry scented! But the best of all is the folded fabric decoration, it's amazing and I'm totally in awe of how it was made! Here's a closer look at it.

amazing isn't it! Laura has a lovely blog HERE for those who haven't already found it :-)

It was also ami swap time!!! For those of you that don't know what this is at the end of every month I swap an amigurumi with my lovely friend Steph, sometimes themed by the month but mostly a total surprise. So this months swap was obviously Christmas themed, couldn't be anything else really! Steph sent me this, it's Sally snowflake...

How cute is she?! So sweet! Also Steph sent me these three teeny knits

so tiny and cute, I added some silver thread through the tops and they are hanging on my tree now :-) and this gorgeous snowman biscornu too........and sweeties! You spoil me Steph! 

This is the snowman I sent to Steph in the swap. In his earmuffs and scarf and holding his broom. Another fabulous swap :-) Steph's blog is HERE if you want to stop by and say hello.

So lots of loveliness! I have been spoilt and I still have my presents from Steph which I'm saving to open on Christmas day :-)

That's all from me for now then. I just want to thank everyone who follows, comments and gives me such happiness on this little blog. I have made some lovely friends, you are all so wonderful, I want you to know it means a lot to have you there :-) Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and I hope Santa brings you everything you wish for!

I'll be back on Boxing Day to announce the winner of my giveaway so make sure you've entered it and good luck everyone!

Hugs to you all.      
Lori   xxxx

Could I have your opinions please!!!

Okay, I know, two posts in two days is something of a record for me :-)

I've been busy making mushroom houses and wanted to know what people think of a new idea I had. I was thinking of a Valentines Cottage and decided to try adding little hearts to the roof instead of the usual spots. I'm not sure about it and was wondering what you all thought. Is it one to make more of or not?

Don't forget the giveaway will be drawn on Boxing Day if you haven't entered yet :-)

I'll be back tomorrow as I have some gorgeous gifts that have arrived from my lovely friends and will be posting pics of the goodies to show them off! Three posts in three days, it must be Christmas or something..............

Christmas decorations and I won a giveaway!

Hello everyone and a big welcome to my new followers :-) It's lovely to meet you all!

Firstly a reminder about my giveaway, if you want to enter the draw you can do so HERE. It's open until Boxing Day so it'll be a late Christmas pressie for someone :-)

Speaking of giveaways, I won Cucki's fabulous Christmas giveaway, YIPPEE! I'm thrilled as I never win anything! If you don't know about her lovely blog you can find it HERE

I thought I'd show some of my Christmas decorations, these have been made over the years and it's lovely to see them all out every year, I always seem to forget about something until I'm unpacking them!

First one out is always my advent calendar. I made this about 5 years ago and made sure the pockets for the chocolate were a decent size! I mean you need to be able to fit fun-size Twirls in them!

I'm gradually emptying this with great happiness!

This is my Twelve days of Christmas hanging which I made a couple of years ago.

A robin picture, most of the cake in this is French knots, it certainly taught me how do do them by the end! It means that it looks very real though like crumbs.

Ed hedgehog, he's a cutie!

Then there's  Rudolph's Christmas Jumper...

This is the last picture, it was my first Christmas stitch 22 years ago!!

I also have two stockings (in case Santa hasn't enough room in one!)

and my cuddly fleece robin cushion

Last year I made this mitten garland, which I love!

and finally (you must be bored by now!) my little 3D cottage which I loved to make.

I also received a lovely Christmas pressie for my friend Laura, who's lovely blog is HERE and I'll show you all the goodies on my next post.

Oh and it will be before Christmas so I'll not be leaving it too long!

I've hit 50 followers which means it's giveaway time

Woohoo!

Thanks so much to all my lovely followers and welcome to my newest ones, it's lovely to know you are out there reading and I'm not just rambling on with no one paying any attention to me :-)

So I said I would have a giveaway for reaching 50 followers so here it is.

Bunty bunny is knitted from a fabulous Debi Birkin pattern and is looking for a home. Hope you love her!

So the rules are simple,

1, you need to be a follower

2, leave me a comment on this thread to enter

............that's it! I hate loads of rules in anything in life! If you want to mention the giveaway on your own blog it would be nice but I don't require it so don't worry about it if you don't want to.

The draw will be done in the age old manner of bits of paper in a bowl with the winner picked by the boyfriend. Entries can be left until midnight on Christmas Day and the winner will be drawn on Boxing Day. A bit of a late Christmas present for someone :-)

Hope you all enter! There are a couple of other fabulous giveaways going on at the moment too from my lovely friends blogs, Cucki's is HERE and Laura's is HERE. Make sure you stop by to say hello and enter them too :-)

I'll be back in a couple of days with some pictures of my Christmas decorations that I've stitched over the years so see you then.  



hugs xx

A fairy Christmas!

Hello and welcome to my new follower :-) I'm almost there, one more and the giveaway for hitting 50 will be here!
I've just realised I've had a bit of a fairy theme this week without noticing! So the finishes I can show you are a new Christmas mushroom fairy house. I make up the embroidery as I go and this time came over all festive :-) Here's the front door.......

the snowman outside......

and the Christmas tree too.......

With the fairy lights strung around the roof they're all ready for Christmas in this cottage!

Feeling festive I put up my tree at the weekend too, a new black tree and pink, white and turquoise decorations it looks really pretty, 

At the top you can see my little fairy that I made yesterday. I wanted a fairy for my tree this year as I've had a star for a few years and it's just not the same. I also heard a while ago that a fairy is supposed to bring good luck for the coming year and we could all do with a bit of that! I had been looking around for a lovely and there are some gorgeous ones but they were all too expensive for me this years so I made my own. Here she is close up, her wings have a gold thread in them so she sparkles a bit :-) 

I'm a bit late posting the ami swap this month but here it is! For those who don't know, my fabulous friend Steph and I swap an amigurumi every month. It's such fun to get a present every month! I made two little mice for Steph (her fab blog is HERE)

Thanks Steph for sending me the photo after I totally forgot to take it before posting, lol! My lovely parcel from Steph contained this fabulous owl! 

and a little sun, just what we need at this dark time of year :-)

and a partridge in a pear tree!

Thanks Steph for totally spoiling me as usual! I love them all, the owl is really cuddly too :-)

So that's me all caught up here, I've made a lot of cards this week too but they need to wait until they've been sent and received so I don't spoil it by showing them first. I think I might post some of my Christmas makes from years gone by next time, they are all out on my walls and looking lovely so it's a good time to get photos!

Have a great week everyone!

Hello!

Hello everyone! Hope the weekend was good for you all :-)

First up I wanted to let you know I'll be having another giveaway when I hit 50 followers so almost there :-)

Right some new makes, well I say new but the first one isn't so much. I made these gorgeous little mice for a birthday present for my fabulous friend Jeanne about 6 weeks ago but obviously couldn't show you until after her birthday! So here they are ....

The pattern for these gorgeous little mice is a  Mary Jane's Tearoom one which you can find on etsy and ravelry via the website. Such gorgeous patterns and really easy to follow too so a big thank you to Susan for them :-) I'm pleased to say Jeanne loved the little mice.

Next up another fairy house, this time a toadstool......

With all that roof space it had to have a loft conversion so I added an upstairs window :-) I love making these, they are such fun to embroider and I just make it up as I go. Think I'm going to make another mushroom one this week as I've had an idea for the embroidery I want to try out.

So that's all I can show for now, it's ami swap week so I'll be posting the pics of the fabulous ami's from Steph as soon as she gets the parcel from me this week. You can check out Steph's fabulous blog HERE
I'm making Christmas cards and a Secret Santa present at the moment so they will have to wait a couple of weeks until I can show them, I promise I will as soon as I can :-)

Have a great week!

Christmas CRAFTfest this weekend, come and see us!

So this Saturday and Sunday is the Christmas CRAFTfest, I've been making things like mad and sorting out my stall ready in the hope of a good weekend of sales (fingers crossed!) 

I thought I'd show you some of the people that will be there with all sorts of gorgeous handmade goodies to tempt you to buy. This is only a small selection as there's 150 different stalls! It's a great way to do your Christmas shopping from your sofa with a cup of coffee and a box of chocolates! No crowds and the postman will bring everything to you so no bags to lug about too, you can't lose! 

I hope to see you there!

http://creative-connections.ning.com/page/craftfest-home

Lori xx

   

Jewellery-TwoBlueCats

Hi, I am 41 years old, married and with two beautiful cats who I decided to name my business after. I have been making jewellery since March 2011 and absolutely love costume jewellery especially bracelets. I wanted to make fun affordable items that can be custom made if requested.  I work with sterling silver chain,  beads and charms and love to see people wearing my creations.  

You can visit me HERE

Handmade Bramley Cards and More

Hello, I make cross stitch cards for special occasions and art cards, which are taken from my drawings which are printed,torn and mounted onto A6 cards. Requests welcome! And More are candles and soaps

Modern Design, Traditional Colours on Wow Thank You

Daisy Made It

Hi I’m Jules and my shop is Daisy Made It.  I started off making patchwork quilts and cushion covers for pleasure, then I branched into bag making and realised that it was all proving to be very popular and I started getting requests from people for bespoke items.  So that is how Daisy Made It was born a couple of years ago. I make all sorts of items from quilts to home furnishings, bags to gadget cases and now teddy bears.  I love all the gorgeous new fabrics out there but I also love upcycling from old fabrics/items.  I have my own purpose built studio where I create all my items in a pet and smoke free environment.

Infiniti Jewellery

Welcome to Infiniti Jewellery.  My name is Lisa, I am from Norfolk near the coast.  I have been creating things for as long as I can remember, from clay pots to teddy bears.  I got hooked on making jewellery and I love to make my own versions of feminine classic designs.  I mainly use Sterling Silver, Semi-precious Gemstones and quality beads. I love symmetry, simplicity and sparkle.  For beautiful jewellery you can visit me HERE 

 I look forward to seeing you there.

Cardelicate

Cardelicate handmake gorgeous unique personalised cards and invitations for all occasions. We incorporate fabrics and stunning scents, such as lavender and rose petals and for Christmas we will be featuring Mulled Wine and Christmas pudding scented cards! Our cards are perfect for something a little bit different and truly unique! They can all be personalised with names, ages, dates and photographs.

Website

Jaysmonkey's Jewellery

My name is Stef and I'm a Chemistry graduate, I adore handcrafts and my animals are my core inspiration. I make animals themed jewellery, however I make jewellery which is also an exception to the rule that is completely un-animal related! I am also more than happy to take on commissions! Other areas of craft that I sell include personalised pet items, for Christmas these include wooden hand painted personalised pet tree decorations, as well as personalised pet stockings! I also paint in acrylics all year around and I am more than happy to do pet portraits!

All in all if you're an animal fanatic like me, you've come to the right place! Folksy

Gems Creative Crafts

At Gems Creative Crafts I stock a variety of paper craft items for card makers and scrap bookers.  I stock a lot of the most popular collections such as Me To You, Fizzy Moon & Forever Friends plus many others! I offer FREE postage on all orders over £25, orders below this amount is £2.95.  I hope you enjoy looking around my store!

Sparrow Primitives

Add a touch of vintage style charm to your home with our carefully crafted items. We specialise in shelf blocks, wooden signs, bunting and Primitive style products.  They are all made in our home based studio with a great deal of attention to detail, ensuring a quality item for your shabby chic, country style home. Our products have been seen in a number of publications, including Country Living, Bella, Daily Mail, Sunday Express and Sunday Mirror. We are also a BBC Dragon Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday winner.
We are happy to ship worldwide, please contact us for shipping costs. Please note than none of our items are toys. They are not suitable for children. As the items are handmade, slight variations will occur

     Website

Eccentric Ella

I have always wanted to create unique things for people. And only now that I have become a new mum and have eased off my workload, do I have a bit of sparetime to persue my hobby. I'm originally from South Africa and a few years ago married my British husband with whom I share our lovely home in the English countryside. We have a beautiful baby girl who sometimes plays model for my creations. I hope you find what you're looking for in my online shop. Kind regards and thank you for your interest. Eccentric is Classic and means you're NEVER out of fashion! :)

Website

Handmade Cards and Gifts by Gemma

I have been making cards for many years and in the past year I have decided to start making Cards and Gifts along side my craft supplies business - Gems Creative Crafts.  I make personalised greetings cards for all occasions, in many shapes and sizes!  I am always on the look out to be creating new gifts and styles of cards.

Website Facebook

Al's Gems

Hi, my name is Ali and I create personally handcrafted items of jewellery using swarovski crystals, pearls, semi precious gemstones and glass beads. All items will come giftwrapped ready to give as a gift or keep for yourself. Custom order requests are happily accepted, and if you like an item but would prefer it another colour / size then please feel free to contact me. Enjoy !

MISI shop

Elderberry Arts

Handmade unique and uncommon jewellery made using a variety of materials including wood, silver, hemp, glass, crystal, gemstones and lampwork. I also stock a range of gay and bisexual pride jewellery.
Every design within this site is exclusive to Elderberry Arts and the majority of my pieces are one off designs. Everything else has been made in very limited quantities so you can be sure that you are purchasing something unusual and distinct.

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Wulli Bulli

Wulli Bulli is an offshoot of my main business, 'The Big Blue Bully Bus' and incorporates my eclectic range of retro kitsch fibre art goodies and upcycled knitwear. Here you'll find things to make you look good; things to keep you snug; things to make your VW bus or bug look great; things to turn camping in to 'glamping'.

Folksy

Myapplique

All items stitched by hand, some with applique, and some with embroidery. Items can usually be personalised. I make baby blankets, bags (various sizes), cushions, tea towels and aprons. I am also making *new* ipad/phone/kindle sleeves using my sewing machine - although these have hand sewn decoration on them. For Christmas there are hanging scented decorations too.

Folksy 

Sweet Little Treasures

Visit Sweet Little Treasures stall for a range of beautiful jewellery designed with you in mind. With twinkling Swarovski crystals and gorgeous gemstones you’re sure to find a piece that’s as unique as you are. Treat yourself, or treat someone special, to a Christmas gift that's been crafted with love just for you.

Facebook

Pauline's Passions

• I sell a variety of handmade cards which can be personalised, stationery, invitations, full sets of wedding stationery including favours, gift boxes and bags. I also run a bespoke service for cards and invitations for all occasions. There is also some jewellery and christmas decorations and gifts.

MISI

Welcome to MinXtures!
I'm Maria, I work from home, dressmaking and doing clothing alterations and repairs. I also have a shop on Folksy which I try to keep filled with all the other things I enjoy making. I specialise in children's PE bags but also have hats, toys, totes, phone pouches, baskets, cushions ..... I make my own patterns so I am happy to make things to order if you see an item you like but would like a different fabric/colour/size or just something completely different just contact me, always happy to help! www.folksy.com/shops/Minxtures

And finally.......me! 

Hippywitch Crafts

I'm Lorraine and my shop is called Hippywitch Crafts. I love to make pretty things! I started knitting when I was about 6 and everything else quickly followed when I realised how much fun it was!

My items are made with crochet, knitting, embroidery, cross stitch and felt and a lot of love. I make amigurumi, dolls and hanging decorations mostly but also make custom requests like cross stitch samplers for births, weddings and anniversaries. I'm always happy to get custom orders for different types of dolls and amigurumi too. 

I have two shops, on Etsy  HERE and on Folksy HERE