Happy Easter... Bunnies!

A hippy, happy and rather hoppy Easter to you all.  This week inadvertently became rather seasonal in my home.  On the dull grey day of Tuesday, I sat down to make some cushions in the style of an LP, ready to go into the Tiny Wardrobe Shop for Fathers day, like this one.  The material was dark and dull and it was doing nothing for my mood which seemed to be reflecting the weather.  I just knew the day was not going to be productive.  As I folded the black material to put it away, I spied some more exciting and seasonal fabric, which was much more appealing.  So I took some inspiration from a lovely friend and cut some triangles to make broken dishes...

  The squares were so fresh and spring like and I would say they changed my day!  In fact I well and truly got into Spring mode, honestly I was almost skipping!  I made the squares into a knitting bag and I was on a roll!!!

Then inspiration truly struck and I remembered a book I have read many a times but not made anything out of it..

I love Tilda fabrics, but have only used them for quilting and I have never made a Tilda character before.  But very soon an Easter Bunny emerged from the fat quarters that have languished in a bag for months.  Meet Floella...

Now beware, bunnies are known for their breeding capabilities and by Good Friday Phyllys and Maureen had also appeared.  Yes I am addicted to them!!!

Happy Easter One and All!

The Tiny Wardrobe Shop

Hellooo, helloo, hellooo, yes I know it has been an age, but I am not going to beat myself up about it as blogging is meant to be a fun activity and the reason I have not blogged for sometime is because I have been having lots of fun else where. 

As you can see from the last blog post my friend and I had decided to set up a mini shop or concession in the Most wonderful Most Marvellous and we did it, just like that!  Well kind of... it took a little organising and lugging and designing.  We had been given space in the new Wardrobe Room and thus all dealers were given space to place a wardrobe in which to sell vintage and handmade loveliness out of.  The first job was thus finding a wardrobe, which we  found in a charity shop within a week and within in two weeks it had been delivered to my front room and we set about decorating it.  All work was over seen and quality controlled by the Maggie dog!

 

Once the wardrobe was ready we set about making price labels and stocking it.  Over the week we were waiting for its delivery we did quite a good job at finding stock.  It is a wonderful thing you know... having a licence to shop!  

And then it was ready....

Its been such fun!  Working with my lovely friend Claire has been lovely, but on top of that I have met lots of people who are local to me and share the same interests.  I have begun to experiment a little on the handmade items that I put in the little wardrobe shop and one my biggest seller is probably the needle felted brooches.  I had a needle felting kit for Christmas and I have to say, it is simple and great fun and the results are really effective!

I have made a wider variety of brooches now and key rings too, but it seems that the toadstools are the most popular.

 

The little wardrobe space is yet to be named, but I am using the name Ditsy print tortoise designs for my handmade items.  So if you are reading this post on the Urban Tortoise blog you may want to follow the Ditsy Print Tortoise Blog too as I will eventually stop posting to Urban Tortoise.  I changed the name mainly because I felt the craft needed to be reflected as much as my tortoises and I could then add the blog address to my labels.  I will still write about the tortoises on the new blog.  In fact I am in the process of writing their emerging after the winter post at the moment.

Not only has the little wardrobe shop been great for meeting new people in the real world but also in the cyber world too.  I am beginning to discover a whole community of creative, exciting local people who also have a presence on line.  Whats more, Claire my little wardrobe partner (oooh doesn't that sound posh) discovered out little wardrobe on another blog, look.... clicky. We are the 4th picture down! Thanks Elizabeth at Rosalilum blog!

Right, I am pleased to have achieved the writing of this post and now I am off to catch up on all the blogs I follow.  Spring joy and frolics to you all!!

.... A Tinsy Confession...

Hello there, sorry it has been so long.  I have been beavering away on a thesis that MUST be done within the next month and trying not to get distracted by craftiness and the other lovelier things life offers, but I am not sure I have done too well with that.
So I mentioned a tinsy confession so I had better get it over and done with.  Thank you very much for the entries to the little wool wound dollies.  I actually had seven entries in the end, but two people asked me no to put them on my website as they were embarrassed (heaven knows why they were beautiful!).  I saved all the pictures and then got into a complete muddle!  I couldn't remember who's was who's and which to upload and which to not! One day, when I work out which is which I will post them.  The good news is that the book went to Emily and her Mummy and I hope they have lots of lots of fun making things together.  Sorry for all the confusion.

 

 Now I said I was trying not to be distracted by craft and loveliness and I really did try, honest!!  But it was a friends 40th birthday and I really didn't know what to buy him.  He loves music and records, but specific ones.  I did discover a record I thought he would like, but I had to pre-order it and it wasn't released until after his birthday.  So I made him a quilted cushion voucher!  It was such fun to make, but a bit naughty too!

Now I mentioned pre-ordering a record for a friend.  It was for the Leisure Society , a great Acoustic / Folk / Fantastic Band whom I also love ans so I ordered a copy for me too! In doing so I won two tickets to their album launch at the London Aquarium.  There were ten winners and the gig was tiny.  It was a beautiful and mystical venue with beautiful and at times haunting music with sharks coasting around behind the band.  A night my friend and I will remember for ever.  I met this chap too and as you can imagine, for me it made my night just perfect!

Right I think that will do for a first page in ages, I think I need to ease my way back into this blogging business.  I have lots of tortoise pics to share with you, but I think I will keep you is suspense! LOL

Enjoy your weekends!!

Bring on the Woolly Dolls

The last few day's have been particularly lovely for me.  I 've had some day's off work and visited friends and family in London as well as visiting craft, antique, and tortoise shops with a lovely lovely friend!  Today I even got to go walking in woods with my cousin and her children.  We made it out of the woods alive despite the two year old being convinced he could hear Lions roaring!!

In between the loveliness of life, my thoughts and fingers have been consumed by woolly dollies!  Over on the Ravelry forum, some of the other lovely ladies have been humouring and enthusing along with me.  Lucy, from In the Sky blog even made a self portrait dolly, with a crochet hook and WIP!  Isn't she just fabulous?Thanks Lucy!

In the last post, I promised that if dolly pics were sent to me I would enter their owners into a prize draw for a book I couldn't find at the time.  Today I went hunting and this is the one....

Its a lovely book, full of ideas, some of them nearly as lovely as the woolly dolls themselves!

So if you want to be entered into the draw, all you need to do is make a dolly and email me a picture to urbantortoise@hotmail.co.uk

X

Antique wooly dolls, A challenge for us all and a Prize!

     

    



What do you think of them?  Aren't they fascinating?  These dolls were made by my friends Granny, when she was a small girl growing up in France.  If she were still alive she would be 110, so we think it is reasonable to estimate these dolls to be about 100 years old! I think they are just stunning and I feel a little sad that not many little girls play like this any more.

Its perhaps a little hard to see how they are made from the photos, but they are simply wound wool!  I decided to have a go at making my own and although they are fidley, they are very simple. Perhaps the below picture will help you see how they are made...

After I had got this far I was due to meet my friends a the tea shop we meet at once a month.  So I took my little project with me and within an hour she was complete!  She isn't the prettiest dolly ever and I think I need to work on her face, but she isn't bad for a first attempt. 

So now for the Challenge... I thought it would be fun for each of us to have a go at making one of these little dolls.  You can then email a photo to me at urbantortoise@hotmail.co.uk I will then upload  the picture onto this blog.  Once we have a few I will randomly pick a prize winner, who will win a crafty book, I have yet to pick (sorry there are a few ear marked, but the one I really wanted to use has dissappeared).  The prize will be random rather than based on the doll as I think it would be more fun if there are no perametres to this.  Instead I think we should just relax and enjoy making them! 

How about we get them made in the next two weeks?  The closing date would then be 26th Feb.

Good Luck, I do hope some people give it a go as I think they are lovely!

Felty yarns, Felty bags!

Gosh it's been a while, how ever did that happen?  I hope Blogland continues to role on with you ever so talented creators writers and followers finding your selves well.  Its 4.10pm and as I write this sentence the sun is still fairly high in the sky.  The light is not fading yet, but it seems winter may well be!

The last few weeks have been quite joyous here.  I have had time to visit craft shops and on Wednesday a friend came to stay and we decided to go and trawl the antique and charity shops of Stratford Upon Avon.  It was, I have to say a really lovely and easy going day, with the obligatory stop for afternoon tea!

Last week I also visited my closest yarn shop.  Well there are much closer but they only seem to offer garish acrylic colours and so I have to drive twenty odd minutes away to HSC Crafts in Stoney Stratford.  The choice here is always great and the staff are really friendly.  I love to see the yarn I am purchasing and feel it and so I never, well hardly ever, buy a new range from the Internet without doing a little investigating first.  As you can see below, the trip was well worth it.

 

I am a big fan of felting crochet, but I have never bought a yarn that is specific for felting.  The wash and Filtz is just that.  So I set about playing with it, by felting some flowers I had made up...

      

To be honest, considering they are specialist felting yarns, I don't think they are any better than other wools, although they do seem cheaper than pure wool.

Today I have had the fun of a mini project.  A friend asked me to make a child sized  Mr Tumble bag for her son.  I really enjoyed making up this felt bag and it was very gratefully received.  I actually made two in the end and placed one on EBay just to see if there is any interest.  What do you think of it? 

Right I am off to frantically clean my house with the prospect of my Mum arriving this evening!  Argh!! Best wishes to you all.