phone cover make

I made this easy phone cover yesterday whilst watching a black and white film on TV. I'd finished it around 10 minutes after the film ended so a really quick project. 

All I needed were-

• a piece of felt 
• white embroidery thread 
• white acrylic paint.
• some velcro

I cut out two pieces of felt around 1 1/2 cm bigger than my phone
on the two long sides and one of the short and left a 1cm border on the other short side (the top or opening).

Then I used a piece of chalk to mark out a 1cm border on the two long sides and one of the short sides. 

Using the embroidery thread I made big stitches all around the marked border.

Next I painted a pattern! (I practiced a few ideas on a scrap piece of felt first.) You may have to go over your design a couple of times. 

I initially used fabric paint but it seemed to just get absorbed into the felt and so I turned to my trusty supply of acrylic paint. It never comes off my clothes when I accidently make a mess so I figure it's pretty durable! And of course you can't put felt in the washing machine anyhow so no need to worry about that.

When my pattern was dry (minutes later) I used a small piece of felt to make a fastening which I stitched at the back as below. 

And then using a glue gun I attached some velcro. Ta Dah!

This was a bit of an experiment and now I can think of lots of variations to play around with. Different colours, shapes patterns. 

So easy to make. And using felt gives it more protection than other thin materials. I may make a felted cashmere version next. I have a couple of shrunken jumpers which would be perfect for a project like this!

things will be fine

one of my prints :) available here

I couldn't sleep last night. I woke at around 1.30am (well, in fact Edie woke me at 1.30am) and then I lay in bed for hours wide awake before I cracked and came downstairs. I had that feeling where you dread the day because you know you're going to feel so damn tired and bleary and like you could cry at any moment. But I made a cup of tea, turned the little lamp on, got under the quilt on the settee and watched Miranda on the BBC iPlayer. 

And you know what? It was lovely. 

The house was so quiet, the dog was sound asleep, my tea was hot and comforting and Miranda made me laugh. 

After that I fell fast asleep on the settee for an hour or two, happy as Larry.

And my day has been fine. More than fine; the sun has been shining, my girl went to nursery for the first time since last Thursday and I busied myself with a little project in front of the fire whist watching a black and white film on TV. 

Yes, I'm tired, but tonight I shall have a bath and an early night and things will be fine. 

I might get that stitched across my pillowcase. 

Things will be fine.

lately, at ours

These last few snowy days have been mostly spent hunkered down indoors. 

We made cookies using this recipe and they ROCKED!

Best biscuits I've ever made (although I admit I haven't made that many). We halved the amounts (apart from the egg yolk, we still used a whole one) and we got two baking trays out of it. 

They've all gone now...

And we've done a lot of slow, cosy, around the house stuff.

So (hopefully) we've seen the worst of the snow and now the thaw can begin. As much as we've loved sledging, snowballing and cosying up with hot chocolates in front of the fire we're ready for some new adventures. 

Our little break from normal routine has been lovely. No school, no work, no popping to the shops for six whole days. Just family, food and play with nothing much important to do. Maybe we needed a little break like that. 

You?

our new bedroom mantelpiece makes me happy

Our living room is still naked above the fireplace but joy of joys our bedroom now has a fully functioning mantelpiece just begging to be decorated with lovely things. How can that be so exciting?

I haven't really decided what I really want up there yet, but then I think that's half the beauty; that you can change it whenever you like, to reflect your mood and what catches your eye. 

It's made our bedroom look a lot more 'finished', and now it feels really cosy. Luckily the mantelpiece was an ex-display piece which we got for a steal.

After buying this house a year and a half ago and doing lots of renovation work it's these little details that make it feel like the home we always wanted. 

Somewhere that feels like ours, somewhere we can relax, somewhere that makes us happy. Isn't that what we all want? X

tiny little tokens

It was still snowy outside today and with Edie's school closed again we had an indoors day. We've been out dog-walking and snowball-fighting every day since Friday but as the snow is turning to lethally slippery ice in places (and I'm 29 weeks pregnant) we decided to give the outdoor pursuits a miss today in favour of the warmth and safety of our kitchen table.

So whilst Edie happily spattered paint around the kitchen I sat for just 15 mins and painted these tiny pebbles, each one just 3cm-6cm long.

Maybe I need a little more practice and a smaller brush, but still, sweet, aren't they?

All I needed- 

•Pebbles
•Acrylic paint 
•Small paintbush

I'll probably give them a coat of clear acrylic matt medium tomorrow to ensure their durability but I think they'd probably be fine without. 

I'd like to leave a few of the heart pebbles hanging about on Valentine's Day for people to find. Maybe leaving them at bus stops, on walls and on benches. 

I'd like to find one at least, I think it'd make me smile :) 

Fridays are even more awesome when it snows!

                        
I'm so in love with the snow today! Ever since I was a little girl I've adored seeing those beautiful snowflakes dance across the sky. It's like the world turns into a magical place, all white, all still, just dazzling. 

We don't get months, or even weeks, of snow upon snow here, just the odd day a year. So we don't really have to deal with the negative side of this icy weather, we can just keep safe, keep warm and enjoy it. 

Having said that, I know how frightening it can be for people who are alone and not able to get out and about. If you're able to is there an elderly or vulnerable person near you to check on? Even if they just ask you to go to the corner shop to *get them some cigarettes* you'll be doing a lovely thing for someone.

*this happened to me when I was 8 months pregnant with Edie and I found myself trudging through snow drifts to get two packets of Golden Virginia and some rich tea biscuits... 

Stay warm, stay cosy, stay safe X

I made this

OK, so this is what I drew/made back on Tuesday with my few hours to spare. Plus a few more yesterday... And maybe a couple this morning... And it's still not finished. 

But I did it, I made time to MAKE SOME NEW ART! It's not as easy as it seems to find time to do what you love when life keeps getting in the way. 

I still have some work to do on this but I'm pretty happy with it. 

Making little sacrifices to put what's important to you a top priority over say, cooking dinner, is OK sometimes, right?!