hold on to your handbag

When I was little I had a beautiful brown satchel which I loved. Then one day a girl at school, who had a modern, multi-coloured satchel, made fun of my shabby, old-fashioned satchel and I refused to take it to school ever again. I wish I'd ignored her and kept it!
I recently discovered hold on to your handbag on Folksy and fell in love with the gorgeous homemade handbags on sale. After a long weekend of making handbags for relatives' Christmas presents, Janet (along with her husband) had the idea to set up shop and has been selling handmade leather satchels and fabric bags, amongst other things, ever since. She also sells log bags, designed for carrying logs from the woodstore to the fireside - handy!
You can find more of Janet's work in her Folksy shop and over on her website. I have my eye on the soft brown leather shoulder bag..
xHx

Ps, last night I went to a free advance screening of 21 Jump Street (haven't laughed so much in a long time) and tonight we're off to see The Maccabees, courtesy of my brother. Good times!
Pps, Philip has some time off work so I'm taking a couple of days off from blogging to hang out with him; back soon :)

chalkboard picture frame tutorial

Last summer I found some forgotten picture frames in one of our cupboards. Some water had got into the frames and ruined the pictures so I thought it would be fun to paint the frames and find another use for them. I had some chalkboard paint leftover from our wedding (we ran out of time to use it) so I decided to make some chalkboards for the kitchen - handy for shopping lists and meal plans!

To make a chalkboard you will need:

A picture frame or framed mirror, gloss furniture paint, chalkboard paint, paint brushes, masking tape, chalk.

a healthy resolution

Hope you had a wonderful weekend?

This weekend I rediscovered a long-lost love: running!

Following an incident last week whereby I bought three dresses in my usual size only to get them home and discover they wouldn't go on past my shoulders and another episode where I struggled to get my previously perfect-fitting tracksuit bottoms up past my thighs, Philip and I decided to do a Cardio Box sesh, something we did a lot before moving to Cardiff. Afterwards, I felt like I hadn't worked hard enough and found myself suggesting it would be good to go for a run.

weekend link love

Have a yummy weekend folks! I am visiting a craft market with a friend and going out for curry, can't wait :) See you Monday and in the meantime..

1000 strand matress - extreme knitting!

Top tips for photographing your pet.

A photographer's colourful apartment.

Pictures from the beautiful Noa Noa spring collection.

Geometric washi tape wall art.

A crochet stool cover how-to.

C. S. Lewis inspired desktop freebie.

When I own my home I am definitely having these DIY chalkboard cabinets.

Style profile of editor at Vogue Turkey.

A DIY steamy facial in the privacy of your own home.

Recipe for biscuit cinnamon rolls.

Neon shoes DIY.

Plus my favourite forty percent fringe : sixty percent face blog post from this week - robot hat pattern.

xHx

japanese pretties

1 Vintage Japanese bead necklace by elciedesign 2 Plum & Mandarin soap by Ribbonreal 3 Washi tape magentic pegs by luluandbell

4 Washi tape notelets by Little Bobbins 5 Japanese paper bookmarks by Asking For Trouble 6 Washi bunting by Inkyprints-Originals

I've got a bit of a thing for washi tape at the moment and it inspired me to trawl through Folksy looking for Japanese-themed pretties. I love the vintage bead necklace and the soap looks divine!

xHx

in the making

I'd hoped to be sharing a new tutorial with you today but yesterday I got so caught up in making pretty little things for a craft fair (to the extent that I refused to leave the house) that I ran out of time and then fell asleep early and slept for a looong time. And today I have to post out some orders and carry on riding the creative wave and make some more treasures. I hope you understand :)

xHx

Ps, some changes: my Folksy shop will be where I sell my seasonal collections and my Etsy shop will soon be stocked with everything I make in between times. Just so you know!

chicken and custard

My loves, look at the beautiful creations of Jacqueline Tinney of chicken and custard.
Jacqueline uses recycled and repurposed materials to create gift tags, greetings cards, table decorations, gift bags and more. I LOVE brown paper so was instantly drawn to everything in this little shop as soon as I stumbled upon it. I love how clean and simple her work looks, tis very pleasing on the eye. And who doesn't love a bit of bunting? Even better when it's mini!

You can see more in the chicken and custard Folksy shop and they also have an Etsy shop with lots of decorations perfect for the Jubilee! Also pop over to say hi to Jacqueline on Twitter :)

Have a super lovely Tuesday. I am spending the day sewing in preparation for my first time at Roath Craft Market in a few weeks, so looking forward to it :)
xHx

Edit: I meant Wednesday, not Tuesday. The days tend to blur when working at home!

robot hat pattern

Over a year ago my friend Clare asked me to make her a robot hat and at Christmas I finally got round to it. The hat isn't my usual style but it's so fun that I wanted to share it with you. I knitted it from a beautifully soft wool/acrylic blend and used leftover scraps of turquoise acrylic yarn for the crochet details. The face is made from white felt and black embroidery thread, plus a couple of vintage buttons. The antenna looks comedy but I think it adds to Clarebot's charm :) 

To make a robot hat you will need:

1x 50g ball Wendy Norse Chunky in shade 2701 Porpoise or another chunky weight yarn (MC), small amount of chunky weight yarn for crochet details (CC), 8mm and 4mm knitting needles, 4mm crochet hook, small amount of polyester filling, white felt, black embroidery floss, 2 large buttons, pencil or air erasing pen, a large eye needle and scissors.

poetic licence

In Bristol on Friday we found ourselves in the loveliest shoe and gift shop and they had the most gorgeous selection of footwear by Poetic Licence. I want to own every single pair but my favourites are the Open for Business vintage style booties with the purple and sage embellishment on the strap. Just beautiful!
They also have a line of novelty dog accessories run by shoe lovers who aim to make a difference in eliminating the amount of abused, neglected and homeless pets through raising awareness and donating a percentage of the profit. Bonus!
xHx

a fun weekend

With: Linsey; mother and auntie; Philip.

Visiting: Bristol; Cardiff Bay; Cardiff Dogs Home.

Enjoying: St Nicholas Market; the River Taff water bus; cuddles with canines.

Eating: falafel; goat's cheese bruschetta; fish pie; lamb parcels.

Drinking: Sauvignon Blanc; lots of coffee.

Buying: summer dresses.

Wanting to buy: expensive shoes; a dog.

Listening to: Belle & Sebatian; Bob Dylan; Paul O'Grady.

Hope you had a good one! New things are in my little shop NOW, plus 50% off all remaining last year's stock, woop!

xHx