Folksy Friday

It's been a while since I've done a Folksy Friday, but with so many fantastic new shops opening up I thought it was about time! So here's a selection of items I'd love in my home:

1. Vintage 1950's G Plan Wingback Sofa - Hopper and Space
2. Lampshade - Pale Blue Suburban Dream - House of Chintz
3. Reclaimed Pallet Coffee Table - Mobius Living
4. Canter Lever Vase Bookends - MijMoj Contemporary Furniture Design
5. Retro Cassette Tape Felt Cushion - Design by Vickle
6. Chunky Jigsaw Coasters - Square Pear Furniture

The Folksy Festive Sampler

If you haven't already seen The Folksy Festive Sampler you should definitely check it out. It's full of fantastic Christmas present ideas and beautiful handmade creations from loads of talented crafters.

So if your stuck for Christmas present ideas or want to buy friends and family a unique and memorable present then look no further! (You might even spot a Minifelt in amongst the gifts for under £10 section!)

The sampler is being distributed across the UK and can also be found in many crafty locations and events such as We Make London and The Make Lounge, so keep your eyes peeled for a copy. Or alternatively flick through the copy above, download it and give it out to all your friends and help spread the word!

Folksy Featured Seller

I've got a very big smile across my face right now because I've been selected as a featured seller on Folksy!

It was such a lovely surprise when I logged in to check my shop and discovered I'd been chosen. Ever since joining the website I'd always hoped that one day I might get to be a featured seller, and I've put a lot of time into improving my photos and listings and I'm so glad that it's paid off. Wooooo! 

I would also like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all my customers, blog readers and anyone that's taken an interest in my Minifelts, I really appreciate all your support :)

My shop has been selected alongside three other very talented folksy sellers:

 

Sarah Kerry who makes the most incredible biscuit shaped cushions (I think I'm definitely going to need one of them for my new flat!) 

Abstract Cat who makes beautiful hand dyed yarn

La La Loop who makes colourful homeware and accessories from super soft lambswool. 

Birthday Goodies

It's my Birthday today, woo! 

I woke up to discover that my boyfriend had completely covered the kitchen table with balloons (twenty five to be precise, since it's my 25th) and that there were two Birthday cakes in the fridge! No idea how I ended up with two, but I'm certainly not complaining!

I was also lucky enough to receive some lovely presents. My boyfriend bought me a graphics tablet, it's very fancy I have no idea how it works! It's basically a pen and board thing that you plug into your computer that you can draw and write with (well obviously it's far more technical than that, but that's my best description of it!)

It'll be great for drawing templates and playing around with new designs on, as I can just draw them straight onto the computer, instead of having loads of bits of paper that I'm constantly losing. It also apparently makes editing photos loads easier too, I'm going to test it out in Photoshop in a minute.

I also got this really cool T-Shirt from Lazy Oaf. I love all of their stuff, they have such fun colourful designs! Check out this cute fox cushion and these bizarre meat socks!

From my mum I got a ukulele and Monty the fox. He's made by Sara Carr on Folksy. I've had my eye on this cute fox for a while now, so was thrilled when I unwrapped him!

Right I'm off to enjoy the rest of the day. Happy Wednesday everyone :)

Raccoon Netbook Cover

I have been working on a very special custom order. After purchasing one of my raccoon brooches a customer asked if I could make her a matching raccoon netbook case.

I love a challenge, so I took the template I'd drawn for the badge and enlarged it to make a mahoosive raccoons head! When coming up with designs I always start by sketching a basic shape/outline on paper, then cutting it out and pinning it to the felt.

I started by cutting out the different pieces of the raccoons head from some redy brown, white and black felt and sewing a few white stitches to add detail to the eyes.

(Check out how tiny the original badge is in comparison)

I decided to make the case double layered to make sure the netbook was well protected, and recycled some old material to make the inner and outer layers. I used an old blanket dyed brown, for the cover and some green baize for the inner layer. I stitched the whole thing by hand, not a sewing machine in sight (plus I'm absolutely useless with one!)

Next I sewed along the top and sides of the green inner layer and the brown outer layer, to make a pouch for the netbook, leaving some excess so I could cut it to size later. Then I sewed the raccoon pieces to each other and then down onto the brown cover.

Here it is ready for the opening to be cut to size. After I'd cut the edges to fit the netbook, I sewed the green inner lining to the brown outer lining so that they'd stay together, and added a velcro strap that stretched around the back of the case for extra security.

Here it is finished!

I even scanned in the image to create a matching desktop wallpaper for the customer to use on her netbook!

I'm pretty pleased with the result, since it's probably my biggest project to date. I'm planning on making a whole range of netbook and maybe even laptop covers, as they're a lot more interesting than those boring black ones you can buy in PC World! I've even been on a special visit to the big Abakhan in Wales to stock up on huge rolls of felt, so watch this space for some new designs very soon...

Creature Swap

Happy Easter everyone. Hope you all had a great egg day, and got suitably sick on chocolate. I had a fun but quiet day and went out for roast dinner at a little restaurant with a beautiful view of the sea. My sister had also come down to visit which was lovely as I haven't seen her in a while.

Anyway I've been meaning to share some photos of the Creature Swap I took part in a while ago on Folksy, organised by Giraffe Craft. My swap partner was Sugar and Rhubarb who creates very cute little Ninja Kitties! Here's what I sent...

Who's in the box? Little Grey is very inquisitive and is checking so see which lucky little Minifelt is off to a new home...

Boo!

It's a little black kitty to keep Ninja Kitty company!

I turned my back for a minute and some friends had jumped in the box to come along for the journey...

Once I'd convinced them to leave I finally had a chance to package up the box ready to be posted.

I added one of these monkey brooches for the Ninja Kitty maker. Then off it went... Take a look at Sugar and Rhubarbs blog Itty Bitty Ninja Kitty to find out about their adventures and to find out the names they've been given!

and here's what I got in return from Sharne Mainia

It's a cute little frog called Freddy! Thanks so much Sharne he's awesome, I love him!

This was the first swap I'd ever done and I really enjoyed it. In fact I've already signed up for another swap that I saw on the Stuffed Nonsense Blog  and I need to find 6 other crafty folks that'd like to get involved. 


The details are: "it is an international swap, and all you have to do is make one lovely hand made piece (be it a picture, a card, a purse, something beady, something sparkly...anything goes!) In return you get 36 pieces sent to you from all over the world. It works on a sort of chain type system..." Please let me know if you'd like to get involved and help carry on the chain of craftiness, and I'll send you more details! 

Easter Bunnies

With Easter fast approaching I thought I'd offer FREE UK SHIPPING on all the bunnies in my Folksy Shop to celebrate, so make sure you get your Easter bunnies quick!

There are more bunnies available from my Website. I am also happy to custom make you a Minifelt Bunny in any colour you'd like, so please feel free to drop me an email.

New stuff

I've just finished making these two octopus pin cushions. I'd been meaning to find a project I could use the handmade felt I bought ages ago from the Knitting & Stitching show for, and this was the perfect excuse. I've still got some more left over so I might make some more sea creatures with it. 

I've also been busy sewing butterflies. I bought a load of deep picture frames from my local charity shop and had the idea of using them like scientific specimen display cases, but with felt butterflies inside. 

This was my first attempt and I'm still playing around with some different ideas. Next I'm going to try lots of different shaped butterflies, maybe pinned to the background and with little labels below with made up butterfly names, just to make it look even more like a display case. If you have any ideas about how I could improve the design I'd love to hear them as it's still very much a work in progress :)

Projects galore

For the past week or so, I've been waking up most mornings with a head full of ideas for new projects. Unfortunately this just seems to mean I have tons of unfinished projects on the go at once, as every time I go to finish something I get a different idea, or it doesn't quite turn out how I'd planned and that leads to a whole new idea... Need to keep away from the internet there's far too many inspiring things on there!

Here are some projects I did manage to finish. Firstly with Valentine's day approaching I thought I'd have a go at making some cards. Here are my first attempts, I've listed them over on Folksy if you fancy buying one. Would love to hear any thoughts/suggestions for future cards.

I also got some new fabric for Christmas this year, so thought I'd put it to good use. I've made a load of Minifelt badges, as I'm thinking of doing my first ever craft fair and thought it'd be good to have a few small things to fill up the stall with.

I also made these lavender smelephants, from the same fabric. I made the template myself, and kept them a simple shape, think I need to add some tails to these though.

and finally an idea that still needs a bit of work, my cardboard cuckoo clock. This didn't go quite to plan as I wanted to make a net out of one piece of card then fold up the sides, but I didn't have a piece of card big enough, so I improvised! I made it out of several small bits of card and attempted to glue them together. However, this was a big mistake, as the glue didn't stick well enough. I tried to rescue it using good old double sided sellotape, but that also didn't quite stick right... So it needs a bit of a re-think. Here it is anyway.

Hope I continue to have many more successful (well at least easier to make) ideas over the next few weeks. Must make the rule of not starting something new till I've finished the last thing!

Christmas Eve!

Ooooh it's Christmas Eve! Been really busy over the past few weeks, made a couple of sales on the website, and finally got round to opening my Folksy shop which you can check out HERE and has these new additions for sale.


At the moment I'm back home visiting my parents on the Isle of Wight, feeling a bit lonely as the Minifelts have all gone on a roadtrip to Newcastle for Christmas. Where hopefully they will be having their photographs taken with a fancy camera.


I couldn't resist taking a few craft materials home with me, so have attempted a couple of projects. Firstly I found a free bird template HERE on the Spool website, which I didn't end up following but inspired me to make a bird mobile, it's still a work in progress at the moment so will share some photos once it's finished.

I also attempted to use my mums sewing machine to make a giant Minifelt bunny, or rather a Megafelt. I haven't used a sewing machine since highschool, so it didn't quite go to plan... Think I need to practise on something a bit easier first, so I finished it off by hand. It needs a name, any suggestions?



Right I'm off to eat some mince pies and watch some terrible Christmas telly.
Merry Christmas from me and the Minifelts!

Hello from the Minifelts

The minifelts are all really excited about having their own blog and are even more excited to announce that the new website is ready! (I have to admit I'm quite excited too...) They'd love it if you could pop over and have a look - minifelts.com

They couldn't wait to have their photographs taken for the shop. So I lined them up on a white sheet, stuck a huge spotlight on them to compensate for it being gloomy winter, and here they are...

The bunnies were a bit nervous at first about the idea of going off to new homes, to be honest most things seem to scare them, but once I'd explained that they would have lots of adventures with their new owners, they hopped about excitedly.

These tigers are brothers and sisters and are very competitive (as siblings ofter are) Every tiger is unique with it's own individual stripes, which is very useful for telling them apart when they get into trouble. They're favourite food for some reason is frosted flakes...

The cats are very quiet and mysterious, they are always competing to sit on the highest perch, and often appear deep in thought. Perhaps they know something we don't...

These birds are terrible show offs, they're rather proud of their feathers. Mind you they are mightily impressive!

Watch out for more Minifelts coming soon, and if you like the look of any of these they are all in need of a loving new home over at: minifelts.com