Vintage Items on etsy.

There has been, probably for ever, a hooha on etsy from some people who don't think Vintage items should be sold on etsy as its primary function is for handmade items to be bought and sold. Fair enough. However, I love seeing vintage on etsy and I think if you like handmade then you are probably the sort of person who also likes vintage.

Anyway I have added two vintage items on my etsy shop. These are prints that I purchased years ago when I had a bookstall at a book fair. I haven't had them on the wall, and they were just gathering dust (literally). I think some clever etsy person will come up with wonderful ways of using them in their work, or just frame them and put them on the wall. I just hope that they do not cut them up.

Here are the listings http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10065889 and http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10065020.

They are original illustrations from newspapers. One from 1925 and one from 1913.

Back from Holiday

We had a wonderful holiday in Austria. A bit sad to be back home. Oh well...

Still I hope to be inspired by the beauty of Austria!!

On another note I am sorry to say that I am having to moderate any comments that are posted. This is due to receiving some rude links and also some that potentially contain viruses. So sorry if you make a valid comment and it takes a while to appear on this blog.

Birdy purse and Velvet Chocker

This week I mastered sewing a zip into a purse thanks to this tutorial

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=22875.0.

I also had given to me, by my lovely sister Claire, a pair of brand new green velvet trousers which were too small. I am going to make a sumptious purse out of them, but first I made this choker.

We visited a local furnishing shop and bought some gorgous remnants. I am going to make a bag out of mine. Big enough to be handluggage on a plane but it will not be ready for our skiing holiday next Saturday.

We are all off to Austria. I made Claire a cowl and need to make one for Mary and me. And maybe also a hat for me. It depends on how much fleece I have left. I would like to find a supplier of recycled fleece. It can be made out of plastic bags.

Must get on with the cowls. I will post a photo soon.

One more present finished.

Hooray! I have finally finished my sister's present. I was knitting her a scarf made of a lovely grey cotton with beads and a flower design. I have finished it and it is in the post to her.
I really enjoyed making it despite having to unpick the flower design several times. But bother I forgot to take a photo.
My mother's birthday next. I asked her what she wanted that I could make (limited selection, I know!). She wants a bag, that she can wear under her jacket to keep it safe, that she can pop her passport and travel documents in, which is soft so she doesn't get hurt if she falls on it (we are going skiing). So I have started the design and I am very excited about it.
When I have finished I must make some more things for etsy. I had a bit of a disappointment last week. Etsy said that I had sold the little red flower brooch. Yes! I thought my first sale but unfortunately they never paid and I never heard anything from the buyer despite giving them time and sending messages. Oh well better luck next time.

Handmade for Christmas

This year I decided to try and make as many presents as I could. Well... it did not quite work out as planned. Next year I will start a lot earlier! But I did manage to make some presents.

I was commissioned (by my mum) to make a present for my aunt in America. I will post a photo as soon as I know she has received it.

I knitted a scarf for my Mum. I knitted a scarf for my niece. This is in big wool. I found the pattern in a charity shop. It uses a twisted rib. I enjoyed knitting it so much that I decided to use the pattern for my mum's scarf but in a finer yarn. It was a lot finer and took me ages to knit. But I am happy with how it turned out.

I also knitted a scarf for my sister using the same yarn but I made up the pattern using motifs from an excellent book I bought called 'The New Knitting Stitch Library' by Lesley Stanfield. I recommend this book to anyone who loves knitting. The patterns are lovely and the charts easy to understand.

However, I have not finished the scarf so it will be a late present.

I did finish a bag for my niece. I wanted to make a messenger bag. I used a fleece fabric with a cotton fabric in owl design that I bought from etsy. I designed it myself (sort of as I went along which involved much deep thinking on my part). It turned out reversible Yes!! I am very pleased with it and so was my niece.

The photos are of me wearing the scarf for my niece and the bag I made for another niece.

Flowers growing everywhere...

I have posted my big blue flower brooch on etsy. This is there large one made out of Rowan Big Wool Tuft and then felted. I had trouble getting a good shot of it though.
Whilst I was there I retook some photos of my purple flower brooch hopefully in a better light. It is difficult to get good natural light here at the moment with the rain clouds constantly overhead.

The photo

I forgot to add the photo for the purple flower so here it is.