Honing My Craft

What an interesting word 'Honing' is.  Is sounds odd as it rolls on your tongue.

'Hone' means 'sharpen on a whetstone' - so it means giving a sharp edge to a tool.   My tool, I suppose, is my needle and my fingers. And if I 'give them a fine edge' it means I am making my skills better and better.

I was looking at my flickr page, this morning. I have a set 'Dorset buttons' and there right at the bottom is one of the first buttons I ever made.  Here it is:

It is off-centre and the stitches are wonky.  Compare it with these which are the same size, more or less:

and these which are much smaller:

I am getting better. I am honing my skills, sharpening the old metaphorical tool on the old metaphorical whetstone.

It is good to look back and then look forward.

Southsea Seafront

The Common, Southsea

Views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight (Ryde)

In the distance yachts and the Isle of Wight (Ryde)

The other day was lovely, and before work, we decided to go to the Seafront at Southsea. I took these photos as in real life the view was amazing. It was so clear and you could see over to Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.  My camera phone was not quite up to catching the detail.  We used to say if you can see the Isle of Wight clearly then it will be bad weather soon, but it was a lovely day the next day too.

Cut Out and Keep from Homecrafts

I am really happy to host this fun 'Cut out & Keep' from Homecrafts. Lots of lovely things to make. What shall we try first?

Blueberry and Spider

I made a couple of hair snaps today.  The first was this pair of Blueberry and White. Such a lovely fresh combination.

The next hair snap was this Halloween inspired Spider on a Pumpkin.  Last year I made a smaller version for the bobby pins that I also have in stock.  But I thought it would work better on a larger button.  I added a pair of red eyes too.

Both are available now in my etsy shop. 

Button Hair Snap Mosiac

I made this mosaic in Big Huge Labs, they have some great things to play with so pop along and have a look.

This is an example of some of the custom colour Dorset Button Hair snaps that I have made for people.  People ask for a colour, or colours, and I have fun looking for them, make a button, show them the finished button usually on flickr, and then when they are happy I made up the hair snaps.

So if you are thinking of getting your own hair snaps from me, then this is a good idea of the colours you can use. Of course as I use, Anchor or DMC thread, there are hundreds of colours you can choose from.

You can order from me here via etsy   or via folksy 

What's is going on at your library?

Is is worth checking out what is happening at your library as there may be something crafty going on.

I went to a free Beadmaking taster course this morning at my local library.  The beads that we made were paper ones which you make by rolling the paper round a kebab stick and gluing.  I have done this before, but the lovely lady had lots of examples where the basic paper beads are embellished with fabric and yarn.  So we all had a play.

Beads drying on the stick.  The white thread will come off when the beads are dry.

It really was great fun.  I am so used to crafting in my room, all alone that it was a wonderful change to sit with others.  We didn't chat lots but we did talk about crafts we did, and we could have a good look at each others' beads.

The are lots of lovely tutorials on the Internet showing how to make the paper beads, but I might do my own and pop it on my blog.

The Second in my new range..Shades of Purple Hoop Necklace

The other day I showed you the Patriotic necklace (see this post).  This time I have a Shades of Purple one, on a 18" Sterling Silver chain..

Available in my etsy shop here.

It is the second in my new range and it is a range that doesn't really have a name.  My new range of...?  I have been saying 'Hoop Necklaces' but if you have a better suggestion then please let me know.

I have also listed the buttons I showed you a while ago. This is a set of 3 but if you want more or less then let me know.  Available here.

Run, Run, running (and drum, drum, drumming up support)

I am a bit of a slob.  I am not sporty. I am the last picked in the team games, you know the one.  I put on weight when pregnant with my daughter and now she is nearly 9 it is still there.

I don't mind being pleasantly plump but I don't want to be unfit.

So..(and please don't giggle here) I have taken up running.

I might not run for the rest of my life, I might just do exercise at home. However,  I have, in a quick-press-return-before-you-change-your-mind moment, I signed up the The Great South Run 5km.  It is not the big run but a small version the day before.  But still 5km, that is about 3 miles, that is pretty good for a start. To spur me on I have decided to raise money for the NSPCC ChildLine.

So this morning I went for my first run.  Which is actually a lie as I went for my first, second and third run about a month ago but then we went on holiday and I stopped.  But I have started again.  I have my playlist on my ipod, I have a kit to wear, I have my hair tied back in an unflattering way, baby I am ready!

If you do want to sponsor me, and it would be very much appreciated, you can follow this link to the site. Thank you.