Handmade Monday #40

I missed last weeks Handmade Monday because I was very poorly I spent 3 days in bed.  I'm slowly getting better still have fits of coughing.  My niece told me I sounded like a trumpet when blowing my nose - I'd say more like a fog horn lololol.  
So my contribution to this weeks handmade Monday is a scarf I knitted for said cheeky niece :).  It's made with Indie wool and done in garter stitch over 15 stitches on 51/2 needles.  I've added some dangly bits to each end and sewn some buttons along the bottom at the request of my niece (she chose the buttons) - she's a creative little thing 6 going on 16.

As you can see it's quite funky and colourful.

Thank you for popping over to read my post and if you would like to see other creative peoples work why not pop on over to Wendy's blog to see what everyone else has been up to.  

Please do leave a comment it's always nice to hear what you think.

Anita 

Women In Business & Networking

Starting your own business is daunting in itself but to be a woman starting out can be even more frightening especially if you work from home and don’t have a “office/work place” to go to.  It can be very lonely and isolating.  

When I started my business I had no idea the amount of support and networking events that are out there.  Some are specifically catered to women,  others are more corporate businesses, business clubs etc.  There are too many to name.  

In my first few weeks of setting up I received a lot of help and advice from The Tameside Business Family run by the local council in Tameside.  This was great in getting to know the practical side of things like tax, book-keeping etc but didn’t really help with connecting to other people in business.

Too read the full article please pop over to my website blog

This is a photograph of some of the group members

Cupcake Cookie Tags

A few months ago I was commissioned to make some tags for a bride who was having cookies made for her guests.  The spec was that they were to be vintage style & colours.  The tags were attached to the cookies which were then put into containers on the tables.  I don't have any photos of them insitu but here are the pictures I took before I sent them off - 

This is the lovely email I received from the couple -


Anita 
Well, what can I say. Amazing, amazing, amazing......

The cakes and cookies went down a storm and the guests absolutely loved their name tags on the cookies. It was such a special and personal touch.

I cannot thank you enough for your help.

Carla & Mark.

Diwali Cards

This week I've been making this years Diwali cards to send to friends and family.  
What is Diwali?  Diwali is the hindu festival of light.  I won't go into a long post but you can read all about it here.  
For my cards I've used a rubber stamp with a henna design on it (I don't remember which company its from as I've taken the stamp of the wooden block).  I think the shape of the design lends itself as a flame.  The base and wording were made digitally using a graphics software.  The tiny gems adds a touch of sparkle to the end result.  

If you enjoy looking at or even making different types of crafts why not pop on over to Wendy's and take a look at what other crafter's have been up to.

Anita

Make The Most Of Your Background Rubber Stamps

Hello long time no blog - sorry about that but the problems with the internet connection has really thrown me off balance.  Happy to say that it is all sorted - so no excuses not to blog right? 


So for my first post in over a month I thought I would show how you can utilise your background rubber stamps.  If like me you have boxes of stamps and only use a few favourites then read on.  I have a LOT of stamps but use only a few but recently I've been using one of my background stamps for designing some jewellery - wearable art.  


But first I would like share the 2 cards I've made using a stamp from Stamp Camp (Whimsy Waves #S358).  

The first card is a trio of Christmas Trees.  

The second card is a parcel.

And  I mentioned a jewellery project - well here is a sneak peek.

Thank you for popping in to read my post.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the above projects so don't be shy in leaving a comment.

  

If you would like to see more creativeness then why not pop on over to Wendy's and check out the Handmade Monday Blog.

Have a great week and I hope the sunshine's for you all.

Anita

Brides Up North Tweetup 2011 - Didsbury Manchester

Hello lovely followers apologies again for the lack of updates but as some of you will know I have had a bit of a nightmare with my internet connection for the last 2 months - hopefully it will be sorted tomorrow as I've finally managed to get an engineer booked to come and sort out where the problem is.  

I should have written this post 2 weeks ago but haven't been able to due to lack of internet.  However, finally fingers crossed the internet doesn't crash while I'm writing this post.

You maybe looking at the title and thinking what is a tweet up - well very briefly it's a gathering of people who are on twitter and are looking to meet face to face.  This particular tweet up was organised by the lovely Julia from Brides Up North.  This wasn't just any old tweet up it was for people who are specifically involved in the wedding/bridal industry.  I was one of the lucky ones to get a ticket - there was a waiting list as the event had sold out.

The event was hosted on 7the August 2011 at The Didsbury House Hotel which I have to say is absolutely gorgeous and wouldn't mind spending a couple of nights at. I have to admit I was really nervous walking in on my own -but I needn't have worried because the first person I met was a lovely young man named Ian Martindale who happens to be a photographer based in Yorkshire but also works around the northwest. 


The official photographers were Jenny and Keith McAvoy - it was a pleasure to meet them both and they have given me a few exclusive photographs taken at the event.

Unfortunately I didn't get to speak to everyone so apologies to those I haven't mentioned in the post.

Well I'm gonna stop waffling and let you have peek at some photographs courtesy of McAvoy Photographers - thank you Jenny and Keith.

This is our hostess Julia from Brides Up North

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh aye up here's yours truly with Ian Martindale and the delightful Jenny McAvoy 

This young lady makes the most stunning vintage crystal bouquets

 check out her website

There are more delicious looking photographs on Julia's blog of all the other people who were there on the night and you will agree that a good night was had by all.  In one of the photographs you will see a table set up as a sweet stall - can I just say I DID NOT touch one of those sweets - why? because I was into day 7 of my 30 day challenge of cutting out sweets, chocolates, biscuits and cake - aye you read right - currently I am onto day 16 but more of that on another blog.

Here are links to some of the other creative people who I had the pleasure of meeting at the event.  I hope you will pay them a visit - 

Cakes by Beth Hand-crafted cakes for all occasions

The Flower Lounge  Sian Wild -lovely lady won a nights stay at The Didsbury House Hotel.  You can see some of Sian's creations over at Brides Up North

Very Inviting Bespoke Handmade Stationery  

Wrapor - Wraps Tailored To Fit You Beautifully by Kay McEllin 

The Wedding Shop Gorgeous wedding dresses.

Dream Booth -fantastic idea

Wedding Bits n Bobs - Wedding Accessories

Love Bouquets -Stunning Vintage Bouquets

Gimme Cake!!! Cupcakes made to order

Mia Rose  Handmade Tiaras and Jewellery

Well that's it from me for today.  Hope you all have a good day.

Anita

 

Birthday Present For A Friend & Handmade Monday #27

What a busy week it's been with meetings with new clients, new web designer and an interview on Redshift Radio (see previous post) oh and it was my dads birthday.  

So with all this going on I didn't have much time in the week to make my friends birthday present -it's her birthday today (1st Aug).  I wasn't sure whether to buy her the usual wine and flowers or a piece of jewellery.  A few years ago I gave her vouchers for Christmas and made a gift holder out of card to present it in.  It seems she kept the pocket and has been using it to hold her bits of papers etc for when she goes shopping.  We met up a few weeks ago and she showed me the now tattered pocket and asked if I'd make her another one.  So this gave me the idea of making her a fabric purse to put her vouchers and notes in for her birthday.

Here is what I made her - fabric purse with hidden button closure, handmade card and because I'd forgotten to buy wrapping paper and couldn't find the gift bags I used some brown paper to wrap it all in.  I think the package looks quite neat and was really pleased with the way it turned out.  It's amazing what you can do with a bit of ribbon and lace.

Oh and in-case you're wondering she has already had her present today (Sunday)

She had a little gathering at her house and we all enjoyed some Pimms and had a lovely buffet and for dessert there was chocolate covered marshmallows, trifle and a baked raspberry cheesecake. Then we had a game of Family Fortunes to end the afternoon.

If you've enjoyed reading my little post and would like to see what other crafters have been making then why not pop over to Wendy's blog and click on the links.

 

Live On Radio

Today I spent a couple of hours as a guest on the European Lunch hour (well 2 hours12pm to 2pm) at RedShift Radio. I was invited by the lovely Chrisoula Sirigou the owner of Explorama a company that provides very unique/alternative holiday packages.  I met Chrisoula a couple of months ago at the Pre-Launch of the Female Entrepreneur Association and on the FEA LinkedIn group.  Chrisoula had started a thread and invited people to put their names forward if they were interested in going on the show.  Anyway to cut a long story short I put my name down like you do and I was invited to take part in todays show.  

The programme today was all about France it's culture, history, food etc.  We also talked about our passions ans what keeps us creative and how to keep a good work/life balance and the consequencies of stress and bad working habits and the importance of realising when to take time out for you.  You can listen back to the show just go to the radios website and click on the schedule then on the European Lunch hour box and if you scroll down you will see the previous show dates.

As well as myself there were 2 other guests - 

Rachel Kasaven who is a lifestyle coach and provides training and coaching to help you succeed in life.  Rachel works with businesses and on a one to one basis.  You can find out more about Rachel and her work on her website Rachel Kasaven Coaching .

Angelita Woosnam is a holistic therapist and is the owner of Indigo Spirit.  Angelita offers treatments such as Indian Head Massage, Reiki, Facelift Massage and my personal favourite Reflexology.     

I would like to finish of by saying a BIG thank you to Chrisoula & Redshift Radio for the opportunity to go on the show and to say how lovely it was to chat with Rachel and Angelita.  It was  definately one of those days I will remember for a long time to come and for all the right reasons.

Please do pop over to the websites as there is a lot more information than what I have posted here.

Anita.

Day 22 of 30 Day Challenge

I can't believe I'm already onto day 22 of my 30 day challenge the days seem to have flown by.   It's been good having set myself a challenge otherwise I would still be waiting for tomorrow to arrive and my Etsy shop would still be fairly empty.  

I haven't uploaded the recent makes to Etsy as they are going to be shown to Annabel who runs Eco Chic Boutique in Boughton Chester.  Annabel has been selling some of my jewellery in her lovely little shop where she also sells the most gorgeous dresses and outfits which can be made to order as a bespoke/customised piece.

Here are a couple of the newer items I've made this week -

I also made these customised White Swarovski Pearl Crysal & Crystal AB earrings for a friend of mine.  She saw one of her friends daughters wearing something similar at a party and wanted me to make her something along that line.  My photography doesn't do them justice.

So the next challenge is to come up with another challenge - any ideas welcome - please feel free to leave your suggestions here.

Handmade Monday #26

Firstly apologies for not posting anything for a couple of weeks.  Life's been a little bit hectic and stressed but I seem to be on track again.

I missed last weeks Handmade Monday as hosted by the lovely Wendy .  If you craft or just like to see what people have been creating then pop on over to Wendy's blog to see all the other crafters and their makes - you won't be disappointed.

So what have I been up to?  I've set myself a challenge to photograph a piece of jewellery everyday for the next 30 days -today is day 20.  I can't believe how time disappears and that I have kept up the challenge - only 10 more days to go.

Here are a couple of new pieces that I made in the last couple of days.  I'll be taking these to Eco Chic Boutique in Boughton, Chester.  Annabel has been selling my jewellery for quite a few months now and I hope she likes these enough to sell them in her shop.

You can see all the other pieces on my facebook page.

They are all available to buy on my Etsy shop.

Hope you all have a lovely week. 

Anita