Fur baby, yeah!

I have always wanted a fur coat. I may be upsetting the apple cart here but to me faux fur just doesn't feel the same.

I always have a scout on ebay and in the charity shops but have never been successful in finding what I'd like.

But on scanning ebay this lunch time with only 10 minutes to go I found it!

A real rabbit fur jacket and in my size.

I looked at the current bidding - £1.50, one bidder. I waited until the last 2 minutes and put a bid in... I WON!! for the grand sum of £2.20!!! :o

There is a tear, they don't say where (ooo I rhyme!) but with my crafty abilities I think I will be able to easily repair this.

I can't wait for it to arrive :)

PS. I know that not everyone is happy with fur, I do understand and each un to there own and all.

Rest of my haul

I didn't want to overload on Thursday's thrifty finds as there were quite a few! So here are the remaining two and an ebay bargain too boot! (well shoe) :)

So here is the rest of the beauties offered from Costa Del Solent...

Now this is indeed a bargain. A brown lovely Russell & Bromley handbag. There is no strap though, so I will have to use it as a large clutch bag or I'm tempted to fashion something for it.

I love this scarf. I think the pheasants are brilliant! especially as I have a gundog an' all :)

     

And these beauts were located on ebay. I have been searching for a sturdy pair of brogues from a little while. I have a couple of pairs already but they were from New Look and not very substantial. These are very sturdy, are real leather and have a wooden heel. They are 'used' and although the leather is slightly softened there is no wear to the bottom at all.

Enjoy the weekend lovlies :)

Another restless night...

... of wheezing and not being able to get back to sleep. After ten minutes I decided to vacate our bed and make my way to the sofa. The OH had to get up early for work and I knew that having me wake him was not the best thing that could happen!

As this wheezing has been on off since before christmas with a chest infection thrown in for good measure between christmas and new year, I had truly had enough. So as soon as the Dr's surgery opened this morning I was on the phone to get an urgent appointment. Surprisingly they had a cancellation at 9.20am.

I quickly had a bath and got ready and checked my emails (I was working from home today anyway) before walking down to the surgery. I hate tardiness so I was there five minutes before my allocated time. 40 minutes later I was walking into the Drs office. Why oh why do they do that?!?

She listened to my breathing with her freezing cold stethoscope. Then I had to blow into a 'peak-flow' monitor several times before she declared that I have mild asthma. Great!

She prescribed me with an inhaler and peak-flow thingy and sent me on my way. I now have to plot a graph with three points per day using the peak-flow monitor for the next two weeks before reporting back to see her :(

If its not one thing, its another...

Addiction!

I fear that my new year's resolution to be more thrifty has started an addiction!

I was working from home today and had to nip out to the shop at lunch and decided I needed a little scour of the charity shops. And once again this has left me with a truly fantastic hawl...

Next faux fur gilet. This is actually sized for a 10 year old but fits my size 8 frame perfectly. I love it!

Zara wool cardi.

F&F 100% cashmere sweater. I felt this on the rail before I saw it. A real snuggle sweater :)

I have a really thing for brogues at the moment and when I spotted these brand new grey Clarks ones for £4.50 I couldn't leave without them!

This wicker picnic basket was immediately ear-marked for my new hobby and storing my fabrics. I only have a small collection at the moment and its mainly made up of scraps and pre-cuts for patchwork and quilting but this basket does the job perfectly.

Updates on January Monthly Makes

I had a slight panic at the weekend because I have been so busy and felt that I hadn't been crafting with the possessed-glaze that I had at the beginning of the new year. The difference being that I am back at work now and I work full-time. The last couple of week's have been a little full-on at work.

I have managed to finish the Cath Kidston Patch bag though...

             

I am quite please as this is the first thing I have sewn (bar buttons and odd repairs) in a long long time and I have to say that I really enjoyed myself. You may notice that I have substited the suffolk puff that is meant to be in the middle with a large blue button. I wasn't keen on the puff ;)

When I sat down to work on it I was amazed at how quickly it came together. However, when it came to sewing and hemming the actual bag I resided to the fact that I 'needed' a sewing machine.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or read my blog will know that recently got myself a small sewing machine. I wasn't sure what to expect about it's quality and what I will be able to achieve with it.

I can however say that I have had a little play with it on scraps of material and got a little frustrated to say the least! Not wanted to be defeated, a little browsing and research about using sewing machines followed on the t'internet. I learnt a few key things and attempted another dual. This time I came out the victor.

I have a project lined up and I feel that the Beldray will be a vital asset. With my love of Cath Kidston, I bought a bundle of mixed Cath Kidston fabrics already pre-cut into 4" squares. I am going to endeavour to make a feature for a quilt cover. I fear that I won't have time to complete this Make before the month is out though, so am planning ahead for a February make :)

In the meantime, my make is two-fold. I signed up to Me and My Shadow's - Take One Jumper Challenge and the produce is going to be part of my January Monthly Makes.

Now this was my first time at felting, so off I went and I found myself a 100% lambswool sweater from a local charity shop. I felt a little bad as its by Jaeger but I justified the planned felting of said sweater as ok because it was three sizes to big for me anyway and it only cost £2.99. So I proceeded to whack it in the washer on the highest setting, followed by a hot tumble - as per the instructions that peeps had given me and I have ended up with a sweater that would easily fit a six year old!! (and duly felted of course)

As I said, I am not going to divulge my plans for the sweater but will post them as I go along :)

Sew sew sew...

I am quite excited, as I have got myself a sewing machine!
I didn't want to spend a fortune and I got bored of waiting for anyone to reply on the freecycle groups I am party too, so when I saw that a local shop was selling Beldray 7 Stitch Sewing Machines for £20 (apparently meant to retail at £59). I umm'd and ahh'd for a few days and thought - go for it!

It's nothing extravagant though... but I will give it a whirl. I have never had a sewing machine before and I only want to try it out and dabble a little. If I like it, then I can invest further if need be :)

According to the box, its ideal for creating clothes, making curtains or simple repairs... we'll see!

I am planning a patchwork quilt and after that, who knows! :)

Thrifty Finds

I love a bargain and its an even better bargain if it is clothes or hobby related.

Although I am only in the office a couple of days a week the small town of Alton does offer several well stocked charity shops which offer great respite for an odd lunch hour.

These include Scope, Oxfam, St Michael's Hospice, Cancer Research, British Heart Foundation and Cardiac Rehab, all within a two minute walk of the office.

Whilst browsing my 'new' favourite shops during yesterday's lunch hour, I come across a couple of great finds at bargain prices.

I have been searching for a pair of smart 'winter' shorts to wear with tights and these Topshop green wool ones hit the nail on the head (so to speak) and they were only £4!

In a different shop, I found this gorgeous green Boden top for, get this... £2.50!! bargain! I wasn't planning a 'green theme' it just happened that way :) They had a couple of other Boden items but unfortunately they were too big.

In a different charity shop I found - Buttons, with a capital B! I'm not just talking a few small plastic packets like I have become accustomed too... I spotted a whole jam jar full of them little gems.

Since Christmas and my vigor to get more crafty again buttons have featured on the horizon a couple of times. I think I have become a little obsessed with wanting to collect more and more of them!

Anyway, I practically ran across the shop to the shelf they were perched on and swooped on them like a bird of prey!! There are all different colours and all shapes and styles of buttons - leather, plastic, wood and glass - ahhh my pretties!! But the best is yet to come... the price! I located a little white sticker stuck to the bottom of the jar - £1!!!!!!!!!!! :o I say no more :)

Now that I have about a jar and a half of buttons, I needed a bigger container. I knew I still wanted a glass jar but where could I find one so big. It wasn't until I was passing the local Fish & Chip shop whilst walking Rigby when I spotted the biggest glass Gherkin Jar ever (well - that I have seen)!! I promptly stuck my head round the door and asked my friend Perry (yes I know - first name terms with the fast-food distributors - not good!) when he next has an empty jar could he stick my name on it... two mninutes later I was walking along the road with a empty, clean, 10-inch tall glass jar - happy bunny :) The only trouble is, the jar isn't even a quarter full now! the button hunt continues...

A new craft

I have had the particular pattern book, Easy Chain Mail, in my mitts for quite some time...

I was passing a Hobbycraft a couple of years ago. I hadn't planned on going in nor buying but that day something made me. Once inside I skipped through the aisles, oooing and ahhing at all the lovely goodies when this book caught my eye. I had never tried chain mail jewellery making before but a particular pattern in here took my fancy. I bought the book, a couple of pairs of pliers and more than enough silver jump-rings to complete the pattern I liked and headed home.

The book and it's friends were placed into my craft box never to be seen again until this week, when with my new-found crafty venom linked with signing up to Monthly Makes, made them re-enter into my mind and mitts.

This was the bracelet that had caught my eye... the Tryzantine Bracelet...

I would say that I am quite confident in the crafts that I have dabbled with but I knew from the instructions that this was going to require some serious concentration and patience. I even had to consult a friend at one point because I just couldn't see what I was doing wrong.

After a quick natter I set off again and my bracelet grew...

And here was the final item.

I love it so much that I made a matching choker necklace too :)

Update on January's Monthly Makes

In my previous post you will have seen my first project for the Monthly Makes 2012 - the Cath Kidston 'Patch' kit.

I was planning on making the cushion but changed my mind and decided on the tote bag instead!

But that was the least of my worries. After stitching all the petals together and laying the petal round on the bag material I discovered a problem… the end of the petals were too close to the edge of the material. It was then that it had dawned on me that I had traced the template wrong!! L

On careful inspection all could be fixed though. There was enough material to use the current petals with the new template. So I literally snipped away, re-tacked and stitched the round back together again at a slightly petite size. I think my error made me stitch quicker as I finished super quick.

Upon laying this ‘new’ petal round on the bag material, it was perfect! Plenty of material for the overlay, the seams and not forgetting the obligatory Cath Kidston badge J

I pinned the round to the bag and delicately stitched away until it was completely attached, then I proceeded to stitch the sides of the bag.

  

Then I was side-tracked…

Be more crafty!

And that's not in a sneaky, coniving kind of way either :)

I have always been the creative craft type of person but it is having the time to fit everything in.

I have been reading some great craft and thrift blogs and they have inspired me to start making things again. Whether its knitting, crochet, painting, felting, sewing, carving (not sure here!?), emblishing, scrapbooking, anything really...

I have come away from some blogs with a few ideas already and to motivate me I have joined up to Monthly Makes 2012 through The Felt Fairy, whereby you have to make something every month. To find out more, click on the picture to the left or here

So being the 1st January and not being able to do much else because of this poxy chest infection, I decided to start my 'January Monthly Make 2012' :) and here it is...

Its from the Cath Kidston (I love her stuff!) Patch! book. The kit was all included and you have the option of making a a tote bag or a cushion. I'm going for the cushion and here is what I have done so far...



 Its going well!! think it might be finished way before the end of January though :)

New Year's Resolutions...

I am not aiming high, just little things that I'd like to do...

1. Keep a fringe
2. Be more thrifty
3. Be more crafty - be more creative and make more things (joined Monthly Makes 2012 on The Felt Fairy's blog as incentive)
4. Get back on the squash court and to match fitness (seeing the Consultant on 12th Jan to find out what can be done)
5. Keep an up-to-date blog :)

Goodbye 2011 x