Crochet Maybelle Flower Squares

Over the last few months I've shared some photos on instagram of one of my ongoing crochet projects, which is a blanket made up of crochet maybelle flower squares. Browsing on Pinterest I totally fell in love with the pattern, and it is a lot easier than it looks (my favourite type of crochet project!) Each squares starts off as a maybelle flower - you can find the pattern for these right here. For my flowers and squares I used DK yarn (a mix of different ones but mostly the Stylecraft cheap stuff!) and a 4mm hook.

The flowers look super pretty just on their own, and you could make tons of things using them as they are. But to turn them into squares you need the tutorial over on My Rose Valley which explains how to add the extra rounds that turns it from a flower shape into a nice neat square that's easy to make into blankets/pillows/scarves/bags and whatever else you'd like!

I decided to edge all my flowers in a cream/off white yarn to really make the flowers pop and highlight their shape. Although I haven't decided on how big I want my final blanket to be, at the moment I am aiming to make it 8 squares by 8 squares (as the squares are a decent size.) So I'm using 8 different colour yarns, and crocheting 8 flowers from each colour. Rather than chop and change between the yarn colours, I am crocheting all the flower centres first, and then edging them all at once. Once the blanket is finished I'll be sure to post some more photos so you can see the final result! Have any of you made anything using this pattern?

A Visit to Mim's

Last week I visited my friend Mim for the day (she is on instagram as @madebymim so you should definitely go and follow her!) for a spot of business planning as Mim now sells her ridiculously awesome creations over in her Etsy shop. Girl dates are my absolute favourite, especially when they also involve sausage dogs, homemade cake, copious amounts of tea, and spending the time in a house as gorgeous as Mim's!

Most of the time was spent nattering (obviously) but I did remember to snap a handful of photos. Sadly the daylight had gone by the time I realised I hadn't photographed her new sewing room, so I shall have to take some next time I visit.

Whenever I visit Mim's she always serves pots of tea on the coolest trays and cups and saucers. Everything she owns is totally awesome and snapworthy! How cute is this vintage kittens tray?

That black globe is on my current 'to find and buy' list as I've been coveting them for so long! Mega thanks to Mim for being such an amazing hostess - next time I visit we are planning on doing a photoshoot with some of her handmade goodies so I will be sure to share some behind the scenes photos of what we get up to!

Look At The Stars Papercut

So I am more than a little bit late sharing this papercut piece, but I wanted to share it with you guys anyway. My mum is a huge Coldplay fan, so for Christmas I made her this A4 size papercut piece featuring some of her favourite Coldplay lyrics. I love the sentiment behind this quote too - it feels particularly poignant because of all the things my Mum does for me and for so many others.

I've really been bitten by the papercutting bug, and have another three pieces to share with you guys, but I will try and space them out so I don't bore you! Because my drawing skills are on par with that of a two year old child I don't dare attempt to design my own papercut piece and instead use printable templates I've found on Etsy. These are all paid ones (because I love to support other creatives wherever possible) but you can often find awesome free ones via Google or Pinterest.

Pom Pom Party Palace

Working on unusual projects and doing new things is one of the things I love most about my job, and this week I was given the (ridiculously fun and exciting) task of making 50 pom poms for an epic pom pom garland which will hopefully be used on a film set! EEEEEP! It was a really short turnaround, but I work best with a deadline.

Although staying up till 2am watching Community and making fluffy rainbow coloured pom poms might not be everyone's idea of an awesome time, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Working to a new colour scheme was very refreshing, and making pom poms instead of jewellery definitely made for a nice change of pace!

 And here they are all strung up together into one ridiculously long garland. All boxed up and ready to go to their new home, I almost didn't want to give them up! But I think I will need to make mysele one now, maybe in a different colourway.

i heart iphone photos

Is it just me or did January and February just disappear?! I can't believe it is March already but I mean, no big deal, it's not like I needed those two months to do stuff or anything.... But here is my monthly iphone photo roundup from February - it is surprisingly lacking in pink heart shaped things. I suppose that's what happens when you're single... (all descriptions are clockwise from top left)

finally got a set of Pantone colours swatches so now I can Pantone match to my heart's content) // fresh bedding that has unicorns on is my favourite // crocheting ice cream scoops to make gifts for some of my friends // the lovely folks at Look Lane bought me ladybird donuts to celebrate Ladybird Likes' fourth birthday!

 puppy dog cuddles with Mim's adorable sausage dogs Frank and Albert // forever trying to organise my yarn collection, but it usually just ends up EVERYWHERE // making new things, including these teeny metal studs // reliving my acting debut for Look Lane back in January

 one of my favourite ever charity shop finds - a super creepy but super cute vintage kewpie doll // new to me Cath Kidston rucksack that matches my converse perfectly // currently obsessed with papercutting and this is one of my favourite pieces (in all its shadowy glory!) // adding bracelets to my jewellery line and testing out the prototypes for wearability and cuteness

 some days are just UGH (but yay for pink converse that match your bag) / my thriving studio jungle on a rather rare sunny day // creating cute little displays in my newly organised studio // creating sassy wall art because sometimes you really need to cheer yourself up as online dating sucks

 treated myself to ALL of the new pens from Kikki K // testing lots of new things out including these glitter and acrylic mini signs // donuts for breakfast - because life is too short to eat healthy all the time // my daily mantra on a mug in the shiniest gold vinyl I could get my hands on!

Etsy Resolutions

One of the things I love most about Etsy is the scope to constantly learn, and grow, and build up your business with them. And this year is no different - tomorrow (Monday 25th January) Etsy are launching Etsy Resolutions; a FREE four-week programme led by top-selling Etsy shop owners and mentors. It is primarily aimed at helping anyone who has been wanting to open their own shop on Etsy, but isn't sure how to go about it. However it would also be beneficial to people who already have an an Etsy shop but feel they need some help to take it to the next level.

The Etsy Resolutions programme will cover everything from photography, to marketing, to tips for getting found by potential customers. Although it is set up with weekly sessions, you can tackle the programme in your own time, to ensure you get the most from it. There is even a Facebook group where you will be able to connect with others who are facing the same challenges as you, and share tips and offer support to one another.

So make sure to sign up for the Etsy Resolution programme right now, and check back each week to get the latest lesson and updates. If you do set up a new Etsy shop then be sure to let me know so I can check it out - I always love finding new sellers!

Kew Gardens Christmas Lights (part 2)

Part two of my photos from the light trail at Kew Gardens (which is still running so definitely go and visit if you can!) and possibly my favourite part of the whole event was walking through these trailing strings of lights. They changed colours - sometimes they'd all be one colour, other times they'd be different colours, and all the while there was classical music playing in the background. It was a totally immersive sensory experience, and I felt like a child again staring in awe at the sparkly lights!

 

 Finally, these awesome shapes made from coloured lights were seriously impressive. Peacocks and flowers and brightly coloured lights - what's not to love? I would definitely have these in my garden as a year round display (if anyone fancies buying them for me...)

Kew Gardens Christmas Lights (part 1)

On New Years Day myself and my family visited Kew Gardens in the evening to see their annual lights display. I should mention beforehand that these are no ordinary Christmas lights - in fact they aren't particularly Christmas themed at all, but they are seriously spectacular nonetheless!

The walk is about a mile long, and took us approximately an hour and a half to meander around, which doesn't sound that long, but it was a pretty chilly night so I was glad to not be out there for too long. There are various different 'sections' throughout the walk - one of my favourites was the Fire Walk, which consisted of two huge trees representing the sun and the moon, surrounded by small fires lit in cans. It was pretty incredible to see, and very cleverly done. I've been watching 'Vikings' recently, and it felt very Pagan to me.

 

 Another highlight were these colour-changing trees, that were made from a tent like structure with a frame covered in sheer fabric. It's hard to tell from the photos but they were pretty huge! The middle sized ones were probably about 7 feet tall! They reminded me of something - an exhibition at the Barbican (or somewhere like that) but I can't quite put my finger on it, so if you know what I'm thinking of then do let me know!

 To avoid this post becoming ridiculously image-heavy I will post the rest of the photos tomorrow in a separate blog post! Do check back to see them - and if you can then pop down to Kew and visit in real-life, because really my (lack of) camera skills don't do them justice!