SMASH Pen - K&Company

Good Friday morning to you all.  Bit chillier than I would have liked for Easter, still means I have an excuse to stay in and mess around in my craft room.  Silver lining and all that.

Yesterday I popped into my local Hobby Craft store for a little mooch around.  Was really looking for fabric but instead came away with a SMASH pen and thought I'd do a little review.

Hadn't realised I picked up a blue one, but hey ho I like writing in blue anyway.  It just won't show up on darker pages that's all.

I have seen this range from K&Company on the Internet for a while now and the pen always appealed to 

me.  Being someone who constantly writes down things and cuts out ideas from magazines this is perfect.  

It writes lovely, very smooth and no bleeding either.  Pretty shade of blue as well.  Comfortable to hold as well which some pens aren't always.

At the other end is the glue stick.  It's not large at 4g of product but is so very handy.  I just hope I don't use it all up too quickly.  Value is actually quite good at £2.99, you may even be able to get them cheaper online.

You can view the rest of their products in this range at http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/kandcompany or their blog http://www.smashstoriesblog.com/. 

Happy Easter.  Lolo xx

And her daughter got a new job too!

Since leaving Uni my friends daughter has been desparately trying to get a full time job.  It's tough out there and she was beginning to despair when , bam, she lands a job a few days after her mum.  Now how cool is that.

For her card I used my new lace doillie stamps from My Minds Eye.  My collection of this brand is beginning to build up now, their designs are great and the quality is very good.  My technique could do with a bit of practice though.  

All this excitement in a few days and we had warm sunshine today, happy times.  Tomorrow evening we are all off out to our favourite Indian Restaurant to celebrate, chicken tikka here I come!

Congratulations Jess!

Thanks for popping by.  Lolo xx

Friends Congratulation Card

A wonderful friend of mine has gone and landed herself the new role of Store Manager and I am over the moon for her!  She really does deserve it and starts a week from today.

The stamps used in this card came from the magazine Homemade a while back.  I really like the cute little tape measure.  

Her shop is in Hitchin, I hadn't realised how big and vibrant it was.  Lots of lovely pavement cafes and restaurants with the river just around the back of where she will be working.  Oh and there is a market with a large fabric stall, how happy did that make me.  I shall be visiting her a lot me thinks.

Congratulations my friend!!

Thanks for popping by.  Lolo xx

Handmade Needle Book Case

Continuing with my sewing bug it's a needlebook case this time.  Same fabric that I used for the heart being stripey it makes it nice and easy to cut in a straight line.

Now if I had thought about I should have photographed the stages for you guys but as I didn't will try and explain what I did.

I cut two pieces of the fabric and one piece of fleece lining all the same size adding allowances for seams.  I then cut 3 extra pieces of the fleece about 1cm smaller all round, these would be used for the book pages.  A piece of twill tape slightly wider than the fabric and one long enough for the tab closure was also cut.

You then place one piece of fabric and the fleece lining wrong sides together and pin to secure.  Take your twill tape and pin in place on the right side of the fabric and sew in place with a blanket stitch.  I also added some decorative stitching either side of the tape.

When happy with your decorative stuff place this piece right sides together with the other piece of fabric and stitch all the way round leaving an opening for turning.  Trim excess material and cut corners at an angle then turn the fabric inside out.  Smooth and hand sew the little opening.

All that's left now is to trim the fleece pages with pinking shears and stitch all three to the middle of the cover and then attach your twill closure to the back cover and add a fastener to the front of the cover.

Am really chuffed with how this turned out and it is so soft and padded.  I will be making a few more of these for family and friends.

Thanks for popping by.  Lolo x

Google Reader discontinues 1 July 2013

Afternoon bloggy world.  Do you use Google Reader like I do to keep track of posts on your favourite blogs?  Apparently this service is being withdrawn by Google on 1st July this year.  Not entirely happy about this but don't think they will stop it just coz of little of me eh!

They do say that you can easily import your RSS subscriptions into other readers out there so I tried it with my Bloglovin account which up to now was only used intermittently.  They are obviously on the ball as when you log in there is a message telling you how to import your google feeds instantly.  So I clicked the button and hey presto all my lovely blogs were there safe and sound.

It's not quite as user friendly as Google Reader but that is probably because I am not used to it.  I do use an app called Feedler on my iPad so I will investigate this for use on my PC.  Anyway in response to Google's announcement I have moved my Bloglovin button to the top of my sidebar.  

Will you miss Google Reader?

Love Lolo

Sew been absent for too long

Hmmm, it has been a while my friends.  The delay of spring and continued very dull chilly weather has kept me in hybernation mode for longer than I would like.  Bring on some sunshine please!  I did venture away from my cosy lounge the other evening.  Had this immediate urge that I needed to make something, to be creative.  

My new sewing machine which was purchased from John Lewis back in January hasn't had much action lately and it was about time I put it to good use.  You can read about it here, Janome Sewing Machine.  Flicking through some of my Tilda books for inspiration I decided to try one of Tone Finnanger's large folk hearts.  The thing I love about Tilda books are the patterns at the back of the book are full size making my life so much easier.

The fabric was purchased a while back from Ikea and has been waiting for me to use it.  Ikea fabrics are very well priced, £5.99 per metre, and this is a medium weight cotton canvas with a lovely soft feel to it.  These hearts are quite large, measures 7.5 inches long and they take a lot of stuffing.  I like to use the insides of old cushions or I buy cheap cushion pads for their stuffing.  Much cheaper than purchasing the toy stuffing from haberdashers.

Pale blue gingham ribbon is a sale purchase from the Tilda range at John Lewis haberdashery and the ruffle was the hem I cut off from a pair of Ikea curtains.  

I have to say the Janome sewing machine is a dream to use.  It has the ability to stop with the needle either up or down which is so very handy when you are sewing curves and turning corners.  I couldn't be without that function now.  The machine also has an electronic speed control which keeps me from veering off the fabric when sewing detail.

Since making this heart the sewing bug has taken hold of me and I have been happily experimenting with some iPad covers and a needle book which I will post about soon.

Look out for that sunshine!

Love  Lolo