A couple of quiet crafting weeks ...

It's been a couple of busy weeks and so the crafting has gone on the back burner. There have been a couple of makes which I have completed and one which was a bit of an unplanned make. Firstly the Alston lariat challenge from the last post. Although making the base of the pattern took ages it has finally been embellished with tiny size 15 beads, the buckle made and attached and the frills started. All in all I am delighted with how its going. I love that the pattern is quite straight forward (which is always good after when tired) but the flip side is that it can get a bit tedious.

Hopefully by the end of the week it will be complete. I can't wait to wear it!!

Over the half term holiday I was given the opportunity to raid a substantial fabric stash and take whatever I wanted to do a few sewing projects. I was in heaven!! I came home with a bag full of goodies and, needing to make a birthday present, the perfect opportunity presented itself! I had an idea and a design in my head and, for once, it actually ended up as good as I had hoped. A huge thanks must go to the generous donor of the fabric stash (who was also my textiles teacher at school and had the patience of a saint!!)

The recipient of the cushion that I made was pleased with it. It is amazing that I managed to make the entire thing using bits from my stash so no new years resolutions broken on this project. To go with the cushion I used Decopatch paper to cover an elephant from Hobbycraft. It was the first large project using decopatch and I was surprised how easy it was and how good the end result was. I even found some sparkly stones left over from a previous project to use for eyes. All he needs now is a name!

Finally a project for the future. Last May I organised a big beading night in which raised money for Macmillan cancer care. We raised over £100 in one evening and, due to popular demand, I am organising another one at some point before the Easter holiday. This time the money will go to Kidney research UK as March is their main fundraising month. So, the search for a project has begun. At the moment the favourite is a simple St Petersburg pattern which I have adapted but I'm still undecided. Watch this space for further ideas....

Aims for the rest of this week are to complete the Alston lariat and make my Mum's mothers day present (using bits from my stash of goodies). Maybe I'll also be able to make a decision for the beading night in. Fingers crossed!!