Upcoming Giveaway!

I am so excited to see that more and more people are finding my blog useful, especially the fabric ball pattern!! Thank you to everyone who has visited!

The blog is almost up to 20,000 page views! Amazing!

So I thought I would run a giveaway to say thank you to all of my visitors and followers. As soon as the page views tick over to 20,000, the giveaway will begin so stay tuned!

It looks set to happen sometime in the next few days so keep checking back! I am busily working on a little bundle of goodies which will be revealed when the giveaway starts.

A Sneak Peek and My Improving Photography Skills

I just wanted to share some gorgeous new hair accessories I've been making over the past week. The hair accessories below are made with resin cabochons set onto bobby pins. I can't decide whether I like the filigree bobby pins or the plain ones best!

There is also a cute little pair of earrings that has snuck in there. :-) Cute little sunflower cabochons mounted on sterling silver plated studs.

I have had so much fun making them although I think my favourite part was photographing them all and learning how to get some great (or at least better) shots out of my little point and shoot camera.

I finally figured out how to get more depth of field with my little point and shoot! Yay!

I've been having trouble getting the lighting right and I'm still not 100% sure it's ok half the time but I think it is an improvement at least.

I watched this wonderful tutorial I found through the Etsy seller handbook. It gave some wonderful tips on how to get the most out of a point and shoot camera, which is what I have. I would LOVE a digital SLR but that is something I will have to save for.

Things have been slow going cause we have all been sick over the past week and a half but I have a bunch of new things to pop in the store that are super cute! Hopefully they will be up soon health permitting!

Stitches and Love Store is Open!

Eeeek!! The store is finally open! I would love you to come and take a look. 

I've started things off with some cute little sets of hair elastics. 

Pretty Chevrons

Dusty Pinks

All packaged up and ready to go!

These elastics are made from fold over elastic (FOE) and glitter elastic. The FOE is super soft and much gentler on hair than standard hair elastics. I have used them for a few months now and love them! The glitter elastic is quite gentle too, just not quite as gentle as the FOE. I absolutely LOVE the glitter elastic. :-)

Please share my shop with anyone who may be interested. I will be adding lots more items as I make them and have lots of plans for more gorgeous hair accessories, toys, baby items, clothing and things for around the home. 

For all of you who love my fabric ball tutorial and pattern, I will be making some of these too!

A New Year with New Adventures

This year is full of new things for our family. A new house, new hometown, new job, new kindy, new friends, new church, new goals, and lots of other new things.

Something new for me is that I have finally decided to go ahead and start creating some things to sell! That right! I am opening up an Etsy store!! I have thought about this and wanted to try it for such a long time and have finally decided to do something about it. I also need something bringing in money so I can buy more fabric and craft supplies. ;-)

I am also learning how to source craft supplies and fabric in the country. It is proving quite tricky! We moved to Mt Isa in Queensland's north west and sewing supplies up here are scarce! I am getting very good at scouring the internet and the best source of fabric I have found here so far are op shops! I bought this gorgeous vintage flat sheet last week.

Isn't it sweet?? I have lots of ideas running around in my head for this!

I also got this beautiful fabric! 

I'm not sure what I'm going to use this one for but I absolutely love asian prints and fabrics and couldn't pass it up! I am hoping to create lots of asian inspired items for my shop. 

Anyway, as you might have noticed, I love to try lots of different crafts and sewing projects so to start off with, I will be selling quite a variety of items while I discover my style. I am also fitting in my crafting around my 2 little boys and helping out my husband by creating teaching resources so I will only be listing items as I can make them. This might mean that some weeks it will only be 1-2 new items...other weeks it might be 10! Hopefully there won't be any many weeks with none.

I don't have the store open yet as I am doing some final touches but will let you know as soon as it opens! Keep checking back for updates!!

Christmas Decoration Hanger

Maybe you've seen these before but seeing as this is my first kindy experience as a mum, this is new to me and I thought it was a great idea. We were asked to make a tinsel covered hanger that would be used to hang any decorations that Max makes leading up to Christmas. It's super easy to make and quite effective.

Supplies
- 2 wire coat hangers
- Sticky tape/string
- 3-4m tinsel (this varies depending on how tight you twist it)

1. Place your 2 coat hangers in a cross shape as though they were hanging at right angles to each other. Tape or tie them in place at the top and at the bottom when the wires crosses.
2. Bend the hook of one of the hangers so that both hooks face the same way.
3. Tape one end of the tinsel just below the curve of the hanger at the top and start twisting it around the wire. Cover one coat hanger and then the other.

4. If you run out and need to start a new piece of tinsel, just tape the ends and twist the tinsel over them to cover up the taped part. Tape the end once you are done.

That's it! Super easy.

Here is Max with his. He was very proud of it. I can't wait till he brings it home with all his decorations.

Emma's Bears Free Teddy Bear Pattern and Tutorial

One of my good friends, Emma, is the most amazing teddy bear creator. She has been making bears since we were in high school and now she sells them as well as bear making supplies. I received a few bears as Christmas presents way back then.

Emma has just shared a fantastic free bear pattern and tutorial on her blog and I wanted to share it with you. This is the gorgeous bear you can create from her pattern.

Emma's bear supply store is called Fur Addiction and features beautiful furs and other bits and pieces. She dyes her own fur and even paints her own eyes. They are just gorgeous! It's certainly worth a look! She also sells her creations and supplies on Etsy. Almost all of Emma's creations are one of a kind. There are bears and other stuffed animals, patterns, kits and more. If you want to get into bear making, this is a wonderful place to learn.

Sewing with Stitches and Love

Tonight, I sat down at my sewing machine for the first time in about 6 months. It was a special moment for me. I have had post natal depression since Sam was born and sewing, something I love, was just too hard to touch. I didn't have the energy. It seemed too stressful. I didn't have the patience to sit down and sew even something simple. My desk was constantly messy piled high with random stuff. It was just too hard to clean it up and sew something.

Tonight I was making soot sprites from My Neighbour Totoro for Sam's 1st birthday party. Can you believe he's almost 1 already?!?!?! I lost my embroidery scissors which were the only scissors I have that could cut through the wool while it was tight against the fork. (I followed this great little tutorial I found on Pinterest) It drove me absolutely mad that I couldn't find them and I ended up cleaning up my whole desk area in the hunt. Even after I found them (in a plastic bag on my desk chair...I totally don't recall putting them there!), I was somehow still spurred on to continue cleaning until everything was off my desk.

And then I set my sewing machine up. It was still in it's case after a long overdue service it received earlier this year. I hadn't even tried it since I got it back. It felt so good seeing my sewing machine back on my desk ready to sew. I even tidied up my sewing box!

In my clean up, I found some partly made pants I had started for Sam long ago when it was starting to get cold. I'm really not sure if he'll still fit them now but I really wanted to get them finished. All I had done was cut out the fabric and sew on a little applique patch. I hadn't sewn a single seam. The applique really is not some of my best work. I don't know what I was thinking at the time but the satin stitching around the patch is appalling...so uneven and too wide. Anyway, those unfinished pants were something special I was trying to make for my bubby and I really wanted to finish them, no matter how dodgy they may turn out.

It was actually thrilling to sit down and sew again. I had to pull out my sewing machine's manual to remember which were the stretch stitches I used to use. It had been such a long time since I had sewn anything. But somehow, it all just came back and I was doing things automatically. It was so exciting sewing those seams and neatening edges. It was so wonderful to feel my love of sewing coming back after such a long time. I ended up stopping at the elastic in the waist because I need to check Sam to see how much elastic to use (and there's NO WAY I'm disturbing him to check that at this time of night!) but I am so happy with what I achieved tonight.

These pants, although the applique is messy, I discovered I had actually sewn it onto the back of the pants, and I got so carried away with sewing the casing around the waist I forgot to leave a hole and had to unpick it, represent how much I love my little man. They are far from my finest work but I am making them with so much joy and love for him. They represent a milestone in my healing from depression. No matter what, I will finish these pants. Somehow they are important. I know every time I see them, I will be so incredibly thankful to God for my precious baby boy, my ability to sew, and for the healing and joy that they sparked within me. They really will be made with stitches and love.

I imagine it will be slow going as I get back into sewing and crafting. But at least I have begun. And often, that is the hardest step.