A Quick Thank You!

This post is exactly what it says on the tin really. I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all your support! I can't believe how successful the giveaway on Facebook was, so I will definitely be doing more of them in the future! The lovely messages I receive make me realise that this is all worth it and that you actually like seeing the things that I do!

Thank you so much :)

Exploring Etsy: Mother's Day

So Mothering Sunday, or Mother's Day, is next week! I've been very organised this year and have already sent my present home to my madre, although I do still have to make her a card this weekend! I thought it would be a perfect time for a Mother's Day EE!

1) Flower Heart Keyring - ElliesTreasureUK

This lovely keyring is hand-embroidered into felt, using charms and beads to add unusual accents. I love the bold turquoise colour of the heart! This keyring ships from the UK and costs only £7.00! Check out Ellie's shop for more fun keyrings!

2) Amethyst Copper Wire Ring - CopperingJewelry

I love how unusual this ring looks! I learnt from EmmaRuthJones' blog that it was thought that amethyst would help prevent drunkenness! I just think it's a very pretty stone and it contrasts beautifully with the copper colour of the wire. CopperingJewellery is based in the UK and the ring will only cost you £17.44.

3) Spring Bouquet Necklace - PlasticDarling

Look at how bright and Springtime this necklace is! Perfect for the mum who loves gardening, or just likes flowers. This necklace will last longer than a bouquet! This necklace is a bargain at £7.50 and the designer is based in the UK.

4) Mother's Day Cake Topper - EbonyFawn

All mums love cake. It's just fact... You and your mum could bake a cake together on Mother's day and top it with this gorgeous cake topper. This banner also comes with coordinating cupcake toppers! This set is£12 and the designer is based in the UK.

5) Funky Felt Flower Brooch - TheOldButton

Oh these buttons are so fun! I love the brooch. They have a lovely, bright and fun look to them because of the contrasting felt and thread colours. This is perfect for a fun mum with a unique sense of style. One of these brooches costs £4.50 and the creator is based in the UK.

6) Tiny Fox in a Bottle Necklace - PeachesandPebbles

This fox necklace is adorable! The little guy is so tiny, I can't even begin to think how the UK-based designer managed to make this necklace! The fox is made from clay and would require a lot of patience. It's only £18.00 too!

7) Quilled Snowdrop Greetings Card - RamkinsTump

This will make a very unusual Mother's Day card! My mum loves snowdrops so I know she'd love this! It's blank inside too so you can add your own message. This card only costs £2.75 and the creator is based in the UK.

8) Guess How Much I Love You Embroidery Hoop - LolasLittlePalace

This was mine and my mum's book when I was younger :) This embroidery hoop brings back a lot of memories! The "mummy" can be changed to fit whatever you call your mum. The designer is based in the UK (very close to where I grew up!!) and this hoop will cost you £17.

9) Sweet Mother's Day Card - BeckaGriffin

I love Becka Griffin's style! I bought her Valentine's cheese card for the boyfriend this year, and he loved it. He does like a good pun. This biscuit card will go very well along with a cup of tea! Becka is a UK based designer and the card is only £3.25.

10) Heart Bunting Necklace - TheCornerOfCraft

Well I had to include myself in this EE! This heart bunting necklace would be perfect for a mum. In fun Springtime colours, it's guaranteed to make any mum happy. I am based in the UK and this necklace costs £20.

Hope you enjoyed this EE and that you all have a lovely Mother's Day!

I performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra!

I was so lucky! On Saturday I had the opportunity, with the Nottingham Trent University Choir, to sing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and West End star Kerry Ellis! We performed at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham and we had completely sold all the seats. I can't believe how popular it was. To be honest, quite a few of them were Kerry Ellis fans... Kerry Ellis was so lovely and she moved the audience to tears with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables.

The LPO were amazing! They are some very talented musicians. It was incredible to sit and listen to them play, even if I do feel like they drowned us out at times :P

One of the girls from the choir was fortunate enough to win an audition to sing a duet with Kerry Ellis. Her voice was just amazing! Anyway, I couldn't exactly take any pictures while the concert was on, but here are some from the rehearsal and a review which was in the local paper.

I made the most of the rehearsal to catch up on my mood blanket!

I had such a busy week last week with rehearsals and other things, that I have been slacking with the blog! I promise to try and post more frequently this week :)

Button Earrings!

I love buttons. I don't know what it is about them. They're just so cute, adorable and can finish off anything perfectly. They seem to add a fun touch to an accessory or outfit! When I saw these little spotty buttons, I knew that I had to make earrings with them! They come in lovely pastel colours, which is perfect for springtime and Easter.

If you'd like to get your hands on a pair of these fun and colourful earrings, you can find them here!

Crochet Mood Blanket 2014: February

February saw me finishing off row 2 of the blanket, as well as the whole of the second row. This month I got very lazy with making my squares and at times ended up with over a week's worth to catch up on!! Considering each square takes me about half an hour to completely do, it would take a while to catch up!!

 I also became lazy when it came to selecting colours. I'd just grab whatever was on top of my yarn bag so some of the colours are very similar! Towards the end of the month, I delved a little deeper, which is why you see the sudden influx of different colours!

I'M IN A MAGAZINE!

Well I'm not personally, but some earrings that I've made have been featured! Beads & Beyond have a monthly theme and bead shops across the UK can submit items that their employees have made. The bead shop that I work in regularly do this. This is the first one that I have contributed to because before this, I didn't feel confident enough in the jewellery that I could make.

While I'm not particularly proud of the earrings I made for the magazine, and looking at the pictures I can see how much my brick stitch technique has improved, I am proud that they've been featured in a magazine!

Exploring Etsy: Pancake Day!

It's pancake day! Finally an excuse to have more pancakes than makes sense. Luckily it's also my boyfriend's birthday so I'm going to cook a lovely (easy!!) birthday dinner of pancakes for him. Wonderful :)

For those of you who don't know, pancake day (or Shrove Tuesday) occurs on the day before Ash Wednesday, or the start of Lent for Christians. Traditionally, Lent is a time of giving things up and, in some cases, fasting, so Shrove Tuesday was seen as the last day to treat yourself and use up any "luxury" food items that you had, such as butter, eggs and fat, which were forbidden during Lent.

Pancake Day is so late this year because Easter is extremely late! Silly Easter, depriving us of pancakes! Anyway, onto the pancake-themed items I've found on Etsy!

1) Pancake Necklace by CuteTreats

I think most of the items I have found are more based on American pancakes, than on the traditional English ones, which are more like French crêpe. This cute necklace includes a miniature of a stack of pancakes, topped by heart-shaped butter. So cute! This necklace is on a 16'' ball chain and costs £7.37.

2) Felt Pancake Breakfast by MilkFly

Perfect for any little one with a play kitchen, MilkFly has made this delicious-looking breakfast from felt. There's something for everyone there, including bacon, sausages and egg!! The set is made to order, so be sure to allow making time when buying! This set is £24.51 in total :)

3) Pancake Blanket and Butter Pillow Set by Higginstuff

I often wonder how lovely it would be to snuggle underneath a warm pancake :P Look how happy this duo looks; they're truly made for each other. This is another product which is made to order, so, once again, allow enough time when buying! This set is £46.07.

4) PDF Crochet Pattern of a Pancake Security Blanket and Butter Pillow by Twinkie Chan

You all know how much of a fan I am of Twinkie Chan! If you decided that you didn't want to buy the redy-made blanket by Higginstuff, Miss Chan has designed this adorable crochet pattern, so you can make your own! This is a security blanket, so it is technically for a baby, but who's to say you can't have one too?? This pattern is £1.84 and is available for instant download.

5) "Pancakes Make People Happy" Poster by AmandaCatherineDes

It's a simple truth that you could all display in your kitchen with this gorgeous print! I love the font that the designer has chosen and just looking at the print makes me happy! This print is only £9.81.

6) Crochet Pancake Beret by TeaLoveCrochet

Not only do I love the name of this Etsy shop, I adore the originality of the products listed in it! This crocheted pancake beret is just the tip of the iceberg! This is another product that is made to order, so please allow enough time to arrive when buying. This beret is £24.57.

7) Sweet Strawberry Pancakes Barrette by SheenasBellaBows

We're starting to fall into a bit of a pattern - pancakes as headwear - but when they're this cute, I can hardly resist! I love the ribbon whipped cream underneath the strawberry! The pancakes just look delicious :D There are even other flavours you can choose from in her shop! This barrette is, yet again, made to order and costs £18.43.

8) Pancake-Flavoured Lip Balm by BlissKissBNB

I think I'd just spend all day licking my lips if I were to wear maple pancake-flavoured lip balm! This lip treatment is made using all natural ingredients, all of which have a significant benefit when it comes to your lips' smoothness! These little guys are £2.30.

9) Wooden Pancake Brooch by AskingForTrouble

Just looking at this brooch fills me with happiness! I think it's the little arms and legs that the pancake has, along with its smiling face! The brooch has been laser cut into wood, and then details have been added, also using a laser. Very clever! He's even complete with a pat of butter on his tummy :D He costs only £4.00!!

10) Pancake Landscape Poster by Jakealope

Ok, I was scrolling through Etsy and decided that it would be a crime if I didn't share this art work with you all! The designer created it as a homage to his home state, Kansas. The more you look at this picture, the more you notice! I've only just noticed the egg and I've been looking at it for 10 minutes! This poster is made to order, so please remember to allow time when buying. The poster is £15.36.

And that concludes my Pancake Day themed EE!! I hope that you all enjoyed it.

Have you decided if you're giving anything up for lent, if so, what are you going for?

My First Workshop!

So I taught my first workshop on last week and I was extremely nervous! It was a workshop on making a chevron friendship bracelet and the place that I work had asked me to design and teach the workshop. It had been aimed at children and two children had booked onto it! They were 10 years old; a perfect age to make the bracelets.

I had already met the girls as they'd both done the previous class too, which was stretch band bracelets. They were hyperactive and chatty, very intelligent and picked up techniques very quickly! The only problem was when they got to my class, a couple of hours later, they'd started to fade a little. I'm so pleased that they'd both picked up the technique of tying the knots very quickly and were well on the way to making their bracelets!

As with everything, there was panic and frustration if something went wrong, but I was able to quickly get them back onto the right track so the worry didn't last too long!

The girls didn't quite finish their bracelets, but I expected that anyway. They both said they'd finish it at home though! I can't wait to see the finished results.

I learnt a lot from teaching that first workshop; I needn't have been as nervous as I was, but I also needed to explain things in different ways than what makes sense to me because everyone's minds work differently!!

I'm so excited to teach more workshops in the future :) I just love to see when the penny drops and they understand what they're doing!