The Crafty Side of Me: Mini wallet and pencil case.

I'm desperate to do some more sewing and have a couple of projects planned with some gorgeous material that's been sitting in my stash box for ages. I'm trying to be patient and wait till the end of the month when I can invest in some grid rulers which will make my life so much easier as cutting out fabric neatly is not something I'm particularly good at. my lovely hubby got me a rotary cutter and large cutting board for Christmas which I really wanted so once I purchase my rulers I'll be raring to go, it will be a lot quicker cutting out patterns.

I have done a little bit of sewing so I thought I'd share some of the things I have managed to make recently.

Facecloth toothbrush wrap.

Easy mobile phone pouch

A day at the Fluff-a-torium

Yesterday in my weekend catch up I mentioned spending a lovely day at the Fluff-a-torium in Dorking. For my birthday present Hubby treated me to one of their sewing days, learning to make a bag. It was a fabulous day and I learnt lots.  The sewing class was held above the shop so not only was I looking forward to learning to make the bag but to having a good nose around the shop too.

Weekend catch up.

Can you believe we're over half way through May! This year is just whooshing on by.  I suppose since we're getting near to half way through the year I'll have to be reviewing my new year post and the goals I hoped to achieve this year.  Today lets just have a little catch up.

The last week and a half has been pretty busy, which generally seems to be how my life is at the moment.  Last Thursday week my Mum went in for her 2nd knee replacement.  Bless her, its a horrendous operation but she has done really well and was discharged home after 6 days which is much better then last time when she was in for 8 days.  She would of come out on day 5 but they kept her an extra day to make sure her kidney function was improving because one of the tablets she had been taken had affected them.  She is getting there though.

Last Sunday I had a lovely day at the Fluff-a-torium in Dorking and made a lovely bag that I am seriously chuffed with but I'll tell you all about that tomorrow in my 'Crafty side of me' post.

It's time for some Friday delights!

A little catch up

I've missed just having a chat on my blog what what with the busy schedule of the A to Z challenge.  I am enjoying it and I've met some lovely bloggers but it's not easy.  So what's been happening in my world? I'm having a busy April with weddings, birthdays and even a craft exhibition.

*Warning, pic heavy post*

Last weekend I was lucky enough to have a long weekend off, which meant after Easter I only had a 2 day working week!  On the Thursday, I braved my first craft/sewing exhibition on my lonesome   As I say it was my first but very possibly my last.

Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft Show

♥Friday Delights♥

A mini treasure trove of crafty goodness

In this age of social media, internet, emails and going paperless with bills and bank statements, we rarely receive anything exciting in the post unless it's a special occasion such as Christmas or birthdays.  So you can imagine my delight when I received a package from my lovely friend and fellow blogger Donna Trinder from Lost and Found and Donna's room for reading (if you haven't already check out her blogs, they're fabulous!).

Donna emailed me a few days before saying that her mum had received her monthly subscription from Crafty creatives but had decided she didn't want it and Donna didn't think she would make use of it so she very kindly thought of me and my recent craft adventures and thought 'I reckon Kate would like that!'.

Fold over mobile phone pouch

How to make a lined zippered pouch

How cute is this, even if I do say so myself.  This is my first sewing project and I am soooooo pleased with it.  I know if you look closely (or may be not so closely) you will see the lace trim isn't straight but that's mainly because when I cut the fabric I didn't do a great job.

♥Friday Delights♥

I've got lots to share with you today.  I've discovered some fabulous things on the internet and in my local area this week.!

First things here's the motley crew at our masquerade  dance. We had a fabulous time and it was so lovely for us all to get our glad rags on for the evening.

Now one of Pete and I, unfortunately I closed my eyes but it's still a nice picture.

Pete and I went to the B&B early afternoon and then had a potter round Dorking.  It's only a small village but I discovered some fabulous shops. The first one is called Shrewd.  It is a gorgeous shop which sells all kinds  of vintage stuff from men's and women's clothes to jewellery and accessories.  I didn't have time to look around at all the clothes but that is definitely something I'd love to do.  They have a seamstress that works there who can alter the clothes to your size.  I suspect some of them might be a little pricey but they are all definitely wonderful.

http://www.shrewd.biz/  The lady who runs the store said the website is a work in progress.

I went into the shop looking for a skinny belt to wear with my dress that evening. They did't have one but the clever owner suggested I bought a vintage Rhinestone buckle and attach it to my own piece of ribbon. I loved the idea but explained, I needed the belt that evening and wouldn't be able to do it.  The lady kindly offered to do it for me if I went and bought some ribbon and then pointed me in the direction of the 2nd fabulous shop I found, your gonna love this, it's called The Fluff-a-Torium! what a fabulous name.  More about that in a bit.

I nipped to The Fluff-a-Torium and got myself some black ribbon, then the wonderful seamstress sewed the buckle I bought on to it for me! How great was that.  I love those random moments.

Here's a picture of my vintage 1920's buckle, I stupidly didn't actually take a picture of me wearing it but it did suit the dress well and I love the idea that the buckle was vintage. It makes me think of how it may of been warn originally and by who.

Here's a couple of the homemade belt placed on the dress, you can kind of get the idea. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, they really don't do the dress or belt any justice but it's getting late and I'm afraid they're the best I could do this evening.

Now I mentioned earlier The Fluff-s-Torium. I think that's a fantastic name for a shop.

There is so much gorgeous stuff in there from craft making to haberdashery bits and bobs.  There are several classses and workshops tha tare run here. I am seriously considering doing one to help get me started with my sewing.

 Here's the link to the fabulous webiste and blog, http://www.gilliangladrag.co.uk/.

As you may have read in my Christmas posts, I was a lucky girl and Hubby bought me my first sewing machine. Finding out about the classes at The Fluff-A-Torium got me thinking, so I started searching for some other local classes or workshops and I found another 2 great places which hold workshops.

http://www.makemeworkshops.com

Make Me workshops our held in Cobham Surrey. They have workshops ranging in all sorts of DIY crafts, jewellery making, paper crafts, sewing and knitting and Embroidery to name but a few.

I also found a shop called Thread Bear, which is about 10 minutes away from me and I never knew! It's a place to buy fabric, haberdashery and patterns  I popped into there today and apart from having lots of great stuff, it's such a friendly place.  They're happy to give you any advice you need and they also run workshops and regular meet ups there.

http://www.thread-bear.co.uk/

I bought myself a piece of fabric, lace and ribbon trim and a zipper in preparation for my first sewing project.

Well that's if for now, there was more stuff I wanted to show you but that can wait for another week, it's getting late and I'm feeling kind of tired. I should be more organised and get my posts done earlier but there you go.  I'm afraid most of the stuff I shared is all about my local area not much good for my readers who live many miles away, some of which are all the the way over the other side of the pond.  What I'd say to you is, it's worth taking some time (when you have it, I know time is precious) and checking out what's happening in your local area or investigation places you haven't been to before.  You never know what you might find and what's been right under your nose..  Thread Bear has apparently been open for 25 years and I've only just discovered it! I bet you discover something you never knew was happening or was there in your area.

Oh one last thing, my Blogiversary Giveaway is ending next Wednesday so if you haven't already get your entries in, it's open to both the UK and Internationally and there are 3 cute prizes to win.

Link to original post, take a peek it's easy to enter!

♥Friday Delights♥

♥Friday Delights♥

You may have noticed I like to share fabulous discoveries I make with you, cuz that's just the kind of girl I am.  From pretty printables, honourable purchases (or extravagant ones), interesting blogs, oh and I have a thing about gorgeous notebooks (in fact there's a whole gang of beautiful notebook loving bloggers out there  Suzie Tullet Donna Trinder Anne Mackle Sharon Goodwin) So I'm introducing Friday delights, it's all about sharing my finds with you.  Some you may find useful, some you may just want to drool over or some you may want to put on your to do or wish list.  Whichever it is I'm sure you'll see some things you'll love