:: origami est :: ...is the best...

 do you know my friend origami_est?
if you don't you should.

esther and i met over instagram and after oohing and ahhing over each other's work became good internet buddies. she is, as you would expect from her name, an origami artist and an incredibly talented one at that.

esther's work is very intricate and quirky and she has such an amazing eye for detail and presentation. above is a pic of her bunny garland kits. how cute?? not only is esther's handwriting to die for (i actually have an obsession with pretty handwriting...it isn't a talent i was blessed with and am in awe of anyone who is) but the instruction cards are printed on polaroid-esque cards with dymo labelling. honestly it is all killing me!

i bought a few of these kits for ruby and nieces and g-d daughter's and the like and they really are the sweetest thing. ruby and a pal made these below over half term last week. we still have the (hand felted) tails and ribbon to attach but they are just the cutest.

esther has kindly bought papers from me to use to make her origami pieces (including this pretty brooch) and has most recently made these lovely envelopes with my allotments. i just love them!...and if you do too go here to get some yourself.

the other wonderful thing about esther ("is esther's a wonderful thing...") is that all her selling is completely altruistic...as she gives all her proceeds to Stop The Traffik, a non-profit organisation that aims to stop human trafficking.

i really really hope to meet esther in real life someday soon and if i could i would go to her workshop at Smug in Camden Passage on 6 April. please go if you can and go support a girl who is worth supporting and is extremely talented and lovely to boot.

:: bpfc ::

it's here!!

the Blueberry Park Fabric Club!!

choose the size of your bundle from charm pieces up to full panels...

you can become a yearly member and receive additional discounts or spread the cost and pay month on month, either way you will receive significant discounts on regular panel prices.

go here for more details and to sign up. 

and tell all your friends about it...although not too many as i am keeping it small, exclusive and limited. after all if everyone has them, it won't be special any more will it?

i hope you will be as excited about it as i am and enjoy all the benefits of being a member of my club (i have a club!...i've always wanted to have my own club!)

introducing...

 the blueberry park fabric club!

i am very excited to tell you that my new fabric club will go live and ready to join later this week.

it is a club like no other...

:: choose your size ::

...from charm pack up to a full panel size.

:: choose how often ::

...join for a full year or month by month

:: unique hand printed unavailable-anywhere-else fabrics ::

i have taken all your comments on board and hopefully providing what you have asked for.

so what do you get for your money?

:: 2 designs a month :: 

...printed onto a carefully selected group of fabrics printed onto kona cottons

:: ideas sheet ::

...suggestions of what you can do with your special pieces of hand printed fabrics

:: mini project ::

...every issue comes with a mini project

all you need to do is purchase before the 10th of the month of that issue (blueberry park fabric club will be every 2 months, starting in january). there will be limited availability so do book early! if you want a special heads up email on release date to ensure you don't miss out, please leave your details here.

i hope you will be as excited as i am and look forward to telling you in full later in the week.

:: number 2 ::

i got a little feeling of what it must be like to win an oscar or the like yesterday when i discovered that my advent calendar kit was voted as number 2 in BT lifestyle's best advent calendars. 

we will just sidle past the question of who actually goes on the BT lifestyle website to see it shall we?

actually i think plenty of people surprisingly have as i have been printing these kits ad infinitum as alice of backstitch will testify.

with regular weekly emails of "help, need more red Klona!"

what makes me particularly excited more than anything is the thought of so many people a week on Sunday hanging their advent calendars, filling with them with their choice of treats until xmas eve.

i thought i had printed my last panels last week. i even told alice so. but no, with just 8 days to go until the start of advent orders are still coming in fast and furious.

and panic upon panic...alice has run out of klona crimson! i've run her dry!

thankfully i have managed to secure another source who have guaranteed me delivery tomorrow...printing on sunday...mailing on monday...happy people making kits on tuesday.

i may have ordered just enough if anyone else still want one...shout now because this really is the final order.

and if you don't fancy making one up i do have one available to buy ready made. i guess i felt i was missing out on the sewing up fun and wanted to join in. anyway it's available here and the kits are available here.

grabbing it where i can...

 with all the work and family commitments i have going on at the mo (don't you find it all just comes at once?) i have to squeeze in extra things when i can.

hence at 9pm last night i went down to the cellar to get some printing done...

it was an idea that i had visited before a couple of years ago and was an idea i needed to take further in mind for another project i have going on at the mo.

do you like my overly stylised black and white photography?! what with my gorgeous lisa stickley dotty plate and rustic dying in the vase garden roses the black and white app on IG it seemed to be the way to go. besides it's so damn gloomy out today that there was no natural light to use.

so that's how my days are panning out at the mo. i have a feeling tonight may not be quite as productive...

well it is friday night and wine will be involved and no doubt a little graham norton...

giveaway winner...and so long...

First up today the winner of the Glimma giveaway...altho I was tempted to accidentally on purpose forget to draw a winner and keep the extra Charm set for myself...but that would have been wrong...

So drawn by my beautiful assistant...

numero 35!

 hueisei said...

I will make a tote or pouch :D
Thanks for the chance to win

(please email me your address Hueisei and I'll send off your charm pack after xmas!)

 This will probably be my last pop by before Christmas, and if my family have anything to do with it before 2013 too.

 I would like to say I'm on top of all those WIPs that have been waiting in queue for half of 2012, but that would be a big fat lie.

I am determined to complete my Umbrella Prints quilt, my low volume quilt and also my Glimma piece.

Yeah, like any of that is going to happen.

 However what I have managed to finish are my 2 new screen printed baby quilts. I really really enjoyed printing these and what is going to be wonderful is that due to the printing process every one will be different. And they will be customisable too...want different colours? different background? different size?...all accomodateable (that's not really a word, but you know what I mean).

These 2 are up in my Etsy shop if you need that special new baby gift or if you would like to talk through customising one I would love to speak to you.

All that is left to say is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones and here's to a wonderful 2013 and all it may bring. Thank you for following me through 2012 and leaving your much appreciated comments and look forward to catching up in the New Year xx

wind down?

There has definitely been no wind down this week following the completion of Country Living but it has somehow been very relaxing in the process.

What there has been is that much needed time for attention on other things like commissioned orders, FLickr group swap makes, not to mention Chanukah and Christmas present makes.

Here is a look at just some of the things I have managed to tick off this week, clockwise from left to right:

1. Lavender bag sets for a shop order;

2. An Ayumi basket for my niece...to be filled with lots of sewing necessities;

3. a special zipper pouch for a special friend in need;

4. a commissioned wool and screen printed bag and

5. more commissioned work...soon to be pouches

It feel good, really good to get on top of things and have time for more than just CL makes.

Next week will be even better.

the changing of minds...

 So, the Low Volume quilt for our bed has had various transformations while I searched for just the right block design.

You may remember it started life as a Log Cabin on Sunday...

 Early yesterday morning it had morphed into HSTs...

 And before the day was even out it had changed again into straight line piecing cut within an inch of its life. 

I woke up dreaming (yes, literally dreaming) of wonky windmill blocks, having gone to bed wowing at this beauty and finding this ace tutorial.

My Tuesday running buddy was coming round at 8.30 so I was hard pushed to do a trial block before then....I am seriously my own worst enemy.

That said, I am now 100% sure (yeah, right, until the next change of plan) that this is the block I am going to use. 

The log cabin would have been too busy, even if it is Low Volume...

the HST gorgeous, but too full-on for a king sized bed (yes, Charlotte, you were right...I do listen)...

as for the straight line piecing, I have no idea where that one was going.

I'm hoping the wonky windmills will be easy on the eye, be as asymmetric and random as I like and still be the one I love when it eventually gets onto the bed.

Now I have made a decision this will now have to be put on a shelf high up out of temptations way. I have a lot on. And I mean a lot. And if I'm good I'll let myself bring it down and do a few blocks for a while.

Ooh I'm so strict.

I picked up my new magnets today and I am so pleased with them. 

The previous lot sold really well but after reprinting Scruffy Daisies onto coloured fabric I knew that it would work even better. And it does! The design and the magnets themselves show up so much better and have such a popsicle of colour on my fridge.

Other things I have been playing with today are Buddha Orange Scrap Packs. More fab colour pops!

I finally got around to going to the screen printing workshop today and printed up a screen for a new something I've been working on for, shhhh, C..... Still too early to mention it but not too early to get going on it.

Here's a little sneak peak for those of you that don't follow me on Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, or any other networking medium that I bore you on and there will be more to come very very shortly.

One final thing to mention today is that tomorrow the giveaway will close, so if you meant to enter and haven't you have about 24 hours to do so...and if you are not lucky this time, come back at the end of the week when I will be hosting another wonderful giveaway from another fab sponsor.

My lips are sealed...you'll have to come back later to see...but I am pretty certain you'll be queuing up (behind me) to enter...

 3 weeks later and everyone is back where they should be, which means that I'm back in the cellar, thank you very much!

I've had this on my list for far longer than I wanted to, but finally they went into print.

 My original card of this design was hand stamped, which was not only a labour of love but didn't allow for the flexibility of printing in different colours. Also, i often went wrong...one mis-stamp and a card was wasted and I had to start again.

So now this card has turned into a screen print which allows me to not only offer it in a multitude of zingy colours, but also I've decided to offer it as a set of blank cards for people to personalise as they would like.

The cards will still be available to buy personalised by me,  with a hand-stamped name or person, but the added bonus of choosing your colour, and they will now also be available as a set of these 4 bright beauties blank and ready to be personalised at a moments need.

Genius, huh?