Monday 29 January 2007

My Past>Present Etsy shop.

Just to let you know that I've been busy listing handmade items in my Etsy shop. There are lots of items for sale so please take a look.

Past > Present shop


Had great news about the house renovation today (I don't think). The United Utilities (electricity) men duly arrived to assess the moving of the meter etc from our chimney breast to the side in the cupboard. As we have now had the chimney put back we might as well have that wood burning stove we've always anchored over. Apparently they are going to have to dig up the garage floor (which was once a room in the house under our bedroom) The problem with this is that the floor in the garage is terrazzo tiled from when it was an ice-cream parlour in the 1930's. Ouch! It's OK they said, we will concrete it over. I'm not sure what hubby will say when he returns from working away this week, especially as he will have to move half a ton of storage from the garage. Still the good news is that we now have 4 of the 5 windows in the house. They are all super, duper wooden sash corded ones and things are being to come together now. It does mean though that everyone can see in now with no curtains up. Its a good I have thought ahead and bought a huge bottle of windolene.

Thursday 25 January 2007


Thought you would like to see the Valentine hearts I have made. They are made from vintage quilt cutters and antique lace and packed solid with English lavender.
I will be placing these in my Etsy shop soon, but if any of my blogger friends would like to either buy or do a swop just email me.
sandie-k[at]tiscali[dot]co[dot]uk

I have individual pictures of these hearts and can send you them on request.

I know that some of my blogger readers in different countries would be interested in buying some of my work. I would just like to mention that I have been shipping worldwide for the past 7 years so it really isn't a problem. Just drop me a line and I'll give you the best shipping rates for your country and you can pay me through paypal.

Tuesday 23 January 2007

Soapy hearts and roses

My Valentine soaps that I shaped into hearts. I shall be taking commissions on these so please email me at sandie-k [at] tiscali [dot] co [dot] uk (written in the correct address form).
£6.00 each.

The little pink rose corsage has been made from handmade wet felted cut petals which have then been needle felted together. I always like to use some vintage items in my felting wherever possible and so on this corsage you can see vintage stamens which I've placed there to give another dimension to the design.
£6.00 each

Saturday 13 January 2007

Time for myself.

Working from home has many advantages but if you aren't careful the work can take over everything else and before you know it you are a workaholic. This had happened to me, which is why I decided to take up a new hobby and ensure that I made time for it.
The builders aren't coming every day now, as they are waiting for the windows to arrive so they are just coming to do a bit of tidying up. This has given me time to spend felting.

I made a trip over to Arnside last Thursday to visit a favourite junk shop. It only opens in the afternoon between 2pm and 5 pm, the owner calls it 'gentlemans

hours'. Unfortunately I'd forgotten that after the New Year he either spends the Winter in India or America. The shop wasn't open for business, I suppose his partner was away also. I really must remember to keep checking as he usually brings back lots of goodies from his trips.
Arnside is deep inside Morecambe Bay and at sea level is usually sheltered, but that day the wind was blowing so hard I could hardly stand up and I was afraid that I might twist my ankle. As I'm still recovering from an achilles tendon rupture I thought I had better not walk along the waters edge, so I dived into a little shop that sold everything that a tourist might want. I spent about 15 minutes trying to decide what sort of handmade soaps I would buy for my next felting project. I had read that some people had had difficulty with the edges on rectangular soap and I was really looking for circular pieces. Alas no circular soaps where available so I bought a rose, an advocado and a mixed fruit, as well as a heart shaped buttermilk one for when I had worked out a suitable technique.
I decided to use the technique of just wrapping the wool tops around the advocado soap. A number of people said that this was the easiest method but I think I wrapped too much around at once as it took absolutely ages to felt and I almost gave up. However as you can see it is acceptable but huge so I think I will keep this one for the bathroom.

Not to be disheartened I moved onto the rose soap which smells divine. This time I just added the merino wool tops as I would do if I was felting with a resist. I did it slowly and carefully to ensure that it didn't slide off and when I was satisfied that it was thick enough I placed the pattern on and felted away. I'm really pleased with this method and will use it again when I have time.

Sunday 7 January 2007

My first bag



This didn't start off as a bag but more an experimentation in surface texture. I was so pleased with the effect that the ideas just developed. I'd never used a resist before and because this wasn't planned I just cut a shape out of cardboard. It worked well as you can see. I've added some of my vintage wooden beads for added texture and used a large Victorian press stud to keep it closed.
I also like the fact that it is really two bags in one as either side can be used as the front depending on the occasion






Thursday 4 January 2007

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE.


High tide at Morecambe Bay, so peaceful and tranquil unlike at home. Due to massive house renovations as part of the sprucing up of Morecambe, our house has been in turmoil since October. Not only have we had a new roof but the whole of the front of the house has been replaced. English Heritage have been very kind to us in funding a large part of the project but every part of the building work even down to paint colours has to be passed by them. We are still awaiting the arrival of the new sash cord windows so Christmas was a quiet affair. Steve managed to brighten the lounge up by placing tinsel on the boarded window openings and we did manage to get the majority of the dust and rubble away in order for mum to sit comfortably. Fortunately we can live and sleep in the back part of the house which isn't being touched. This part is single storey and was originally where the fisherman kept his cart. At the beginning of the 20th century the whole house or rather three houses were turned into an ice-cream parlour with ice cream being made at the back. Now the shop windows have been removed and we are back to the front looking like a house again.

Felting helps me to forget all of the mess around me and I'm able to drift off into a land of dreams. At the moment the felting has had to be put on hold as my work room and stock room for the antiques business we run, needs it's annual sort out. I have managed to place some items on my website for a NEW YEAR SALE and I have loads of things to place on eBay but I am determined to get some more felting done at the weekend.