Category Archives: Craft

Reasons to be Cheerful 11

Hello! It’s very cheerful here on Planet Penny…a blue, blue sky and bright sunshine – a perfect winters day. And when Higgins and I went round the garden this morning we found these little lovelies optimistically anticipating Spring…

They are probably being a little too optimistic seeing as we’re not even in the middle of January yet, but I shall enjoy them while I can!

And I have my usual post Christmas bunch of daffodils which I have to welcome the New Year. There’s something so fresh and hopeful about the delicate lemon/yellow and green after the bright colours and rich decorations of Christmas. They’re not quite open yet…

…so I’ve got it all to look forward to!

Can you see those spools on the the top of the dresser? I bought them at the Knitting and Stitching show last year and forgot to show them to you. They were empty when I bought them, but it was an ideal way of showing of some ribbons, tapes and bindings I’ve had in my stash waiting for the right moment to star…

The top two and the far right one are some I found in France and wrote about in this post, the blue and white stripe bias binding is made from a favourite shirt of Tim’s and the seashell ribbon was tied round a birthday present. This way I can enjoy them even though I haven’t actually made anything with them yet! (I can’t remember the name of the company I bought them from at the Show, but I’ve found them for sale via Not on the High Street from Jane Means)

And the other thing which has made me happy is a little rabbit. I don’t really knit animals much as I love to needlefelt them, but yesterday I discovered a bag of sample wool…

and this Debbie Bliss book which I’ve had for years…

click image for info

As I discovered it while I was looking for my mislaid sock pattern (which I needed as I’d got to the point of turning the heel) I abandoned the search, grabbed the most bunny coloured wool and some needles and created my own version of a Debbie Bliss rabbit. (I know, what a butterfly brain!)

I’ve used vintage mother-of pearl buttons to attach the limbs and shirt buttons for the eyes so he wouldn’t be suitable for a little one, but I think he’ll be staying with me for the moment!

So that’s what making me cheerful this week, how about you? Do share your thoughts by adding your blog to the Linky below, or if you don’t have a blog, leaving a comment. I really appreciate all your comments on every post and always read them. If you are linking your blog, don’t forget to link back to Planet Penny so we can really spread a little cheerfulness!

And now I’d better get back to looking for that sock pattern….

See you soon! x

Button Up for Handmade Monday

Buttons, badges, pins or even brooches? Not sure, but I’ve been having fun with them! If you read this post you’ll know that I had a little kit for Christmas and now it’s all gone quiet I’ve been having a play.

click on the image for info

They are very easy to make with the equipment supplied in the box…

and clear instructions…

…and there’s lots of scope for individuality. They look pretty just as a way of showing off a lovely scrap of favourite fabric, or with embroidery and embellishment can be as fancy as you like…

I particularly like these two…

…which I do think can be elevated to brooch status, but I also have a soft spot for this jolly one…

It’s certainly easier than the ones I made a while back using the buttons you cover yourself as I had to remove the button shank, and then cover the rather tatty looking back with felt before glueing on a pin.

It still works well though, and as you can see I’ve been experimenting with a little crochet edging in my own dyed wool. (It was far to much work dyeing it to waste a scrap!)

This one which was made using the biggest covered button I could find is covered in a piece of vintage embroidery salvaged from a very stained tablecloth…

It’s all been a bit of a displacement activity because I keep seeing all sorts of ‘mission statements’ on other blogs about intentions for the New Year and I’m still faffing around, not being able to make up my mind. Do I put all my ideas in black and white and frighten myself with a huge list and set myself up to fail, or do I just come up with a couple of things and do them really well, or shall I just make it up as I go along…? As usual…

Hmmm, I’ll let you know!

One thing I am going to do is to get to grips with the vegetable plot this year. Last Spring I got so tied up with Open Studios (and that’s happening again this year!) that in the end all I grew were Sweet Peas.They were the most successful Sweet Peas ever, but not what my raised beds were put in for so this year I must do better!

It was actually sunny and mild this morning, so I went out and cleared the first raised bed of all the chickweed, forget-me-not seedlings and oxalis…

…so I could put the cover on it ready to warm the soil…

The cover is looking rather well worn now, but does sterling service, and I leave the metal supports in place as they are so handy to lean on when you’re feeling a bit creaky!

Well, I think I qualify to join in with Wendy and the other Handmade Mondayers over on 1st Unique Gifts. Do go over to see what happening and also to admire Coral the Camper van!

See you soon! x

Reasons to be Cheerful – Week 10

Hello, and a very happy 2012 to you! Have you taken down the decorations yet, or are you waiting till Twelfth Night? I must admit to taking mine down after New Year’s Day. The tree was in the window, right in front of Higgins’ look out point and I got fed up with things being swept off by a waggy tail and then secreted behind the sofa to be dismantled. (I got my own back when he stole a cracker, put a paw on one end and then delicately tried to remove the interesting long thin piece of card poking out of the middle… BANG!!! Gosh, I didn’t know he could jump quite that high!)

I find the first week of the New Year a bit strange…I end up a bit like Higgins trying to settle in a newly washed bed, I seem to spend a lot of time shuffling and scrabbling trying to make it all the right shape.

We definitely need a bit of cheerfulness with this awful weather, I hope you haven’t been swept away in this wind, or suffered power cuts or cancelled travel arrangements. I feel for Tim, who is stuck in the middle of the North Sea at the moment, I’m just glad that he’s on something with it’s legs firmly planted on the bottom of the sea…

Higgins has been to the sea, he went with his Boy…

He really loved having his Boy to stay over Christmas and probably the Christmas tree incidents were down to the fact that the Boy went home and left him feeling very bored.

I removed all the holly, which had more berries this year than I had ever seen before and hung it with the mistletoe in the cherry trees so the birds could polish off the berries…

Something which made me very happy was a crafty Christmas pressie from my friend Kit, who knows how much I like stationery…

But the best bit was the bit Kit painted herself…

How on earth am I actually going to use those labels…and part with them?

I’ve been shopping on Ebay…

…and talking of buttons, how about this for a Christmas present?

I’ve got so many possible crafty bits of inspiration all I’ve got to do is actually decide what I’m going to do next!

So what are your Reasons to be Cheerful in this first week of 2012? Do join in, either through the Linky below, or via the comments, it’s lovely to find out what every one is doing to get through the gloomiest wintery bit. And if you are in the southern Hemisphere, your sunshiny, Springy bits are most welcome!

See you soon! xxx

2011 – A Year in Pictures

It’s the end of the year, so I thought I’d do a recap. It’s been very interesting trawling through the archives and seeing how things have developed over the months and I thought I would share the experience…

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

It’s already giving me lots of new ideas for the next twelve months, so I hope you’ll drop in again to see how it’s going! In the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy New Year, where ever you are….see you in 2012! xxx
http://youtu.be/QEVF0fah17k

Paper Chains on Handmade Monday

I’ve had a dis-AAA-ster! My camera’s packed up! It’s like having my left hand tied behind my back (and I am left handed) I think I’ve probably worn it out, I’ve used it nearly every day for 13 months. Anyway, it’s off to the repairers, but that won’t happen till after Christmas, and I’ve ended up trying to get stills off my little Flip video camera, and they’re not up to much. So I can’t show you a lot today, but in the spirit of Handmade Monday, I’ll do my best.

Do you remember this, which I brought home from the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally?

Wel,l when I had a sudden urge to make paper chains, Origami paper seemed to the answer. I bought a multicoloured pack in Hobbycraft, 5 7/8″ square, divided each square into 6 strips and set to work with the Pritt stick and Hey Presto! paper chains to match the Origami Ball!

We still haven’t got the Christmas tree up, every time we try it snows and sleets and makes it wet again! I think we’re going to bring it into the utility room tonight to dry off, or we’ll never get it decorated. Hopefully I can find a way of sharing it with you before the big day.

If you call over at 1st Unique Gifts you’ll find all the other crafty people, busy with their Christmas makes and linking up for Handmade Monday.

See you soonxx

Dolly Peg Angels for Handmade Monday

Hello, and welcome to another Handmade Monday. I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend as we all rev up towards the Christmas festivities. I was very excited to find that I was able to control the weather on Planet Penny and arrange for some seasonal snow to fall!

I’ve just about reached the point of RSI on the needlefelting front now, and I’m longing to spend an evening with the hexipuffs or some crochet. I can’t believe how popular the needlefelted robin baubles have been, I think it’s the Kirsty effect! I’ve just posted the very last ones for this year on Folksy, the result of an experiment, but I really like it.

One of my fellow stall holders at the Pick’n’Mix Makers Market is Fiona Henderson of High Fibre yarns and she makes the most unusual yarns, a bit like french knitting, from lambswool, and I bought a few skeins to try out. So this is what I’ve used to make a little creamy wreath on which two teeny tiny robins can perch….

…they’ve still got the little feet that make everyone go ‘aaaah!’…

Looking at then here they look huge and a bit hairy, but in fact they’re only 2″/5cm long from beak to tail.

I also have a rather gorgeous raspberry pink yarn from High Fibre destined to be a mug hug soon, another reason to get at the knitting needles!

By way of a change, I’ve revisited the Dolly Pegs, and made a little Choir of Angels who are also listed on Folksy…

…and then decided the Dolly Peg Dolls would make a great tutorial to share, and you can find it here! I hope you enjoy it, I’d love to see your versions.

I’m off to do some baking now. We have the Christmas meeting of our Knit and Stitch group this week, and I’m using that as an excuse to get out the Frangipane Mince Pie recipe. I’ll have to get them into the freezer the minute they’ve cooled down though, they are SO more-ish I doubt there would be any left if I don’t!

Finally, thank you so much for the congratulations and nice comments about Planet Penny being on the Ch4 Favourite Craft Blogs list. I hadn’t realised before how many links there on the 4Homes website for makers and crafters, well worth a look. And of course the other place to visit today for handmade inspiration is Wendy’s Handmade Monday Linky over on 1st Unique Gifts.

I’ll leave you browse…

Have a lovely week! x