F i E L D y

'fessing up!

I have a guilty secret - I have been on a bit of a shopping spree on Etsy lately. I use the money in my Paypal account as "mad money" to spend on whatever I want and as I have been living a rather frugal life recently I decided to treat myself to a few things that I needed like this keyring for my car keys............

I am in the habit of losing my car keys unless I have something chunky attached to them and when my latest keyring broke I decided that instead of replacing it with something nasty from the local hardware shop I would invest in this Ladybird made by the dodgy sounding Leatherprince. Of course he is not dodgy at all but he and his wife are talented leather artists! They have a huge varity of keyrings and it was very hard to choose but I think will be going back for Xmas presents! I love this keyring and enjoy it every day so in my view money well spent.
Next up is this gorgeous ironing board cover from mother and daughter team CityChicCountryMouse.......

in this lovely fabric by Joel Dewberry. My old cover was completely minging! What I really wanted was a new board but until I can afford one this cover will do nicely. I bought the iron just before Christmas and it is the best iron I have ever had. It is a Rowenta Focus and has a great metal tip for those tricky bits of fine ironing and the steam is VERY steamy! If you are looking for a new iron try this - I would highly recommend it!
So I started with good intentions, i.e things that were useful that I needed anyway, but somehow I managed to persuade myself that my needles and pins are getting a little dull and what I really needed was one of these.....

It is an emery from one of my favourite Etsy sellers The Daily Pincushion. The sewing is just beautiful and I couldn't resist buying this too...

Just look at the pretty packaging ! But then you open it up and this little beauty emerges...

It is a mini pincushion (I already bought a large pincushion last year) and I love it. I might give it as a gift but then again I might not be able to part with it. I will keep it for a while just to look at and see how it goes.
Last but not least I bought a necklace from Luxedeluxe. I have long admired her work and when I saw this necklace I just had to have it. It came in a sweet little box....

so pretty.....

and I am wearing it as I type!

I love charms and I have never seen an Origami Crane before. Apparently in Japan Origami Cranes represent Peace and Longevity - I rather like that thought.

Craft Event.

Thanks to Lynne's efforts a few of us from the Wee Green Market ( Bella Bheag, My Baboo, Patchwork Dress, Fieldy) are having an event at Invercottage next Saturday.
many thanks to Caireen for putting the poster together....

It is a lovely location and well worth a visit - Hopefully see you there!! (It's about 1.5 hours from Glasgow) I am REALLY looking forward to it!! A lovely day out in great company!!

Sew Hip Giveaway.

Almost forgot! Issue 6 of Sew Hip goes to Peitseoga.

Afghan Progress.

Although there has been alot of sewing going on around here it is of the 'sewing multiples' variety and, as such, not very interesting. I have been making good progress with my 'Furrows' afghan and it is noe getting to an exciting stage (you can tell that I don't get out much these days!)
I have crocheted all 81 squares and I am now in the process of crocheting the black edge on each of them and I am almost half way through....

and I am loving the way that the black edge makes the colours sing out......

and I can't wait to lay all the squares out to arrange them as the finished blanket will be. I was intending to sew all the suqares together so that the overall blanket was flat.....

but I now think that it would look great crocheted together so that there is a 3d ridge creating a grid effect on the surface - I CAN'T WAIT!!
I have been getting alot of inspiration from the Granny Square Pool on Flickr - so many talented people out there!
In other news, yesterday I attended a half day seminar run by the Cultural Enterprise Office on running a creative business  which was thoroughly enjoyable and very useful. I met a variety of people from all sorts of diciplines and there was a great rapport between us all as a group. I am hoping to go to a follow up seminar in August about how to take things futher. There is also a Marketing module that I am definately going to do - I need to get focused and these things help enormously. All these seminars are entirely free and open to everyone engaged in creative businesses - such a great resource! Business Gateway also run some great courses which I have done in the past - again entirely free.

Can Serrat

My good friend Ness has recently returned from a 3 week residency at Can Serrat and has been writing a daily blog to document the time she and fellow artists have spent there. You can follow their exploits here. There are also useful links for the Arts Council of England and Can Serrat itself in case you are a writer or visual artist and are interested in going there yourself!

Scottie Ravioli Anyone?

I have been busy busy sewing stuff for my stall at the West End Craft Fair as it is just beginning to dawn on me that it is actually going to happen!
I wanted to try out some new stuff which I am making specifically with Edinburgh in mind  (all those lovely international tourists looking for something portable and uniquely scottish to take home as a memento of their visit) one of which was the scottie keyring which has proved to be popular, so the scottie  keyring sweatshop is in full flow. While I was sewing them up the other day it struck me that they look like ravioli before they are trimmed and finished.......


I have also made some out of some thrifted and felted scottish mohair scarves and an old Tate & Style scarf that I got from a charity shop. (Incidentally, I was at the Coach House Coffee Shop in Luss last week and saw the same T&S scarf for sale for £50.00!!!! Oooops!! Well, I didn't really like that particular pattern anyway)


I have also been making iPod Cosies. This is the prototype which I have kept for myself.....





After a couple of attempts I have managed to get it how I want it - it is the right size to fit a variety of  devices - and I have refined the making so it is as quick as it can be (always important!) The great thing about these cosies is that because they are quite small they can be made out of scraps. I never throw anything away unless it is totally unusable and when I was tidying up I found a carrier bag full of large scraps which have become these...


which I am calling my 'manly' iPod cosies as I think the tweeds used will appeal to men!
And these which are waiting to be made up - about 60 in all!



I have added some of the new tweeds but around 90% of these are made from scraps! I already had a load of craft felt which I have used for the lining, which is great as I didn't really have a use for it beyond backing the tweed leaves for my corsages. I have been trying to use what I have instead of buying yet more stuff. I have had to buy the buttons as I didn't have anything the right sort of size - I find buttons the hardest thing to find as there is such a limited selection available in Glasgow - I finally got the one I am using at John Lewis. Does anyone else have that problem? I also had to buy the split rings for the keyrings and after clearing out the local hardware shop I searched around and finally found them at Screwfix - you can order online and it works out at about 3p each rather than the 35p each that most places want to charge! I have still to make a camera case which I am hoping to make to order in the future and some crochet and knitting needle holders. I am also thinking of doing some cases for sunglasses - so many ideas, so many episodes of Homes Under the Hammer to watch. I thought that I had sickened myself of it but after a couple of weeks break I am as addicted as ever. I need help - seriously.

More Words of Wisdom.

Good old Yogi tea - never lets you down. Life has taken a strange turn but these words help to get things into perspective.....

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow don't you? Some things are beyond our control so it is pointless wasting energy worrying about it.

This Weekend at Killearn.

Yesterday was the monthly Wee Green Market at Killearn which is always a great opportunity to catch up with other crafters and buy some fantastic local crafts and produce. It was a very busy market and there were a few new stalls which is great to see - news is spreading about the quality and variety of things on offer! It is the first opportunity that I have had to show some new things that I have been working on and to get some feedback on them. I was really chuffed to sell quite a few things including a couple of my new felted tweed Scottie Keyrings..........

Another new product is my simple contrasting tweeds Pincushion.........

I also made some bigger drawstring Project Bags which I will be putting in my Etsy shop in the next couple of days.............

I have made them slightly larger than the ones I made originally to easily accomodate small knitting and crochet projects. I have also been making more of the Colinette wool corsages which have also proved popular.........

and I finally got around to doing something with this lovely printed logo that came on one of my tweed orders - I was going to frame it but then I saw this emroidery ring and thought it would look nice in that. It has become part of my table display.....

I am going to have to get my act together quickly as I need to sort out my labels/business cards and table display if I am to look in any way professional at the Edinburgh Festival Craft Fair in a couple of months time!! At the moment my display is a mish mash of things I already had and things that I have bought from charity shops and I feel it needs to be a little more cohesive. Will add 'Design new Display' to my ever growing list of things to do! I am off to panic and drink wine!

WARNING - the following post contains actual crafting content.

Yes indeed. I have recently embarked on a major project that will take some time to complete. I was ferreting around in the cupboard recently and came across this box of wool yarn.....

I have been adding to this box over the past 18 months with the idea of making an Afghan (why are they called that?) and I had originally intended to knit lots of squares in different stitch patterns as a way to teach myself to knit properly but...
Most of it is Jamiesons of Shetland Shetland Heather but there is a skein of Shilasdair from Skye (thanks Caireen), some yellow,mauve and grey Debbie Bliss Donegal Chunky Tweed bought in the sales at John Lewis ages ago and a ball of what I think is also Debbie Bliss that I recycled from a handknit sweater I was given. I had intended to knit an Afghan entirely from Scottish wool but I had to compromise due to the expense and use whatever I can get my hands on. I am not getting on too well with the knitting thing but I am really enjoying crochet so I decided to crochet an Afghan, again using different stitches. I tried a few different things but eventually decided that I wanted to do the entire thing in double crochet as I really like the density and texture of that stitch for this project. I have made good progress......

you can just see the rough design there (if you can call it that). Loads of different coloured squares that will have black borders to create a grid effect - it will have a thicker black border around the entire outer edge too. I have added in some of the wool that I bought from New Lanark  as I need to crochet 81 squares!! The finished product will end up around 2 metres square. It seems crazy to start a woolly blanket when we are experiencing a mini heatwave but at least it should be finished by the time it will be needed! I am finding the repetitiveness quite restful and I am not bored yet. Every time my enthusiasm starts to waver I lay out all the squares and play with all the possible colour combinations and get excited about the finished product.

These sort of things are always given a name so I am going to call it my 'Furrows' blanket as it reminds me of the texture of newly ploughed fields.
I am already plotting my next big project - the 'Babette' blanket. The original pattern uses Koigu but I intend to substitute it with Colinette Jitterbug. I love Colinette's colours and it would be a great excuse for another wool fondling trip to Wales plus I am on a Buy British crusade at the moment.
I have also been doing a fair bit of sewing and have a few new Fieldy products to share but I need to take some pics so until then..............

Housekeeping - The Final Edition.

Don't know about you but I can't take much more housekeeping - it is only because it has taken up so much of my time recently that I have been banging on about it - usually it is the last thing on my mind!
Anyway, today I have finally got it together to post about the mini-refurb in the flat and to discuss the merits of various paints that are widely available now. I am a bit of a paint connoisseur having spent the first 8 years after graduating working as a Scenic Artist/Designer in the theatre industry. I have worked with every paint product imaginable, at one time I even used to make my own paint using size (animal glue), whiting and pigment - you can imagine the smell! That way of making scenic paint has been phased out as thankfully these days even the most basic Trade Emulsions are pretty good plus it was pretty unpleasant to work with all day long.
My favourite paints to use are these............

Farrow & Ball (now available at Homebase), Crown Trade Historic Colours Collection (Available at Crown Decorator Centres) and Craig & Rose 1829 (available at B&Q). All of these have a great range of colours to suit a period property and a lovely chalky matt finish. However, if I had to choose one paint above all others it would be the Craig & Rose. Not only is it locally produced I have found that it goes on much better and covers better than F&B. The only drawback with C&R is that the colour range is quite limited - luckily I like most of the colours and have managed to find colours within the range for all the other rooms in the flat. F&B paints are highly pigmented which give them a grainy texture when applying. This also means that it takes far more coats to cover. It is also £7.00 per 2.5litres more expensive than C&R. On the plus side the F&B colour range is extensive and there are a few colours that you just can't match elsewhere (believe me I have tried) and once you have applied several coats it has a wonderful rich depth of colour and a great matt finish. I have painted my hall in F&B 'Rectory Red' and the walls look like velvet! Both C&R and F&B paints are eco frindly which is also a plus.
Choices for the Kitchen and Bathroom were pretty straightforward. These for the Kitchen.............

Craig & Rose 1829 'Deep Sung Cream' and Farrow & Ball 'Brinjal' and for the Bathroom....

Craig & Rose 1829 'Eau de Nil' - all in chalky matt emulsion finish. The choice for the bedroom was much harder. I had originally painted it an orchid white colour but apart from the fact it was looking very tired it was also incredibly bland. I experimented with a few colours.............

before plumping for a Dulux Heritage colour 'Victorian Sage' in a matt emulsion. It is the pale green sample above the fireplace. I am embarrassed to admit that after mucking around with lots of different samples the final colour choice was made after a visit to one of my local deli/cafes 'Gusto & Relish'. I popped in for a coffee with my friend Anna and we both admired the wall colour. We asked to the waitress if she could find out what the colour was. She heaved a sigh and quoted "Dulux Heritage Victorian Sage". It appears alot of people ask for that information! I tried it and liked it so that was the choice finally made. If only I had gone in there sooner I would have saved a fortune on matchpots! To finish the fireplace I also needed to paint the tiles and fireplace recess so I used this...........

I wouldn't ordinarily use spray paint but I found this in a box the cupboard and thought it would be OK for such a small area. The tiles were painted with Craig & Rose 1829 'Grate Black' . It goes on like emulsion, is water soluble but because of its high PVA content it dries to a dull metallic finish which works well on tiles and metal and gives a good solid finish.
The painting went well, no mess or fuss as someone else was doing it! The only small bit of painting I actually did was the fireplace and that's when it all went horribly wrong. It seems my common sense desserts me when I get near that fireplace. I masked off the carpet area in front of the fireplace and sprayed the inset. Then I painted the tiles and went out for dinner. When I came back I removed the masking and found this..........

Yes I had f*****ed up my newly cleaned carpet. I tried to get it off with nailvarnish remover (acetone) but that just made it worse! The really stupid thing is that I knew at the time that I hadn't put enough paper down but I was in a hurry. The solution to the problem was radical but necessary - I cut the affected piece of carpet out......

I was able to follow the line of the old hearthstone which I then painted with the same paint as the tiles. I think I have got away with it although there are still a few remnants of spray that I can't do anything about. Walls look nice though!
The Bathroom before and after....

I had the ceiling painted the same colour as the walls so it is like a cosy cocoon of creamy green when you are in there - very relaxing.
And the Kitchen ........

or rather a corner of it - a very tidy corner I might add, compared to how it was. My kitchen is not a fitted kitchen but a disparate variety of floor standing and wall hung cabinets. I had the flat valued a couple of years ago when I was thinking of moving and the estate agent walked in and said "Oh, it's very West End isn't it?"  What she meant I am not quite sure but I prefer to think she meant arty and bohemian. Delusion is my middle name.

The winner of this months Sew Hip is...........Debs.