Here's to 2019

Well, not long now until 2019. 

2018 has been an unusual year in many ways. As some of you may know I have decided to stop making and selling my craft items. I have closed the Folksy store that I opend at the beginning of the year and have also removed the items that I had for sale from my FB page.

It was getting hard to find the time to promote things and add onto that the fact that FB is making it increasingly hard for people to be seen and many are having their post reach restricted; I decided that it just wasn't worth it anymore.

I donate proceeds from my any sales to the charities and good causes I support so I will now be donating items directly to them to use in fundraising events etc.

Shortly before Christmas I donated a bag full of handmade items to our local Oxfam shop here in Rothesay on Isle of Bute - lots of beady bling that hopefully found their way into some stockings at Christmas!!

Since October I have been concentrating on making the crochet wrist-warmers that I have been donating to homeless outreach centres around the UK. Glad to say that in the end 156 pairs went out before Christmas.

I'm having a wee break over the festive period - well, from making the wrist-warmers at least!! I'm doing some scarves at the moment. Three already made and another two on the go.

 Still got plenty of yarn to get through so will be re-starting with the wrist-warmers in the New Year. After all, homelessness doesn't end when Christmas does and January and February are often colder and wetter than December so I will continue to donate to as many outreach centres as I can.

You may remember that my hubby opened a Redbubble store earlier in the year and I put some of my work in there - mostly womb cancer awareness stuff and he agreed to donate proceeds from any sales (10% of sale price) to Womb Cancer Support UK which is the not for profit organisation I run. Well, I have decided to remove the items from his store and set up one of my own which you can find here 

Take care and hope that 2019 is a good year for you. 

Final wrist warmer update for 2018

Well, not long now until Christmas and I have reached my target of 150 pairs made and donated - actually I made 156 pairs of wrist warmers and 3 crochet hats and also donated 4 crochet cowl scarves that I made earlier in the year.

The last parcel goes in the post tomorrow and then I'm having a wee break until the New Year when I will start again making and donating to yet more homeless outreach centre.

Really pleased to have got them out across the whole of the UK - Oban, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, Nottingham, Cardiff, Southend on Sea, Manchester and Wolverhampton.

Hoping to get them to even more places during 2019. 

Still got plenty of yarn to use so I'll be making lots more wrist warmers. 

 See you in 2019.

Another wrist warmer update

Well we are now almost into the 3rd week of December and the weather is due to get cold and snowy this weekend across parts of the UK.

Some of the homeless outreach centres I have donated to and now follow on social media are reporting that they have snow forecast for the weekend and they will all be out doing what they can to help people on the streets.

It's going to be a long hard winter for those on the streets but it's good to know that there are lots of kind hearted people who are willing to give up their time to help those less fortunate than themselves.

I did a total a couple of days ago and I have now made and donated 144 pairs of wrist warmers. 

Still making them though as I have more places to donate too. The lovely folks at Beanies Masato have given me details of some more outreach centres around the UK so I will make up some more packs to send out - hopefully before Christmas.

This pack went out yesterday to Manchester so should hopefully get there either tomorrow or Monday. 

Got another batch almost ready to go to St. Helens - hopefully that will go out in the post on Monday and that will then take me over 150 pairs which was my target for Christmas.

However, I won't be stopping now I've reached my target. I shall continue to make them over Christmas and will get more parcels in the post in the New Year.

Homelessness doesn't just happen at Christmas. It can happen to anyone at anytime of the year.

Until next time.

Wrist warmer update

Well, here we are in December and the weather is turning colder and wetter. 
I'm still crocheting away and the number of wrist warmers made and donated so far now stands at 114.

Have another pack of 12 pairs ready to post out and am also donating some to a local group here on the island - the ladies shinty club - who are collecting items to take over to Glasgow next weekend. Really pleased to be able to support a local initiative.

Been using a lot of red and green yarn this week so plenty of pairs of festive wrist warmers!!!

Still working my way through my stash of yarn. Trying to resist the temptation to buy some more but it's so hard to pass up bargains on Ebay!!!!

Hoping to reach 150 pairs before Christmas!!

Catch you soon for another update. 

Change of plan - again!

As many of you may know I make and sell my handmade items to help raise funds for the various charities and organisations that I support.

As well as the items I have listed on my buteartism page on FB (and the few on Rainbows over Bute I also have some listed in my Folksy shop.

After much thought I have decided that I shall no longer be making and selling items in 2019. Apart from the fact that I am busy making the wrist warmers for the homeless, sales are very, very slow. Things are not helped by FB constantly messing with things and people not seeing posts. It just seems a futile thing to be putting my very limited energies into at the moment.

So, the Folksy store is closing at the end of November and any items listed on the FB page will stay up until Christmas and will then be donated to various places instead.

The page will stay running as I am hoping to continue running the selling events occasionally next year which will feature a variety of sellers if there is enough interest.

I have donated a fair bit of my stash of handmade items recently so don;t really have much left anyway and I just have the time or the inclination to make more if its just going to be sitting around here.

I am enjoying making the crochet wrist warmers and donating them to various homeless outreach centres around the UK. This to me feels a much more worthwhile cause and I am getting a lot more satisfaction in doing this.

My health is not getting any better so I need to focus on what I can do and what I enjoy doing.

I am not in the slightest bit optimistic that 2019 will be any better than 2018, or indeed any year since 2010 when I had my treatment but who knows!!
Until next time.
xx

72 pairs and still going strong

Well, the wrist warmers are flying out of here at a rate of knots, I can tell you. 
So far 72 pairs have gone out, in packs of 12 across the UK. Oban, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, Nottingham and another batch is going out tomorrow to another homeless outreach centre in Glasgow.

Have been busy this weekend and made another 7 pairs so will soon have another pack to send out but not sure yet where these will be going.
Have made a few enquiries and just waiting on people to get back to me with an address to send them to and then they will be off.

The weather is starting to get colder now and there is apparenty snow forecast this weeks in some parts of the UK.

I am looking to have made and posted out 12 packs before Christmas so I best get cracking.

See you soon for another update.

PS/ If you can spare a minute then please check out this website  who donate one of their fab and funky beanie hats to homeless outreach organisations for everyone that is bought. 
They would make great Xmas gifts so please pop over and have a look. 

Wrist Warmers in the post.

You may remember a couple of posts ago I mentioned about making the wrist warmers and donating them to homeless outreach centres.

Well I am pleased to say that the first parcel of 12 crocheted wrist warmers has just gone down to the Post Office (courtesy of my lovely husband)

They are on their way to Hope Kitchen in Oban, which is not far from me here on Isle of Bute. I mentioned in a previous post that I was hoping to add some other bits in with the wrist warmers like a pack of tissues, etc but I haven't been able to get into town to buy anything and as the temperature is set to drop dramatically this weekend, I wanted to get them posted out asap.

So hopefully they will arrive soon and be out to good use.

My stash of yarn is increasing not decreasing, thanks to a swap I did with a local lady for some embroidery threads that I no longer want - which means I have some lovely new yarn to make another batch of wrist warmers which will be going a bit further afield. These will be off to Birmingham to an organisation called Birmingham's Homeless Support Team It's my home town and I have a lot of affection for the place so am happy to support them.

So best get my trusted crochet hook out and start making some more.

See you later.

Early Bird Christmas Market Night.

Tonight sees the first joint market night that I am doing on Facebook, along with 10 other sellers.

I have done several sales on my own but thought it would be nice to do one with other sellers so tonight is the first one and if it proves a success then hopefully there will be another in a couple of weeks time, maybe with some different sellers. 

It kicks off tonight at 7pm and all items for sale, many at special event prices for the evening, will be listed here.

Each seller gets 15 minutes to tempt you with their handmade goodies so we  would love to see you there.

We have handmade jewellery; cards; artwork; textiles; crochet items and so much more. 

Until next time.

😃

Wrist warmers for a purpose!!

As some of you may know I make and sell my handmade items to help raise money for various charities and good causes that are close to my heart.

At present one of the good causes I am supporting is a local charity who are trying to raise £300,000 to get a dialysis unit here on the island so that kidney patients don't have to take the long and tiring journey to the mainland 3 times a week for treatment.

Recently, sales have been a bit on the slow side but as I am still crocheting away, my stash of completed items is growing ever larger.

I've been enjoying making the wrist warmers - they are so quick and easy to make and are nice and warm to wear. 

So I had an idea.

Knowing that the weather is getting colder I wondered if there were any charities or organisations that supported homeless people who could make use of some pairs of these wrist warmers. I thought a pair of them in a ziplock bag with maybe a pack of tissue and a few others bits and bobs would make a nice and welcome gesture to a homeless person. 

I can't afford to donate much money to the causes I support but I can donate my time in making up these packs and also by making other items and donating them to help raise funds.

So I put a tweet up asking if anyone knew of any homeless outreach organisations who might be interested in some of these packs. I picked Birmingham and Glasgow as the former is my hometown and the latter is the nearest city to me now.

Not long after the lovely Sue from Beanies Masato  got in touch with some contact details for a couple of organisations so I will be sorting things out with them and sending off some goodies. More details to follow about that. Please pop over and check out their website. They donate a beanie to a homeless outreach organisation for every one purchased. The beanies are great and very funky.

So, all I've got to do now is make contact with the organisations and see if they want any of my handmade goodies. Will let you know how it goes.

See you soon.                

If you've got scarves then you need gloves right?

If you read the last post you will know that I've been crocheting some funky cowl scarves and using up my stash of yarn - ok, ignore the fact that I've been buying more yarn - as far as hubby knows, I AM using up my stash of yarn!!!

Anyway, I found a great - and more importantly very easy to follow crochet pattern on Youtube for some wrist warmers and they are super quick and easy to make. 

 
















Really pleased with them and will be making some more as they are super quick to make too.

I'm so enjoying doing my crochet. I find it very relaxing and therapeutic to do. 

I will get through that stash of yarn - I just have to stop buying more of it!!!!!

My crochet hooks are pure metal!!

I'm still at the crochet now that I have a new stash of yarn to pay with. :-)
Did I tell you I put a last minute bid in on Ebay for a load of yarn and actually won the auction!! Got 9 huge cones of assorted yarn for £20.50 AND free p+p.

Tried to hide it from Hubby but didn't manage it - especially as he answered the door to the Postie and asked me what was in the parcel (it was huge and weighed a ton!! Poor Postie!!)

So, have been making some crochet cowl scarves out of the bamboo cotton mix yarn and they are so soft and snuggly. I just love using this yarn and have built up a nice stash of colours from my bidding exploits on Ebay. 

Denim blue and grey..

Gold & cream fleck.

Dusky pink and grey.

I find doing crochet very relaxing - however over the past few days I have been doing it whilst wearing my headphones and listening to the latest Judas Priest album. Thankfully there have been no missed stitches - yet!!

Although I have been wondering if I could crochet something in black leather and studs!!!

Until next time!! 😎

Itchy Fingers

When you've got a creative mind, it can sometimes be hard to focus and decide what to do at any given time.

There is so many things I would like to try my hand at, but lack of space is a serious issue, as is lack of money.
So I have to stick to things that are affordable and don't take up too much space.

I have a habit of wanting to try so many different crafts - in the past it was easier as we had a space room in the house but now we live in a teeny tiny flat space, or lack of it is a serious problem.

I've been wanting to try spinning and weaving for a while but know that having a loom, even a small one is out of the question. 
I did however buy myself a lovely dinky loom from Create with Fibre 

This little weaving loom is only 4" by 4" and is really great for a complete beginner like me.  At only £14.50 it is a really great way to get into weaving. You can order one here


I also started collecting fleece and fibre with a view to doing some textile work but then I watched some videos on Youtube and decided I wanted to do some spinning.

Now as I said, we have a tiny flat so getting a spinning wheel is out of the question. So, I've settled on an alternative - I've ordered a drop spindle!! 

Not sure how it will work out but I'm sure I will write another blog post soon and let you know!!

It finally arrived!!

Hello again. If you remember in my last couple of blog posts I was waiting on a delivery of yarn so that I could finish a crochet bag - well it finally arrived and the bag is now finished.

I've added one of my fabric flower brooches to it as a decoration but it can be taken off and used elsewhere if desired.

Really enjoying making these bags. I find crochet very relaxing to do.

Been trying to think of something simple to make to use up the oddments of yarn and came up with these easy coasters. 

Would make a nice wee stocking filler for Ssssh, you know when!!!!

Catch you later. 

Waiting on a delivery.

You may remember that I've been crocheting some funky bags recently. Crochet is my first love and it was the first craft that I learnt. My Nan taught me how to do it when I was around 9 or 10.

I started a new bag a few weeks ago but ran out of yarn and have been waiting for a new ball to be delivered. I order my yarn off Ebay - living on a small island means the choice available to buy here is very limited so I get stuck into online auctions. 

It's like waiting for Xmas to arrive though as most of what I buy comes from China so delivery can take anything up to 6 weeks. Sometimes I even forget what I've bought so its a nice surprise when the postie turns up with all these little parcels!!

This is as far as we have got. I'm waiting on a ball of the pale blue so that I can add the handle and finish it off.

I've been waiting that long (well, it seems like ages!!) that I've started another bag using a cone of peach acrylic yarn that I had. The cone is that big that I'll probably get at least 2 bags out of it!!

Hopefully will get this finished by the time the blue yarn turns up!!

I'll keep you posted. 

Summer is well and truly over.

Crafting is at a bit of a standstill here at the moment. After the rush to get everything ready for the local arts club exhibition at the beginning of August, my creative mojo has gone on holiday I think.

The exhibition was not that well attended; there were a lot of events happening on the island that weekend so that probably accounts for why so few people came to see the exhibition.

Anyhow, everything has been packed away now but the urge to be creative must have got packed away too.

As you might know, in the past I have sent off parcels of handmade items to various good causes to help with their fundraising. Over the past couple of years I have sent items to Animal Free Research for them to sell in their two charity shops but unfortunately they took the decision to close them earlier this year.

I am considering my options regarding where I send items in future and will let you know what I decide but in the meantime I shall continue selling a few handmade items on my FB page and donating the proceeds to a local charity who are raising funds to get a dialysis unit here on the island.

Weather has been back to its usual dreary and dampness after a glorious run of sunshine which lasted about 7/8 weeks. Very unusual for us here on west coast of Scotland.

The nights are starting to draw in as well I have noticed so not be long before the lights start going on and the curtains get drawn mid afternoon!!!!

Happy crafting.

Bunting, Bookmarks & Bags

It is 2 weeks until our local Arts Club summer exhibition and sale and I'm starting to sort out what items I will be taking.
It's difficult to decide exactly what to take as the hall we use is quite small and therefore I am limited on the amount I can take plus we have to use the bus to get there so have to carry everything.

Also having to be there before 8.30am to set up makes it very difficult especially when you have health problems.

So it is time to make the decision on what and what not to take.
I've been doing some crochet this year so will have some crochet bags on display. It's been nice getting back to doing some crochet as I haven't done it for a while.


                                                                

 I will also have some more of my fabric bunting on show. These are great for summer parties or BBQ's - hopefully the great weather will last for a few more weeks, if not months!!!!

I've also been making some bookmarks. Various styles just to suit all tastes. They even gave me another excuse to use up some of my bead stash.

Still got a few more things to sort out and I've also got to tag everything so that's going to take some time.

So if you are on Bute then please come along to the exhibition and have a look at the art and craft work on display. I even did the poster!!

Still crocheting away!!

Finally another ball of crochet yarn arrived so I can continue with the next bag.
I had bid on several balls of bamboo yarn on Ebay and made a start on a new bag when the first ball arrived. It was a deep yellow and I have to say I am in love with this bamboo yarn.
It is so very soft and great to work with.
Then I ran out of yarn and had to wait for another ball to arrive. I had bid on several different colours so it was a wait and see which one arrived first kind of thing!!

Anyway, the day before yesterday the next ball arrive and this one was a pale yellow so I've managed to do some more to the bag. 

Be interesting to see what the next colour will be!!

Eeeek! What have I gone and done?

A big parcel arrived yesterday. When I say big, it was huge! 
5 kilo to be exact.

I had seen a post in one of the Facebook textile and fabric groups I am in about a place where you could fabric remnants from and I though, why not?

Now this is where things got a bit out of hand.

The link to the website was there and it said you got a bag of assorted fabric remnants for £8. Well actually the postage was £8 - the fabric was free!!!

Who in their right mind is going to pass up a bargain like that?

I have to admit here that I am not a sewer by any stretch of the imagination - I don't even own a sewing machine!!

But it was too good an offer to pass up, right?

So, when I started to unpack the parcel I didn't know what to expect. All the fabric was white or off white but there was fleece, toweling, chenille, upholstery fabric, lining fabric etc - so many different fabrics. 

Some were in quite large pieces, others were very small but it was a fantastic assortment and I was in my element.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with it all but I am sure I will think of something over the coming months.

If you would like a bag then check out the link here 

If you do get a bag then I'd love to see what you make with the contents.

Still crocheting away.

Well, if you read the last blog post you will remember me mentioning the cones of yarn I got from a local charity shop. I used some of it to make a couple of crochet bags and thought I would be able to use most of it up but it seems to be going further than I expected!!
So 2 bags done and I am now doing another one - this one is slightly smaller ( I will get the hang of sizing things one day!!)

As if that wasn't enough to be going on with I have also started yet another bag using some lovely bamboo yarn that I got off Ebay for a bargain 38p for a 50g ball. I'm going to crochet as much as I can with this colour and then switch to the next colour when it arrives. Being such a bargain I couldn't resist bidding on several colours and although I didn't win all of the auctions I did manage to get several different colours so who knows how this bag is going to turn out.
Will it have tassels I hear you ask? (You did ask, right??) Probably as I have a stash of lovely sari silk ribbon to get through aswell.

So, I am busy crocheting away whilst I listen to the World Cup matches on the radio and hopefully I will get both of these finished before the final on 15th July.

Question is, will England get that far??

Hello again.

Hello, so sorry I've not been writing much lately but to be totally honest with you I've not been doing much crafting so not really had much to write about.
The black dog has been hanging around again for a few weeks so not felt up to doing much.
Plus the hot humid weather that we have been having up here on Isle of Bute has been sapping what little energy I have. Unusual for us to go so long ( around 4 weeks, I think ) without any rain but the humidity has been hard to deal with.
Having to wear my compression stockings due to the lynphoedema has made it very hard and the pain has been unbearable at times.
Anyway, enough about my health issues.

I have been doing a spot of crochet. It's easy to pick up and put down and it has been good to get back to doing it.
I finally got round to using some yarn that I got from a local charity shop. I got 5 cones (not full ones!) for £3 I think it was.
Nice yarn, but there was no label on them to say what the fibre content was. I have a feeling it might have been something like a silk/cotton blend. Anyway, it crocheted up nice.

 

I made a one piece bag and finished it off with some lovely sari silk tassels that I made up from some lovely sari silk from Yarn Yarn. I am obsessed with their products and keep buying odd bits and I have finally found a use for some of them!!

I only used up 2 of the cones - it was 1 ply so I doubled it up - so I made another bag! And used more lovely sari silk for yet more tassels!!

This was a two-tone bag and I even added an extra tassel!!

Still got 2 cones left - am tempted to make another one ( with tassels!! ) but how many bags does a girl need? Ok, don't answer that!!


Might make a scarf but we'll see. I guess I can add sari silk tassels to that too!! Hmmm!!.

Stocking the shelves!

Well, the Folksy store has been open around a week now and I am slowly adding bits to it.

Have manage to persuade hubby to let me list a few pieces of his artwork so that should complement my handmade items nicely.

Hoping that we can make a sale soon and gets things going but we'll see how things go.

Would appreciate if you could pop over and have a look and maybe even consider giving us a share on social media.

The shop can be found here and I shall be listing more items over the next few days.

Here is a sneak preview of some of the items listed so far.

 

 

 

 

Folksy here we come.

At the end of last year, you may remember that I said I was considering re-opening the shop on Folksy that I had started back in 2010 when I was raising funds for Macmillan after being diagnosed with womb cancer, then I changed my mind.

Well, I've changed my mind again and am pleased to say that the shop has re-opened as of last week and is slowly being filled up with some of my handmade items.

If nothing else, I need to make some space as our tiny flat is slowly being over-run with my creative makes - and also hubbies artwork, some of which may also make its way into the shop if I can persuade him to part with it!!

Anyhow, I would be grateful if you would pop over and have a look at the shop and let me know what you think. It's been 8 years since I set it up and things have changed a bit over there regarding the listing of stuff and I want to make sure the shop looks nice so any feedback is welcome.

You can find the shop here and make sure you also check out some of the other lovely stuff listed on there. Never amazes me the talent that some people have.

As I said there will be lots more goodies added but for now I am eagerly awaiting my first sale.
:-)

Animal Free Research UK

As some of you may know I have been donating items to Animal free Research UK - formerly know as Dr Hadwen Trust - for them to sell in their 2 charity shops in Hitchen and Hove.

I have sent several boxes of handmade goodies to both shops over the past year or so but learnt recently that they have made the decision to close both shops.

Obviously they have to make best use of the funds they have and I guess in the current financial climate and the cost of shop rentals it was a hard decision to make.

You can see details of some of the items we have donated to them on our website

Multi-coloured Swop Shop

Been a while since I wrote a post here so sorry for that. Not been up to doing much crafting recently but am hoping to get back into it soon - and I've got a whole new stash of lovely goodies to give me some inspiration.

Hubby isn't usually to happy when I get new supplies bless him, although he does seem to have his fair share of new art supplies!!! However this time I think he's ok as I have explained that I've not actually bought them - I've swopped them!!!

I found a great swop group on FB and its full of lovely ladies who swop stuff!! I've got so much bits and bobs of stuff - mainly jewellery stuff that I no longer have a use for so its been great to be able to swop it for stuff I can use.
Bearing in mind that I live on a small island and its hard to get a lot of craft related stuff here, this way of doing things is like Christmas day every time the postman turns up.

Over the past week I have swopped lots of jewellery findings, embroidery threads, canvas panels and other bits and bobs for yarn, card making stuff and wool fleece. Really chuffed with my swops and am ready to get crafting again - if I can find the energy and shake off the depression again.

Anyway, if you fancy having a clear out and swopping some of your unwanted craft items then check out the group here