Testing, testing . . . . and down a rabbit hole!

 I should update my blog more regularly - I jump from one project to another too quickly!  There's always something to make, to try out, and of course recently I've been testing my little camera which I bought to replace an old digital pocket camera which I loved (but is now officially vintage!)😢 

The new one is a relatively inexpensive pocket camera, but it can take some reasonable photos - I was trying out the macro function to take some wild flower shots:

Not too bad for a little budget camera :)

This little sheep graciously posed for me!  Very kind :)

Down a rabbit hole this week because I was measuring teapots - don't ask!  And then playing around with some fabric pieces - this flower applique was going to be a cushion cover but it's destined to keep your teapot cosy - more to follow . . . . 

Hope you're having a good week - it's decidedly autumnal here today - one of my favourite seasons though.  I love all the beautiful colours . . . 

My Etsy shop is closed for a brief holiday as I'm hoping to make a small amount of stock (ready to ship) as opposed to made-to-order items, that may take me a wee while though! 😃

Bye for now x

Photography Woes . . .

This was the view from my living room window this morning:

Beautiful colours of the sea!  I'm lucky to have this outlook (but I must get that garden hedge tidied up! 😉)

Our cat, Ji-ji, was enjoying the sunshine earlier in the week - if there's a sunny spot, your cat will be sure to find it!

I've been using photos from my mobile phone this week - my poor old digital camera was beginning to show its age - I know how it feels!  I'm not completely confident in using my mobile phone images but I added an item to my Etsy shop this morning, using shots from my phone - we'll see how it all pans out, the jury is out at the moment! We'll see :)

This little patchwork coin purse was made based on some other coin purses I've been making but more on that later.  I love how the different patterns 'bounce' off each other :)  I've reinforced the purse with interfacing which gives it a nice stability.  It's ready to ship 😉

Hope you're having a good week - it's definitely feeling autumnal here today!

Cheerio an drasda :)

Alison x

Brooches, artworks and other things :)

I think I promised to do an update on my original artworks in my Etsy shop - oops, a bit later than I anticipated but . . . . :)

I love doing collage artwork with oddments of tweed in my fabric stash.  'Seagull on the Shore' was a lot of fun to make, from a scribbly drawing I'd made of an online image.  I love the iconic shape of this much maligned bird - I'm beginning to see it in a new light :)

A collage landscape seemed to be a natural direction - I hope to make a series of these original artworks.  I came up with the inspired title (NOT 😉!) "tweed outlook #1", mostly as I intend to make more on the same theme.  Just gives me a little leeway to make something creative without having to come up with a different title every time!  Here's a snippet  of the first in the series . . . 

Finally I've added some crochet brooches, to complete the knitwear/crochet pieces.  These will complement the cowls, scarves and wristwarmers I hope!, but will also jazz up a favourite coat or jacket . . . . 

I've embellished the brooches with little bronze coloured beads, like little drops of Hebridean rain 😉 (or maybe that should read dollops, which we're more familiar with!)  

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday wherever you are :)  We've got something called . . . . . I think it's 'sunshine'??!!  Have you heard of it? 😀  

Cheerio an drasda :)

Alison x

Autumn already?

Sorry, I'm switching from one blog to the other! It seems more relevant to use this one as I originally intended for it to support Handmade on the Croft. Sorry for any confusion :)

My handknits in my Etsy shop seem to be more relevant for this time of year than I thought. Summer, what Summer - blink and you missed it! Here's some pics of the scarves and cowls in the shop:

This shot was taken on a lovely sunny day earlier in the year! *Sigh* :(
Spot the sheep running in the opposite direction!

The cowl, photographed on my denim jacket and white t-shirt combo :)
Say 'hello' to the headless model, hee hee!

My wristwarmers, there's a variety of them to choose from:

Hope you're feeling warmer already after all that autumn/winter wear!
I'll leave further shop updates as I think that's probably enough for one day!

I'll give a wee update about some of the original artwork in the shop next time:)

Cheerio an Drasda

Alison x

Ooooops - belated March Update :)

On an Easter break at the moment but I decided to leave my Etsy shop open as it's very early days to close it a the moment!

First day of the Easter hols and our cat was enjoying some Easter rays . . . this is her first Easter as she is not quite a year old :) . . . .

I think she might have been posing for this photo :)

I'm really enjoying making some more tweed collage items - this time a decorative soft sculpture - sleepy owl appeared last month (magically!) on a branch of a tree outside ;-) . . .

He's available to order in my Etsy shop here.

I'm delighted that my hand embroidered sheep buttons are available to purchase on this lovely website.

I hope to make another collage i-phone sleeve soon as this one sold this week . . .

Lovely to be using these earthy tweed colours and patterns :)

I'll do another update at the end of the month - Cheerio an Drasda!
Alison x

Snowy scenes . . . . and some shop updates

We had some beautiful snowy scenes in the Hebrides this week . . . . . . sunshine and snow, just perfect!

I'm still adding items to my Etsy shop . . .

More covered button sets as promised . . .

And another new collage design purse . . .

A little embroidered coaster sneaked  in there too . . .

All available for immediate despatch :)

Bye for now
Alison x

A little shift in location . . . to Etsy!

A little recap on some new items I've been making - all of which are now for sale in my Etsy shop. 

I've loved making some collage 'tweedie' purses - it was just an idea which I wanted to experiment with having made collage pictures before.  I think they worked out quite nicely - sheep seem to be an ongoing theme!

The little tractor was an afterthought - but I thought it was quite fun!

A smaller, simplified version (but also with sheep added) . . . or should that be 'added sheep'!

I do hope to be making some more fabric covered buttons like these ones . . . 

The ones above are currently in the shop to be joined by some more soon!  (when I physically remove myself away from the laptop!)

Here's to some brighter, longer days to improve my photography - ooops :)  Apologies for the slightly dark images - I can only improve :)

I have a few more 'sheep' buttons so you might see some more small pouches appearing soon.  Better get cracking!

All of the above items are in the shop now :)

Bye for now :)
Alison