'Papillon' Greetings Cards

I was shopping in Taunton with my Mum yesterday and was very pleased to come across some of my card designs in the shops.  I was especially pleased to see 3 of my designs in 'Boots'!! I just had to take a picture!!

This is a design I did for a range called 'Papillon' by Paperclip Cards.  I designed 8 cards to replenish an existing range that was originally designed by my very talented work colleague Kim Anderson.  The horse carousel design is my favourite out of the 8 so it was great to see it among the other cards at Boots.

6 of my designs for the 'Papillon' range.

I also designed some Christmas cards within this range for the Dutch market. Here are my 3 favourites.

Changing cupboards

I'm a big believer in rescuing old bits of furniture and giving them a new life/purpose.  Over a year ago I bought a cupboard from a charity shop for £5 and until recently it has been sitting in the conservatory filled with dog toys (most of them needing repair).
With the impending new arrival I decided to give it a new lease of life and transform it from a bit of a tatty cupboard to a baby changing unit.
Now obviously I'm in no fit state to be doing furniture renovation so I happily passed the job over to a much more able and talented carpenter and painter, my fiance Jim.
He did an amazing job and I am so pleased with it.  It's the perfect height for changing and it has a great amount of storage underneath for all the nappies and baby bits.

Jim added a ledge around the top of the cupboard for the changing mat to fit in to, to make sure it was safe and secure.  He then painted it and added new handles...simple ;o)

We also have a very happy dog as there's nowhere for all his toys except the conservatory floor so he's now surrounded by balls, ropes and cuddly animals!!  picture to follow!

Nursery bits and bobs

I've been doing the odd bits and bobs for the nursery for a while now but actually finished a project yesterday (I tend to start lots of things but take ages to finish them!).  We know we're having a boy but rather than go for a blue themed nursery I decided on a more funky and colourful colour scheme.  Back in the summer I found a pack of quilting fabric by 'Freebird MoMo'.  It consisted of 35 different squares of fabric each with different funky patterns but all in the perfect colours for my colour scheme idea.

The first thing I did with the fabric was to make bunting for around the room to add an instant colour lift to an otherwise magnolia room.

After making the bunting I was still left with a lot of material so this week I decided to make a patchwork cushion!! It was one of those projects that as soon as I'd started I kind of wished I hadn't.  I don't have a sewing machine and sewing lots of squares together is quite time consuming and I kept thinking I should probably be making a stew for the freezer or something else 'more productive'.  But I went against my gemini trait and stuck with it and actually finished it in less than a day!! and I'm really pleased with it!

I have two more uncovered cushions that need suitable colourful covers made but I think I'll leave it for a little while..and maybe I'll admit defeat and realise it's time I got myself a sewing machine and learnt how to use it!!

Nesting!!

I'm very close to having baby now (due date is 20th January) and I'm definitely feeling the nesting instinct kicking in.  I've mainly been cleaning random areas and bits around my house that I've never noticed in the 2 years I've lived here (the airing cupboard, the washing machine drawer) but I have also been doing a few bits and bobs for the nursery so I thought I'd share one of them with you now and then I'll try my best to post some other nursery bits soon!

Twit Twoooo book end.

This is Twit Twoooo, a bookend I made a while ago based on a previous 'owl experiment'.  I had a little bit of help from my mum when it came to sewing him together on the machine (I don't have the skills when it comes to using a sewing machine!!).  He is made from old bits of scrap material, felt for his feet and beak and buttons for his eyes and wing joints.  He's filled with rice to make him heavy enough to keep the books standing.  I'm really pleased with him and he fits very well in the nursery.

Thought he tied in nicely with my current 'nesting' stage.