Gifts For Your Best Friend

Create! Craft Kits Lightning Bolt Banner Kit  //  Mica Peet Triangle Earrings  //  Sew Crafty Craft Journal  //  Veronica Dearly Just Get on With It Mug  //  Finest Imaginary Cheese Plant Leaf Coasters  //  Bear Claw Co Copper Marble Wall Jar Vase  //  Hi Cacti Concrete Planter  //  Fox and Lilly Speckled Necklace  //  Oh Squirrel You are Bloody Brilliant Print  //  Suede and Co Glitter Stripe Purse

Sorry not sorry for getting our gifts lists in order! We have put together 5 amazing gift lists for your nearest and dearest this Christmas and we are kicking off with 'Gifts for your Best Friend' the person that has listened to you all year long and been there for the best and worst of times. Treat them to some yummy handmade goodies this year. Our gift guides this year are 100% handmade from UK companies and independent businesses, so go on, get your shop on, as if you needed any excuse! 

Sammy and H

Check out the rest of this year's guides here:
Gifts for your Little Ones
Gifts for your Pets
Gifts for your Parents
Gifts for your Lady
Gifts for your Man

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Top 5 - Inspiring Places

Over the years we have been to some pretty inspiring places together and apart, from the UK to abroad, there is always a museum to be found, architecture to be admired and plenty of cake to be consumed.  We thought we would take you on a little tour of some of our faves, and they just all happen to start with the letter B!

Love it: Craftacular Haul

Yesterday was Bust Magazine's Craftacular day and what a lovely day for going to spend the afternoon looking at more pretty things!  Of course we went to see some of our friendly faces and met some lovely new designers too, which is always good, although maybe not for the bank balance!  I am now on a spending ban before our holiday next month.

J'adore it: Haute Couture

I have always been fascinated by Haute Couture.  The art of fine sewing, bespoke sewing, painstaking detail and hours of labour to produce a garment so exquisite it is barely believable.  It is fashion at it's highest level.  It is fabric artistry.  I love watching the catwalk shows on YouTube and recently I have been coming across some videos from some of the masters of haute couture and just had to share them with you.  The attention to detail is staggering, it is a joy to watch these amazing artists create these garments.  I literally can't stop watching!

The first two videos are from Dior and the cutest thing about these is they are creating miniature dresses of famous Dior designs, they are exquisite.  I also love the video that takes you on a tour around the exhibition where these miniatures were on show (read more about the exhibition HERE)

These other videos are from Chanel and Schiapparelli showing the processes involved in their couture collections. They are totally fascinating. 

What do you think? Are you itching to get your hands on an embroidery frame and have a go? Or is it all a little too much and you would rather watch from afar? Is it not your kind of thing at all? I would love to know your thoughts. I am completely addicted to watching these if nothing else!

I hope you enjoy watching these videos as much as I did, if only to appreciate the work that goes into each piece of clothing.

Have a lovely weekend
Sammy xxx

Images and videos via Dior, Chanel and Schiaparelli on YouTube.


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Love it: Simply Sewing Magazine

I have a quick question for you, is there room on the heaving shelves of the craft section in your newsagent for yet another sewing magazine?  My first answer if you had asked me a month or so ago when I first heard about Simply Sewing would have been a big fat no.  However, as I saw images and samples coming my way via their publishers and on social media my initial thoughts wavered.  Finally on Wednesday the real thing landed on my desk and I have to say I was reeeeaaally hoping it was going to be as good as the promise...

The great news is that it surpassed my expectations, like, a-lot.  I was excited to read pages of good looking projects, realistic projects that are actually wearable using stylish fabrics.  Packed full of really great tips and tricks for beginners and seasoned sewers.  A good variety of clothing, home sewing and crafty sewing projects make the first issue a nicely rounded overview of what is to come in future issues.

It is not Tilly Walnes on the cover (although they could be twins!) She does grace the pages with an interview and a great up-cycling project.  I don't want to show you too much because I don't want to spoil it for you all, but how cute is this little bunny bag below!  I have seen a few versions of these but I love the grey and blue colour scheme they have used for this series projects.

I think it has hit a great gap in the sewing magazine market, a sweet spot for those of us who spend hours on blogs and Pinterest yearning for the 'sewers' version of Mollie Makes.  The layout is clean and crisp with great photography throughout.

The clothing projects are trendy but not too fashion forward so as to limit their appeal.  I think their crafty cousin (Mollie Makes) would be very proud of what they have given us in the début issue.  I only wish they had gone with a different name for a magazine, with such style it could have taken a more unique title. The project on pg 43-45 offers up a far more interesting option for a possible title??

They are onto a winner signing up one of my favourite bloggers Portia Lawrie for a regular feature and for now at least there are a bunch of great sewing tips in the back pages.

You may have noticed there was no photo of the free fabric that came with my issue... well I couldn't help myself and whipped up a couple of quick zip pouches, a drawstring bag and some embellishments with my freebie.  What will you make with yours?  They have their own hashtag set-up too, tag your craftiness with #sewcialsparkle .

So, yeah, I'm a little smitten with this new offering, I can't wait to see what's up next.  To find out why I am so excited pick up your copy from all good news agents now or sign up for a subscription and get the first 3 issues for £5, Bargain!

Have you already grabbed your copy??  We would love to know what you think, Let us know in the comments below. Seriously tell me what you think, I am off the International Hobby, Craft and Stitch on Monday and I want to take all my comments and yours to the team behind Simply Sewing. Have a great weekend.

Sammy xxx

P.S. To be clear for anyone who remembers a magazine a few years ago under the same name, this is not the same magazine and it has no affiliation with the publisher who ran that magazine.  Simply Sewing is published by Immediate Media, who were the owners of the late Cloth magazine before it's run was cancelled.


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Love it: Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine

At the beginning of January I made a sneaky purchase with some of my Christmas money and bought a Cricut Cuttlebug machine. I already have a Silhouette Cameo (which I use a-lot) and have had a Sizzex bigshot in the past but I donated it to H's work as I used to find it was a little cumbersome and therefore didn't really use it.  I love my Cameo but I wanted to do some work with foam and felt and due to the way that the silhouette cuts, you can't really use it well with felt.

I had heard great things about the Cuttlebug and loved the look of the compact design, what I also loved was that they brought out a limited edition one in stylish vintage green! It always helps to have pretty craft tools right.

I had some dies left over from when I had my Bigshot, I was a little annoyed to find that I needed to buy an extra 'C' plate in order to use them in the cuttle bug as it only comes with an 'A' and two 'B' plates. However some of my existing dies worked just fine and it came in the post super fast, then I was able to use all of them.

I had heard things about plates slipping and curving after time, but so far I haven't had any problems with either of those things.

If your not sure what the dickens I am talking about or what a die cutting machine does, it's basically a mangle with two rollers that uses metal dies to cut through paper, card, foam and fabrics.  You insert your material and a metal die in between the plates and the rollers push down with even pressure to cut and emboss the shape of your die in to the material.

As I said I particularly wanted to use it for cutting foam and felt, both of which it does beautifully. The only downside for me is that I am limited to the dies that I can buy ie. those that others design in fixed sizes. I think I have been spoilt with the freedom that comes with the Silhouette design studio software of being able to cut any design in any size. Having said that there are hundreds of dies out there and lots come with multiple size options.

The Kirsty Allsopp model does come with a few dies and an embossing plate but I did buy a few new dies as well of course, I think my favourite has to be this two part bow one from dimensions, this triple butterfly and the roll up rose.

As you can see I have been going a little crazy with the bow one!

This heart one will be really useful for Valentines and beyond and how beautiful are these feather ones. I bought my cuttlebug and all these dies from Crafts U Love which is one of my favourite places to buy craft supplies online.

All in all I would highly recommend this model if you are thinking of investing in a die-cutting system and can't commit to an electronic one. I love that you can use almost all of the other systems dies with it and for me the compact design means I am far more likely to keep it on hand and actually use it on a regular basis now. I am looking forward to trying out using it for some faux letterpress projects too as I have seen a few kits that you can use with these machines. Keep your eyes peeled for when I share my experiments.

I hope that helped if you are on the fence about getting one of these. Have you ever had a go with a die-cutting machine? Ever been fascinated to try one? Do you have one that's your favourite? Let me know your recommendations for places to buy dies from too please, I am a little addicted! I am looking for some good alphabet ones next.

Sammy xxx


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How to Fall in Love With Your Sewing Machine

Did you get a shiny new sewing machine for Christmas? Do you have one, unloved and sitting in your cupboard? Nervous to get it out of the box? Please don't be, your machine can be your best friend if you learn how to love it. A lot of our customers in Sew Crafty tell me that they are a little intimidated by their sewing machine. They are afraid of doing something wrong and not being able to fix it. They find it frustrating and complicated, who has time for that!

Today I am going to let you in on the secret (not a very well kept one) that I tell all of my customers, a tool that is invaluable when tackling a sewing machine, whether you are new to sewing or an old hand. The best news is that you may already have one.....

Your instruction book.

Yes, Seriously, your instruction book. Now don't panic, if you have not a clue where yours is you can usually download the one for your model on the manufacturer's website. Take a note of your make and model and google away, for instance I have a Janome 525s so I would google 'janome 525s instruction manual' and you should be able to get a hold of it that way.  Usually as a PDF so you can print it off if you like too.

Now that you have your instructions at hand you can use them to find out most any thing you need to know. Most instructions don't just have set-up directions but usually they will talk you through all of the techniques that your machine can handle; including zips button holes and decorative stitching. It will tell you what presser feet you have and what they are used for and what settings you need to use for which fabrics. Mine even has a handy trouble shooting guide in the back.

I know that all the information in the manual can be a little overwhelming at first, but learning to drive a car is complicated until you learn how. Here are my top tips to get started:

• Take some time out to get to know your machine and the techniques it is capable of. 
• Use fabric scraps to practice stitches so you don't mess up your projects.
• Don't rush, push, force, hurry or pull. No one likes that!
• Always use the best needles and thread you can afford, your machine will thank you for it.
• Change you needle regularly. 
• Make sure you buy the right bobbins needles and feet. Take one that came with the machine along to your haberdashers with you to double check. 
• Make a note of your make and model to keep in your purse when shopping for machine parts. 
• Take good care of your machine. Find the name of a local sewing machine engineer and have your machine serviced after your guarantee ends. Then every two years after, regardless of how much you use it (even more important if it has not been used)
• Set aside some time before you start a project to practice the steps you will need, practice makes perfect. 

I hope that has encouraged you to get your machine out from where it is hiding. Trust me, it could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Why not have a try this weekend? Do let us know how you get on.

Is there anything you want to know about starting to sew with a machine? Ask your question in the comments and we can see if we can help.

Sammy xxx


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Love it: Autumn Mix & Match

Blankets 1/2/3 | Dresses 1/2/3 | Scarves 1/2/3 | Boots 1/2/3

My autumn wardrobe can be a little on the dark side, so I have been trying to inject a few pieces that are more colourful, but easy to throw on in the misty mornings with the rest of my go to pieces.

I have put together a little mix and match of a few bits that I am loving lately to inspire myself into making better outfit choices and getting out of my comfort zone.

What are your go-to pieces for this time of year? what pieces are you loving right now?

Sammy, xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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Love it: Autumn

Autumn is by far my favourite time of year. I am a person who loves being cosy, and snuggling up at home with my hubby and our cats is my favourite thing to do in the whole world. It is a time of year when for me work gets hectic so my home is the calm, soft, warm place I can retreat to when it all gets a bit crazy. It is a time I usually get to reflect on the year that, like so many before it, has gone by way too fast and dream of the plans I can make for the last few months of the year.

Love it: Las Vegas Wishlist

/ Miss Dior Perfume/ BKR Water Bottle / Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac / Kate Spade Diary / J Crew Necklace /

As you read this post I will be melting my credit card in Sephora, in the amazing Las Vegas, Nevada. A group of us are heading out for our friend, Helen's Hen Party (read: an excuse to party in Vegas) I haven't been to America since 2005 and I was last in Vegas in 1997 (I am so old!) so I am really looking forward to the food, the night-life and you know me... the shopping! I have been planning my wish list purchases for ages, so I thought I would share some of the best bits that I am hoping to pick up over the weekend. Check in with my Instagram to see which bits make it into my suitcase or to let me know your recommendations of sights to see whilst I am there!

I wish you all a lovely bank holiday weekend wherever you are.

Sammy xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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Love it: UK Craft Blogs #3

Another instalment of 'Our Favourite UK Craft Bloggers' for you today. I am writing to you today from sunny Austria, where I have been catching up on some blog reading as well as sightseeing, photography and a lot of relaxing. Don't forget to head over to these lovelies and say Hi and let us know your favourites in the comments below.

Miss Jojangles
Possibly the sweetest blogger we know. We fell in love with her whimsical life on her blog and even more so when we met her at Blogtacular earlier this year. We love her illustrations more than anything and we can't wait to see what's next for Jojo.

New Craft Society
We owe our trip to Liberty to these gorgeous girls (we are forever in their debt) and just adore their style, we can only dream of being this cool. Their attitude to crafts old and new is refreshing and their addiction to Liberty prints makes for some yummy crafty eye candy.

The Things She Makes
Jam packed with awesome tutorials, no faffy lifestyle stuff here, just pure unadulterated crafts... and we love it. Great for beginners and masters alike, great photos and easy to follow instructions make TTSM a brilliant place to visit on a rainy afternoon for a quick crafting fix.

I'm off to enjoy the last day here before we drive all the way home tomorrow (and the next day...)

Sammy xxx

Love it:Our Summer Holiday Wishlists

1/Sunglasses 2/Trousers 3/Bracelets 4/Tunic 5/Sandals 6/Skirt

1/Trousers 2/Top 3/Sunglasses 4/Necklace 5/Dress 6/Sandals

Summer is in full swing and it is so nice to be able to get our super summery clothes that are normally reserved for holidays out from the depths of the wardrobe. A nice a excuse to sprinkle in a few new bits and pieces too of course. What are your favourite pieces that you have your eye on for your summer holidays??

Sammy & H xx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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Love it: Brush up those Blogging Skills

I am a person that really enjoys learning at my own speed and from the comfort of my own home so I am a big fan of e-courses. I have taken a few in my time online and I plan on taking many many more in the future. I am going on a road trip to Austria with Steve in a week or so and we have a few day trips to go on when we get there but we also have a lot of driving to do and a couple of chill out days and so I thought I would take the opportunity to brush up my blogging know how whilst we are away.

Today I thought I would let you know some of my favourite places to find useful e-courses on the net. 

The first is a course that everyone needs to take by the gorgeous Ann-Marie of annmarieloves.com.  Make it happen: A guide to getting it done and feeling good about it Who doesn't need to learn how to do this better right? Get your butt over to Ann-Marie's shop and get learning!

The girls at A Beautiful Mess have just re-launched their epic 'Blog Life' and 'Blog Design Love' courses in their shiny new online store. Despite having taken both these courses in the past I have signed up for both the new versions already. I love the way these girls teach and they now have a bunch of crash courses available too, Macaroons 101 anyone?
Check out Blog Life here.

This offering is one class in particular, but a site that has changed the way I learn. Skillshare is a site chocca-block with creative e-courses, with everything from Photoshop to Calligraphy.  If there is something you want to learn about then there will no doubt be a course here for you. The one that I have loved the most, was by one of my favourite bloggers Brittany Mehlhoff of Paper & Stitch. This course 'The How to on How tos' teaches you how to create tutorials for your own blog. Check it out, it has some great photography tips in there too.

Make Your Day is a download from Lovely Indeed's Chelsea and The Paper Mama's Chelsea. It is more of a e-book but a great read none the less, a great DIY master-class with tips, tricks and projects to keep you DIY-ing all day long.

This Photography e-course from the brains behind Blogtacular, Kat Molesworth and Kat Goldin, is a great alternative to heading to your local evening class to brush up on your DSLR skills. Manual Overdrive (awesome name) is designed to take your photography to the next level and you know from the Kat's blogs, Housewife Confidential and Slugs on the Refrigerator that they know what they are talking about. Sign up soon though as these amazing ladies are heading on to bigger and better things, but the instant access courses will only be available until the end of the year.

Blogshop is THE Photoshop boot-camp. Run by the amazing Bri ( DesignLoveFest) and Angela (Angela and Ithyle) it is famous for its photography styling sessions and EPIC goodies bags. The best news is that it is now available as an online course. It is also open to us PC users as well as apple lovelies. Seriously best news ever!! 

The epitome of blogging workshops is surely Rock and Roll Bride's 'The Blogcademy' H and I have been saving up to both go to this since we started blogging so we were super excited that the girls have now released online video sessions ( some free and some for a small fee) so we can watch them whilst we carry on saving. I love that they have split them up so you can pick and choose which modules you work on first. Awesome!

I hope this has inspired you to learn something new this summer. Have you ever taken an e-course before and did you enjoy it? Do let us know we are always on the look out for new things to learn. 

Sammy xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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Love it: UK Craft Blogs #2

Welcome to the second instalment of our favourite UK craft blogs, thank you for all your suggestions on our last post, we have made some great new discoveries and rediscovered some old favourites so thanks for all your suggestions, keep them coming. We have three more awesome blogs for you today, all based right here in the UK.

Fall for DIY

Fran is one of the bloggers we have known for the longest, one of our first ever reviews on our blog was for one of her previous businesses (she has a been a part of a few) Check My Box. We Love her gorgeous blog Fall For DIY. She has amazing style and great vision for using unusual materials for making stunning jewellery.

Knit me a Cake

Leanne is one of the sweetest bloggers we know and her blog is a place we love to visit. Her recipes are the reason we spend so much time over there, I made her Banana, toffee and pecan fudge loaf a few weeks ago, it was sooooo yummy! But we love her sewing and knitting tutorials too, head over and check out her amazing Sky Blanket project.

Lotts and Lots

Lotts hits it out of the park every time with her jewellery tutorials, you may have seen her embellished lace collar tutorial in  issue 40 of Mollie Makes magazine. Her Instagram feeds is one of my all time faves.

Who are your favourites, this is the second in a series of posts about UK based craft blogs, our favourite fellow Brits doing wonders for bringing crafts out of the dark ages. Tell us in the comments about your faves so we can include them in later posts and crush on their mad DIY skills of course.

Sammy xxx

Love it: UK Craft Blogs #1

We write a crafty blog, so it is only natural that we gravitate towards other creative folk, we have a looonnnggg blog roll on Bloglovin of blogs we love and we have shared some of our faves here before. We love bloggers and blogs from all over the world, a lot of our favourites are from across the pond in the USA, A Beautiful Mess, Sugar and Cloth, Lovely Indeed, Paper and Stitch and the list goes on, but in this series we want to give a shout out to our favourites from right here, our home, the United Kingdom!

Burkatron

Caroline is a beautiful fashion/craft blogger and self confessed nail art junkie, I always love the photography styling in her posts. Her DIY's are always pretty and super chic. Our fave recent post is this one about building your own terrarium.

Buttons and Paint

These two lovelies live just down the road from us in Reading, You may remember them from their guest post for us back in March or you may have popped over from our guest post on their blog. We love this recent DIY to make yourself a trimmings folder, a must have for any haberdashery hoarder.

Claireabelle Makes

We don't know how the lovely Claire manages to run her own (super cute) etsy shop, her blog and have a job, but she does it, and beautifully too! We are crushing hard on her Bicycle Bracelets at LiLiMi HQ.

Who are your favourites?  This is the first in a series of posts about UK based craft blogs, our favourite fellow Brits doing wonders for bringing crafts out of the dark ages. Tell us in the comments about your faves so we can include them in later posts and crush on their mad DIY skills of course.

Sammy xxx