When Tidying Actually is Life Changing

Before you laugh it off (like I did) and say 'wtf do I need with some Japanese lady telling me how to tidy' or 'yeah right as if clearing out your wardrobe can be life-changing' I want to tell you my story and how this book has affected me in the last four months. I'm sure if you have been reading this blog for a while you will know that I (Sammy) am not a naturally tidy human. I am prone to spill, and I am a hoarder (I prefer to say collector but let's be serious I hoard). So when my Business Coach, Els, suggested that I read the ‘most’ famous book about tidying after our first real session back in September I was a little confused. But I dutifully ordered myself a copy from Amazon and waited for it to arrive. 

Review: The Craft Studio books + Giveaway (CLOSED)

We have a review for you today and a little Giveaway, yey (only UK residents this time, sorry).  The Craft Studio books from Thames & Hudson and are out today!  So hot off the press just ready for you to win them, more about that at the end of this post.

There are four books in the series at the moment, but I am sure there will be more.  The books are; Tote Bags by Sonia Lucano, Brooches by Corinne Alagille, Decorating with Pompoms & Tassels and Stamping & Printing by Emilie Greenberg & Karine Thiboult-Demessence.  Each are priced at £9.95 each and so not too expensive either which is always nice.

 Each of the four books contain 20 easy to follow projects with beautiful pictures and an easy to read layout.  They are not too large a book, so they fit neatly on your bookshelf while also being useful for those 'what project shall I do today' times.

The contents page just makes you want to dive in more.  Lovely photographs and a simple to find contents page is always a great thing in my mind.

There are some Tips & Techniques in the books, to get you started and help you if you are a complete beginner.  If not a beginner, then you can dive on in to the rest of the book without a problem.

I just picked out a few of the pages from the books, this sequinned tote bag looks so fun to make and will make a great gift for someone.  The projects are broken down into what you need and how long it is going to take you which is always nice as then you can decide which project you want to take on in that spare few moments.

Onto a Pompom mobile, what a great project for a children's bedroom or wedding decoration.  Some of the projects have handy hand drawn details to go with the written instructions, handy for the more complicated parts.

This Origami brooch is definitely on my list of makes.  I am not a big brooch wearer, but they look so fun to make, I might change my mind.

Last but by no means least, this simple to print polka dot tableware set is so cute!  I am all about the ceramics at the moment as you may have noticed from my pottery class post and so this project is also on the make list.

I love that the four books give a good range of skills for people to pick up, even if you only had one of the books you can learn new techniques and gain some new ideas.  The projects inside range from very simple to more complicated projects for the beginner and more experienced crafter, which makes them perfect as gifts or just to keep for yourself.

Speaking of which, that Giveaway.  You can win all of these books, yes all four!  One lucky winner will get these books to be able to go through the projects all by themselves.  Which one will be your favourite?

All you need to do is comment on this post with the skill you would like to learn the most with these books (remember to leave your email address).  If you like us on Instagram and twitter (if you don't already) you will get an extra entry for each one you follow us on - so those people who already do will get an extra entry too.  The Giveaway will be open until Friday 18 March 2016 at 12am (midnight GMT).   This time I am afraid the Giveaway is only open to UK residents - sorry international readers.  We will have something for you soon, promise.

We will add all the names into a hat (I know, so retro) and pick our winner and email you, so don't forget your email address when you enter.  Then we can post them off to you for you to enjoy.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Good luck
H & Sammy, xxx

A few Rules:
The competition closes at 12am midnight GMT on Friday 18 March 2016.  No entries after this time will be counted.
The winner will be picked by ourselves and will be picked at random.
If we do not hear back from the winner by Monday 21 March 2016 at 12noon GMT, we will redraw and another winner will be picked.
This competition is only open to UK residents this time- sorry!


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Review: Makery Sewing

It has been a little while since we have talked about our friends at The Makery, but our love for Kate Smith's company is still going strong #WorkGoals. We are heading up to John Lewis in London soon to attend a Makery Espadrille workshop and it reminded me that I had yet to tell you how much we have been enjoying Kate's newest book Makery: Sewing. 

This book features over 30 sewing projects, in three sections. One on homewares, one on fashion and another on gifts. It includes projects that are suitable for complete beginners right up to more advanced sewers which means you can work your way through the book, improving your skills as you go.

As with the first book from Kate, the photography is gorgeous and so inspiring. I always love the way The Makery get a lovely mix of on-trend styling using beautiful vintage elements.

My favourite project has to be the flying ducks. I am on the hunt for the perfect fabric now to make these cute critters for my kitchen! It is such a fun twist on the faux taxidermy trend that is so big at the moment. They remind me of my Nana, who used to have a ceramic set on her living room wall when I used to visit as a kid.

In the clothing section I adore this simple but oh so effective t-shirt patch pocket project. It just proves that simple ideas produced to a high standard can be so inspiring. I will definitely be rummaging through my fabric scraps this weekend to update some of my jersey basics.

The tips and 'glossary' section at the back is really useful in its own right and the little sketches are cute and informative.

I love that there are full size patterns in the back which means no annoying visits to the printers to get them enlarged before you can get stuck into your project of choice. 

At first I was surprised at the lack of step-by-step photographs in the projects, but as I settled into reading through the way that the instructions are written, I found that I really didn't miss those photos. It feels like a friend is talking you through the how to and there are little illustrations for the more unsure. Being an accomplished sewer I didn't feel that the book spoke down to me, like some project books that cater to beginners sometimes do. I feel confident though that beginners would also find Kate's easy way with words engaging and easy to follow. The best thing about not having lengthy tutorials is that there is more room for great, useful projects. This book will have me turning it's pages again and again for inspiration for gifts and projects for myself. 

We love this book so much we bought an extra copy which we are giving away as part of our Blog's 4th Birthday celebration. Follow > this link< to tell us your favourite craft book for a chance to win a copy of this book and the rest of our top ten craft books. The giveaway closes on Friday 3rd of July so get over there before it's too late.

If you miss out on the win, Kate's book is available through The Makery shop as well as Amazon and other great book retailers.

Sammy xxx


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Our top ten Craft books + blog birthday giveaway (CLOSED)

A double whammy of awesome for you today, We have curated our Top 10 Craft Books and because we are lovely and it is our blogs 4th birthday (where has the time gone) we are giving you the chance to win the lot! Stick around until the end for your chance to win and in the meantime, lets get into the Top 10.

We have a mix of slightly older titles and new ones too, one of which has only been out for a week! But it is that good we couldn't not include it in our ten.

We have two books in the top ten from the Queen of crafting magazines Mollie Makes (you know how much we love the team at Mollie) the first is Making it! The book you need if you are embarking on a career in the craft industry. Packed with great tips and seriously useful information for anyone looking to make it big in the world of crafts.

This is the super newbie we were talking about and it is also the second from the Mollie Makes team. We knew as soon as we saw it, it was going to be a winner for us.so much so that Sammy pre-ordered two copies knowing that it would be featuring in this top ten. Sammy love's the Paper book-zine that the Mollie team had published a few times in the past and she had a feeling that this was going to be all that and more. It did not disappoint. It is packed full of awesome projects using paper of all kinds. Sammy is going to love working her way through the projects in this one. 

We reviewed Craft, Show and Sell on the blog last year and it has been a go to tea-break read ever since. With it's beautiful images and useful storage and selling tips it is a great read for all kinds of crafters. 

The second book from the lovely Kate (the Makery) We have a full review of this coming soon, but spoiler, We love it. We loved the first offering from the Makery which we reviewed back in 2013 but we think we might love this one even more. We suppose because we are sewest at heart, the projects in this book are some of our favourite's.

The beautiful Makers Spaces by Emily Quinton is a must for any Top 10, crafty or otherwise. If you love interiors this book is an equally joyous read. Pages filled with gorgeous photography of makers homes from all over the world, 'Home Goals' on every page! 

We were lucky enough to be chosen to be Cut Out and Keep Superstars earlier in the year and you may have seen our review of the book that takes you on a tour around the USA with different crafty projects along the way.  We love the quirky projects in this book and Cut Out and Keep in general really, they rock!

Hoarders like us will LOVE Pretty Organised. You can tell, we hope, that we really only end up recommending books we love, because we reviewed Jane's book back in March. We loved it then and we still love it now, with loads of creative tips and again, beautiful photography, this book is a must for crafters and hoarders alike. 

1980's Bumper activity book was a book Sammy received as a birthday gift a while ago and enjoyed it so much she has since re-purchased it as gifts for so many of her friends! It's jammed with fun projects and activities that will have you reminiscing about your mis-spent youth for weeks! (even if you were born in the 90's)

One of our favourite people on the internet is the lovely Katie Allen and her book Just Sew Stories was always going to be in our top 10. Packed with achievable, cool, trendy projects. All of which you would actually want in your home/wardrobe and that you would be proud to give as a gift. 

Another of our fave people is Tilly (and the Buttons) Walnes. We kind of knew, didn't we, if you had been reading her blog for a while (like we had) when we saw her on the first season of the Sewing Bee that a book was on the cards. Her sweet personality and enviable style shines from the pages. Each project is wearable, would fit in anyone's wardrobe and as it is with her blog, her tips and techniques are great for beginners and more experienced sewers.

Now for the fun part! For your chance to win all ten of these amazing crafty books, all you have to do is comment on this post below telling us your favourite craft book that is NOT on our list. Don't forget to include an email address, twitter or Instagram account so we can contact you if you win.  

(CLOSED)

The Giveaway is open until Midnight (UK BST) on Friday the 3rd of July and the winners will be announced and contacted shortly after this.

H & Sammy

T&C's:

Your name will only be counted once, but please do feel free to comment as much as you like.

You don't need a gmail account to comment. Just go to the drop down box below the comment section and you can post as your name or anonymous (just remember to put your contact details in the comment box).

Only replies on the blog to this post will count.

The winners name will be chosen at random.

All ten books will be posted to the recipient after the closing date.

The competition is open to everyone, in the UK and Worldwide! yey. 

Disclaimer: These books have all been purchased by ourselves, with the exclusion of the Cut Out and Keep book, which was sent to us for consideration. We fell in love with it and had a spare copy which we have chosen to give away as part of this competition.


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Cut Out & Keep Crafty Superstar + book review

We have something a little different for you this Monday.  We have been working in collaboration with the US website Cut out & Keep and will be their Crafty Superstar for this week.  This basically means we have a tutorial a day going up on the site for the next 7 days! exciting.  We can't wait to see what the Cut out & Keep readers think!

and talking about Cut out & Keep, they also have a book out this week, Around the USA in 50 Craft Projects.  We were lucky enough to be sent a copy and so we could have a little look-see before it came out.

There is a great Index section which pulls out all the areas of the USA and where the projects are from.  Obviously for us UK folk it is all very different to some of the projects we would get here, but that's what makes it fun, right!

The paper used for the book is like alot of the craft books around, that nice thick matt paper, which unfortunately seems to have dulled some of the pictures, but I love the feel of this paper, so that's a good start.  

The projects are quirky and fun and are all quite simple to make, which is always nice.  They go from food recipes, to craft items and present ideas.  Mostly they have these round pictures that take you through the steps which is a nice touch.

The whole book is quite thick and has so many different projects that there is bound to be something for everyone.  I really like the shopping list style tags for each project, it's the simple ideas that make books different.

A few of my favourite projects are the Cowboy hat bowls for Mexican food, Neon sign chalkboard and movie night ideas to name but a few.  I think some of the projects would definitely work better for the USA audience, but really that is the where these guys are from, so that's not a bad thing.

It's a really fun book and so great for a present idea for some very different projects which are simple to do.  Plus if your having a party, some of those recipes are just that little bit different from the norm and so would make for great party pieces.

Don't forget to check out the Cut Out & Keep website this week too for our Crafty Superstar projects.

H

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Review: Pretty Organised

This month we were given the opportunity to review the Pretty Organised book by Jane Hughes.  It popped through the doors of Sammy's shop, Sew Crafty and was a pleasure to leaf through and gain inspiration from.

There is a lovely index with small pictures of the projects divided into the rooms in which the projects would fit.  This is a great way to divide up the different ideas and so it gives you a great excuse to see what that next-room-you-just-have-to-get-finished needs.  There is a mix of quick simple achievable projects and things that would take a little longer, so something for everyone.

The projects themselves are clear and easy to follow.  Each project has written instructions and a few pictures to help you along, aswell as the tools and materials you will need.  We loved this wall box and H found a very similar box in Homebase the other day for all of you that fancy having a go.

This Wall pocket organiser is so good to use up those little bits of fabric left over for the pockets and would look great in a children's bedroom or an adults of course.  You could make as many pockets as you like and make it fit all your bits and pieces too.

Just look at this storage trolley too!!!!  Everyone was going crazy for the Ikea Raskog trolley last year, but you could make your own!  Perfect for the laptop to have a rest or just to look oh so pretty in the corner!  Perhaps a drinks trolley for parties?  I know, so retro, but we are in those times, right?!

Next up is a project that I think Sammy might love and its not just due to the stickers involved!  The Meal planner, we all know that leaving it till the evening to decide on what your having for dinner is a recipe for disaster and so planning not only saves you time, but money aswell, alongside throwing away less food and that is no bad thing.  If you have a family it can be a godsend to fend off any 'what are we having for dinner' questions too.

All in all, the Pretty Organised book is lovely.  Some great projects and easy to understand instructions all really help, along with the lovely paper it is printed on and the fact that it is just a book which, well, just has our kinds of projects in.  This would make a great gift for someone who is moving home or trying to get organised.  But then, there are also some great projects so that they can make them for you too, so its a win win if you buy it as a gift!  The main problem is choosing which one to do first!

H & Sammy


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Makers Month: Learn to Sew with Lauren

If you remember back to the first season of The Sewing Bee you will have fond memories of runner-up and our favourite finalist Lauren. As well as running her gorgeous shop Guthri & Ghani in Birmingham she has gone and joined the world of crafting gurus and written a book. So you can imagine when we were asked to review 'Learn to Sew with Lauren' we jumped at the chance.

Sammy: The images are lovely, I thought it was a shame we didn't see more of Lauren as the book goes on but the photographs are beautifully styled. I also loved the illustrations in the tutorials as it takes you through the steps of each project. 

H: I love the full sized patterns, nothing more frustrating than having to go and get patterns scaled up at the copy shop before you start a project. The basic tutorials at the front of the book help you to learn how to use them and has some great tips for using regular dress patterns too.

Sammy: The amount of books that don't give detailed instructions of what you will need to create their projects always surprises me, so I was happy to see that Lauren's gave great details of how much fabric to buy as well as all the notions needed for each project and tips for which techniques would be best to practice before hand. Genius!

H: There is a nice mix of household and clothes projects, so gives a good variety of things to make for yourself or to give as gifts.

Sammy: I enjoyed the 'Other Variation Ideas' at the end of each project giving you inspiration to make the projects over and over.

H: There are some good techniques at the front of the book, then onto some lovely projects.  It is nice that it gives you a great starting point with simpler projects and then moving onto ones that get more challenging as the book goes on.

H: I also loved the 'tips for practising' that Sammy mentioned, I thought it was a great way to encourage people to try out the techniques you need to perfect before diving straight into the main project. I often think that that is where people who are new to sewing fall down and get frustrated because they try to attempt projects before practising the techniques needed.

Sammy: I loved that the projects, even the simple ones, used techniques that are practical and could be used to further your sewing education. The shapes and styles are classic so will stand the test of time.

Over all we really enjoyed Lauren's take on learning to sew, her projects are classic but with the lovely 'Lauren' twist that we got a glimpse of on the Sewing Bee. We both found the book quite wordy. It is a sit down and plan book, rather than a flick though and pick a project book. That is what we both liked about it though. A lot of sewing books skip past the technique and never refer back to them, Lauren encourages you to practice the basic steps you will need before diving right in.  The styling and layout of the book is attractive, the patterns are great quality and stored neatly in plastic folders in the front and back of the book.

Over all if you are looking to pick up something for a Sewing Bee fan or are a sewing newbie yourself, Lauren's book is a perfect choice.

You can get a real incite into what it was like for Lauren writing the book on her blog over at the Guthrie and Ghani site. And if you are in the area on Saturday and fancy picking up a signed copy head over to Lauren's site to find out more about her launch party at her shop Guthrie and Ghani.

Have you bought Lauren's book? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.

H and Sammy xxx

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