May Favourites

May has been a long month, I have had a lot going on and it has been the little things that have made such a difference. If months have colours, for me the colour of May has by far been mint, literally can't get enough of it, as you will see in my selection of favourites.

You all know by now that I am an Essie fan-girl but I may have a new favourite.  I found this range called 'Lottie London' in my local Superdrug recently and I am in love with their collection of nail polish.  My favourite by far is the shade Stay Cool, a beautiful grey lilac, closely followed by Retweet and Spring break. I feel a few more purchases coming on...

This pen holder thingy from Tiger just makes me so happy, it seems a little silly and pointless, but I think that's why I like it so much. And it's minty green/blue colour pop on my desk doesn't hurt either. On a more serious note, my YouTube subscriptions list has become crammed full of vids about planners recently, particularly the lovely Strange and Charmed's Alexis. She makes great planning videos and has some amazing tips and advice for business and productivity too.  She Also has a kick ass Blog, head over and show her some love, tell her I sent you <3

I am still enjoying my Messy box subscription that I reviewed at the beginning of the month and this time I added some extra bits to my delivery in the way of some ink pads and these Messy Pens. I love them and can't stop writing everything with them. My favourite is the 'fine' one, which is about 0.8 if you buy regular fine liners, but it is so much better, the nib is slightly soft and the ink flows so nicely. Well worth having them shipped.

My Stationery obsession continues, I seem to be building quite a collection of cute sellotape dispensers all of a sudden. I love them! These are all by Scotch who make my all time favourite double sided tape too so it must be a sign. Check out my favourite glues and tapes in my post from last year. I even bought a blue version of the pink one for H because I just couldn't resist.

Do you have a stationery obsession? Link me up to your favourite items in the comments. Do you follow any planner addicts online? Tell me your favourites, I can't get enough.

Sammy xxx


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Sewing Tips: Bias Binding

At Sew Crafty I get asked a lot about bias binding, like how to use it and what it's for, which is understandable, if you have never been taught about it, it may seem like a bit of a mystery. I love how it can take a project from okay through to polished and it really isn't as complicated as it may appear. So I thought for this month's sewing tips post I would write a definitive post including everything you ever wanted to know about Bias Binding.

Make it: Fox and Bunny Chopsticks with Tiger

As Sammy mentioned last week, we took a dive into what Tiger had to offer a couple of weeks ago and I found these training chopsticks which I thought would look great with a little additional fun to them.  As these training chopsticks would probably be used for children (although any age need a helping hand with chopsticks sometimes - am I right?!), I thought that making the ends a little more fun with some animal faces would be a good idea.

You will need: Training Chopsticks (mine were from Tiger), Acrylic Paint, paintbrush, black and coloured pens, paint palette (or plate like me) and water pot.  You may want to varnish these aswell, but acrylic should hold up well to washing - just maybe not the dishwasher.

So first you need to decide on your characters, I went with a bunny rabbit and fox as I felt that the pointed ends lent themselves to these animals.  I did a little sketch first so that I had an idea first, but you many want to just go for it.

I gave the ends of the chopsticks a base coat of the colour I wanted and then gave it another coat to make it a nice solid colour.  For the bunny it was white and for the Fox I went with a brown and orange mix.  I did both sides of the chopsticks but you could always just do one side if you preferred.

I added in a few of the features with the paint, pink ears for the bunny and a bit more orange for the fox ears, then left them to dry.  I used my water pot to stand them up to dry, so that one side didn't get smudged.

Then, to add detail, I used a black pen to do the eyes of the fox and outline detail on both the fox and bunny ears.

Then voila, all done.  A really simple customisation of some training chopsticks, just to make them a little more fun for your dinner.

Which animals would you make, or would you make them with patterns on or something completely different?  Let us know in the comments below.

H, xxx

This Post is in collaboration with Tiger

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Make it: Colour Pop Headphones with Tiger

Last time H and I popped into London we headed to what is becoming our go-to place for DIY friendly home-wares, Tiger.  We picked up loads of fun bits and bobs, one of the things I got was some white headphones. I loved them white but I wanted to give them a bit of a make over. I have seen so many really cool decorated ones around lately and I thought these would make a great base for a little colour pop.

To make these colour pop headphones you will need: a scrap of colourful jersey fabric, a pair of white headphones from Tiger. Scissors, needle and thread, double sided tape, a thin flat ended tool (a flat head screwdriver would work)

Step1. Start by removing the ear pad from the earphone head and removing it from the headband.
Step 2. Find a good piece of your fabric where you like the pattern and draw around the earphone leaving about 2.5cm seam allowance.
Step 3. Cut out your circle of jersey.
Step 4. Take some double sided tape and stick it around the edge of the earphone. Using the tool or screwdriver start to poke the edge of the jersey in the gap between the outside and inside of the earphone.
Step 5. Once you have tucked the raw edges in all the way around, pop it back in the headband and replace the ear pad.
Step 6. Repeat on the other earphone.

Step 7. Cut a length of jersey long enough to cover the band over the head.

Step 8. Fold the jersey over the band and hand stitch it in place, turning the edges in as you go.
Step 9. You can leave the sewn edge to the side or twist it to the centre.
Step 10. Enjoy your new headphones.

I am so in love with these beauties! The thing I love is that the possibilities are endless. You can use any jersey fabric, you could even use an old band t-shirt and if you change you mind after a while just remove your first go and start again. 

Do you have a Tiger store near you? H is lucky enough to have one near her in Woking. I am hoping Maidenhead might be next on their list, that might be wishful thinking. I am loving visiting when I am in London though. Have you picked up any must haves from their spring collection? What DIY's are you up to this bank holiday? Let us know as always in the comments below.

Have a lovely weekend
Sammy xxx


This post is a collaboration with Tiger Stores UK.


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Let's Meet: Oh Squirrel

This month we had a little chat with Katie from Oh Squirrel.  After admiring her work for ages we eventually plucked up the courage to ask her if she would be interviewed by us and she said yes!  In between Renegade and Craftacular and making many many sashes for the Wedding season of course!

So let's have a look at what she has to say and look at all the gorgeous things she has to offer of course too!

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.