French Memo Boards!

My latest crafting 'thing' is French memo boards. I love them! They look ever so cute on the wall and it's so much fun choosing all the fabrics and ribbons. I make the buttons myself out of polymer clay.



I've sold one already, within days of listing on Folksy:





I've got two left in my Folksy shop at the moment. This retro cupcake one:



and the Winnie the Pooh board at the top of this post.

I'm busy making others to send up to the Gift Gallery. I also need to get some more prints sorted out to send as well. I'm hoping there'll be a big Christmas rush!

Other good news is that I won a free ad in Creative Crafting mag today. It'll be in the Christmas issue. I've entered this weekly comp a few times now, so it's wonderful to win!

My Handmade Birthday!

OK, so it was nearly two weeks ago, but better late than never to tell you about the wonderful handmade birthday I had. I was lucky enough to go on a Folksy shopping spree, courtesy of my family and these are the delights I found...

A busy bee organiser from AskingForTrouble:

Perfect for keeping me organised. I love to make lists! There’s a magnetic strip on the back so it sticks nicely to the metal brackets on my craft shelves. Marceline also sent a postcard of some of her other kawaii designs.

Then there’s these funny face magnets I’ve had my eye on for ages, from Glassprimitif:

I love covering the fridge and freezer in magnets! And these have certainly brightened them up. Jo also sent a cute little notebook.

I also bought this bag from Purpss:

This is just right for summer. It’s a really unusual design and such lovely, bright colours! Also included was a little free bag, which was very thoughtful.

Then, from Ellie’s Treasures I bought this gorgeous Patchy Pockets keepsake wallet:

I fell in love with the little bear; what a cutie! There are two pegs inside as well, to clip little pictures. I love things like that! I’ve got some photos of my children in there already and need to think of some more mementos...

Lastly, I finally bought some wonderful prints and a pocket mirror from HiddenEloise, which arrived in the most delightful envelope:

I’ve wanted to buy something from her for so long, but could never decide what to choose! Eloise included a little personal note, tag and some stickers as well, which was a lovely touch. (By the way, it goes to show that handmade is really best, as the frames I bought for these prints from a well-known supermarket said 7” x 5”, but when I got them home they were actually half an inch smaller both ways!)

So, all in all, a perfect birthday! Finished off with a family BBQ in the evening and a mountain of cupcakes made by my brother’s girlfriend. They were truly delicious! Lemon, strawberry and chocolate – mmm. There must be something about cupcakes at the moment, as these were very similar to my 'Naughty But Nice' cupcake print and also one of the birthday cards a friend sent...

And not quite handmade, but to help me make handmade, I bought a clay extruder. I’m having so much fun with it! These are some retro ‘70s magnets that I’ve made already:

And last night I made some interesting rope twists, which I think I’ll make into earrings. I’ll post a ‘how to’ soon I think.

Anyway, that’s my longest post in a while, so better leave it there!