Tutorial?

I made this Christmas bauble wreath at work yesterday:

It's to put in one of our many windows in the shop to Christmassy them up:

I have made some in other colours too:

They have received many an admiring look and comment, and I was just wondering..... Would you like a tutorial on how to make one for yourself?

Hands up who would like a tutorial for one of these?!

I have one more to make at work tomorrow, so if enough of you want one, I shall take photos as I go and put something together for your delight and delectation later on in the week.

Leave me a comment on this post if it's a "yes" from you - I'd love to read your comments, and it's a great confidence boost to know that you like my work, so thank you very much in advance for your kind words.

Emmalemonade x x x

Gwdihw = Owl

When I jumped on the train on Monday afternoon for a flying visit to Cardiff, little did I know that I would learn something new about the city I had spent 3 years living in, and moved away from a little over a year ago.

It all started when, after meeting me at the station, Mr C (that's the lovely and deliciously funny Mr C who creates my blog and Etsy banners for me) asked me if I'd like to go to a gig at a music venue I'd never been to in Cardiff called The Gwdihw.  A couple of his mates are in a band that were playing there that night.  Well, I thought, that sounds like a fun way to spend a Monday night, so off we toddled to this elusive place.  (It's ok, we didn't go straight there without us getting a cab back to his house to drop off my bags, or without him taking me out to supper at Wagamama first.  Though a gentlemanly thing to do, those kinds of details are not important to my story right now.)

Upon arriving at the pub,which is very unassuming and made me feel a little bit like we were walking into someone's house party (not a bad thing), we made our way straight to the bar to get some drinks.  As I stood there, the first act was setting up, and I had a little look at my surroundings. I began to notice the owls: owl bunting; owl ornaments; owl money boxes; owls nestling above a doorway....

"Great!"  I thought, "they like owls too!"  What once was a casual appreciation, has recently turned into a full-blown obsession, so I was thrilled to have found somewhere which shared my love.  But that wasn't all.  Mr C and I stepped outside to view the courtyard area, where, you guessed it:  more owls.

"Wow!"  I said, (a little too loud, it has to be said) "there are owls everywhere!"  "Well," said the nice man with two nose rings, another of Mr C's mates, "that would be because the word 'gwdihw' in Welsh, means 'owl' in English."  And suddenly everything became clear.  The owls made sense!  How could I have spent 3 years in Cardiff and never have been to the one place that I would have loved the most?!

Revelations over, Mr C and made our way back inside to watch the bands.

Wow! What bands!  I don't think I have ever been to a gig where I've known no-one on the bill, and come away singing the praises of not one, not two but all three of the acts.

First up was Kai Lena, from Chester (now studying Creative Sound and Music at Newport,) with just a microphone, a piano and a loop pedal for company.  But boy did she blow us all away!  With her other-worldly nature, folk-like lyrics and powerful voice, she stunned the audience into silence and drew us into her world.  Building up layers of vocal sounds and singing over the top reminded me of tUnE-yArDs, but in a much less wild and unconstrained way than Merill Garbus.  Kai Lena's sound was both strong and vulnerable.  She knows what she's doing and she's doing it well.

So other-worldly, Kai created a halo around herself which makes this both a really good photo,
and a really bad one, all in one.

Next on were Jewellers, a two-piece, both called Gareth.  Now I have no words to describe what these guys do, because it's like nothing I've ever done before, and it's not music that my classically-trained brain knows music as, but is musical nonetheless. They had me mesmerised as they pushed buttons, twiddled knobs and looked intently at Apple products and, well, who knows, but what came out of the speakers was like a massive soundcloud that swirls around, swallows you up and holds you captive, and I loved it.

Headliners Paper Factory (Mr C's mates) hail from Llanelli and cite Queens Of The Stone Age, Biffy Clyro and Modest Mouse amongst their main influences.  And it wasn't long before these influences could be seen, creeping through their sound to the fore - songs "Hook For A Hand" and "Hot Air Balloons" clearly echoing their idols in chord sequences, riffs and vocal sound.  Their set was loud, fun, heavy and tight, proving that the years of playing together are beginning to pay off.  A band to watch.

Having gone to the gig with no expectations, I came out re-invigorated by new music and excited to see what all three acts will do next.

Owls and live music doth a good night make.  And thank you Mr C for taking me.

Much love,

emmalemonade x x x

P.S.  My new obsession will be deer:

Fabrics Galore

It's been another busy week this week.  I've felt a day ahead of myself all week which has added to my feeling that time is running away with itself somewhat.

I have eight days off work at the shop now which is great because it means I can focus on Lemons for Lemonade things, like designing and making Christmas decorations, (crocheted ones that I have designed myself) making Christmassy buttons and gathering together things for the Christmas Swaps I'm taking part in.

I am also in secretarial mode at the moment, frantically emailing and texting soloists to make sure they're in the right place at the right time, and have somewhere to go between rehearsal and concert.  It's the Abingdon and District Musical Society Autumn concert tomorrow you see, for which I am Secretary, and I play the 'cello in the orchestra too.  Come along if you're about and at a loose end - it'd be great to have you along.

I have written myself a list of things to do during my eight days holiday.  There are 14 things on the list already, and I have a funny feeling that list will grow quicker than it will shorten!  And technically I only have 3 days when I'm not already doing something on which to tackle the list, so I'd better knuckle down soon and get on with it!

Procrastination is my best friend though, so I have been preparing to make a start on the list by:

::  Tidying my desk and uncovering my piano which had disappeared under piles of material, bags of buttons and other general mounds of stuff.

Before. 

My desk: after.  No "before" photo, it was too horrific. 

My piano: After.

If you look closely at the photo above, you'll be able to see that my desk did not stay clear of stuff for very long....

::  Making fabric covered buttons for the lovely Rachael at SewRayMe.  Rachael was offering bags of fabrics scraps over on Twitter, which I jumped at the chance to have.  I wanted to give something back to Rachael by way of a thank you, so I decided to make some buttons for her.  I can't show you a picture because I want them to be a surprise for when Rachael opens the parcel, but they are pretty gorgeous, and I very nearly kept them all for myself!  Instead, here is a photo of the scraps that I received in the post from Rachael this morning:

I will be making more fabric covered buttons from these, which will then be winging their way over to my Etsy shop, so keep your beady eyes open for that if you'd like to snap them up....

::  Making cards for my buttons to be sewn onto for selling in my Etsy shop.  I ordered some mini stickers from MOO the other week, which arrived a couple of days ago.  They are amazing!  Such good quality.  I have had lots of fun trying out different ways of combing the stickers with  Lemons for Lemonade stamp I ordered from The English Stamp Company, and think that I like this combination the best:

What do you think?

::  Visiting the lovely Devon of The Button Room to give her the sets of buttons I have made for her to sell at craft fairs and in her online shop.  We had a good old natter over a cup of tea, and she gave me some fabric to use, so now I have even more!  This particular bout of procrastination may last longer than I thought....

The button sets I made for Devon.

 The fabrics Devon gave me.  I can't wait to use them!

So that's it!  I have spent the entire day avoiding the list of things to do.  Luckily, two of the things on the list were "Buttons for SewRayMe" and "Blog post", so that's two things ticked off, even whilst I've been procrastinating!  Clever 'ey?!  (Ok, ok, I added them at the end of the list so that I could cross them off and make it look like I had done something....)

I hope you've all had a good week - do you feel like time speeds up during the run-up to Christmas like me?

Much love,

emmalemonade x x x

p.s I haven't mentioned The Parents for a couple of posts.  Fear not, I haven't done away with them, they are alive and well and just the same as normal.  They've been suffering from episodes of forgetfulness though, which is proving rather tricky for both of them.  And I'm buying them ear trumpets for Christmas....

Poppies and buttons

What.  A.  Week!

It all started on Monday morning when one of the stall holders at the Millets Farm Craft and Gift Fair (I blogged about her beautiful buttony creations here) contacted me to ask if I would like to supply her stall and online shop with sets of fabric covered buttons which I had been making for my Etsy shop.  Of course I said yes, and set about sorting the mountains of vintage Laura Ashley fabric scraps I had been given earlier in the year and had yet to find a proper use for:

I thought to myself "yeah, twenty sets of buttons, a week or so to sort it all out, no problemo..."

I thought wrong!  For on Tuesday morning I received a text from Miss L:

"One of the girls I work with is married to news ed at ox mail.  She has bought one of your poppies and the mail want to do a picture story on you in time for Friday!  Scary I know but fantastic opportunity to plug the crochet!  Going to give her your number because you can't turn this chance down.  Hope that's ok. X"

Crikey!  Certainly scary and most definitely a fantastic opportunity!  One small problem crossed my mind:  I had no poppies left!  Since making about 16 back in October, sales had been steadily increasing and I had given a couple away as gifts and raffle prizes, until I had sold my last one not 24 hours before.  So after work and a quick phone call with the Oxford Mail, I raced home, telling everyone I knew on the way the good news, and locked myself in my room to rustle up some more.  Very late, and eleven poppies later, I had enough for the photo shoot.

On Wednesday I had a phone interview with Mr Oxford Mail Reporter Chap, and, slightly worried I had portrayed myself as a sad 29-year-old singleton with only crochet for company, I raced home once again at the end of the day to prepare myself for the arrival of Mr Photographer Man.

A gazillion photos later, and flashbacks to Mrs A's wedding, and jaw ache, it was all done.  What am I going to do with all these poppies I thought, since it seemed too late to add them to my Etsy shop, what with 11.11.11 being less than 48 hours away.  And then I had a brainwave:  I will take them to the lovely Jo at Darn it & Stitch, my favourite shop in Oxford, and ask her if she will please pop them in a basket on the counter with a little sign saying "£6, all proceeds to The Royal British Legion" and see if they sell.  Oooh yes! she said and it was done.

On Thursday morning I took the poppies down to Darn it & Stitch and by 5.30pm all but three poppies had sold.  Amazing!

On Friday morning I got up at 7.00am and practically ran to the newsagent to see if I had made it into the paper.  Actually, I already knew I was in it, because Mrs A had already texted me to tell me I was in there, nestled amongst some esteemed war veterans, teachers and army cadets each with their own stories to tell.  I felt very honoured to be included:

And you might think that the excitement stopped there, but no, there was a further surprise waiting for me when I got home from work on Friday evening:  my crocheted poppies had been included in Mollie Makes' poppy mosaic on their blog! 

Mine is the third one down on the left-hand side.  To be included in this, with lots of other beautiful poppies and creative people was the icing on the cake for me, especially since I owe part of my renewed creative spirit to Mollie Makes and their continually inspiring magazine. So thank you Mollie Makes, and a high five to all those people who used their creativity to make poppies to sell in aid of The Royal British Legion and to remember those people who fought and gave their lives so that we could be free, and those servicemen and women who are fighting for our freedom today.

Yesterday morning, I received a text from Jo at Darn it... to say that all the poppies had been sold!  Hurrah!  AND I sold a further 2 poppies as a result of the newspaper article, so I've yet to tot it all up, but I think that's nearly £200 I've raised for The Royal British Legion.  Thank you to everyone who helped me reach that amount.  I will be sending a cheque to the RBL in the next few days.

And now on to today.  I joined what looked to be a bumper turnout for the Two Minutes Silence at the village war memorial today, and found out that a couple of people in the village have been doing some research and have discovered a further 10 men who lived in the village who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.  I wonder how they could have been "forgotten"?  There will be an exhibition about these men next year, so I suppose I shall find out then.

The rest of today has been spent making buttons and putting together this post, and writing lists of things to do!  I have entered a couple of Christmas Swaps this year; the Craft Tonic Christmas decoration exchange, and A Christmas Curiosity Project, so I need to come up with some ideas for those, plus I have the wedding favours for my brother's wedding to start thinking about, but more about those in another post....

daaa" post to share with you) and that will happen soon.....I hope! Haha!  I've only just noticed that this little paragraph didn't quite turn out right!  And none of you told me!  Anyway, I think it was meant to say that I have another "ta-daa" post to share with you, for a cowl that I crocheted what seems like ages ago now, and that I know I've promised you all a crochet-filled post, and that will happen soon, promise.

Thank you all for your kind comments on my birthday blog post.  I have decided to pretend I am 30 already as some of you suggested, as this seems like the easiest way to come to terms with it in time for when I actually reach the dreaded three-oh!

I leave you with a sneaky preview of the buttons for The Button Room:

Christmassy stars, complete with new rubber stamp from The English Stamp Company

Now I must go and get on with making the rest of the buttons...

Much love,

Emmalemonade x x x

Edited to add:  I didn't even mention the Giveaway!  How awful of me!  I haven't forgotten (well, I had, but only temporarily) and it will be happening, just as soon as the button-making and orchestra concert (I didn't mention that either, did I?) are out of the way.  Maybe I'll postpone it until I reach 300 followers on Twitter?! I'm at 250 odd now I think.  What do you reckon - giveaway now or giveaway at 300 followers?