Gorgeous Ellie Softies...

I have taken these last three weeks or so off from Heartmade work...  The week preceding Christmas I came down with a horrible flu bug which kept me in bed for over a week...  Did I ever mention that I detest being sick and having to stay tucked up in blankets and having my meals served to me on a tray?  However, I am very thankful that I have such a wonderful family to take care of me and put up with my moaning and groaning:)

  It was especially difficult being bound to my bed during the festivities...fortunately we had planned a very relaxed Christmas and hadn’t planned to have anyone over to share the day with us...  My mom and sisters put together a beautiful meal for us and I managed to get up for a few hours to celebrate with my family.  

After Christmas I gradually regained my strength, and by the time our friends arrived to spend my eighteenth birthday with me, I was almost back to normal!  I am extremely grateful that I didn’t get sick over that special weekend... The Lord is very good!

Thus, the weeks have passed by so swiftly and I can’t say I have done too much along the lines of work...

It has certainly been lovely having more time with my family and being able to just relax and enjoy a few outings, but the time has almost arrived for me to start thinking about my little business and how I will move forward this year and what lines I will focus on making for my clients and also for the markets...

This is just a peek at what I’ve been busy with...

These elephant softies I made for an order in early December, but I intend to make more for market stock and other clients during this year...  

We live in the Knysna area where there are still a few elephants living in the forests.  This is, of course, a fantastic tourist attraction and I thought making elephant softies would be a good idea for all those touristy people who might wish to take a small gift home for a little loved person...

 I searched the web for some inspiration for these lovelies...

I used beautiful, 100% cotton fabric for these lovelies...they are pretty simple to sew and would certainly make adorable gifts for babies or toddlers as they have safety eyes and are the perfect size for easy handling (or chewing)!

 

Otherwise they would also be very sweet propped up against a pillow or cushion on a child’s bed or cot...

I will be back very soon with some of the other projects I have been making for Heartmade recently...

Adding this project to 52 Crafts in 52 Weeks Challenge 

 

52 Crafts in 52 Weeks ~ Week Forty {and why I love being at home...}

It is so exciting to share the fortieth craft in my fifty-two week craft challenge!  This challenge was of course meant to be completed by the end of 2013, but as we had a rather busy year last year, I didn’t quite manage to stay on schedule...

 This year I set myself a few crafty things to do over a longer period of time, such as my cross stitch project and embroidered cushion...  I shared a few photographs of the beginning stages back in May in this post...

I was delighted to see this sweet cushion come together after all the hours of love I poured into it.  My dear mother saw an idea for a cushion very similar to this one in an old magazine of hers.  I then took the idea and added my own personal touches and used my own design for the embroidery...

I just love how it turned out and I am so inspired to make another one or two or even three...perhaps a few for gifts and maybe even some for sale, we’ll have to see! 

A lot of time and effort went into this cushion.  First of all I had to choose and cut out all the little squares and sew them all together on the machine...then came the lovely part of drawing the design lightly and carefully onto the piece of patchwork... 

Such cosy hours spent by the fireside watching Sense and Sensibility and Larkrise to Candleford while I stitched to my heart’s content...  After the embroidery part was completed, I made two little flowers out of felt and sewed them to the cushion, as well as two crocheted flowers which I bought from our local haberdashery (I haven’t learnt to crochet yet).

Lastly I stitched on two butterfly buttons and a flower button and created a little ‘flight trail’ for the butterflies with embroidery cotton.  And let me not forget dear Ladybird who was secured to the cushion cover with fabric glue.

After this was all done, I made a cushion inner to fit and a backing piece out of light pink polycotton which I sewed to the front embroidered piece......

How special it felt to stand back and admire the finished project and reflect on all the happiness that went into creating it... 

If I do decide to make another cushion (and I am certain I will for I enjoyed this one so much), I will most definitely share a few photographs of it with you! 

I am simply longing to go through all the gorgeous fabric on the shelf and decide which colours and patterns to work with this time...

 I love creating and this is one of the reasons I treasure being at home so much...  I have the opportunity to pursue my interests and delight in the pleasures of sewing and crafting in the comfort of my dear home!  And I have my mother (who is a constant inspiration to me and comes up with such wonderful ideas) to discuss things with, as well as my sisters and dad who are all praise and admiration – I could very easily become conceited I think :)    

And one of the ways I find great joy is in creating...I prefer my hands to be busy rather than idle – I find I am so much more contented if I have a project in my workbasket to pick up and put down throughout the day.

How about you...in which ways do you find joy?

~ I hope all my dear readers are having a beautiful and blessed day today! ~

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Floral Fantasy Gift Tags & Shop News

Hello lovely readers and a happy Tuesday to you all. 

I thought I would show you what I have been busy with lately... 

In between normal daily life, Mom and I work on adding new products to our shop repertoire, with the hopes of opening sometime in May, should all go well and there are no interruptions! 

 I’m happy to say these gift tags will soon be up for sale too, along with many other pretty gifts and things!

These pretty gift tags are perfect to round off that special gift!

 

Tags come in assorted patterned packs of 12 and include the wording ‘With Love’, a piece of torn book paper, a length of Baker’s Twine in different colours to match the paper, and a hand-cut fabric flower motif.  Tags measure 4.5cm x 9cm and are uniquely handmade by me.

Adding this post to ’52 Crafts in52 Weeks Challenge – Week Thirty Seven’.

 What do you think of my gift tags?  What have you been busy with lately?

~ She selects wool and flax and work with eager hands ~

P.S.  Just a reminder...  If you haven’t yet entered my giveaway for a copy of

Karen Andreola’s book, ‘Beautiful Girlhood’, then don’t hesitate to do so!  Click here to enter!