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Welcome to Handmade Monday!

This week the latest Craftseller magazine arrived.  Inside are a couple of my cards, using Craftseller's free papers

and my music paper cones with heart shaped confetti - this is a quick make for their 30-minute make section

The vintage sheet music is a free download from The Graphics Fairy.

Quentin News

Guide Dog puppy Quentin is growing at an alarming rate - I realised how big he was when we went to puppy classes this week.  At five months, he is already bigger than a six-month-old pup (another labrador) who was there too.  And his paws were twice the size of the other puppy's.

Big paws and cute puppy dog eyes!

I mentioned a few weeks ago how he sat down at the start of any walk that started at our front door (as opposed to going out in the car).  I remedied that by adding in some exciting detours - the woods and a field where he can free run.  Now he doesn't sit down at the beginning of walks...but he does sit down now if we don't take the turning to the field or cross the road at the right place for the woods!!

Quentin's paw in my hand!

I'm now varying the routes as much as possible, so he realises there are different routes to the same place - but also that he realises I'm in charge and not him!  There are many more learning curves for him than I had imagined!  I'm told that pups who show initiative make better guide dogs than those who are more placid, so perhaps it's not such a bad sign, although I can't help imagining a blind person hoping to go to the corner shop for a pint of milk and Quentin taking him or her to the park for a run!

He is still jumping up when he's very excited but that is lessening and now he doesn't jump up every time there's a visitor or when he gets petted when he's out - which is a great improvement and a bit of a relief!

It's time for handing over to you for Handmade Monday now.  Enjoy meandering through the links!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Welcome to another Handmade Monday!

This month's Craftseller magazine (issue 38) landed on my doormat yesterday, and I seem to have quite a few projects in there this month!

There's the cards...all very vintage and masculine this month

and the quilled wedding makes...

with the cat cake toppers

the flowers in pots

and the quilled rose-inspired bunting too...

and as if that's not enough, there were my fox and owl bookmarks (and it was a lovely surprise to see these on the cover photo on Craftseller's Facebook page!)...

It probably all sounds more than it was - the quilling makes were all part of the same article, so they really only count as one!

Quentin news
One of the (many) things guide dogs have to learn is to "spend" (do their toileting) on command.  When Quentin first arrived I was a bit worried about this...but this weekend we had a breakthrough!

At home, it's no problem at all - he has a fenced-off area which he now strongly associates with all things toilet-related.  He even rushes off there by himself in the middle of a play session!  But when we're out it's a bit more difficult.  Guide dog puppies are taught the command "busy busy" which means they can relieve themselves - but Quentin has never really quite "got" that while we were out.  Until now...

Yesterday, after a trip around Asda, I took him to a corner of the car park and told him "busy busy" - and for the first time outside the home, he responded appropriately!  I was so disproportionately pleased!

Now, I do apologise for hi-jacking what really should be a craft blog with tales of puppy toilet training, but to make up for it, here's one of him demanding attention while I sew!  I can't resist those puppy dog eyes!

Before I turn into a puppy bore, it's over to you for Handmade Monday - you know what to do...

An InLinkz Link-up

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Welcome to another Handmade Monday!  I don't know about you, but time seems to be speeding by at an alarming rate - these weeks come by far too quickly!  Magazine projects and deadlines seem to make time go even more quickly, as I'm always looking ahead.  I think we need a pause button sometimes - anyone else feel that?

But (maybe at least getting a sense of slowing down slightly) I'm loving the vintage feel on my latest card making project for Craftseller magazine..

These cards utilise the free papers that Craftseller will be giving away with issue 38, but I also got to use a free download from The Graphics Fairy in the form of a French postcard back - which I just love.

And as I was speaking of magazine projects, vintage and looking ahead...this is part of the latest projects, too:

Quentin news
Guide dog puppy Quentin is still doing well.  He's pretty good now at sitting on my left hand side, responds really well to come, sit, wait and (to a lesser degree) down and is starting to learn the command stand (from a sitting position).

I have my eye on that treat in your hand...

 I think he's getting better on the lead, although there are times he doesn't seem to quite understand that walks are for walking, not for sitting, lying down or chewing his lead (or my legs, which clearly seem tempting at times!).

Yes, I'm gorgeous!

He likes people very much.  Too much, probably, because he pulls to go towards people whenever he's out - he does have to learn that he can't get attention from everyone he meets!  It's hard, because most people want to stroke him and he just wants to be stroked.

Lying down for a treat - I like that idea!

Over to you now...how has your week been? What have you been making?

An InLinkz Link-up

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Welcome to another Handmade Monday - and Happy Mother's Day to mums in the UK! Today is Mothering Sunday here in the UK (to give it its official title).  I think the rest of the world celebrates Mother's Day on a different date (but please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

One of the great (but occasionally very weird) things about designing projects for magazines is the peek into the coming seasons via the craft medium.  This week I've made summer-themed cards for Craftseller

and although I know summer is on the way, this made it feel more real, somehow!  As soon as I saw the summer tag (it's on one of the free papers they'll be giving away with the magazine - they send me the papers to make the cards for them) I knew I had to include it!  It's a lovely spring day here in Cheshire today and it makes summer feel close by.

In Guide Dog Puppy Quentin news... well, he's had his first bus ride without any problems at all.  He's continuing to behave himself in shopping centres and supermarkets, although that might all change once he spends more time on the floor than in my arms (which isn't far off - he's definitely growing fast and my arms won't hold out much longer!).

He loves going for little walks on the lead - which up to now are just up and down the driveway.  I can't wait to see his reaction when he's allowed to go further (which won't be until he's been vaccinated).  It's hard to imagine when you see him wandering, pulling on the lead, sniffing everything and picking up stones that he could one day be guiding a blind or partially sighted person around busy streets.

It's over to you now for Handmade Monday...

An InLinkz Link-up

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Hello and welcome to another Handmade Monday!

I can't show you what I made this week as it's for Craftseller magazine - but it's foxy! OK then,  I guess I can show you a teeny sneak peek...

I was quite pleased with how it turned out - it's very cute!

Guide Dog puppy Quentin is getting along really well.  He wows people everywhere he goes but he's starting to get a bit heavy for carrying now - my arms ache when we go shopping! He's been in most of the big supermarkets, a variety of post offices and even a railway station and a pre-school! (I don't know who was more excited to see him, the kids or the staff, but my granddaughter was very proud that Quentin "belonged" to her!)

He also behaved impeccably in a restaurant...

despite being much tinier than his own food, which looks like it might last him forever!  Although, seeing him eat, you know that it won't!

OK, it's over to you for Handmade Monday.  You know what to do...

An InLinkz Link-up

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Welcome to Handmade Monday!

I can now show you the finished bag I gave to my sister...

 It's an eider duck, which she loves.

She was thrilled with it, and I'm mostly pleased with it although the duck should have been a bit higher on the bag.  His feet get a little lost at the bottom.  I get annoyed at myself when I make silly mistakes like that.

Still, she loved the large zipped front pocket...

and the fabrics.  The grey dotty canvas is an excellent bag-making fabric as it's quite robust.  The gorgeous lining fabric, also from Wholeport, is one of those fabrics which seems to go with lots of things - it's so bright and happy.

Speaking of happy...

Quentin and I are getting along famously.  If you missed my earlier post, Quentin is a Guide Dog puppy and I'm looking after him for his first year.  He is adorable - such a nice natured little pup!  Here he is showing off his official Guide Dogs tag (he sometimes tries to chew it but can't quite manage it.  It's the same with his tail!)

We had our first shopping trip together yesterday - to the post office and Asda!  I can see that all future shopping trips are going to take twice as long as usual - everyone wants to say hello to Quentin.  At this stage, he gets carried around like a baby (and of course, he still is a baby yet).

He's already getting better at using the "outside toilet".  Guide Dog puppies are trained to go outside straight away, and always on concrete or paving.  He's already getting better at it (or maybe it's just that I'm getting better at knowing when he wants to go!).  He has a fenced-off area for his toilet, which looks huge compared to him!

I can see it's going to be so hard to give him up when he's ready for his next stage training!!  No wonder I was given a contract to sign!

OK, back to Handmade Monday!  What have you been making?

An InLinkz Link-up

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Hello! Welcome to Handmade Monday!  Click the link to find out more.

This week, I was really surprised to find Your Handmade Home plopping through my letterbox.  I hadn't had a discussion about this with anyone, but I found one of my projects in its pages.  Part of writing for magazines usually includes signing a contract allowing them to re-use one of your projects (for a small fee) and this is what they'd done here.

These little fabric and paper hearts started life on my blog and were used in a Craftseller upcycling calendar before making their way onto the pages of Your Handmade Home.

Craftseller magazine also brought me a nice surprise this week.  The letters page features a reader who had made a card using one of my previous designs for the magazine - it's always such a lovely feeling to have inspired someone else!

More of my cards are in the middle pages of this month's Craftseller and feature their With Love papers collection (very pretty and great for Valentine's cards and much more!).

This week has been busy with little ones, family visits (late Christmas and new Year visits) and some chaotic catching up - it seems I'm a little behind with almost everything.  It's always sad to wave off my daughter and granddaughter when they go back to London, but it has its advantages too - I get my sewing room back from its temporary bedroom status and the house is most definitely quieter.

But sadly, no more art installations on the windows... I love that this is the first thing she thought of doing with her first tubs of Playdough!

What have you been doing this week?

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It's time for Handmade Monday again - hello!  If you're new here, click the link to find out more.

This week has passed in a bit of a blur for me, mostly a painting blur!  This time of year I turn into a one-woman factory, churning out personalised gifts!  Santa's elves have nothing on me!

But I did shoe-horn in a bit of card making time.  Valentine's cards, no less, for Craftseller magazine.  It feels odd to be so wrapped up in Christmas orders one minute and making Valentine's cards the next!

I got my sewing machine out for this one!

I'm keeping it short and sweet this week so I can get back to the sweatshop.  Well, it's actually more like a fridge than a sweatshop until the logburner kicks in, but you get the idea, I'm sure.

It's your turn now - what's been happening in your world?

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Welcome to another Handmade Monday!  How do these weeks roll round so fast?

It seems only a week or two ago I was making cards, candles and polymer tree decorations for this week's Craftseller.  But it can't be, because here they are, all published and on the shelves in the shops.

It's always a complete pleasure to be asked to make cards - I love taking the time out to kind of relax into paper cutting and layering!  The papers I used are free in this month's issue

and they are gorgeous papers, I have to say.  They include a few sentiments, too, as always.

I was less sure about the candles I was asked to make, as this was a pretty new craft to me!  Also, the idea of making them using cookie cutters seemed a little bit risky - all that leakage of hot wax!  Cookie cutters aren't meant to be candle moulds!  However, it all worked out OK in the end and they do make pretty candles!

The polymer tree decorations were fun to make, but they use up a fair bit of clay (although the candy canes are super-easy to make, and use a lot less clay).

The robins have googly eyes, and the holly leaves were made using cake/biscuit cutters.

And what have I made this week?  Well, there's been a lot of painting of personalised gifts going on, and there's been some making of digital stamps for a bookazine project which will be published in February - I can't say more than that yet!  

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Hi and welcome to Handmade Monday!

I've been looking forward to this month's Craftseller magazine, not just because some of my projects made it onto the pages, but because one of those projects is very close to my heart.

This vintage-styled handbag (purse for those of you across the pond) has a very special face on the front - my lovely Grandma as a young girl.  I'm told this picture was taken sometime after the first world war - in any case it was well before my dad was born in 1928!

You may remember I blogged about making this bag a few weeks back.  It uses a nifty little fabric that you can print directly onto using your ordinary inkjet printer and the resulting printed fabric is even washable (I've not tested its washability, but the printed fabric is excellent).  I bought mine from Crafty Computer Paper - and I've since been back for more as this project has given me a bucketload of ideas!

My Grandma would have been so proud - not just because her own face was in a magazine, but because she was always very proud of all her grandchildren's achievements (no matter how small).

Also in this issue are a couple of my cards which use Craftseller's free papers.

a sleepy owl...

...and a Russian doll

If cards are your thing, you may be interested in my new Christmas digital stamps, which I've uploaded this week.  I think this robin might be my favourite...

...but I do want to get some more Christmas digis drawn and uploaded very soon.

It's over to you now for Handmade Monday.  Are you making for Christmas, or still making for Halloween?
Or maybe your mind is on something else altogether?  Tell us about it...

Handmade Monday 139

Welcome to another Handmade Monday!

Well, this unruly mess of ribbon, string, paper and glue can only mean one thing...

... more cards for Craftseller magazine.  More Christmas cards, to be precise.

The cards I make for them are of course to showcase the free craft papers they give away every month, but I can never resist adding a little something to the papers when I'm making a card...

I think being able to add texture and depth is one of the really great things about handmade cards - it definitely separates the finished product from mass-produced and creates a much more luxurious feel.  Plus it's so much fun to do!

Seriously - aren't those Craftseller papers just gorgeous?

Enough of me and my cards - the full reveal will have to wait.  It's over to you now...

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Hello! Welcome to Handmade Monday!

I'm happy to report that my first cards for Craftseller magazine are in this month's issue!  They use the free papers that come with the magazine and this cute little bird is one of them...

Also in this month's issue there's my apron, tea towel and oven mitts, using a Christmas tree design sponged onto linen.

I loved the fabric these were made from - a super soft and drapey natural linen from Guthrie & Ghani (an online and gorgeous bricks & mortar shop run by the very lovely Lauren from the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee - do check it out! Lauren's blog is well worth reading, too).

The sponging worked really well on the linen, and I'm pleased with how they've come across in the magazine.

I've been making more cards for Craftseller too.  Christmas seems to go on forever at the moment with magazine commissions!

But I like very much that these latest free papers include sentiments suitable for Christmas birthdays too. Two of my children were born in December, one of them on Christmas Day itself - she was born at home in the early hours of Christmas morning and yes, it felt a little bit like a fairy tale.  Her brother and sister woke up and found a new baby for Christmas!  She's grown up now with a baby of her own but her birth was definitely very special.

What's your handmade week been like?