Handmade Monday 137

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?

Handmade Monday 136

It's time for another Handmade Monday! These weeks sure do whiz by quickly these days!

There have been yet more Christmas projects for me this week.  I made some polymer clay tree decorations for Craftseller, using...

brown polymer clay and...

white polymer clay....

and a few other colours thrown in there too.

I also made some candles for the same magazine!  I am a newbie to candle making and I take my hat off to candle makers everywhere.  I really don't think I am patient enough to take it up permanently!

I was asked to make some candles using cookie cutters - the obvious problem here being that cookie cutters are designed to cut cookies and not contain melted wax.  I did my best to keep the wax in with extra foil scrunched under and around the cutter, and I think it did work - to an extent.  The good thing with overflowed wax is that it can easily be recycled by re-melting!

wax leakage!

What I really love about being asked to do things a little bit outside my comfort zone is that I get to have a go at things I wouldn't have tried otherwise and I gain a few new skills along the way.  I love that aspect of working for magazines!

Front cover!

And here's another rather lovely aspect of working for magazines: my campervan tea cosy made it onto the front cover of Sewing World magazine this month, which is very exciting!

What has your week been like?  I'd love to know! I'm hoping I'll have some time for blog visiting this week.  I really do miss it when time it short!