Thursday 30 August 2012

Blog Hoppin Break

WOW, today I was called Talented! I am so incredibly chuffed that someone actually likes what I do!  Me being the negative woman that I have been battered into being just thinks that I like to do things and don't do it particularly well....

Have I been selling myself short?,  What would I say to someone else who had made something like me? I would most definitely say that I loved what they have done, and I would mean that too!

One thing that I do know, I like to do what I am doing, pottering about with a sewing machine, rotary cutter, some fabric, needles and pins... then making something that was originally a pile of fabric with no real meaning... that is where the meaning comes into the pieces I make.. I do feel affection for each one, even if it isn't quite as perfect as I had hoped. Just as a mother does with every child, even though they may have had a naughty day, the maternal love just doesn't go, its there, permanently. My children know that I love them, I tell them, I hug them, I treat them to all sorts of things that they don't really need.. but they get them anyway, and finally I also teach them to make and create... both my eldest children 12 and 11 can cook a full dinner for the family (6 of us), both can sew (reasonable standard for children with a low attention span to anything not electric), both can bake cakes and do it very well - My thighs will tell you that much...
Hmm so love comes in many guises.... and that kind of affection that is just well, latent, is the same affection that allows me to say 'I really like what you have done! its lovely' and mean it.

Today I did something that wasn't perfect... well its web based so there is no perfection as far as I am concerned, I can type, I can surf, I can buy online safely, what I can't do is update my website with photographs that will fit nicely in line with the boundaries on the page...
have a look at this mess....

there you have it, a mucky website... navigate your way to the tutorials page and then go to the Wet Bag one... LOL oh dear I need to have some lessons given to me by someone other than my partner... he just got very grumpy very quickly and stomped off.... He has been working for the last 36 hours and I have seen little snippets of him - even overnight!... so I am going to talk aren't I?.... its what we do! 

Ah well, tomorrow when he is clean shaven and less grumpy, then we'll talk xxx 

I hope you are still blog hopping x I am x

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Blog Hop Giveaway x

Give away link

Hover over the words above (Give away link), and you'll find a link that you can click on, this will send you over to Michele's blog, where the giveaway HQ is.  She has painstakingly put all us giver's onto a little data base for you, all you have to do is....

click on our names and do as the instructions bid.....

It couldn't be simpler, no one has asked for money up front, no one has asked you stand on your head for 2 hours... most are asking that you follow their blog, like them and leave a comment or just one or two of the three, it is so easy, so come on join in the fun...x

Lets make this world a smaller place and get together in this global gathering of like minded people x

x J x

Monday 27 August 2012

Not a hat, definatly the Wet Bag.

You may recall some blog dates ago that I had intended to show you the wet bag that I was making... and was dragged away by my daughters sun hat instead... The sun hat is still looking stunning atop her head x

Well I can proudly say that today I did indeed make the wet bag, including all the instructions, and I have created a little pattern that will be added to my web site in due course - www.bagsocharm.co.uk

It might not happen until tomorrow evening as my partner will need to lead me by the hand again.. but it WILL be there x

Now onto more serious stuff, the Blog Hop!!!!

Many ladies have shouted hello from their sewing room windows, all are being entered into my Giveaway, the lucky winner will recieve either an Ipad cover, quilted of course or a mini quilt wall hanging in the style of Liberated Quilting.

All you have to do is, go to my face book page Bagsocharm, and say hello on that page - if you don't I won't know you have been. Some of the giver awayers are requesting that participants follow them, I don't expect you to do that, I know what it is like, you end up following so many people that you don't know what you are following or indeed why?... Just say hello.... with a smile x 

See you all soon, x J x

Friday 24 August 2012

Quilting Gallery - Blog hop x Giveavay xxx

http://quiltinggallery.com/quilters-fun/quilters-blog-hop-party/

copy and paste the link to the blog hop, the previous post link didn't work for some reason?

Come join in the fun, beginning August the 25th and ending at 2359 on September 3rd, 

To enter my giveaway all you have to do is visit my facebook page by clicking on the word page. Then leave a comment and like us!  It couldn't get any simpler could it?

The lucky person who's name will be picked out at random, from all 'likers' between the qualifying times, (any before or after will not be counted) will win their pick of either, a Quilted Ipad/Tablet cover or a liberated Quilting Wall Hanging which will amount to the same size.

Below are some examples of Ipad cover's that are available. As long as I know the colour and sillhouette that is required I can get on with the product.

I will of course post the name of the winning 'liker' on both facebook and here, 

So as of tomorrow afternoon (25th) get liking.

This little part of the Blog Hop is open to all comers, UK residents and all other countries too x I will post anywhere that has a post operative to deliver x

Sew what are you waiting for - visit my facebook page - BagsoCharm and say hello x


Work in progress

An Ipad cover I made for my daughter

My daughters Ipad cover from the inside.
Take care and have fun hopping around the blogs x Janey x

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Wet bag or not?

I did the quote for a Wet Bag for someone who needs one to store soiled cloth nappies in when out and about.  I have looked at many that are currently on sale around the World and with all things considered I can do one for her.  The quote I gave, I thought was reasonable. However, having heard nothing since I sent her the quote I suspect that she doesn't want one from me.

Not a problem, I do have other friends who are cloth 'bottom'ers', so have asked if I can make one for her as a present - for being such a fabulous and forgiving friend x (I sometimes don't get a chance to respond to texts, we live no where near each other!)

So I thought to myself tonight, that is what I will do once the babies have gone to bed.

As soon as they were tucked up and silent, off I went into the Study to create and make. I was greeted with a busy sewing table, magazines that need reading, other notions about the place... time for a clear up I think.
The clear up prompted the end of some projects that I just haven't got round too, many reasons why but the main one is the brain thinking up more items to make before I have finished the last 3 or 4.

With this little bit of time I chose to get the babies sun hats done, I had drawn the pattern out myself, I have used none technical dimensions - both of them are totally ad hock and created off the cuff. Not my usual style I have to be honest.

Look for yourselves and see what they turned out like - I will attempt to upload the pattern for anyone who wants to print it off for personal uses at a later date (I still haven't learnt how to do it).

Girls hat modelled by my eldest boy - his head is roughly the same size

Back of the head - so you can see the many colours in this very pretty and striking hat

One for the boys - I had this fabric for his hat for a long time - finally done!

I have only two more to make, for the family that is, eldest girl want's one, and I have more material to make the youngest girl another one.  Though I think that one should be a different style,

Let me know what you think, AND  please please send me pictures of your sun hats, I would love to get them up onto the blog too, a fresh pair of eye's always produces a different project outcome x
Thanks for reading x

Sunday 12 August 2012

A Miracle

WOW!  Let me just hold still for a moment whilst I catch my breath.....

Phew....

We had two days of sunshine! Two whole days, and last night (the last of the two days) We invited the neighbours over for a BBQ.  Ordinarily that would have caused the rain to come, but it didn't, it held off until just after we got the food and sundries into the house.

What did happen that wasn't supposed to was....  The BBQ caught fire! The paint was actually burning!... It wasn't my cooking, I had done the sausages and they were lovely, I put on the minted lamb.  Oh dear that was that, - the fat dripped into the bottom of the BBQ, and didn't drain out, that caught fire, which in turn caught the lamb chops alight, which in turn caused the paint to catch fire as the fat (some of it) dribbled down the front of the BBQ!  Fire retardant paint caught fire for gods sake!

What concerned me most was the cost of the ruined lamb! damn the safety of the neighbours who were sat too close to the fire to be comfortable really, and the new double swing seat that they were sat in, would have gone up in seconds... thank god that didn't go up!

Ah well, I think we have seen all the summer days we are going to, so at least we had the full use of the BBQ this year as it was ever going to be needed for?! lol now, I look to freecycle to see if someone can send one our way.

In the mean time, yesterday I was forced into wearing jeans that are too short for me, and thus had to roll them up.  So me being me thought... why should I do this every time and really avoid wearing a pair of jeans that are perfectly wearable?  I lopped off the bottom of the jean legs, and using some fat quarter's I had laying about! trimmed along the bottoms of the jean's and made a lovely little pair of capri jean's with a very vibrant cuff to the leg's.   I have never done it before, but I will most probably be doing it again, especially as my legs seem to be too long for my body.

And now..... I am going to be playing with my toyota quilt master 50, which is back from servicing, no longer a clunky monster, more a smooth rider (cheap skates making it didn't use any lubricant's what so ever!), however, the engineer has made one minor biff up... the stitch selector wheel has dropped out of synch with the actual stitches... I thought I was doing a straight stitch and a ZigZag came out! talk about confusing a blonde!... it took me ages to work out what had gone wrong ;-)

He'll be back off holiday soon, though my other half thinks I would be able to take the cover off and do it myself!!! I think... far too scared to do something like take the cover off!

Speak soon ladies and gentle beans x

Thursday 9 August 2012

Inspired...?

This afternoon was a normal afternoon by anyone's standards.

We drove across country (30 miles), and collected some double glazing panes from a fellow freecycler, great for a little lean to green house for strawberries - and they will need the help this year as the sun has remained resolutely behind thick rain clouds.

We played around the living room, skittles made with Pepsi bottles, hide under the quilted floor play mat, me and two babies - I was never going to hid with my bottom sticking out from behind the sofa was I?

Then whilst I was trying to go through my emails - daily chore of sifting through the offers of millions, if I can pay thousands first - people still fall for it though!... then my youngest daughter popped her head over the gate to the study. With the sweetest little voice said, 
'In, Mummy, Pllleassssse?'
aw now who could possible not allow anything after that?

In she comes, content with some paper and a few pencils to begin with... then she thinks that my seat is a much better option for her bottom than the lower office chair. My bar stool suits my back better than anything else.  Over she toddles, up I get her, and some how, I can't remember the exact details, Cbeebies pops up onto the screen, their web page that sometimes works at the right speed and most of the time doesn't. It's filled with over enthusiastic lunatics who make the oddest faces and noises that all toddlers love.  I printed off some pictures of her favourite characters for her to colour in.  That was wrong, she wanted to paint them on the screen!    Oh dear!   Queue tantrum....

How did I calm her down, the song icon...  what made it worse, I was singing along too, dancing like the on screen lunatics, pulling faces, making the noises... and my daughter?  she just watched me.   Lesson learnt, just go with the flow, let it happen and someday the babies will pick it up and do it themselves too!

Anyway, this burst of energy that was surging through my arteries and veins gave me the impetus to do something to sell, rather than make sun hats, lunch bags and other sundries that have had me avoiding the real work I need to be doing.

I came up with the delightful wall hanging you can see on the pictures, I was over the moon with it when it was finally done.   I have just done one for a customer and used baby gro's for that one, very stretchy and it did make a nice item, but I wasn't totally pleased with the outcome.  This one I used Polyester and cotton fabrics and the end result, in my humble opinion is much nicer - The next one will be better again you'll see.

The heart shape was a touch difficult to hold into place, I could do with a vice and a decent set of pliers, and a welding torch.  The blinking thing wouldn't pop open then would it, oh I said a few bad words - such as blimey, goodness, Oh Dear... Etc.

I just couldn't get the exposure right , hence the different  shades.


I have added the St George pendant to give this wall hanging some link to the Olympics being held here in the UK.

And the odd pearl, and bead to pretty it up even more x
I will be putting it up for sale on the website as soon as I wake up in a few hours, folksy and etsy too - not forgetting Crafty Bums. 
.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Memory bracelets | TheMakingSpot

Memory bracelets | TheMakingSpot

I will be doing these with my kiddies if this weather keeps up and our outdoor pursuits become more of a distant memory than they should!

Ah well, at least the plants are happy, warmish weather conditions with rain... just need a spot or two of sunshine and we may just have a blooming garden, ;-)

Monday 6 August 2012

A sun hat in practice - tutorial to follow

I am currently putting together a sun hat for my youngest daughter, as soon as I have it right, I will then tweek and touch up and make it into an apple... Then I'll put up a tutorial for you all to  use yourselves,

Don't be shy though, please get in touch and send your photo's to me at
janey@bagsocharm.co.uk

I would really love to see your finished items and post them onto the blog, one idea springs many thoughts... just as one seed brings many branches x


Thursday 2 August 2012

nighty tutorial


If this is a link to an album, it will show you the tutorial, however, its all in pictures, I am still working on the adding to my blog page without pictures getting all fluffed up x

Free Nightie Tutorial


It took me a long time to finally get it into somewhere, and whilst I still haven't figured out how to get it onto here without the photo's going AWOL, I did get it onto our Website (follow the link at the top, embedded into the page top title)

That in itself was not a quick process but it did end up getting there.

During my trip of internet and computer education, I have learn't how to use PhotoShop to decrease the picture sizes in Pixels, I know how to edit the website as an administrator, and I've learn't that computers can be really frustrating when they don't do what you think you have told them to do!... ooo that did naff me off!.. 
Oh and I have also learnt to qualify what I have done with a hand written back up copy so I don't get confused. Did that last bit make me sound as old as I feel? mos probably... :-0

I hope you have had fun making this item, fingers crossed your's were well received and have turned out fantastically, please please let me know if you have managed to do one and let us all see the pictures x

Thanks for dropping by x