Alan’s got a girlfriend!

Alan opens the parcel

I entered a giveaway a couple of weeks ago and my goody box has just arrived. Alan Pitchfork was desperate to open the parcel. He’d had a sneak peek at the prizes on the Chantal Loves Vintage blogsite and was smitten with the Lady Hotdogandme Sock Dog, and thought the Yeahbut would make a good pal to mess about in the garden with. Here he is meeting his new friends…

Alan makes friends with Yeahbut

Alan with his new girlfriend, Lady Hotdog&Me

Thank you Chantal, I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through all the lovely goodies. I don’t have an i-pod so I’m using the flowery felt pouch for my all important scissors and the drawstring bag is being used to stash my work-in-progress sewing

Ronald the Robin

We still haven’t put our tree up… there just seems to have been too many things to do, especially lots of craft fairs which take time to prepare for. They’re all over now though so maybe we’ll get round to tree stuff at the weekend! Anyway, when we do this lovely little crochet robin will be sitting in it. It was made for me by Emma from Lemons for Lemonade as part of a Christmas tree decoration swap run by Craft Tonic.

I especially like the way his little wings curl up at the ends. At the moment he’s hanging in my work area just waiting for tree day.

 Tog the cat was rather interested too!

Thank you Emma

‘Oh Comely’ magazine giveaway prizes

I was recently lucky enough to win two giveaway prizes from Issue Five of the most excellent magazine ‘oh comely’.

A lovely rabbit egg cosy from The Linen Cat.

and an adorable felted hen egg cosy by Seren Stacey

And here they both are being put to good use keeping our eggs warm!

If you enjoy a good read and a chance to win some unique handmade gifts then oh comely definitely fits the bill. This is what they say about themselves. Nip over to their site to find out more…

“oh comely is a magazine about people and their quirks and their creativity, rather than money and what it can buy.

It’s a magazine that inspires people to be creative, talk to their neighbours and explore new things, rather than buy stuff or lose weight. Imagine sitting down with a cup of tea and a creative friend to hear all the strange things she says, all the curious stuff she does, and about the things she loves.”

It’s the little things

After a fairly rubbish morning it seems that ‘every cloud has a silver lining‘… things got much better when postie arrived with this lovely parcel for me. I was lucky enough to win a celebratory ‘year with Folksy’ competition recently by Kellie from It’s the Little Things …

:: My Lovely Prize ::

Set of 4 Domino Fridge Magnets decoupaged with various Keep Calm images 

1. Get Excited & Make Things
2. Keep Calm & Spend More
3. Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining
4. Keep Calm & Bake Cakes

…and all wrapped up in a pretty box with a very naughty addition of colourful chocolate eggs and one of those special golden bunnies

The ‘get excited’ and ‘every cloud’ magnets will stay in my craft area on my little metal drawer set to help inspire me. ‘Bake Cakes’ will definitely go on the fridge but I’ll have to try and ignore the ‘spend more’ advice. Perhaps I’ll use that one to keep all my receipts together!

If you haven’t come across Kellie’s work before do go and have a look in her It’s the Little Things Folksy shop – it’s full of delightful handmade and refashioned jewellery, accessories, homewares and stationery often with a vintage twist. This is one of my favourite brooches that I bought from Kellie – in fact I bought two – my sister has one as well

Thanks Kellie I love them & I hope you’ll still be able to find a bit of crafting time to fit around your imminent ‘little thing’  – won’t be long now! Shaz x

Leaf Swap Goodies – almost a treeful!

In October I signed up to take part in a crafty Autumn Leaf Swap, expertly organised by  Giddystuff. These were the items on the swap list:

• A handmade item inspired by autumn leaves – it could be an Artist Trading Card, an embroidered brooch, a purse, or any other item of your choice.
• Something in an autumnal colour from your stash – a fat quarter, some buttons or a ball of yarn for instance.
• A sweet treat to enjoy after an cosy afternoon’s crafting.

My swap partner was Jenny from Winnibriggshouse.  And Oh-My-Gobsmacked-Goodness! What a truly amazing parcel of fabulousness!

I was just about to leave the house to go to the Post Office when the Postman knocked on the door delivering my parcel – so naturally I had to stay and open it! I knew it was the leaf swap parcel because Jenny had decorated the outside and all of the individually wrapped gifts inside with pretty leaves.  I know I should have photographed it all before unwrapping but I just couldn’t wait! Have a look…

Big box of scrumpled up packaging and ribbon!

A pretty selection of autumn toned fabrics and ribbons

Beautifully embroidered tree-lined autumn avenue brooch

Ceramic leaf dish

Ceramic leaf dish with chocolate treats

'Autumn leaves begin to fall' incredibly detailed embroidered cushion

The Sock Gardeners are rather keen on this - Hands Off boys!

Exoticly scented candles and perfume sachet, mmmm!

...and a most welcome pair of handmade, cosy, embroidered slippers!

Just look at the lovely detail and colours of the leaves - I love them!

A massive thank you to Jenny for her generosity and such thoughtfully put together gifts. Having seen Jenny’s talents first hand I can thoroughly recommend her handiwork. She has a lovely shop on Folksy, so please do pop over and take a look.

I’d also like to thank Victoria from Giddystuff for coming up with a really enjoyable craft swap. I’ll look out for more in the new year!

Right, I think I can eat the chocolate treats now

Hey Alan! That's mine...

Dizzy Izzy Giveaway

I was recently lucky enough to have my name picked out of the hat to win an impressive collection of ribbons. The giveaway was hosted by Helen of Dizzy Izzy Handmade.

She has a super selection of crafty supplies on offer – buttons, ribbon, zips, pins & needles, felt and lots more. She also creates very pretty handmade items for sale including brooches, bunting,purses, kits and bags.

Pear Brooch

Buttons

If you need to top up your crafty supplies just pop over to her Dizzy Izzy shop. You can also join her blog to see what new additions she has coming up.

Helen also has shops at Folksy: Dizzy Izzy Gifts & Treats Dizzy Izzy Craft Supplies.

Here are a few pics of my fabulous new stash of ribbons – a metre of every one in the shop! As the weather was nice today I started off by sitting outside and putting some of it to pretty use by making some lavender wands.

Thank you Helen – I think it might take me a while to get through this stash but I know where to come for a re-stock!

Bird Swap

Lovely Lisa from noodleBubble has been hosting another swap. Thanks for organising us again Lisa! This time the theme was birds.

My swap partner was Gemma who runs the Folksy shop Damselflygemma. Gemma’s main crafty passion is jewellery making, both sterling silver and costume. Pop over and have a look at her shop, there’s lots to choose from.

But first I want to show you the exciting parcel of goodies I received from her on Friday…

I’m thrilled to bits with my beautiful purple bird necklace and matching earrings. I think it looks like a bejeweled Bird of Paradise! The shape and detail is just gorgeous!

Gemma also sent an extra treat – a bundle of fabric pieces and buttons – always welcome items for us crafters.

…oh yes there was one more thing, but I used them almost immediately!

Thank you Gemma, I love what you sent me and I’ve christened my new jewellery already 

If you’d like to see what I made for Gemma nip over and check out her birdie swap blog article too

UK Handmade Round Robin Creature Swap

Finally I’ve got round to writing my blog about our UK Handmade creature swap. I really enjoyed it because each stage had an element of surprise. There were 4 of us in the team and we each got to have a go at all stages.

So, the rules were quite simple:

1. Describe a creature – post to next person
2. Draw a picture of the description you receive – post on
3. Make the creature from the description & pic you receive – post on
4. Add the features to the creature you recieve – post on
5. This is where you get back the creature you originally described and have a chance to add any final details before posting  back to the host…

So, here is my most excellent creature, I love him to bits and I don’t want to send him off yet! I’ve christened him INKY

Stage 1: Description

Stage 2: Drawing

Stage 3 & 4: Made up creature with features added

Stage 5: Inky with his new boots on

Close up of those lovely Inky ears!

<<<A BIG THANK YOU TO MY FELLOW ROUND ROBINERS FOR CREATING SUCH A GORGEOUS LITTLE CREATURE AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OLLY FOR HOSTING>>>

Olly from Wöllies for such an imaginative and magical drawing

Wöllies Blog ~~~ Wöllies Folksy Shop

Kathleen from Murgatroyd & Bean for such a perfectly stitched body

Murgatroyd & Beans Blog ~~~ Murgatroyd & Beans Folksy Shop

Julia from Hand Knitted Things for giving Inky his personality

Hand Knitted Things Blog

If you like the idea of Round Robins and Swaps there are always lots of opportunities to take part in such things at UK Handmade. Why not join up, it’s free and a great way to make links with other crafters.

Gelert Design – Button Set Winner

The lucky winner of the Gelert Design button giveaway is…

Susie from Lynwood Jewellery

Lynwood Jewellery comprise Susie and Bev who design and hand make jewellery from their workshop in the darkest depths of Northumberland. They create pieces that are both distinctive and eye catching.  Take a look at their blog which has more details about how their jewellery is made or browse through the shop to find  a unique piece for yourself!

CONGRATUALATIONS Susie!

Valentine Giveaway – Now Closed

Meet ‘Be-Mine’ HearterNinnie – this little HooterNinnie has dressed for the Valentine season by donning a felt heart on the end of her Hooter and a pair of heart shaped felt ears.

‘Be_Mine’ wants to find someone to snuggle up to and has already been bravely trying her luck with one of the new extra large HooterNinnies over in the OddSox Folksy shop.

For a chance to WIN ‘Be-Mine’ HearterNinnie this is all you need to do…

• Leave a comment and tell me which HooterNinnie ‘Be-Mine’ is cuddling up to over at OddSox.

• If you Twitter, copy and paste this message as a Tweet for an extra entry:

Enter the Valentine HearterNinnie Giveaway by @thesockgarden GOOD LUCK! http://thesockgarden.wordpress.com

The Winner will be picked out of something by one of the other HooterNinnies on Sunday 31^st January after 12noon, notified by email and also announced here at The Sock Garden.

‘Be-Mine’ could be all yours or she can be sent to your Valentine with whatever message you’d like!

Good Luck – and don’t forget if you’re not a winner there are plenty of Hooties to go round!

(Note: the pretty glass heart beads surrounding ‘Be-Mine’ are from Ruby&Dig’s fabulous destash, supplies and ephemera shop – I may include a couple with Be-Mine!)