Autumn colours

It has been a lovely sunny couple of weeks recently, but I've been working on some Autumn and Winter items (I know i should of done this in June by retail standards- but just can't do things that far in advance!)

I wanted to make more jewellery like my folk art necklace and rings I did last year. Mixing the simple painted style with autumn animals, or for this set British birds, makes a nice collection of colours and shapes. I hope these will go well with lovely berry knits that I wear as soon as the weather turns a bit nippy. I'm particularly happy with the crested tit on white and the wag tail on yellow.

I've also been using other wintery feeling materials, namely felt. Nomi Makes has a lovely collection of bright coloured felt balls and I've selected lovely jewel and berry colours - and the bag of mini balls I have looks just like autumn leaves! I'm going to mix these with ribbon and embroidery to make some cosy jewellery.

You can see more of my inspirations on my Autumn Pinterest board :)

Handmade Gifts : DK Crafts

Wow! I'm in a book. In Handmade Gifts by DK I show you how to make my popular tote bags, including the pencil design above. This was the first bag print I listed in my online shop and I'm happy to share a technique in printing it. (One that you can do at home without any expensive equipment!)
 In the back of the book you'll see my other stencil shapes for printing. Once you've copied and cut out the designs you canhave fun playing about with repeat patterns or changing scale of the shapes.

Take a closer look Here or even buy from a local retailer!? It's full of lots of lovely crafts and tips. I'm going to make the macaroons!