Tagging It

Some of my first ever collages, many years ago, were done on luggage tags. There's something about the quirkiness and informality of repurposed tags which I find irresistible. Add to that their small format and you have a perfect canvas with which to create little decorative objects. 

And what can you do with them? Well, obviously, you can frame them - a box frame is ideal - or use them in your journal, as bookmarks, or even as gift tags for a special present. I recently saw a whole collection of collaged tags which had been turned into a string of bunting for decorating a room, which I think is a fab idea and one I intend to try soon.

As for these two, you can find them in my Etsy shop if you want to start your own collection!

Got Scarves?

 

So, my plan is to have lots of pretty scarves to disguise the fact that I tend to wear the same outfits all the damn time and, as an added bonus, use up some of my yarn stash which seems to consist almost exclusively of single skeins of fingering weight wool.

These three are ones I've made lately from patterns I found online - honestly, whatever you want to knit, it's out there somewhere! God bless the interwebs! They were all easy to follow yet produce beautiful looking scarves. 

Clockwise from top left we have: Tesla which is in a colourway I hand dyed a few weeks ago and just fell in love with; Helix which is in a gorgeous Wollmeise yarn I've had for some time and Foreigh Correspondent which is in another of my own hand dyes in a colourway called Elephant Island.

One Step Beyond

One of the most bizarre things about being in the handmade business is having to start planning for Christmas while you're sitting in the garden enjoying the roses and soaking up a bit of sun. Yet that's what I'm doing at the moment. Forward planning is the theme for August round here because, well, handmade takes time to create.
And so I have lots of new things in the pipeline, beginning with these beautifully soft and cozy crochet scarves which I'm having a lot of fun with.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Today is also baking day! Yesterday I unearthed my Kenwood Chef from storage - don't ask where, but it was coated in far too much dust and grunge - and spent a good hour thoroughly stripping and cleaning the whole thing.

This trusty beast has been with me for about 30 years and, although I haven't used it for a very long time, it was my most prized kitchen tool back in the days when I baked all my own bread, pastries and cakes. So restoring it to its former glory was like welcoming back a much loved friend that you've lost touch with and thought you might never see again! Now, what to make first?