Ditsy Designs

Baby update

I'm now 34 weeks pregnant!! I've got 6 weeks left till my due date eek!! I have only 2 weeks left to work before I take maternity leave and I am VERY happy about this! Just thought I'd show you what ben and I have been up to in the spare room...

This is what it used to look like

This is the room now

We've painted it a gorgeous soft green colour, and have stuck to all white furniture. I still need to make lots of yummy cushions for the daybed so that me and baby have somewhere to snuggle for feeds. I've taken some shots of the various shelves...

Now all we need is the baby....watch this space! xxx 

What a rush!

2 weeks ago My friend and fellow crafty devil Lara asked if I would like to run a stall with her selling our latest creations. Now I've been meaning to try selling on a stall for a while but have always been a bit of a scardy cat..(do people really want to buy this stuff??) so I jumped at the chance, not stopping to consider that I had 2 weeks to make enough stock! DOH!

Anyway after some frantic sewing and bookbinding I finally had....not a lot! But despite the lack of time i think we managed to make a good looking stall...

 

Our stall was part of an oxfam event, 'Girls night out' and it was actually really fun! There was a clothes swap, jewellery lucky dip (very popular! I got earrings hooray!) a lovely buffet, and a raffle with some suprisingly good prizes! Having said that I came away with a notecard set that wasn't very nice and Lara won a tea light! We had slim pickings as all the good prizes had been snaffled! All good fun! And I'm sure we all managed to raise a good bit for the charity. Here are the ladies perusing the clothes swap rails

and this is my mum very pleased with her finds...

Sorry that they aren't very good pictures, I think the oxfam volunteers thought i was a bit mad taking pictures of our own stall! Hey ho...here is a closer one of the stall...

 

The gorgeous painted birds and mirrors are laras creations! Adorable! On the right hand side of the stall were my dangly birds! Take a look...

 

So there you have it mine and Lara's first stall...hopefully we'll have a place on the Saturday market soon...maybe...who knows?! xxx

Little Pip

Some time during the 3 weeks of 'resting' off work we managed to concieve our little pip! Hooray! At the moment I am now 22weeks pregnant and over half way there..EEK! Here is a catch up of its progress over the past 5 months.....

 This is the 12 week scan picture! Its so cute!

 This is me looking TIRED at 20 weeks.

 And this is the picture from the 20 week scan, baby put its arms over its head at the crutial moment! Hah camera shy already! Bit hazy but still lovely!

And there you have it...the pip so far! I don't want to bore people too much about it as this is mostly a crafty blog but I thought I'd share it with you.....

By the way we don't know whether its a girl or boy, its going to be a surprise! I'm normally impatient and rubbish at surprises but I reckon I can handle this one! xxxx

I'm BACK!!

Its been a long time since I last blogged any activity, but thats not to say nothings been happening! First of all an announcement.....I'm PREGNANT! Ben and I are expecting our first little bundle of joy at the beginning of November. Very exciting, and utterly consuming...hence the tumbleweed that has been rolling around this page of late. In the last blog I was off work for a knee injury, well, I'm well and truly back on form, and now i've got my energy back I hope to squeeze in lots of crafting and stories before the baby comes!!

A right old pickle!

I must be mad...its 8.30 in the morning and I feel the urge to blog my recent activity! I've truly got the bug!

Well my sewing space had got totally out of hand, there were half finished projects hanging off Lady Staunton (tailors dummy) and spilling out of bags, the material seemed to be breeding when I closed the door, and there was no surface space to actually do any making...DISASTER! so I've been busy sorting, streamlining and organising! Unfortunately I don't have any before shots as I was just too ashamed!

So now all thats left to do is get rid of the surplus furniture, buy new shelving units (from IKEA which Ben absolutely hates, personally I can't understand it!), give it a fresh coat of paint, and then put it back tidily so that everything has a designated home. Sounds like hard work! I can't wait, but I have to because of my rubbish knee.

I've also got big plans for the garden this year, at the moment its looking terribly sad...

 

I can't wait to get cracking on it!

Spring in my step

This weekend has been really lovely, I've chilled out with my friends, watched lots of girly movies and eaten tons of CHEESE. And the weather has been marvellous, bright sunshine and blue sky! Really puts you in a good mood!

I've been inspired by this lovely weather to make these collages, have a peep...

 

This one below is a little empty...maybe less is more?

 

This one below I really like, but I wish I hadnt stamped the butterfly...tsk you live, you learn,

 

Not sure where I'm going to go with these collages, I've won some used stamps on ebay and am hoping to develop my 'postage' ideas. I quite fancy making a collection of postcards...mmm we'll see.

Out of action

After too many homemade (lethal) cocktails with the girls and some rather energetic dancing I managed to dislocate my kneecap...you might be thinking ouch, you'd be right.

Now 2 weeks on I'm still hobbling around and signed off work. I'm increasingly annoyed about not being able to get around...funny how you take it all for granted!

Still to fill the time I've been surfing today and found some funny pictures (well I thought so)...

  

Ingenious!

  

Disturbing! My husband Ben pointed out that due to a recent story in the news, the crocodile one isn't so tasteful...was it ever? 

So much for New Years Promises!

So I started the year thinking...I'm going to  keep up with my blog regularly, take photos of everything I make, stop giving it all away and sell some of it, and stop worrying about not doing everything NOW NOW NOW

Well, I've not stuck to a single one, and here I am worrying about having not done all of the above. TSK.

I have been a wee bit busy lately working on lots of lovely things and projects, I'm feeling super inspired by everything! I'm going to stop talking and post everything I've been up to so far this year! ...

Adventures with felt...

So recently I've run some 'christmassy' felting workshops which has lit my felting fire again. I decided to have a go at making felt slippers...not as easy as it looked in the books!

I started by making a pair of slippers for my Dad but goodness me it was taking forever to shrink, so I bunged them in the washing machine for a quick fix. Well now they are a lovely pair of slippers for my Mum! The other thing I should mention is that they came out of the machine looking like something a hobbit might wear. However with a bright flower and a bit of blanket stitch they look quite funky! What do you reckon?

 

A little story to get us started...

My name is Nikkiie. I've just got married, qualified as a teacher, and started a new business...its been a busy year!

I dream of one day owning and running a quirky little shop/gallery/workshop/cafe. For now I have a lovely little workshop in the spare room! I work part time at the local library, and teach an evening class about recycling textiles into fabulous things.

I love sewing, making jewellery, designing and doodling in sketchbooks, and feltmaking. I'm a flighty sort of a gal, I find it hard to focus on one thing for too long and so I dabble in this and that. However my main love is sharing my latest discoveries and ideas, inspiring others to create wonderful things and being inspired by them in return. On this blog I will be keeping you up to date on the latest developments in my new business venture, upcoming craft workshops, and miscellaneous gossip from my life! Happy reading! xxxx