Blogiversary!

Hi! Happy New Year's Eve!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. :)

Today is my blogiversary!

In my last post, I asked if anyone had questions for me, here are the questions I received:

Jenna said: I just want to know who taught you to paint? Did you learn on your own or did you take classes?

Great question, Jenna! I have a lovely friend from my Church who has taught me to paint. I started when I was nine and did it for a few years before having a break. Then, I started again this time last year. We get on really well and have a laugh and a paint. :)

Here's a few of my paintings:

Anonymous said: I was wondering what camera you use, and if you had any tips for photography? Thanks!

I have two cameras, but mainly use a Canon Powershot G10. My other (backup) camera is a Canon Powershot SX100 IS. I really enjoy using the G10, which is basically an SLR but with a smaller processor. I am not sure if you can get different lenses for it, though! It gives you much more control over how the photos come out, and is very good. The only downside is that it doesn't have much zoom. My backup camera (I sound so posh, don't I?!!) has a massive 10x zoom, so I use that if I need zoom. It is a great camera for starting out with, if you seriously want to get good at photography!

Tips for photography? Practise, practise, practise! Try different angles, fiddle around in manual mode, check the instructions book for neat tricks, just get out there and shoot! Another thing, for anything small, always turn the macro mode on! 

Another Anonymous said: Happy Blogiversary! Why did you decide, or what inspired you, to start a blog?

Long story short, I had been following other blogs for a while and felt that it would be good to give something back, and contribute to the blog world. Then, on December 31st 2009 (While trying to stay up for the New Year!) I finally started this little blog. :) I am a super-organized person, and have sorted out my tutorials into categories:

Card-making

DIY

Food

Quick Crafts

Sewing

:)

I'll be back soon (hopefully) with some more cakes and fabric to show you, as well as a Crafty Review of 2010!

Blogiversary and Snow!

Hi again!

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi.

It's my blogiversary in a few weeks!

Remember my first tutorial?

It seems so long ago. :)

So, as many blogs do for their blogiversaries, I wondered if you had questions you would like to ask me?

They could be craft-related, or simply about me.

Comment below and I will pick some questions to answer!

:)

We've been enjoying a bit of snow here.

I haven't taken any photos of the snow this year, but here's some photos from last year.

No post is complete without photos!

Can you see Mr.Tumnus and Lucy? :)

I might even find a giveaway in the next few weeks... and there might be a another cake tutorial coming soon, but we will have to see! There should be some sewing soon as well.

Bye!

:)

Cake Tutorial!

I've felt a bit bad for neglecting my blog lately, and was wondering what I could put up.

Then I remembered that when I made a cake for my brother's birthday, I did step by step photos.

So here's a cake tutorial for you!

Cut the top crust off of your cake and roughly level it. Then, turn it over. (Thanks Al for this tip!)

Sieve some icing sugar and roll out your marzipan. Don't turn it over, just turn it round. Remember to put a bit of icing sugar on your rolling pin.

Use your rolling pin to transfer the marzipan onto your cake.

Trim the edges and brush off any excess icing sugar.

Do the same with your icing.

Now, have some fun with decorating with icing!

I started off by making a cross to make it look like a present cake.

I cut this bit to fold over to make into a bow.

Cinch it in the middle and cut a little strip to go over the top to make it into a realistic bow.

Add some tails.

I then cut some more strips and some circles. I used different icing tips etc, to make the circles.

Now you have a finished cake!

Yum. :)

Bags

Recently, I've made two more bags.

This one is sewn with a matching lining.

The bright yellow makes me happy. :)

This bag is made very similar to how I make grocery bag holders. (here, here and here)

The only change is that I didn't put a drawstring at the bottom but just sewed it up.

Bags are satisfying and moderately easy to sew.

Go on, give it a go!

I will be back with some tutorials soon, I just need to make the crafts!

:)

Updates

Hi again!

I just thought I'd let you know that I've been playing around with the blog background and layout, sorry if it caused any problems!

What do y'all think to the new look?

P.S. Scroll down for the latest giveaway!

A giveaway!

Hello again!

I have another giveaway up for grabs!

The first person to email me at: lizzydesigns1 [at] gmail [dot] com will win:

The best gift I could ever give you!

A Bible...

and... a handmade grocery bag holder!

(If you haven't guessed by now, I like making bag holders!)

The Bible is the single book that has changed my life beyond recognition.

I now have someone to live for...Someone Who died for me!

Even if you don't win the Bible, you can check it out online here.

Get your email in quick!

I'll be back in a few days with some more of my creations.

Bye for now!

:)

More sewing!

Hello again!

Here's another few projects I've completed recently.

I really enjoyed using my favourite fabrics to make this pot holder.

I simply scrap-pieced some fabric together, chose some backing fabric, sandwiched them with some wadding. Then, I made some binding. My binding tutorial is here. Unusually for me, I hand-stitched some of the binding.  A pot holder is basically a mini-quilt which holds pots. 

It needed some quilting to complete it, so without hesitation I chose to use embroidery thread. Embroidery thread is amazing.

I also made a tutu out of a net curtain and a belt. Yeah. You did just read that right! I've seen many tutus on blog-land and have really wanted to give it a go for sometime. 

To begin with, I cut an ladies size down to size I thought was small enough to fit a child. I then sealed the end of the belt with nail varnish and left it to dry.

Then, I cut lengths of the net curtain and slip-knotted them onto the belt, making sure the slip-knots all faced the same way.

I'm hoping a little girl will enjoy playing with it!

I have one more thing to show you today.

Here's a skirt that I altered from a ladies one size fits all to a child's size.

To do this, I sewed up and down the waistband a few times near to where I wanted to cut it. Do this both sides. This stops the elastic pinging! Cut the waistband and then simply sew up the sides. Finally, I took some fabric off the bottom and re-hemmed it to make it shorter.

Easy!

Chocolate and Raspberry Roulade Recipe

Occasionally on this here blog, I like to share a recipe or two. This one is too good not to share!

Chocolate and Raspberry Roulade

Trust me, everything went wrong with this because I cannot read recipes (I get slightly dyslexic when reading recipes) but it still turned out delish!

Go on, if I can do it, you definitely can!

:)

Quilted Cushion Cover

I got lots of sewing done this week! It will take a few blog posts to get through it all. 

:)

Here's my first completed project. I was sorting out some fabric and found an old project I started years ago.

All the quilting had been done, it just needed to be sewn together.

To do the quilting, you need one piece of fabric for the front, a piece of wadding the same size and then some backing. Pin together and then sew. Then repeat for the other side of the cushion.

I sewed it right sides together, leaving a gap and then turned it the right way out. Then, I stuffed it with wadding scraps and sewed the hole up.

It's an easy way to brighten up your room!

:)

I'm still here!

Hi!

I thought I'd just check in and say I am still here!

I had a busy summer but I am back now.

My busy summer included a bit of this:

A gallop along the beach is always fun.

:)

There's a  giveaway coming soon (as soon as I can get organised!).

I will also have some projects to show you (when I finish them!).

There might possibly also be a cake decorating tutorial, too, I just have to make the cake first!

At the moment I have a lot of work, so my only crafting opportunity is Saturdays.

I am hoping to finish something, anything (!) this Saturday, so watch this space!

Right now, I'm working on:

A cute little bag

An ever cuter potholder

An embroidered canvas

A winter snow scene painting

A poppy watercolour

In my head, I have:

A vintage quilt

A duvet cover

Oven gloves

A skirt made from some shorts

A summer dress or two

Refashioning my bridesmaids dress

I haven't quite run out of ideas, yet!

Anyway, I thought I'd just pop in to say hi and make sure that you didn't think I had abandoned my little blog.

:)

See you soon!

Pink Grocery Bag Holder!

Hi again!

Here's another tutorial for you!

Repurposed: Boudoir Cushion to Grocery Bag Tutorial

(Why are they called boudoir cushions? Sounds a bit posh for me!)

First, find yourself a boudoir cushion. They are about half the height of normal cushions and slightly wider.

Then, cut the zipper off the bottom.

Now, turn it on its side and stitch along the edge, leaving enough room to put in the elastic/ribbon.

One end of this tube is already open, but one needs to be cut open as in the photo below. Don't take much fabric off.

Repeat these steps for the other end.

To insert the elastic, I put a large safety pin at one end and feed it through; don't let the other end go all the way through!

When you have fed the elastic all the way round, take the safety pin out and put a normal pin in its place.

Sew the ends of elastic together and cut off the excess.

I like to push the elastic round so that you can't see the join.

Now, just repeat this for the ribbon and then hang up your functional beauty or give it to a friend!

I think it's safe to say that I like making grocery bag holders. This is my fourth. Three I will give to family members and the other one is in our kitchen. I blogged about another one here, a few months back. It is patch-worked and almost as tall as me. In case you were wondering, it makes a good punch bag!

:)