Help to knit the World's Longest Scarf!

I was recently told my a friend of mine that she had started knitting a scarf. nothing unusual there, except this friend really isn't the knitting type. When I asked why she was knitting it, she told me about Jenny Chant, and as soon as she told me, I knew I had to do all I could to help, too.

Jenny Chant has gone through more than I could even imagine - having survived cancer three times, she has now set up the Jenny Chant Appeal to help with education and support for sufferers and their families.

And now - to where you can help! In order to raise money, she has decided to knit the world's longest scarf. However, this would take her 259 years if she attempted this on her own! Therefore, she is looking for people to knit and donate pink scarves for her to add to this record attempt.

There are more details on her website - www.jennychant.co.uk - please do visit to see how you can help. There are two difficulties of pattern, and even if you can't knit there are other ways in which you can help. At the very least, please spread the word about this appeal to anyone know know who you think may be able to help.

Thank you! I'm off to find some pink wool now!

Typewriter jewellery!

Whilst reading Suburose blog, I noticed her most recent giveaway, and I fell in love instantly! It is a bracelet made from the number keys from an old typewriter - I absolutely adore it!



This bracelet is made by Keysandmemories at Etsy, and there are many other wonderful bracelets - I would highly recommend checking her out!

Bloomin' marvellous!

Whilst browsing Etsy, I found a this wonderful shop, porridgepapers, who make handmade paper. I was especially enamoured by their pinwheel girl card above, which, along with some of their other cards, is plantable and has seeds in the paper, so once the card is finished with you can plant it and grow some pretty plants with it too!

If I ever received one, I'm not sure whether I would want to plant it as it is so pretty, but what a wonderful idea!

Flickr Game!

I saw this game on another blog, suburose.com and I loved the idea so I just had to have a go myself!

Firstly, here is my mosaic!

1. Emily, 2. Pasta e necesserie para a minha amiga secreta!, 3. Gatherer of sea~crets, 4. Purple Lips, 5. David Tennant and Billie Piper, 6. Pchan's Birthday (October 2005) - 26, 7. Los Angeles::Downtown Los Angeles and vicinity, 8. apple crumble, 9. In the eyes of a programmer..., 10. My friends........ROCK, 11. Unpredictable, 12. Jumpers

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

Have a go, and don't forget to link back to yours in the comments - I'd love to see how yours turned out! :)

I've been featured!

Check out Going Handmade - it is a website which regularly features interviews with different crafters - a great way to find new inspiration and also wonderful items to buy!

Triple Embossing

This weekend I visited the Tulip Toppers shop in Shipley market for a tutorial on triple embossing from Meryle Holland. Triple embossing is something I have attempted in the past, when I was working a lot on paper crafts, but I never quite got the hang of it.

Well, the tutorial was great! Turns out my main problems were that I was using the wrong type of embossing powder (I didn't even know there were different thicknesses of it until this tutorial!) and that my heat gun makes things more difficult, as it is quite hot and powerful. After being shown the technique by Meryle, she let me have a go whilst she was there, both with her heat gun, and mine, so I could see the difference.

As soon as I left, I came pretty much straight home to try the technique out! In the picture above, the japanese ladies are tiles which I made whilst at the tutorial - on these, the triple embossing makes a glass-like effect on top of the pictures. The others are items I made at home whilst practising the technique - the star one was stamped and coloured, then embossed on top like the tiles, whereas the hearts were triple embossed, and then stamped into the embossing. I then used rub'n'buff over the top to make the text stand out a little more.

I do love learning new things!

Spring For Joy!

Last weekend I went out for a walk to take pictures of the snow. This weekend, Spring has appeared at last, and it has been lovely and sunny, and today I noticed lots of beautiful flowers had made an appearance in my front garden! What a difference a week makes! I love Spring, I always feel so much more inspired and full of hope for the future when the sun starts shining again.

What about you - what makes you inspired? Which season do you prefer and why?