the green gal

The joys of just doing stuff

It's been a little bit all work and no play around these parts recently so I decided today I would take a few hours out from making to do some nice stuff instead.

So, off I went and bought some pretty flowering bulbs and cut flowers. I've repotted the plants in various 'containers' I have around the house, I don't suppose tea pots and gravy boats are what Gardener's World would recommend but I think they look good!

(Have you spotted my fab new phone behind the primroses? I finally got my hands on a reproduction 1950s telephone with rotary dial and everything! So retro I love it.)

I've seen pics of fresh Spring flowers on several of my favourite blogs so decided I need to cheer up my home with bunches of tulips and narcissi too. And yes, that is a vintage thermos flask the narcissi are sitting in. 

Following my spot of gardening I had the urge to bake! So knocked up these cookies in just a jiffy. Think I need to watch my portion control, my dollops of cookie mixture were so big they merged into each other – I wouldn't have scored highly on the Great British Bake Off. 

So, along with the other not so interesting domestic activities, I've had a rather nice day. Back to the grind this evening though, at least I have pretty posies too look at while I work. Hope you've had a fab weekend too.

The crochet hour

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So, I'm thinking about crocheting a blanket. I'll need to find a 25th hour in my day as, quite frankly, I don't have the time, but I rather fancy giving it a go anyway. 

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As you know, I run my own busines, the green gables. It takes up most waking hours, and the odd sleeping one, and I really love it. I get to be enormously creative in my work but there's a little part of me that thinks it might be a good idea if I did something creative for the fun of it, and in the evenings, to help me relax and switch off before bed. 

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I seem to be incapable of devoting my full attention to most TV shows but rather than spend every evening on the laptop I think crocheting could be a good alternative occasionally. I'm not in a great hurry to complete a project (don't think I need to give myself any more deadlines), I just like the idea of crocheting of an evening, and eventually ending up with a pretty, cosy, useful blanket.

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Have you crocheted a blanket? Do you have any tips or advice for me regarding pattern, yarn or timescale? I've dabbled in crochet but I'm not very experienced so any thoughts you have I would love to hear! Or read!

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Tutorial: How to make an envelope

I've been meaning to post a tutorial on how to make a paper envelope for a while but a comment from a twitter friend this week gave me the push I needed! When you've gone to the trouble of making a card for someone special it's so much nicer to present it to them in a handmade envelope too. So, here's how you do it…

1. To make an envelope that will fit an A6, postcard-size card you will need: an A4 or US legal size sheet or a piece of paper measuring 21cmx21cm, ruler, pencil, scissors and double-sided sticky tape.

2. The piece of paper you're going to use needs to be square and measure 21cm each side. With the sheet best side down, the easiest thing to do is fold one corner of an A4 sheet over to the opposite edge and then cut off the excess strip to leave you with the square.

The only drawback is that you'll have a crease showing on your finished envelope.

3. Turn your square so you have a corner pointing down. Measure 9cm up from the bottom corner and mark the point. Measure 7cm in from each side corner and mark these points. You are going to fold the corners in at these points so to make it easier you can draw a line across each mark so you can see exactly where to fold. 

4. Fold the three corners in along your fold lines.

5. With the side flaps folded in, add double-sided sticky tape to their bottom edges so that the bottom flap can stick to them. You only need a thin strip so cut a piece of sticky tape down the middle lengthways before sticking onto the edges. Fold the bottom flap up so it sticks to the side flaps and you now have something that looks a lot more like an envelope. I like to tuck in the little point you have sticking up from the bottom flap but you can cut it off if you'd rather. 

6. On each side edge of your envelope, measure up 11.5cm and make a small mark. Using the ruler to make a sharp crease, fold the top flap over. In creating the top flap you've folded over the top corners of the side flaps and so the envelope looks a little 'unprofessional' with this little bit of excess folded paper. So you can just snip it off to leave clean edges.

7. And there you have it, your finished envelope! You can seal it with regular sticky tape or double-sided tape, or a sticker or glue, or whatever takes your fancy :)

I used a plain sheet of white recycled paper for this tutorial but you can use any paper or thin card you like. How about an old map or a magazine page? The options are endless!

I hope you liked this tutorial and found it useful. I'm very happy for you to share this tutorial but please name this blog as the source and post a link back to this post rather than give the full instructions. 

I plan to make tutorials a bit more of a regular feature so I'd love to hear what you think of this one. And if you want to share pics of envelopes you make do leave links in the comments box so I can take a peek!

DIY at Daisy Green

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I'm guest posting over at Daisy Green Magazine today, this time it's how to make your own natural skincare products. You can read the recipes here.

A DIY on Daisy Green

The lovely ladies at daisygreenmagazine.co.uk have let me and my meddlesome making loose on their website. Each month I will post a little tutorial, to start off I show you how to make personalised present from an old map.

Go to daisygreenmagzine.co.uk to find out how plus loads more on living a fabulously ethical life.

DIY Christmas

It's November therefore I think Christmas is finally allowed to be brought up in conversation (at least I really hope it is or else you're not going to like this post!).

As you know, I'm a big fan of handmaking Christmas but even if you can't manage to make all your presents, you can add a little bit of your own personality to decorations or wrapping.

So, I've had a little pootle around t'interweb and found a few tutorials and free printables to help you have a little bit of festive handmade fun and save a few pennies):

How cute is this little angel? I fell in love with her the first time I saw her and you can find the tutorial from Kirsty Neale here on her blog, ginger and george.

If you haven't stopped by Make It and Mend It before, do take a look, there's a wealth of info, advice, help and experience just waiting for you to make use of, including a collection of ideas on how you can make old Christmas cards (or any card really) into gift boxes here.

Creature Comforts is a beautiful website and has so many gorgeous free printables for you to download. I love this combination of icy turquoise blue and pinkish red for a Christmas colour scheme – it's festive and fresh. Find these free printable cards here.

For those of you who like to make use of materials you already have knocking around your home, take a look at the Crafting a Greener World site for lots of ideas to recycle and upcycle bits and bobs. Here they show how to use pieces of old fabric to make Christmas stockings.

Sticking with my favourite festive colour scheme, my final DIY link for you (for now at least) is this super cute gift tag from Eat Drink Chic. Just gorgeous!

And if you want to take handmaking Christmas to another level I think there is still time to join 12 Days: A Copy + Paste Workshop, run by clever creative folk  Kirsty Neale (creator of our little angelic friend above) and Julie Kirk.

I hope you find these links useful, let me know if you have any more tips on DIYing your Christmas!

I heart crochet

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How totally gorgeous and cute and pretty are these crochet hearts? I saw them on a treasury on etsy and fell in love instantly. I've dabbled with crochet but haven't found it particularly easy. As it's been a few months since I last tried, I think I'll have to learn from scratch if I'm to attempt it again.

These are the creation of Viola's Boutique and you can find more of her stunning crochet goodies, including flowers and petals, at her etsy shop. How gorgeous would they look strung up as crochet heart bunting? Very, very gorgeous.

What's new at the green gables

Hello, hello from the green gables.

Since launching my handmade business I've been quite a busy little maker. And, as I found out v quickly, creating the handmade pieces is only half of it, there's a lot to do to let the world know that me and my goodies are out there. 

So, as well as mentioning it on the odd occasion here, using twitter to tweet about what I get up to at the green gables and in my green gal persona, posting photos of everything from handmade items to pots of homemade jam to my little doggie on flickr, I've also gone and made a facebook page! Just writing that sentence made me feel a bit light-headed. Plus there's keeping up with listing my pieces on my etsy shop and notonthehighstreet. Oh and the small matter of making everything and posting it off to my customers!

And as it's the making and imagining and creating that's the most fun part of all, I've been adding to my offering. 

 

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These framed prints are a step away from bunting and sewing but they're so dear to my heart. The first two prints I've created feature quotes from the fabulous and inspirational Anne of Green Gables. One of the customers I sold a framed print to bought it from a wedding list (how fab that couples can make a wedding list on notonthehighstreet.com). I love the thought that a newly married couple will read the quote every day and smile to themselves…

 

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At the moment I'm only offering framed prints at notonthehighstreet.com rather than etsy due to weight and fragility issues with posting. 

And there's more to come, I've got all kinds of lovely quotes up my inky sleeves.

So, if you're of the facebook persuasion, please do 'like' me, or tweet me, or flickr through me (hmm, not sure about that one), or just enjoy my musings right here! However you find me I'm just glad you take the time at all.

So, thanks.

Printable jam jar labels and tags

Tis the season for making jam!

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I do love a bit of blackberry jam making. However, my local hedgerows are still looking green rather than black with fruit so it will be a little while before I get my fingers sticky with blackberry juice. Looking back on last year's jam post it seems autumn came sooner as I was producing jam pots in the first week of August.

But I have put my fruit ripening waiting time to good use and created a sheet of jam jar labels and tags for you to download and print.

Simply download the pdf, print out on A4 recycled paper or card and fill in the blanks. Stick the labels on the jars with double-sided sticky tape or thread a tag on a piece of ribbon and tie round the lid. Whether your tasty pots are for you to enjoy or to gift to others, your jars will as pretty as the sticky stuff they hold.

Download Jam jar labels and tags

I confess that I used bought jars of jam as models as I have yet to be able to make my own but rest assured, that day will come! If you haven't made jam before I strongly recommend you give it a go. There's something so satisfying about turning a bowl of fruit (especially if it was picked from your local hedgerows) into jars and pots of delicious preserve. I was quite pleased with how my batch turned out last year so if you want to take a look at the recipe I used, it's here.

Do you have any top tips for jam making? What's your favourite flavour?

What a week already

It may only be halfway through the week but I've having a pretty good one already. I became a year older on Tuesday, that's not the interesting part, the interesting part is that hubbie and I spent the day in Lewes, Sussex.

I've fancied visiting Lewes for a while as I had heard that it has a quirky bohemian vibe with lots of interesting shops to browse around. The rumours were right! Following recommendations from some lovely people on twitter we visited The Needlemakers – the home of several independent artisans and sellers. One particular shop, Revive All, is an absolute treasure trove of all things vintage and ancient. Every inch of floor, wall and breathing space is taken up with vintage clothes, books, maps, jewellery, ration books, just everything old you can think of. Marvellous.

 
The Needlemakers

And then we just kept coming across antique shop after antique shop. And they were proper junky, bits and bobs types of antique shops rather than the ones where you need to take out a mortage to buy a serious-looking cut glass bowl.Restraint was exercised and I walked away with only a pure wool blanket, made in Northern Ireland and bearing a sewn-in name tape declaring it was once the property of a P. Cummings…

A lovely day was had by me and my patient hubbie and I can heartily recommend Lewes for a wonderful day out. (By the way, have you spotted my flourishing salad leaves in the background? Ignore the unhappy rain-starved lawn.)

So then on Wednesday life got even more interesting.

I attended my first auction. And I bid on the one lot I wanted. And I won it! Or whatever is the appropriate term for successfully bidding on a lot. I did go a smidgen over my planned limit but I still nabbed a bargain. Here are a few of the bundles of matching silver cutlery, there are more than 60 pieces in the set.
These won't be put in a cupboard to save for best, this is now our everyday cutlery (I don't believe in keeping things for best, shouldn't every day be the best?). Although there is one bundle of small oddly-shaped spoons whose use baffles me.

Following this success I decided to make my first envelope cushion cover! (Of course, how else does one follow a trip to the auction house?) I've made other styles of cushion cover but not envelope. I had an urge to make a linen cushion so I did, with a couple of strips of ribbon sewn on too. What do you think?

And then to top it all off, I got the news that the green gables product pages are live on notonthehighstreet.com! So, as well as my shop on etsy, for those who'd rather spend in sterling than dollars, you can also find my handmade pieces for sale here too.

So, all in all, a pretty good week. And the rest of it is promising to be just as good with our wedding anniversary on Friday (yep, birthday and wedding anniversary within three days of each other, not the best planning) and a few friends are coming over on Saturday for a little garden party, keep your fingers and toes crossed for good weather.

How's your week shaping up?

PS (I know I'm not writing you a letter but this is still a post script) There's a dinky little interview with me here on Popular Crafts' website, if you fancy reading it…