Christmas Items!

Good evening all,

I have been working hard, in preparation for my three days fair this weekend (details later), and I wanted to show you a few new makes. First up:

Click the photos to make them bigger

These are my Christmas Notice Boards! They are made using circles of cork, covered carefully using fabulous Christmas materials then 'hooked' and 'backed' ready for use. They look great against a wall and would make a lovely addition to your kitchen or lounge over the festive season. They could also be used as place mats if you like...

Next up:

The picture may not do it justice as it was later in the day that I took the photo, but it is another design in my line of Christmas mugs! This has a line running around the base of the mug with mini pictures of items relating to the festive season. I think it's really cute, what do you think? Just imagine it filled with steaming hot chocolate, topped with mini marshmallows. Mmm...

Thirds:

This is a new style of Freehand Machine Embroidery (FME) cards in a Christmas design - I also have stockings, puddings, stars and baubles on the go, but they will come when there are 25 hours in a day! This is a batch of FME Christmas Tree cards that I enjoyed making, in a rustic, country feel and I would love to receive one of these myself! An advantage of purchasing or receiving one of these cards is that they can be framed afterwards as they are little pieces of art...

And finally for today, a little teaser...

Not exactly on the Christmas theme, but these Button and Bead Earrings would make a lovely Christmas gift. I tried them as a little experiment and I actually quite like them and boy, the more I think about them, the more kinds I am thinking of making! As they say, watch this space :)

And as mentioned earlier, I am at the Bakewell Town Hall, this Saturday to Monday at a Craft & Gift Fair and it would be great if you could pop along and say hi. Now we are getting closer to Christmas, items listed here will be available (while stocks last) and there promises to be some great stalls with fab items, so go on, shop different this year, shop local, shop hand made and support the smaller businesses.

Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you wish or 'pass me on'.

Julie.
(C) FMN Crafts 2015

Good afternoon all,

I'd like to show you my latest design...:

Anybody recognise where this is? It's the famous Bakewell Pudding Shop in Bakewell, Derbyshire! One of my all time favourite places... (click on the pics to make them larger)

This has been designed and made using my favourite technique at the moment, Freehand Machine Embroidery.

Lower front window and open door detail

An upper window where the cafe is

Lower left window where the puddings are!

You can see the details a little more in these pictures, I just love the freehand style making it that lines are 'wonky' and almost naive looking. 

This one took me about 2 1/2 days to complete before framing and I simply love it. I am exhibiting in Bakewell soon and I will be taking it to the fair, unless any one shows and interest before hand of course...

What do you think?

Leave me a comment, share this or even Like me on Facebook, I'd love to hear your feedback.

Thanks for reading,

Julie.

(C) FMN Crafts 2015

New Cushions!

Afternoon all,

I have my two latest cushions to show you today:

Christmas Pudding Throw Cushion

Christmas Pudding Throw Cushion Collage

As you can see, this is my Christmas Pudding Cushion and I just love it! I wanted to do a bold and fun cushion that would make people smile, and I really think this fits the bill. What do you think? The material is cream cotton calico and the pudding is all made of felt. I used a mix of regular machine stitching and freehand machine embroidery which I think adds great detail. It has an envelope back so the cover can be removed if it needs to be washed - by hand and with a soft sponge and mild detergent only.

My next cushion is this one:

Trees Throw Cushion

Trees Throw Cushion Collage

This is a fabulous cushion in that is has a multi-purpose. I wanted a cushion that could be great for Christmas, but could also work all year around too and I think this is it. The front is covered in freehand machine embroidered trees which could represent Christmas - or not - and as they are floral, they are more chabby-chic than spruce! Plus there are no signs of Christmas presents or star tops, so it's a Christmas Cushion and a non-Christmas Cushion too. Perfect! It is made using cream cotton calico and cotton floral materials, the back is all floral for a lovely compliment to the front and it has an envelope back too. Oh, and can you see the two tiny birds flying high?

Both these cushions would grace many a sofa, bed or chair and measure 16" x 16" (<40cm x <40cm).

If you look in my Etsy store at the other cushions I have made, you will see that you can buy them as covered cushions or just the cushion cover itself for you to fill once delivered, to make posting easier - the choice is yours.

That's all for now, here's a teaser of what's to come:

Thanks for reading, pass it on if you like or Like me on Facebook.
Julie.

(C) FMN Crafts 2014

And oh yeah...

I finished this today (I made 5 of them actually):

A Mini Christmas Bag! It is made using a printed PVC material, like a laminated cotton and stands approximately 9" tall by 8" wide with handles about 7" high, with the cutest robins and Christmas puddings!

I designed this with the thought in mind that it can be used as a gift bag to hold Christmas presents - a gift bag that can be re-used, or as a bag for children, or even as a shopping bag for someone of any age!

I just fell in love with the material and knew I had to do something with it... Do you like it? Please let me know your thoughts. :)

Have a great day,
Julie.

(C) FMN Crafts 2014