craftyguider – Page 6

Dog Under My Desk – Zip and Go Bag

The VATMOSS fiasco has now come into EU law, and although the UK government has offered some concessions, many producers of digital patterns have simply stopped supplying them.

I had a mini spend up just before the 1st January deadline and picked up a few patterns which I’ll use during the next few months. However one supplier that I’ve used in the past is still supplying downloadable PDF’s at time of writing. Dog Under My Desk designs fabulous, practical bags. Her site is full of free tutorials as well as her PDF pattern shop.When you buy a pattern, you get a PDF to download giving very detailed, illustrated instructions, plus the pattern pieces. I’ve had the Zip and Go Bag pattern for some time now, and I made a Frozen themed bag for youngest Craftyguidelet as well as a more grown up version for a friend’s daughter. Of course, eldest Craftyguidelet wanted a Frozen bag too, so I finally got round to knocking it off of my WIP list.The pattern is very easy to follow, and don’t be scared of the zips. They are a cinch to put in. I do end up talking to myself to triple check which order the pieces go together though. Read three times, measure twice, cut once!

The fabric needs to be cut in a certain way along the grain so it doesn’t stretch which is all dealt with in the instructions. I’m a bit stingy with fabric so I didn’t fussy cut the bag to give a perfect Elsa orientation in the centre of the bag. I knew the girls wouldn’t mind as long as someone’s face appears somewhere. Perhaps next time I’ll get to make one for me, although I don’t think pink is my colour.

Have you got a long list of things to get made this year?

I’ll do it my way

I have decided that once again there will be no new year’s resolutions (especially not with the amount of alcohol chocolate I have in the house!). There will be no targets, no lists, no must do’s, no swaps, no bucket lists, no giving up, no starting, no using up. I won’t be -a-long-ing with crochet, knitting, quilting, sewing or reading. I won’t do a certain task every day, week, month. I won’t look at someone else and think that I should be like them. I will try and resist doing anything that isn’t essential, compulsory, interesting or downright fun.

I will try and do things My Way*.

*You can thank me later for that ear worm.

That was the year that was ~ 2014

It was a great year for the shop. Craftyguider had it’s best year yet, and I raised a nice sum of money to put into the Guide accounts. I get to meet Theo Paphitis soon to collect my #SBS (Small Business Sunday) award, and I featured in Guiding magazine and the local press. However, I didn’t manage to launch a presence on Etsy, or learn about taking better photos.

I managed to make enough Christmas cards for friends and family, and sold handmade Christmas cards and tags in my shop for the first time. However I didn’t start in July as planned, and had a few late nights before craft fairs frantically making stock.

I handmade a few Christmas and birthday gifts this year, however I didn’t make as many as I’d planned to.

Q and A a Day I kept up to date with my Q&A a day diary (if you count the odd catch up sessions when I missed a couple/few/several days), however the Craftyguidelets didn’t do theirs.

I blogged more than usual, however I didn’t get into a rhythm and get all my ideas off the ground, especially more tutorials.

I worked hard to keep my local Rainbow and Brownie units open and helped to recruit new leaders, however I didn’t manage to get new units to open so that all the girls who want to join, can.

I have completed quite a few magazine kits this year, but not the one a week I wanted to. I have also tackled the magazine mountain and now say to myself that buying more magazines doesn’t make me happy, and the clutter makes me sad when I’m standing at the magazine display in the supermarket. However, the magazine hill is still there.

I haven’t learned how to procrastinate less, I’m still carrying some extra pounds, and the office is a bomb site.

I have learned an important thing this year though. I can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything. I don’t have to fill every available minute in the service of others or dusting the bannisters or attending meetings or making things for the shop. I need to prioritise my girls, my husband, my family and me. All the ‘howevers’ above have occurred because something else came up. A craft session with the Craftyguidelets, making Elsa dresses, going on family holidays, extra time at the park after school, a day out on my own to a craft fair as a customer, not a vendor.

Have a wonderful new year everyone, and I hope 2015 is everything you want it to be.

Louise x

Poppies and Buses

After doing the Books About Town trail around London in the summer, the Craftyguidelets and I decided to sample the Transport for London Bus Sculpture Trail to celebrate the Year of the Bus. As one of the trails started and finished near the Tower of London, we took the chance to take Mr Craftyguider and mother in law with us to see the poppies now that the installation was almost complete.We had seen the poppies in August, but so many more had been added since then. It is such a stunning sight. It really brings home the 888,246 lives lost in WWI and has taught the Craftyguidelets a lot about the scale of casualties of the war.We got there as early as our travelcards allowed us from the sticks but it was so busy, we were advised to get off the train at Aldgate rather than Tower Hill. However, after lunch when we were the other side of the river, we looked back at the Tower and it was swarming with people. Even crossing Tower Bridge was hard due to the volume of people coming the other way.If you can get to see the poppies before it finishes, it is worth the trip. Just try going early!After lunch, we crossed the river to start the bus sculpture trail. The bus models have been painted by well-known and aspiring artists and spread over 3 trails along the river and in the City, around Westminster, and in the Olympic Park. Another trail will also open up before Christmas.Having looked for book benches in the summer, I didn’t find this as exciting. The book benches could be sat on and represented books that were mainly familiar to me and the Craftyguidelets. The buses were each labelled with a big sign saying DO NOT CLIMB.This Orla Kiely design was at least familiar to me.This placement was really great with Tower Bridge directly behind the bus. I wish the weather was as good as that painted on the bus though!This punk bus was outside St Pauls. Not sure of the connection there!This is the Kids Company bus with images of children sleeping on the bus to escape homelessness, and was painted by an ambassador of the charity.And this bus was the last on the trail representing the 24 hour nature of the city and the buses.I don’t think we’ll be back to look for the other buses. However, it was a nice day out and took us round several of the London sights, so it would be a nice guided tour along the river for a visitor in combination with a trip to the Tower.

The Paddington Bear trail starts on 4th November. I’m already excited by this one as there are bears designed by celebrities. I’m a bit disappointed that Bear Grylls has a Scouting bear and Girlguiding doesn’t have one. If we do visit it, I’m dressing the family up in Guiding uniforms and travelling to Heathrow to be photographed with it.

And then there are 300 owls to find in Birmingham next year. Surely Guiding gets first call on that!

Dear October

What was that all about then? Eh? Two measly blog posts and enough illnesses, aches and pains to get me really fed up.

Aims for the month? Miss Beatrix’s wonderful #BashSAD challenge and Fat Mum Slim’s #fmsphotoaday challenge. Result? A reasonable attempt at the former but a lousy attempt at the latter.The Girlguiding Big Gig was great and the Guides really enjoyed themselves. That’s not me in the photo by the way!Even better was the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. A lot of the bits I bought remain unused, but I did make one of my kits from The Spellbound Bead Co. So October, although we were crafty together, and we survived Half Term, I need to move on from the procrastination and feeling rubbish. Hopefully November will give me the spark to get my backside into gear and get a move on in the push towards 2 craft fairs and Christmas.

How are your preparations for Christmas?

Girlguiding UK Big Gig 2014

Wem-ber-leee, Wem-ber-leee, Wem-ber-leee! No, sorry. It’s not football, it should be “HELLO WEMBLEY. GIVE ME A SCREAM!!!!!” Cue 10,000 Guides and their leaders at Girlguiding UK’s Big Gig to raise the roof of Wembley Arena for the biggest event of the Guiding calendar in the eyes of my Guides. A real pop concert with real chart names.

On Saturday 4th October, 13 Guides, one Guide mum and 2 leaders left a train station in Hertfordshire to go down to Wembley Arena to join 10,000 other Guiding types for the second Big Gig of the day. The Guides were excited. The mum was excited. The 2 leaders, let’s face it, were doing their duty to their Guides and going along so the Guides didn’t miss out on the trip. I’ve heard of Union J and Little Mix but couldn’t (and still can’t) identify any of their songs. I think I’ve seen Diversity do their thing. Kingsland Road? Mike Dignam? Neon Jungle? I don’t think I’ve ever heard Ken Bruce play any of their songs on Radio 2 so there’s no hope for me there!

I tweeted about the event in the morning and after one of my tweets, Mike Dignam followed me on Twitter! “Wow!” I thought, “This will impress the Guides!”. Nope. They’d never heard of him either!

After a bit of Google and Wikipedia revision, I felt prepared for the trip (one member of Union J has strange eyebrows so I’m sure to recognise them, therefore Kingsland Road will be the ones without the eyebrows).

A completely smooth trip by train and tube and we took our seats. As you can see from the picture, we were quite a way back, but as tickets are allocated by lottery, you don’t get to choose.These were a great find thanks to the #BigGig2014 hashtag on twitter. They hand them out for free at the information counters and someone had tweeted about it. They came in handy for the Little Mix set at the end!10,000 Guides with their phones lit up is a fantastic sight. Add to that the flashing bunny ears, freaky hair and illuminated squid heads and it looked brilliant.And then I became a cool Guide leader. Mike Dignam came up on stage. “He’s WELL fit!” came the cry from the Guides. “Is he the one that follows you on twitter?”. Kimberly Wyatt (ex-Pussycat Dolls and Got To Dance judge – I’ve heard of her!) was hosting and posted a selfie on Instagram which I liked and commented on on behalf of my Guides. I was a social media queen for them.

Stooshe was a surprise, and were a hit with the Guides. Ken Bruce has played them so I was able to show my knowledge there too! And I’d heard of Stacey Solomon too.

Once Little Mix had finished, we managed to dash to the train station before the rush and got home before I turned into a pumpkin. I even got some thank yous from the Guides without them being nudged to do it by their mums!

The Big Gig is a fabulous event organised by Girlguiding UK twice a year all over the UK. I’ve been going fairly regularly since they started more than 10 years ago. I’ve seen Ed Sheeran (before he was a megastar, absolutely brilliant with just a guitar and some pedals), Orson, Shayne Ward (Google him if you don’t remember), Pixie Lott, Eliza Doolittle, Lawson, Conor Maynard, Dionne Bromfield, Katy B, Olly Murs, Amelia Lily, JLS, Scouting for Girls, Lil’ Chris, Sugababes, Aleesha Dixon, McFly, The Saturdays and loads more.

The only way Guides can enjoy events like this is if more people volunteer. We were only able to go because of the Guide mum who was willing to step in and be an extra adult. You don’t have to be a leader to support Guiding. We need people to test badges, do accounts, help once a term in meetings, or even come to pop concerts.

And by the way, Mike Dignam has since unfollowed me on twitter. Obviously handmade cards and news on the Craftyguidelet’s broken arm weren’t his thing. His loss!

Knitting and Stitching Show 2014

It’s that time again. My annual pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace for the Knitting and Stitching Show. This year I had to go on the Saturday so I could get someone to look after the Craftyguidelets and it was absolutely HEAVING! I’m glad I decided to do most of my shopping on the first trip round, especially the fabric, as I could hardly move later on.The blue fabric is gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn and will become a blouse, and the other two are the softest knitted fabrics from Eternal Maker and will become pyjamas for the Craftyguidelets. They sent me on a mission to get some fabric for their Elsa dresses but no one was selling any. The nearest I found was a stand that had scraps of turquoise shiny scraps. When I asked if they did bolts of the fabrics as I was making Elsa dresses, the owner looked at me in a puzzled way. I clarified “Elsa, from the Disney film, Frozen”. Complete blank look. I’ve found the only person who has never heard of the film!These ribbons are from Crafty Ribbons. I have some card designs in mind for the tape measure ribbons, and the others made up the multi buy offer. “If I knit fast enough, does it count as aerobic exercise” and “Behind every knitter is a huge pile of wool” are two of the great quotes on the knitting one, and “Chocolate: here today, gone today” and “Chocolate…NOT just for breakfast” are on the chocolate one.This is my beading stash. The turquoise and white beads with the spacers are going to make the Craftyguidelets some Elsa jewellery with some snowflake charms I got before (spot the Craftyguidelet theme here!) The others are kits from Spellbound Bead Company. The Christmas tree earrings are a bit of fun for decorations day at school later in the year, the necklace looks stunning and the 3D stars will look great on my Christmas tree.I blame this purchase on @Meanyjar. She taught me crochet back in January and look at these gorgeous colours! OK, I didn’t need much leading astray. The colour selection was made by Attic 24 with Stylecraft for a crochet along later this month. There were another 3 colour palettes but this was my favourite. If the crochet along is too complex for my newbie skills, there are other patterns I can follow on Lucy’s blog. My vision is of me crocheting a beautiful blanket over the colder months in front of the fire. The truth may be lots of YouTube videos and frantic calls to Meanyjar for help!I also did a workshop while I was there. This is my start on a foundation pieced landscaped coaster, and this is the finished version I am aiming for by the tutor Sally Holman.It was great to learn a new technique, and it was nice to have a sit down for an hour without lugging heavy bags around.This knitted pergola was in the entrance hall. The details were stunning.The birds are my favourites, especially the blue tit with the peanuts and the budgies!And this view has been in my top 3 for many years. It used to be on my way home from my Saturday job working for my mum and dad in their bakery, and any excuse to divert to look at this view is worth it.

Dear September

Where did our time go September? 30 days and it was all over!

You gave me glorious weather (mostly!) and lots of time in the garden appreciating the wonderful flowers still blooming their socks off. Considering that from February to April it looked like a muddy mess, now it’s landscaped and lovely.

My little Leprechaun turned Imp now has her Brownie Gardener badge for the hard work she put in sowing seeds, thinning out, weeding, watering and finally clearing away. Hopefully she’ll help again next Spring, and her grandparents want to hire her for her skills with a seed packet.

I achieved things, September. This pretty dress for Rainbow Craftyguidelet, some cards, some bunting, and even a tutorial for the book bags I made for the Craftyguidelets’ music lessons. Sales have been picking up with Craftyguider following a bit of promo work, and the big push to Christmas starts now. The Christmas shop is now open. I just need to fill it up a bit more!My Guiding life has started again. Guides and Rainbows are back, and once again I am juggling admin, trying to get as many girls as possible off the waiting lists and into units where they can join the fun, and trying to encourage more volunteers to come forward and help this to happen.I have also started Trefoil Guild which is like the WI for Guiding types. It was so lovely just going to a meeting for grown ups, not being asked to do anything, not being responsible for anything, not feeling guilty for not doing more. I just enjoyed the talk on the fabulous work of Guide Dogs and the puppy walkers. Finally something just for me to enjoy!WI planning has started again for our Handmade Christmas Craft Fair on 16th November. I need to get a shifty on for my stall!

But then just like that it was over September. 30 days of full on busyness and then phwoomp! October happened.

Autumn is here and I’ll be joining in with Miss Beatrix’s #BashSAD challenge to banish the blues of the shorter days. I’m also attempting to complete a whole month of the Fat Mum Slim #fmsphotoaday challenge on Instagram. My house is finally gaining some order after a summer of neglect, the kids are settled at school. Let’s do this October!

What was that? Half term at the end of the month? *sticks fingers in ears and pretends not to hear*

What are you up to this month?

Guide Dogs and Trefoil Guild

Meet my new friend Harry. I’m not a doggy person but he’s kind of cute! He was the guest of honour (with his puppy walker Sarah) at my first Trefoil Guild meeting to talk about Guide Dogs and the need for funds and more puppy walkers.

Sarah has been a Guide Dog puppy walker for a number of years, and Harry is her 5th puppy. He is a HUGE retriever/labrador cross and was so well behaved. He is almost at the end of his puppy walking stage, and will hopefully go to Guide Dog boot camp and graduate to be an essential part of a blind or partially sighted person’s life. She spoke with such a passion about her role as a puppy walker and the urgent need for more. The call for funds is a common one in an organisation which doesn’t receive any government funding, but I didn’t realise there were other support roles required too. Each puppy costs Guide Dogs UK around £50,000 from birth to retirement at about 9 or 10, and yet each potential owner only has to pay 50p as a token contractural amount to get their dog. Puppy walkers take a young puppy and train it over a year to strict guide dog standards to produce a well behaved dog, ready for final training on a harness before it is handed over to someone who really needs one. Sarah told us a number of stories about people whose lives have been transformed for the better because of their partnership with their pooch.

The Trefoil Guild is Guiding for adults. Like WI for Guiding types really. As I’m a Guiding geek and a WI member, I thought I’d give it a go. I found my local branch and they were really welcoming and helpful. I did feel incredibly young at the meeting (being at least 20 years younger than everyone else in the room!), but everyone was really lovely and they went out of their way to chat to me.

Like the WI, the Trefoil has gained an ‘older woman’ reputation, despite being open to anyone 18+. It was so nice being somewhere where I wasn’t organising something or responsible for something. I just went, moved a few chairs to help out, and left. Bliss! I will be back next month for more, and when I join, I will be channelling my Guiding geekiness more and going for the Voyage Awards. I’m a sucker for a badge!

Hello Autumn

Despite the warm weather we are currently having, the mornings are a bit colder and mistier. The heating gets put on occasionally for an hour to just take the chill off. It is getting darker much earlier. It’s that wonderful time of year. It’s autumn!

I love the colours (might be because I’m a redhead and we coordinate!). The temperature is more suited to me. Autumn and I just go together.

My baby brother moved to New England with his wife a few years ago and one of my dreams is to do New England in the Fall. To be surrounded by all that autumnal colour would be amazing.

Follow my board on Pinterest for Autumn loveliness.

Follow Louise Craftyguider’s board Autumn/Fall on Pinterest.