Distractions

Crafty envy #4

By Kate on May 4, 2012

The internet seems to be chock-a-block with wonderful crafty ideas at the moment. Hurray! Here are a few of my favourites. Feel free to leave a comment if any other crafty projects have knocked your socks off lately.

(Hope you have all had a good week). My big boy is five on Tuesday…I can hardly believe it!

1. Absolutely ♥ this fruity balloon garland by Brittany Watson Jepsen
2. I love Pips books (and website). This project comes from her second bookSew La Tea Do.
3. More good stuff from Jess at howaboutorange: Stiffened felt boxes.
4. DIY Planters for Say Yes to Hoboken by Claire of Fellow Fellow.

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My book ^_^

By Kate on April 4, 2012

Yey! My book has finally been released. The whole process has taken over a year and, at times, I really didn’t think I would get there! It’s wonderful to finally be able to show you some pictures, and also to feel a bit more relaxed about the whole thing.

The book is called “eco-friendly crafting with kids” and contains 35 step-by-step projects for preschool kids and adults to create together. (Even though the book is aimed at preschoolers the projects would also be suitable for 5, 6 & 7 year olds).

I picked a fairly random set of images to show you…I was finding it hard to choose. The book really does look stunning, largely due to the efforts of photographer Carloyn Barber, stylist Liz Belton and Designer Sonya Nathoo.

The book is split into eight sections; homemade materials, music, nature, recycling bin, paper and card, sewing and threading, science and boredom busters.

I would love for you to buy a copy if you like the look of it *^_^*. You can purchase one at amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, amazon.ca, barnes & noble (and many other places). You can also order it from the book depository (which does free worldwide delivery) and lots of other websites! (btw my Australian pals and I use the book depository to send presents to one another and we’ve always been really happy with the service!)

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Eye-bombing (the new yarn-bombing)!

By Kate on March 23, 2012

I saw this great post at flutterflutter last week which was all about ‘eye-bombing’ and ever since reading it I have had an overwhelming desire to stick googly eyes to absolutely everything. It’s a great activity for the kids too!

Sugar-sprinkle monster - Sadly he is no longer with us.

Sugar-sprinkle monster. Sadly he is no longer with us.

Sheepish venus fly trap

Sheepish venus fly trap.

Sad string

Sad string.

Cute cactus

Hungry holepunch

Prudish door handle!

Do join in! It’s lots of fun. If you want more inspiration then there is a whole website dedicated to the art of eye-bombing here! Thanks flutterflutter.

Happy Friday all! x

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Crafty envy #3

By Kate on March 15, 2012

Hello folks! It seems I have been taking a little blog-break of late (do any of you fellow bloggers ever feel the need?). I thought I would break the silence with a little round-up of all my favorite colourful crafts that I have seen on the web of late.

Colourful, easy DIY art from Little Helsinki.

Lovely geometric giftboxes from ruffledblog

Amazing DIY decorations by Alexey Danilin (I know they are hanging on a christmas tree but they would look great all year round!)

Judy from cute and useful wrote to me to show me her version of my string tied envelopes. They are super-cute and you will find the free, printable papers on her site.

Hope all of you in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the arrival of spring. The kids and I are loving it and have been trying to beat the garden into submission! (I really don’t have green fingers so I always find it a bit of a challenge). My boys have been making friends with the worms and have been having lots of (muddy) fun.

My book popped through the door last week so I’ll pop some pictures up next week…I will also be back on Monday with a new craft. Oh, and I’ve been putting together ideabooks for houzz in the last few months. Much fun…check out my top picks here.

Until then, have fun!

11 comments

crafty envy #2

By Kate on December 12, 2011

Here are a few crafty DIY’s I have been drooling over lately. Feast your eyes!

I ♥ this DIY advent by snug-online. (Via Celina Bailey’s Pinterest board). In reality, my kids would be unable to restrain themselves and it would all be opened on the 1st of December, nonetheless, it is lovely!

DIY Piñata Tree by blow-up. Claire + Kristin’s blog is a very happy place. Check it out!

Gold dipped bowl DIY by Capree from myadventureisyouradvantage. I wanna try!!

BTW Handmade Ryan Gosling is making me laugh out loud! (Thanks Craftzine for bringing that little gem to my attention!).

Happy Monday
Kate
x

6 comments

crafty envy #1

By Kate on October 11, 2011

Illness of the week = chickenpox.
Sleep = not a lot.
Crafty endeavors = none.

Soooo….I thought I would throw a bit of eye candy your way and see what you reckon! (If you like it we could make it a regular-ish feature??…well as regular as things get around here!).

I’m not normally a wreath kind of girl but this one really did cheer me up! Go check out the whole tutorial. Via Dana Willard’s Pinterest board.

Fine little day’s ace collection of hama bead baskets.

Seat cushion made by Annie Larson’s great grandmother. Check out Annie’s blog. I’m digging the hats! (and the super pics). Via Sugarpie Project Pinterest board.

Hope all you lovely people are having a smashing week!

11 comments

Fonts three!

By Kate on September 7, 2011

Hello! I seem to get a fair bit of email asking about the fonts I use on the site so thought It would be cool to introduce a few of them. I have a heap of really excellent fonts (all free!) so if you wanna see more then leave a comment and maybe it can be a regular kind of thing – well as regular as things get round here!

The three fonts featured are all free and I’m a little in love with each of them. From the top; Sniglet by Haley Fiege, Vanilla by Cutie Explosion and Blackout by Tyler Finck.

Fonts three

Pretty neat eh! Happy downloading.

11 comments

CDEFGABC

By Kate on July 29, 2011

I just had to post this video up by Dutch artists Lernert & Sander…it’s really wonderful! (via orientaltiger.tumblr.com)

Do check out the rest of the video’s on their website…it’s all good stuff! The melting chocolate bunny appealed to my sense of humour!

Inspired by this we have been experimenting with muscial bottles. We have also been having a good old bash on the saucepan drums! (Sorry no pictures).

Have a happy weekend!

3 comments

Stop motion distractions…

By Kate on July 20, 2011

I love this stop-motion animation by Alexandre Dubosc (and my sons were totally enchanted when I showed it to them) so thought I’d post it up (via orientaltiger.tumblr.com):

It made me think of the Bravia rabbits which I’m sure you’ve all seen a hundred times over…I certainly have but I’ll never get sick of them!

If you fancy having a go at a lo-fi stop-motion project then you can make an animated gif. Interested? If so, check out this website www.iamnotanartist.org. It’s truly extraordinary and has a gif generator (see examples below). I think it would make a very cool craft/computer project…I’m definitely going to make one with my sons when time is a little more on my side.

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The Bloodmobile – They Might Be Giants

By Kate on April 13, 2011

I saw this on the Okido website and thought it was ace!! My son (nearly 4) has been asking all sorts of questions about what happens inside our bodies so this is on the playlist for him when he wakes up in the morning!