Name Drop Orders!

I said I'd post pictures of name drops once they were all delivered so here they are :)
This isn't all of them but its a good selection I think!

Thank you to eveyone who ordered one from me, I hope that everyone you gave them to loved them!

Christmas!

I hope that everyone had a really lovely christmas and got lots of nice gifts!

I had a busy time finishing name drop orders before christmas but I DID have just about enough time to make most of my gifts this year, I love giving home made presents and I was really pleased with how they turned out :)
I was also really happy with how my wrapping turned out... I'm always a fan of a bit of brown paper and string but home-made magazine bows finished them off nicely - I got the instructions from here: http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/10/make-gift-bow-from-magazine-page.html





I made an awesome 'peanut the wee elephant' for my cousin once removed, I got the pattern from the book 'last minute patchwork and quilted gifts' which I totally love:
http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/2007/09/last-minute-pat.html

I added a little bee to its ear :)


I got some awesome gifts too, lots of which were directed towards my love of crafty things :) I hope to be making loads of awesome things soon, just as soon as I get around to it...
I'll keep you posted :)

Made by Hand and new 'mini pillows'!

Today me and my Mum went to the fabulous 'Made by Hand' show!

http://www.madebyhand-wales.co.uk/

It's been on for the last three days in Tredegar House in Newport, which is awesome since its only half an hour from my house!

It was SO nice to see all the amazing things that people make but it was even better to see some faces from the Origin show; Michelle, Helen, Becky and Hanne it was lovely to see you :)

I've also been busy making LOTS of christmas presents lately, unfortunately I can't yet post pictures of them on here (I'll just have to wait until January to post those...) but there is ONE thing that I can post pictures of:

My 'mini pillows', they are about 19 by 32cm and can be personalised with any name/word:

Trip down memory lane!

This week I had two successful stalls;

Monday I had a trip back to my old pre-school! Apart from the room looking MUCH smaller than I remember, everything was awesome, everyone was SO welcoming and I had a fabulous night :) I even won an amazing raffle prize!!

Here is me and my stall:


Yesterday I went back to my old primary school! It was a bit sad to see that the school has changed beyond recognition (well, one half of it has anyway) but it was still a good afternoon and it was nice to see some faces from the past!

So a BIG thank you to Vicky and Susan for all their help and organisation :)

NOW, I just have to complete all my orders before Christmas!
I better get sewing....

Name Drops!

So, I've now had 3 proper stalls (and I have 2 more coming up soon! :)) and one of my 'products' in particular seems to be selling well.... the name drops!
Basically they are personalised hanging names made from random material (mostly flowery although I tend to avoid the flowers for the boy ones!).
I think that people appreciate being able to personalise them with whatever names they want - and I think that its always special to give a gift for Christmas that was handmade :)

I've had 23 orders since I started Newton Rose at the beginning of the summer but have made a few more than that (for ME to give to people :P) and I think I'm getting a bit of a production line going! Right now I have about 5 names all at one stage (right before I attach all the letters together to form the names) so I thought I'd take a picture! The good thing about taking a picture at this stage is that none of the names can be distinguished so don't fear those people who have ordered one for someone for christmas!!!



And here are two that have been finished and have already been given to their final recipients:

Malvern Quilt Show!

On Sunday I went to the Autumn Quilt Show in Malvern!
It was a really awesome day, I saw a LOT of amazing quilts and was tempted by hundreds of fat quarters :)

I gave in a bit a got some material:


I could have easily bought more - As many people said to me on Sunday "Nobody here NEEDS more material, but we buy it anyway..." :)

I also got a necklace charm shaped like a bobbin! Which I LOVE, me and mum are always complaining that we don't have enough bobbins so now I'll always have an extra :P

I would DEFINITELY go to something similar again if I had the chance!

Successful Stall!

I had an AWESOME time with my stall over the weekend,
Here's a picture of the stall:



It went SO well, I sold some stuff from the table but I also have 14 orders for name drops! Madness, so far I've completed one... so 13 to go I guess :P

So a BIG thank you to Julia and family for hosting the whole event and to the other stall owners and all the fabulous people who decided to come along, do a bit of shopping and support charity :)

Buying Opportunity and Purses!

On Friday and Saturday I shall be round the corner at Julia's fairtrade coffee morning thing with my own Newton Rose stall selling handmade stocking fillers, decorations and gifts!

When? Friday 15th October, 10am-3pm and 7pm-9pm
Saturday 16th October, 10am-12.30pm

Where? Esnadene, Sedbury Lane, Tutshill

Why? Solve all your christmas gift issues, drink tea, eat cake and support charity while you're at it :)

I've been busy making things for the stall and have my usual felt badges and hanging birds and hearts (although some with a chirstmas twist)but I've also been making purses!
I first made one for the awesome Jemma for her birthday and just got inspired:

Here's Jemma's:



My new ones:

Origin: The London Craft Fair

From the 21st until the end of September I had the MOST amazing time working at Origin!
Origin is a craft fair that takes place once a year, this year, it was in old spitalfields market near Liverpool Street Station and Brick Lane :)
Here's my brochure:


I was working for the most amazing Michelle Griffiths, a textile/shibori artist from South Wales! http://www.shibori.co.uk/
Her stuff is just brilliant and it was SO cool to have the opportunity to learn all about it from the master herself :)
The standard was insanely high and we made good friends with the stall owners around us, meeting them and learning about their work was definitely a highlight for me!

Other London highlights include:
LES MIS AT THE O2!!!!!! I went to see the 25th anniversary concert, fingers crossed I'll get on the DVD :P

Also, my shoes, I went vintage shopping and found these AWESOME shoes :)


Overall, a BRILLIANT two weeks!

New Dress and Fibre Art Wales!

I made this dress a while ago, for the day after the wedding (we had a garden party)
but I just hadn't got round to taking a photo of it until now!
I got the idea from a dress I saw in topshop....
The shoulders were a bit tricky as there was lots of material to fit into a small distance but I think it turned out well :)



I also went on an awesome day out at the 'National Botanic Garden of Wales'!
It was a bit rainy but me and Mum braved it to see the new 'Fibre Art Wales' exhibition!
Fibre Art Wales is a group of textile designers based in Wales who created work inspired by the Gardens to be displayed outdoors within the gardens themselves. Some of the exhibits are made to withstand the Welsh weather but some are meant to change and weather over time :)

Check out this website for more info!
http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk/news/latest-exhibition-%E2%80%98exposed-textiles-in-the-open%E2%80%99-by-fibre-art-wales/

Wedding Favours!

Back in February I was making valentines gifts for my friends when my brother's fiance commented on how nice they would be a favours for a wedding... 6 months, my final uni exams and 89 heart later they took pride of place at every place setting for their wedding meal :)

Here's a picture of lots of hearts!!



And here is the place setting :)

First Stall and I made a skirt :)

My first Newton Rose stall took place on Sunday! Amazingly it was a REALLY sunny day and although I got a little sunburnt, I had a really nice day! And made a bit of money too :P I didn't take many good pictures on the day but this was my 'test stall' I did in the living room the day before :)





I've also been planning on copying a dress I saw in Topshop the other week that was REALLY nice but just completely the wrong proportions on me! It involves an elastic waistband so, since I've never sewn with elastic before, I thought it might be a good idea to try a skirt first! I'm SO pleased with the result:

New Material and a start on a quilt...

I went shopping yesterday to find some nice baby blanket material. For other projects I generally use a lot of offcuts and try to recycle old material where I can but baby blankets definitely need some good, NEW material :)



I've also made a start on a 'colour wheel' quilt which I saw in one of my many books! It requires 52 different material pieces to eventually form a wheel shape, I don't quite have 52 but I've made a start :P

Birds!!!!!!!!

Over the years I have seen SOOO many material birds in different books and shops!
So I decided to give it a go for my friend's birthday!
I scraped together lots of fabric and set about making them, there were some difficult decisions - should I add eyes or not??? - how far up should the wings be?? - how exactly does one get stuffing into the beak???
But I got there in the end :P

Since then I've made LOTS, matching the fabrics together and finding new combinations really is the best bit :)

I made particular effort to be arty with this picture:

Busy making Badges!!

I've been a busy bee lately making lots of awesome badges :)

Buying opportunity!! (and labels)

I am now very much sure that I'll be at the 'Memorial Hall Summer Fete' in Tutshill!

The Fete will be held on August the 15th on the Rec in Tutshill and some of the proceeds will be going to the Memorial Hall fund.

I've started making a few bits and pieces to sell so if you're around and free you should come and check it out!!!! :)

ALSO - I've been working on my 'Newton Rose' labels lately and am pretty sure that keeping it simple is the best plan:

The American Museum in Britain

Today I went to 'The American Museum in Britain' in Bath with the 'Gwent Quilters'!



We had an awesome guided tour of the quilting rooms in the Museum which MAY have inspired me to give quilting a go...I really loved the Hawaiian quilt below so I'd like to do something a bit like that but on a MUCH smaller scale!! Maybe a place mat or something :P



I would also love to give patchwork quilting a go...

I shall post any attempts on here - it might be a while before I start though!

New Material!

I just got some awesome new fabric! At the moment I seem to be getting more and more fabric but not making too much... I should really sort that out!

Old things I've made

In the past I've pretty much entirely made things to give to people as gifts (or to keep myself!) I wish I had taken more photos at the time but I thought that I would post some of the few pictures I have :)







I made these hearts for my brother and my almost sister-in-law for christmas!








This is some of the most effort I've ever put into a present for someone... but... shes awesome so I guess she deserved it :)








I think this was the 4th baby blanket made and given by me and my mum :)










I also got looooooads of new fabric from a completely fabulous undisclosed source! I'm currently making lots of awesome crafty things from these prints!