Items for China Butterfly

Okay, some of my pieces have been accepted by China Butterfly for their new shop in Formby!  *jiggles excitedly* I'm packaging them up for their journey.

This is what I'm sending...

Hugo the Hippo

Petunia, Hugo's big sister

Happy Little Bluebirds Chain

Follow Your Star Chain

Flower Basket Bag

I'm really excited about this, because I think that my pieces are better when you pick them up and feel them. The touch is an important part of how I think about my makes.  And really, once you cuddle a crochet hippo, you have to take it home!

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Dangly Things!

Two new projects that I've been working on here - hanging chains.  I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to call them.  Dangly Things doesn't sound too good for selling them.  Hangings sounds a bit sinister...  Anyway, on to the pics!

Happy Little Bluebirds (name from 'Over the Rainbow')

And Follow Your Star, Elephant Chain.

Here are the Bluebirds.  I've just discovered where I got the inspiration for this design.  It's the wonderful Lucy, over on Attic24!  On her latest post, there are some lovely little birds made in the same way - a circle, folded over and given wings.  

I wasn't sure if this one looked a bit too fierce.  Big beak!

And this one might have been a bit dull?  The pink eyes make up for it, though.

Elephants!  Blue with green ears...

And green with blue ears.  Both have sequin and bead eyes.  Can you see the little tail?

And the star they follow.

The elephant hanging is a little long to go on the average door-handle, but the birds fit very well.  I have a diamonds and hearts one on my study door-handle.  In these pictures, they're hung from a hook we have in the ceiling by the fireplace.  (We hang Christmas decs on the hooks.)  They could be hung on a wall, or from a picture rail too.  They're just pretties to cheer up the home.  Everyone needs a bit of crochet around the house!

They're not yet on Folksy.  I've been approached by China Butterfly  to sell some of my pieces.  I've sent pictures of these and a few other things, so these might appear on Folksy, or they might be winging their way to Merseyside.  Some pieces might disappear from Folksy, until I can make replacements.  A new hippoo is under construction as I write.  Will post updates.  Am very excited!

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Hippoos on Folksy!

My last two little crochet creatures, Hugo the Hippo and Somebunny, are up on Little Lovely Stuff, my Folksy shop now - click here to see

And to join the gang, meet Hugo's big sister, Petunia!

I had a long car journey down to London last Saturday, so while Himself was driving, I used my time constructively.  I had two entire sides of hippo done by the time we got home again!

(By the way, I always think of these as Hippoos.  My brother used to call them that when he was young, and the name stuck.)

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Technicolour Ta-dah!

Here it is - as promised, the finished bag!  I'm really pleased with it.

There's a black strap sewn onto the inside of the flap, to cover up the stitching for the press studs on the front.

Here's the front strap, stitched partway onto the front, to allow room for the flap to come down.

There's a strap for the handle to go through and press studs to hold it down for security.  Maybe velcro would have been more usual, but I can't bear velcro!

And the handle in place with the press studs closed.

The rear of the bag, where the handle is stitched down right the way across.

Nice neat stitching!

More neat stitching, with the inside pocket and the tethering at the side.

And the finished project!  Front...

... and back!  (And in the background - Flaming June!)

I'm really pleased with the way this has turned out, and it's been great fun to design it.  Working out solutions to problems and putting all the finishing touches on to make it user-friendly and neat has been challenging - the kind of challenge I love!

So this was a commission.  I'm totally happy to take commissions, if anyone out there has a request for anything.  Just bear in mind that I have a job that gets in the way that means that creations may take some time.  Costs are very reasonable - I just charge enough to enable me to buy more yarn.  It's a way of making a hobby self-supporting (with luck).

I would love to read opinions and comments on this.  What do you think?

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Hippos and bunnies

More little lovely creatures!  A pretty little hippo, called Hugo.

He's got a little white tail to match his white eyes.  Do hippos have tails?  He seemed incomplete without it.

And another bunny, this one not so grungy as my Grunge Bunny.  This one's all sweetness.  She's got a purple felt heart, outlined with pearl beads.  Somebunny loves you.

A little pom-pom tail.

And floppy white-lined ears.

Projects on the go - a selection of little elephants, for a project to be revealed soon.  They're sitting on top of my new stash-tidy boxes.  I'm very pleased with those boxes.

And a purple hippo I made most of on a long car journey yesterday.  

And in other news, it's finished!

What?

The Technicolour Dreambag!

The strap's all sewn on, the lining's attached to the outer, and the fastening's all fixed on.  Pictures to come soon!

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Jolies fleurs!

They're not in my garden, but I so wish they were.  They're in the garden of a farm shop near us, and I just remembered I'd got them on my phone.  They're far too pretty to languish on there, so I thought I'd share them.

A sea of purple alliums, gorgeous on their own, but go to a slightly different angle...

...and these fantastic orange poppies make them even more knock-out!

A new look!

I've been playing with the layout of my blog, as you might have noticed.  It's probably going to undergo a few more changes before I'm completely satisfied with it, but it's nice to have my own decorations up, rather than a readymade look, I think.

There might be a name change in the offing too.  (My URL isn't connected to the blog name, so it should be possible.)  Don't be too confused if this comes up with a different name sometime.  I'm still in the creative stages there.  All suggestions and hints are very welcome.

On with the hoovering, then!