a gift that's perfect for summer

See this magazine?



...especially this page here?



ooohhh look at the top right corner !!



That'll be an advert about me and another Sarah !! woohoo !!


Now, see this flower?



This flower is a gift from my amazing friend Nia. It arrived on Saturday and I LOVE IT.

BUT what could I do to show it off to it's best ability?
Maybe attach it to a canvas? or turn it into the world's largest brooch?...hhhmmm....wait, I know, I need another bag!
tra la laaaaaaa.....


I whipped this up last night and took it into work today and it is such a summery thing!



Carrying a hand made bag with a gorgeous gift on it is guaranteed to make me happy!!



Thanks Nia, you're the best :-)

Post 100.....all change around here!

I hope you all like the new look blog, a bit more summery than before I think!
I received some sweet comments about my blog via the last post and it really is lovely of you all :-) thank you.
I actually feel really nervous blogging today, here I am announcing BIG changes to the way I blog but when it comes down to it the style can't change too much because it all comes from me!

So the new blog plan is based on a new, more organised me!
This will of course involve a whole load of list making, and we all know how much I love making lists, right?

I definitely need to get one of these gorgeous books to write it all in!




Something else that may help is a great time saving device I have recently discovered: bloglines

I think I am somewhat of a late comer but, heh, better late than never, right

If, like me, bloglines is new to you too you MUST check it out!

You put all the URL's of the blogs you read into it and subscribe to their feeds and then it tells you which blogs have updated recently...and there I was clicking on them all every morning (that's 200 clicks people) and that took AGES !! This morning I caught up with all the news and sewing goodies in next to no time!!


The most important question is: WHY didn't I know about this sooner???






See these gorgeous cards?



I WON them !!!! (photo from cupcakes for clara )

If you want some too there are some left for sale, but hurry, I'm sure they won't last long, they are gorgeous :-) I can't wait to get my hands on them!



If you are really in the shopping mood then look at this, definitely on the top of my shopping list:


It's available
here

Thanks for sticking with me, see you all soon!

final website touches and the end of an era !

This is my 99th post! Can you believe it?

I've started to get a bit bored with my blog, all I seem to do is 'show-off' all the things I have made and I really am not good at showing off things I have made myself, so I tend to put off blogging more often than not! Which is a shame because I like Blog World!

So the 99th post seems to be well timed. This blog is having a shake up! Starting from the next post (that will be post 100) I will be changing things around here.

What can you expect? well, I'm not sure as yet! Definitely more craft, more inspiration, more links to other great blogs, more free stuff ... things are on the up!!

And because this blog will no longer be solely for self-promotion let me take this (last) opportunity to point out that my website is live, is full of goodies (some of which are pictured here) and is waiting for visitors!

Also I have added a flick:r link over there on the right so I can still have a log of the new things I make :-)

If you have any great ideas about what you would like to see here then please feel free to share them via the comment link below!

I'll be back soon xxx

What are rainy Sundays good for?

Putting the finishing touches to my new website, that's what!
There is a link over there on the right......
or you can click here: www.paper-and-string.co.uk

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures and fun things but for now I am computer-ed out!!! 8 hours solid with only breaks to take photos is surely enough for anyone :-)
cheerio xxx

Twit-Twoo Squeak-Squeak

I hope everyone is out and about and enjoying the sunshine we have here?

I spent yesterday sewing in the garden and popping back inside to use the sewing machine, such a gorgeous day!

I had fun making two new softies, owl and mouse. They are both quite small, the mouse is about 5" long and the owl only 6" tall.

I found it quite scary cutting into my new fabric but I really REALLY enjoyed sewing with it.

Plenty more softies coming from me I think !!!

Amy Butler + Chocolate Lollipop

An early morning post to show you what the postman bought for me:

Believe it or not I actually took these photos outside, where is the sunshine ?

More importantly, how am I supposed to concentrate at work today, knowing this is all at home waiting for me???

a new employee

Today is a day where everything seems to be coming together. I have the day off from the day job so got up bright and early and was on the computer at 8am.

I needed to design a flyer to spread the word about my upcoming website and to print out a whole heap of packaging supplies.
The Postman came and I remembered just in time to take photos.....

and look who was inside....

He is called Cecil and he makes me so happy ... just look at the grin !!!

wait, there is more....

all wrapped up in pink crepe paper :-)

I LOVE these flowers !!!!

and look...a pink flamingo card. No prizes for guessing my friends favourite colour !!!!

Cecil certainly has an eye for design so we discussed terms and, for a very reasonable fee, he has agreed to come and work for me :-)

He certainly knows his mind and was very helpful when I needed to finalise the flyer design.

This one it is then !!!

Cecil, though, can't resist a bit of naughtiness!! It took a while to find him :-)

I think he will be an excellent addition to the workforce. If other busy crafters out there need some help and extra man hours I would highly recommend some of Cecil's friends!!!

finished projects...time to start a new list !

I've had a fun week, finishing off projects, making and receiving gifts and goodies and managing to cross EVERYTHING off my to-do list !! Of course, I will be writing a new to-do list as soon as this post is posted !

Here starts the show and tell:



This is the picture collage I have used for my up-coming advert in Crafts Beautiful Magazine !!

My friend Sarah was offered an advert but it was too large so we have split it in two and both are running our first adverts!! It's very exciting!!


Next up is a softie I made, he started in my felt picture and now he is 3d and 20cm tall. I have named him Peter.



He is sitting on my new bargain eBay purchase, 1m of vintage pink paisley cotton for 99p ... yippee bargains are great!




Sarah, who I am sharing the advert with, has recently been to America and look what she bought back for me ! I got the parcel at work and it's safe to say that they all know I am mad already, but I was skipping round showing everyone my new ribbon and giant buttons and the looks they gave me! hilarious!



Remember this pile? Ready to become boxes to tidy my sewing area?



This is the sewing box (and I actually tidied it a bit before I took this photo!)

I couldn't shut the lid and every time we drew the curtains the lid would fall down and squash everything. I don't like squashed stuff. The simple answer? tidy up! My answer? spend all week making boxes to tidy it up properly :-)



Nice and empty ( i couldn't bring myself to take a photo of the floor behind me where I dumped it all)

AND tra la la SUPER tidy :-)



A box for everything, and space in some of them to add more stuff!!

I won't bore you with photos of all the boxes but that yellow one is my favourite one.

And this is one I made for my friend last night:
Today I am making cupcakes for a big shop update out of some new GORGEOUS felt I bought this week, watch out for that!!
Have a lovely Sunday :-)

random Thursday

This week is flying by! I have done lots of pottering jobs (of the sewing variety) but nothing much to share here!!

I received a parcel from my friend and finally got around to taking photos to show you all how generous she is :-) Look what I got:

Gorgeous card making and scrapbooking goodies

A lovely rubber stamp, trillions of sequins, embroidery floss and LOOK AT THE BUTTON, it's got ants on :-)

Super bright papers that make me happy just to look at them

and last but not least some fun fabrics...pink cotton 2 shades of pink netting and some stretchy scrunchy blue and white fabric (John says it looks like boob tube fabric...boys!!!)

All my loveliness is piled on my craft table, waiting to tell me what it would like to become......

I have SO MANY things I want to crack on with at the moment but I seem to have caught the instead-of-doing-important-things-tidy-up-instead-bug !!!

My sewing 'area' is a mess. So much so I can no longer find stuff easily so, of course, rather than just tidy up I NEED, NEED to make 8 fabric boxes to hold all my things !

Here are some of the pieces tacked together:

And here they are (Neat and tidy, it's working already !!) ready to be sewn together

I have finished 3 now but no photos yet, I want to wait until it's all done and then I can do before and after shots of the BIG mess / super tidy sewing area :-)

I also have another pack of goodies that were sent to me to show you, and an owl I made and some new supplies I bought....I'm slowly catching up. Tomorrow I am off to the post office so everyone who won a freebie can expect their package soon :-)

That's all for now xxx