Cricut is everywhere at the moment! For those who aren't aware of what Cricut is they create a range of home die-cutting machines. These smart electronic machines can cut through a whole range of materials such as paper, felt, vinyl, fabric and even balsa wood!

Everything is done digitally, so you can design or use a preloaded project through the Cricut Design Space programme. Most Cricut machines work over wifi or Bluetooth that you link up to either your iPad, iPhone and of course your computer.

Cricut has become a game-changer for crafters. It has opened a whole new level of craft possibilities where you're only limited by your own creativity!

It's only been 18 months since I was introduced to the Cricut world and it blows my mind what people have created using their machines! I purchased a Cricut Maker a year ago and rather shockingly this was my first attempt at vinyl.

I know, I know! Everyone is vinyl mad and it's bad I've waited this long to give it a go. But here you go! My vinyl Halloween plate... 


I had a good browse on Cricut Design Space and the choice is incredible! With it being my first attempt I chose this 'Happy Halloween" cat and pumpkin design, mostly because I didn't want anything too intricate. Plus I was always going to go for a cat design!

Using a cheap plate from Dunelm Mill for my base, I worked out the size I wanted and let my Cricut machine do the rest of the work. The machine is great at giving step by step instructions, letting you know the correct settings and tools to use making it a simple process. I used Cricut Glossy Black Permanent Vinyl, which is lovely to work with and looked so professional once the design was stuck to the plate.

The whole process was so easy I'm a little ashamed I haven't used vinyl before! I found I had a couple of air bubbles, but that was more down to me being awkward with my hands. With a little practice I know I'll crack it. This project took a matter of minutes to complete and I can see why everyone loves vinyl so much. Now time to put it on everything in the house!

I'm a little late posting this! I've had a crazy couple of months and so have been somewhat neglectful of my blog. Oops! I had to share these with you though as they came out brilliantly.


I actually ran a workshop making these just before Halloween and it went down so well! The great thing about these designs is that you only need one cutter, and that's the fmm mix n' match face cutter. This clever cutter enables you to be able to cut 100s of different toppers, ideal! You can buy them in many places including - Amazon, Lakeland and Hobbycraft from round £5.50.


To make these cakes I used the ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe, piped with orange coloured buttercream. I used a Dr Oetker gel to colour the icing, which worked fine but wasn't as good as some of the other colour gels I've used before. It's not as concentrated so I found I had to use a fair amount to get the desired colour.  For the toppers I used:

• White, Orange, Red Green and Black Renshaw Ready Roll Icing 
• Wilton Candy eyes
• Orange and Black food pens 
• Edible glue (and a small brush)

A good tip is to use a rolling pin that has guide rings at either end, this means you can get all of the icing the same thickness. And remember to put a little icing sugar down to stop the icing sticking to your work surface!

Also, Ready Roll Icing has a long shelf life so any leftovers can be stored in airtight containers to be used for future projects.

And that's it! These were so much fun to make and great to make with kids as well.

I had an amazing opportunity back in August! I'm lucky enough to be offered training trips through work. Which means attending workshops run by suppliers to get to know products a little better. This time I had a short trip to Manchester to visit Visage Fabrics also known as The Craft Cotton Co., where I also attended a workshop run by quilter Sarah Payne.

It was a bit of a trek from Plymouth to Manchester for one night but it was so worth it. I was so excited about this trip and jumped at the chance to go, even if it was a slight mission cramming my sewing machine into a suitcase! Once I had arrived it was made even better by the fact the group I was with were all so lovely and talented.



We met the head designer Victoria Cowley who kindly gave us a group tour of the building. Fabric envy levels were high! Everywhere you turned there were endless towers of bolts of fabric. It's safe to say I think we were all after a meter of everything there! I had seen many of the prints before, however, for some reason, it was almost like I was seeing them for the first time all over again. Being able to see the full collections together in the flesh and on such a scale made me appreciate just how beautiful the fabric they create is.

There were 11 of us in the group, all bouncing with excitement, much to the amusement of all the staff! I believe it was the first time they had ever hosted a tour and workshop. Everyone we met was so lovely, welcoming and answered any questions we had.


We were even lucky enough to walk through the offices and have a sneak peek at the new collections (they are beautiful!) before heading back to our start point for our workshop with Sarah Payne.

For those who don't know Sarah is a freelance Quilting Teacher, author, designer and demonstrator for US & UK TV Shopping Channels.  She was lovely, approachable and put those that were a little nervous at ease.

For this workshop, she taught us how to make an applique cushion. Teaching us different techniques along with a fancy iron that became the talking point of the day!


Yes, even the iron we were using was amazing! It was an Oliso Smart Iron that automatically lifts and lowers with your touch. I've never seen one before but they are apparently big in America. Even the staff at Visage all came over to check it out!

All in all, it was a great day, meeting lovely people, learning new skills and of course I walked away with some fabric. A whole bolt in fact! I certainly had a few looks on the train home but I was never going to walk away empty-handed! I picked up this beauty, now I just have to work out what to make with all 15 meters of it!




See below the links to those mentioned in this post. Visage fabrics are a trade supplier but you can pick up their beautiful fabrics in your local Hobbycraft store.

The Craft Cotton co.
Hobbycraft
Sarah Payne

Looking for a nice little treat that's perfect to cosy up with during the autumn evenings? These lightly spiced Apple cakelets are perfect for just that. And they are even better dipped in a butterscotch sauce.

The recipe came free with the cakelet tin I bought from Nordic Ware, and the butterscotch recipe is from Nigella Lawson's book 'Nigella Express'.


Nordic Ware can be a little pricey but they are well worth the money, they are heavy weight tins that come in beautiful shapes that create great definition in the cake sponge. You can find them on Amazon, eBay and if you're lucky I've spotted them in shops like Tk Maxx. But of course, you can use a normal cupcake tin. They will still taste delicious regardless!

Top Tip: Use a little melted butter to lightly grease the pan with a pastry brush. You'll be able to get into all the nook and crannies of the design. I once used cake release in an intricate Christmas tin and it ruined the tin! Cake release contains a mix of flour, oil, and shortening. I found it left white clumps in the nooks that became impossible to clean afterwards! I'm wondering if I simply had a bad bottle or used too much, but I find you can never go wrong with butter. 

So here is the recipe, enjoy! 

Time: Roughly 30 Minutes

Ingredients 

• 1 ½ Cup -Plain Flour
• 1tsp  -Baking Powder
• ½ tsp - Bicarbonate Soda
• ½ tsp - Ground Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp - Ground Allspice
• 1 - Free Range Large Egg
• ½ Cup -Brown Sugar
• ⅓ Cup - Softened Butter 
• ½ Cup (A whole Colemans 155g jar) - Apple Sauce  
• ½ Cup -Water 
• Dash Ground Nutmeg
• Dash Salt 

  
Method

1. Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 5.
2. Prepare the pan with a little melted butter.
3. Stir together flour, baking powder, Bi-Carb, spices and salt. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the softened butter and sugar 
5. Add the apple sauce, egg, the water and combine.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture until combined.
7. Pour the mixture evenly into the pan. 
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until toothpick a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.
9. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes and unmold.  

My second workshop at Hobbycraft Plymouth took place a couple of weeks ago, and this time I showed the class how to make cute and practical zipper pouches. I love these pouches, they are great beginner projects, as they teach new skills but are also quick to sew up.

Once you've mastered the basic construction the possibilities to customise them are endless! To making patchwork versions, quilted, using waterproof linings or block fabrics. They are perfect for trying new techniques without using too much fabric and ultimately building confidence.

Each pupil in the class had a little instruction booklet so they could all follow along at their own pace and take away after the workshop. 



Zips can be a little daunting for beginners, but they are simple when you take it one step at a time. And there's the added option of adding tabs at each end like you see on the pouch below.  



For this workshop, I pre-cut the pieces and made little kits for the pupils to choose from. If there's anything I've learned from sewing it's that the tracing and cutting is the most time-consuming part!

This meant everyone who attended was able to get straight into sewing, take their time and most importantly enjoy sewing it all together.


And here are the finished pouches! Three people attended including one guy which was lovely to see. They all did so well and the final pouches all looked great. The look of achievement when it all comes together never gets old! 

I had some rather exciting news back in July! I had been chosen to be a Hobbycraft Artisan. It's part of a whole new program which I can't go into just yet, but part of it means that I'll be running craft workshops in stores.

Although I plan to teach a whole range of crafts, primarily I'll be teaching sewing. There are so many people out there who buy sewing machines and end up being too frightened to get them out of the box, which is such a shame!

I've always been a believer in starting basic and building up skills. So I decided the first workshop I would run would be How to Sew Bunting.


So I set the date of 18th August, opened up for bookings and was so happy to see the amount of interest. I've helped countless people set up their new sewing machines over the last 5 years and couldn't wait to start making actual projects.

I want to make it as easy for people as possible. I know from experience how frustrating it is walking away from a workshop and forgetting half of what was said! So I have made a little step by step instruction booklet and templates for people to take away for each of my workshops.


I had a group of six people and it was lovely to see everyone getting stuck in! The fabrics and colour combinations people chose were beautiful.  I always love seeing the choices people make as it's all inspiration for future projects.

And perhaps best of all three young girls attended and it's great to see youngsters getting crafty and learning new skills.




After two hours we had four lots of bunting all sewn up. Everyone loved it and I can't wait for the next workshops!

Project Details 

Pattern By: Lord Libidan

Design Size: 8x11 Inches

Material Used: DMC Charles Craft Aida Navy Blue Find Here 

Count: 14

Thread: DMC Pearl Cotton Ball B5200 Snow white

Extras: Thread Magic Find Here




It's complete! I started this back in October and had hoped it would be finished by Christmas, oops! But life has a tendency to get in the way, nonetheless it was so worth the wait and time to reach the finished result. The photo's really don't do it justice at how beautiful it is.

I found this pattern by Lord Libidan within the first Issue of Xstitch magazine. Xstitch is a magazine geared towards modern cross stitch patterns and as soon as I saw this pattern I just had to make it. I'm a bit of a lover of anything related to space and I knew this would look amazing framed.

I used DMC Charles Craft Aida in Navy Blue as my material and its beautiful to stitch with. It's hard to show its true colour in photos but its a lovely deep rich colour. Although I did find as time went by the edges started to fray, but this was easily fixed by cutting the edges with pinking shears.


This cross stitch only required one colour and I decided to use DMC Pearl Cotton Ball B5200 Snow white, instead of the normal DMC Cotton embroidery threads. I have to say I found this far easier to stitch with. The strand from a ball is the equivalent of two strands of embroidery thread. It was so lovely not having to separate threads and I found the thread didn't knot or tangle like I sometimes find with standard embroidery threads.

And that moves me onto using magic thread. I had read a little about this in a few places and was keen to give it a go. As much as I love this project it'll be finding a new home with a friend and so I wanted to make sure it would last the test of time.

Magic thread is basically a conditioner. It's designed to make thread more manageable. It reduces thread tangling and friction through material. It's also said to protect your finished cross stitch against UV rays, mold and mildew. It's a clear gel, so suitable for any colour thread, inside a pot with grooves which allow you to run the thread through the gel. I was a little worried it would leave a sticky residue but it doesn't. I would definitely recommend it as it made a huge difference in how easily the thread ran through the material. I've added the link at the top of the post as to where to buy it.


And that's it! I really enjoyed this little project even if it did take far longer than expected to complete. I'm chuffed with how it looks and can't wait to see it framed.

My obsession with Pinterest has meant I have seen hundreds of amazing sewing projects created by sewing half triangles from quilts, cushions, bags the list goes on. Naturally I had that moment of “well it can’t be too hard!” and although it is easy I learnt the hard way!

The first few attempts I had sewing half triangles a few years ago I individually cut each triangle. Which took FOREVER! Not only that but lining everything up became harder. Meaning creating a block square by square seemed an awful lot of hard work and effort.

But when you make them the easy way its amazing the patterns you can make quickly with just a simple triangle. At the moment I'm loving this star pattern but you can really have fun playing around with patterns and prints. Anyway I'll stop waffling now and lets get going!

So here it is: How to sew half triangles (the easy way!)

Firstly cut your fabric into squares. Now the size you cut them will all depend on how large you want them for the particular project you are doing. This technique works no matter the size you choose. For this demonstration I cut my fabric into four inch squares.



Place two squares together, so that they are right sides together (or print on print). At this point I like to press the squares as it helps keep everything flat and lined up more easily.

Remember to press and NOT iron. If you run your iron over it several times instead of pressing, it can stretch the fabric.




Pin the squares together making sure everything stays lined up.

Draw a diagonal line using a ruler from one corner to the other using a fabric pen or pencil. Here I used a dressmakers pencil by Hemline in blue.



Now it’s time to sew! You need to sew using a straight stitch on both sides of the line, making sure you sew the same distance from the line.



So you should end up with something like this….



Now remove the pins and cut along the pencil or pen mark that you drew. I find using a rotary cutter and quilting ruler the easiest way to do this.






 

Open each piece of fabric and press the seams to one side.

Cut the tips that over hang the square and that is it! Two squares made in one go, far easier than cutting the triangles out individually!



From using this technique you can create all sorts of patterns and designs. When you pick a design you would make all the individual squares before laying them out in your desired pattern. Once arranged sew each square together row by row.

 
I hope you all found this little tutorial useful. I would love to hear any feedback you may have or answer any questions. If there is anything you would like to see a tutorial on please let me know in the comments below.

Wimbledon is just about to start, which is a big event in our house!

Throughout the year we always put a few decorations up and create a little spread for events that occur. So not just the usual holidays (Christmas, Easter and Halloween) but everything in between from the Olympics, Eurovision, anything requiring a Union Jack! and of course Wimbledon. Because why not! It’s all I’ve ever known and it’s nice to get into the spirit of things, not to mention it's the perfect excuse to get crafty.

So of course that means cupcakes!

I made one batch of chocolate cupcakes using the ultimate chocolate cupcakes recipe which you can find here.


Firstly I decorated six cakes by pipping whipped cream using a Wilton large drop flower tip. Cored and slicing strawberries in half, I placed a single half on each cake.

Originally I came across someone who had made chocolate tennis rackets. I searched high and low for the mould they used but to no avail. The few I did come across were all from America and I could not justify the shipping costs just for a chocolate mould!

So instead I managed to find these hand made edible sugar decorations, that are finished with edible lustre on eBay.  I was nervous about how well they would get to me being delicate but they turned out brilliantly.



The remaining six cakes were topped with buttercream with a few drops of apple green food colouring mixed in. I've recently found the food colour gels to be better than the liquid food colouring's, so definitely give them a go

Using a Wilton No.233 tip to create the look of grass, this tip is so effective! I covered as much as I could even doing a second layer on some parts to make it look fuller.  Next I used Renshaw Ready to Roll Icing in yellow, rolling out thinly and cutting out discs. The white lines were piped on using Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing.

And Voila!


I’m so pleased with the way they turned out.

I've lost count of the number of years I've used this recipe as it never fails me! It's actually a Mary Berry recipe which I've changed ever so slightly. The original uses water but I've always used milk as I prefer it. So here's the recipe for the perfect chocolate cupcakes...

Makes: 14 Cupcakes 

Time: Roughly 25 -30 Minutes

Ingredients 

• 4tbsp - Milk
• 40g or 1oz  - Cocoa Powder
• 3 - Free Range Large Eggs
• 175g or 6oz - Unsalted Butter (softened)
• 165g or 6oz - Caster Sugar
• 115g or 4oz - Self Raising White Flour 
• 1tsp - Baking Powder

Method

 

1. Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 6.
2. Sift cocoa powder into a bowl.
3. Heat the milk gently in a pan until its warmed through. Be careful not to fully boil it!
4. Add the milk to the cocoa powder and mix until you get a smooth thick paste. Tip: If the mixture hasn't quite come together just heat through a little more milk and add to the mixture.
5. Add all the other ingredients and mix together. It's best to use an electric hand whisk for this. Tip: Once mixed I often give it a quick stir (scrapping the sides of the bowl) with a spatula to make sure there's no cocoa paste stuck to the bottom of the bowl. If necessary give the mixture a quick 10 second electric whisk to make sure everything is combined.
6. Place cupcake cases into a cupcake tin and divide the mixture evenly. I usually make around 14 cakes from this mixture. 
7. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and spongy to the touch. Tip: to be sure they are cooked use a skewer in the middle of the cupcake and it should come out clean. 
8. Leave to cool before adding any icing or decorations.

And that's it. Enjoy! 

Hi guys!

I thought it would be a good idea to show my sewing machine set up, so you can see what I use.

I dabble in all sorts of crafts but for some reason sewing seemed to have passed me by, having never really done textiles at school. So five years ago I decided to take the plunge and buy my first sewing machine,  it was a tad scary at the time but I haven’t looked back!


So here it is, my machine is a Singer Simple 3232. I’m not going to lie, the fact it had lilac on it did draw me to it (typical girly way of choosing I know!).

It’s very easy to use and cost me around £150. There are some great machines that are cheaper than this one (around £80-£100), but at the time I decided to spend a little extra and go for a machine that I could “grow” into, rather than something too basic.

This is the perfect sewing machine for beginners. It does everything that I need it to – straight stitch, zig zag, button holes and comes with a zipper foot – and that is really all you need to get going. Singer is a trusted brand and I loved that I could purchase the extra feet and accessories in my local craft shop.

It may not be all singing and dancing, but for anyone just starting out with sewing there is no need to spend a fortune. Keep it simple and honestly you cannot go wrong.

I've never had any problems with this machine and I'm sure one day I'll upgrade to something more snazzy!

xx