And the winner is....

You may remember a while ago I posted asking for help with a market research survey I was conducting. Well I've got lots of responses, and have 'collated my data' (at times I had to count on fingers and toes), and today I drew a name out of the hat for the £5 book voucher which was offered as a prize.

I employed 'The Randomiser' (aka Munchkin) to select a winner, and she did a very good job, although had to be placated initially as she thought the cup with all the email addresses in contained raisins, or some such other snack. The independent ajudicator assisting her is mr pickled weasel.

Anyhoo, the winner is..........*drum roll*............ Ruth Hutchinson! I shall pop the voucher in the post for you asap Ruth. Thanks to everyone who filled a survey in, your answers were very helpful.

Sugar Hit

I had a great weekend away, and even managed to get a 4" zip from a craft shop so I could finish my felt purse! I'm very pleased with it, even if it does look a bit wonky.

You can make one too if you want, from a great tutorial here. It was easy peasy lemon squeezy, although it did make me think about cupcakes a lot.

Hurray! It's Friday :)

As a stay at home mum, my days often run into one another, and I have difficulty remembering whereabouts in the week I am. But I still get excited when it's Friday, because it means me and munchkin get mr pickled weasel all to ourselves for the weekend.

Anyhoo, this weekend we get him for 3 whole days, because today we're off to stay in a posh hotel (thank you Tesco Clubcard vouchers!), and then tomorrow we go and watch him do a driving experience at a race track. We're all very excited :) I wanted to take some stitching with me, but I've ground to a halt with a felt purse I am making because I haven't got a zip for it yet, so I'll just have to spend my evenings in the hotel bar drinking cocktails take a book instead :)

When we get back on Sunday I want to get started on a new project, as I bought some bargainous fabric yesterday - 4 metres for £2!!! Apologies for the rubbish photos, but I haven't given it an iron yet. I'm planning to make a cot quilt cover for the munchkin, and maybe a few cushions for her room instead. Cute, ne c'est pas?

Ink and Acid

Munchkin was very generous with her mothers day presents, and as well as a foot long Toblerone and the obligatory cute little houseplant, I got to escape for the whole day on Sunday, to go to a printmaking workshop. (ok, so it was mainly mr pickled weasel's doing, but I'm sure it's what munchkin would want for her mommy dearest).

I had a fantastic time, doing all sorts of exciting things I've never done before - I've always been interested in etchings, but never known where to start. The workshop was with a guy called Alan Birch, a print maker who works in Rossendale. He took me through the whole process of making a print, from initial drawings, etching the print with acid, adding aquatints, to the finished thing. I am quite proud of my efforts, even though they're a bit like the drawings of a 7 year old :) The photo above is of my print, and the photo below is of the plate I etched.

The only problem now is that I want to do it all again! Repeat after me: Must not learn new crafts, must not learn new crafts, must not learn new crafts....

Quick and easy crafting fix

I made this felt flower bobby pin last night, and it took all of 30 minutes to do, and most of that was faffing about trying to draw a flower shape as a template :) You can do it too, with instructions from Lupin Handmade.

Five From Folksy

I am feeling rather springy today, so here's my spring picks from Folksy. Enjoy!

This super cute pin from Posh Plushies will make brighten up any pin cushion!

An orange birdy - could you get any more springlike? This is from Kool Kooky Creatures.

This Superwash 4 ply sock yarn is called 'Spring Greens', and is by The Bear Necessities.

I'm meant to be economising at the moment, but I'm sorely tempted by this Lemon Viola Bobby Pin from Wychbury.

Finally, there's nothing more springy for me than a bunch of tulips. This linocut print from The Lapwing Printworks would mean you could look at a bit of spring all year round.

Hello, Kitty!

Munchkin has very generously passed a cold on to me and mr pickled weasel, and we are both feeling quite sorry for ourselves. My symptoms were at their worst on Thursday, and so Grandma Pickled Weasel came and took Munchkin out for the morning so I could get some sleep and sit in the sun feeling wibbly. I sat and stitched the last bit of a kit I've been doing for a while, a lovely little Hello Kitty which was done on soluble canvas.

I've never used soluble canvas before, but it was easier than I thought. I think the fabric you use it on is quite important, and I chose a nice cotton dress to embroider because I knew it would be easy to stitch on. The kit was fab, came with everything I needed - canvas, threads, chart, instructions and even a needle (excellent, as I am always losing mine. Slightly scary prospect now I have a small child). The only difficult bit was the inclusion of *shiver* FRENCH KNOTS in the design. I hate french knots. Until now! I followed a fabulous tutorial from Sublime Stitching and finally mastered them.

When you finish stitching, you just soak your fabric in hot soapy water for 10 minutes and the canvas disappears. Then you rinse and dry it as normal. It reminded me a bit of leaf gelatine, maybe it is made of a similar thing. I was really pleased with it, and am trying to avoid the temptation of buying another one...