I'm like a bird...

A new arrival - Isabella Ivy MacAuley - so decided to make a little bird as a card from upcycled materials!

Finished little baby bird. Have used rick-rack for the legs this time rather than string

Close up of the head

Have machine stitched the wing on this time which I think works better than hand stitched

Once I'd finished her, I decided to tweek my christmas bird design slightly by using machine stitch and also adding my tags. They still need legs though.....;-)

Tweet Tweet

The initial sketch

Completed - All made from scrap fabric

Close up

Inspired by a trip to Bath with my sister on the 19 November I've created a little birdie to tie on Christmas presents - which can then be tied to the Christmas tree!

Getting creative with icing

Icing a little too runny

Altogther looks quite effective

I treated myself to a piping set on Sunday, after being inspired by an article in an old Waitrose magazine.  Not being able to wait any longer to try it out, I had my first attempt tonight. Not bad. Not quite what I wanted, but not a total disaster!

Getting the consistency right for the icing was the first challenge - not too runny and not too thick. Got it to what I thought was 'about right' then added some colouring. Too light, too pink, just right! (don't think eco bulbs are condusive to getting the right colours though - so it turned out salmon coloured..)
The nozzle a no.2 is too fat for the result I was wanted to achieve, so a new nozzle is required. The bag was easy to clean and I also managed to remove all traces of red food dye from my fingers! (not a good look).

They are now sitting in the fridge to set (hopefully) before being posted..

And the reason for custard creams? All because of a text I sent to Gav which said...Custard Cream or Jammie Dodger......I was just going to post a standard packet of custard creams, but then thought it would be nicer to ice them!



Naked custard creams...



Adding the first splash of colour



mmm was aiming for red..





Sugar cubes - make the message even sweeter!



Boxed up and ready to go

Any old vinyl

Today I've been listing my old vinyl records on ebay - but to be honest don't think I'm actually going to get much money for them so this got me thinking.....what can I do with this old vinyl instead? So after some internet research came across some amazing ideas - I love these butterflies by Paul Villinski. This has inspired me to have a go at making some things of my own.

http://www.paulvillinski.com/



My Back Pages (second Iteration) 2008 by Paul Vilinski. Photograph: Paul Villinski