Early Makes

Old Bag

It's interesting to look back at some early makes, to see how I've 'grown' from a design perspective. When I first began crafting in textiles, it really was an exercise in self discovery. Just what was I capable of making, with the limited knowledge and skills I had at the time.




I was exploring a new media, which was to lead me into all sorts of unexplored territory, before I finally settled on the collectable cats I make today!

American Tourist

I sourced my fabrics from the charity shops on my doorstep, as they were cheap and easily accessible - plus it was nice to feel I was giving something back.





'T' shirts were an interesting buy, as they came in a variety of flesh colours and inspired my early makes of little characters. I had the most enormous fun making these!

Fi Fi

I really learned a lot of new needle skills making these little people. I worked entirely by hand, as the projects were too small to use a sewing machine on, especially an electric one.






The fabric had to be eased through the fingers gently and my stitching had to be tiny - there was little room for mistakes, or it would stand out like a sore thumb!

Onion Seller

I gradually developed an eye for design, texture and colour; the skills I would need to compete in my chosen market.


Although I loved making these small characters, they were clearly not going to be viable as a product to market; it took me all day to make just one figure and who would be prepared to pay the £20 at least I would want?


It was back to the drawing board!

Lolita

But this little project had served a purpose; it gave me an invaluable training and whetted my appetite.


With my new skills sharpened and enthusiasm bubbling, I felt ready to come up with a design I could market.


My motto has always been 'Keep it Simple'. That has remained my mantra when designing my collectable cats.


I base my patterns on simple shapes that are easy to assemble and recreate.

Trivial Travels Cat

All that style evolution has finally led to this little guy - the latest in my range of Trivial Travels Cats.


I'm really enjoying making these heavily appliqued cats.


I always strengthen my appliqued fabrics with some fusible interfacing. It gives structure and stops a lot of fraying - although I like to see the odd fibre here and there, as it adds interest.

Love 'n Kisses

A friend gave me a craft magazine just before Christmas and one of the articles featured a particular stamp, I think it was called 'stitches'. The effect was a border of large, primitive stitches; some crossing over one another. I thought this might work well in actual stitching and was eager to try it out on my cats.

Love 'n Kisses with heart balloons.

I was really pleased with the results when I used it as an over-stitch to the machine - applique I use to attatch the bottom trim on the cat.




I made a couple of cats using this technique and also discovered some delightful little rainbow-coloured jingle bells in my local craft shop, which added a nice touch.
I've enjoyed discovering that one or two other paper crafting techniques transfer quite nicely to textiles.
I'll share more about that in a later blog.

Love 'n Kisses caption

I plan to make some more of these, as I think they make a nice gift idea.


This little guy on the left has already sold, so I think they may go down pretty well in my Folksy shop.


I'm enjoying making the distressed labels to finish the whole thing off.

Grey Swirl Bowtie

I have been very busy over the past couple of months setting up my new Folksy shop: Bow Ties for Hot Guys.

This is something very different for me and I'm having so much fun with it!

There is no specific reason why I chose to make bow ties, although I'm a big fan of vintage and nostalgia, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

I wanted to make bow ties that were very different and offered men a chance to have some fun accessorising and I thought it would be a good idea to turn the whole thing into a complete gift idea and designed my own packaging.

If you've never had a go at this, I can thoroughly recommend it - I had soooooo much fun!
I chose fire damage as my packaging theme, to compliment the name Bow Ties for Hot Guys.
I sourced some cute little woodchip boxes from the internet and distressed them to make them look as though they had been snatched from burning embers, and made a label to match. I also designed a label to go on the box and packed the bowtie inside using fire-red shredded paper.

So far, the new shop on Folksy is VERY quiet and I may have to accept this is not the right platform to sell them. But I will give it a year, before I give up and try elsewhere.

It's been a hard day.

Cat lovers who enjoy visiting my blog will no doubt be wondering what Boo is up to. Those of us who know and love him are never surprised to learn that Boo is sleeping

While the weather has been so icy here on the coast, Boo has rarely moved from the stove. He has a range of chairs he likes to sit in and if anyone sits in the chair he has set his sights on they have to move - that's the law.

Boo will be 7 this year. We got him from Cats Protection as a three-month-old kitten for my daughter Milly, who absolutely adores him. Just to tell you a little bit about his profile; he loves Dreamies and sleeping; hates Whiskers and going to the vet for his annual jab; Boo's biggest secret that he doesn't like anyone to know about is.......his name was Lola.

Trivial Travels

I'm always thinking of new ideas to broaden my range of collectable cats and I draw much of my inspiration from the real cats around me; mostly our own dear cat Boo and his 'back yard' friends who often visit.
It was while watching Boo's interaction with his buddies and his meanderings within the boundaries of our garden, I came up with the idea for my Trivial Travels Cats.

Garden Gate Cat

Where do our cats go when they disappear for a few hours each day; returning tired and hungry, ready for food and a long nap by the fire?
Although some cats have quite a large territory, most prefer to stay close to home and this was the theme I focused on - all the favourite little haunts our lovable moggies beat a path to every day, probably just around the corner, more likely no further than your window sill!

I enjoy applique immensely and find this a particularly rewarding project to work on.
There is such a fabulous range of fabrics available, it's easy and great fun to sit and create little scenes.
I wanted to almost give the impression that this is what the cat sees; like the scene is reflected upon it.

The Shed Cat

I find new ideas pop into my head all the time
and once I think of something I can't wait to get all the fabrics out and start planning how I'm going to create my idea.

My daughter, Milly, came up with the idea of making a 'Today You Visited' label, which I think finishes the whole thing off and makes a great gift.

I have had to charge a little more for these cats, as there is quite a bit of work involved. So I'll have to see how well they sell, but I enjoy designing them so much I think I will just go on making them!

Seashore Cat

I'd love to hear from any visitors to my blog of places their own cats like to visit.
This Seashore Cat is one of my favourites. I like to think sometimes our local cats wander up to the sea and take a break from hunting in the sand hills to watch the moon on the water, or shut their eyes against the wind off the sea.
Do cats appreciate beautiful scenery I wonder? I think they might.

Window Sill Cat

So these are the Trivial Travels Cats I've made so far - do you have a favourite?

The Importance of being Boo Boo

Wearing his Head of Production Hat, Boo takes quality control very seriously and likes to keep a close eye on manufacture of all feline products! In fact there's just one thing Boo takes more seriously than working the shop floor (apart from Dreamies of course) and that is...

Head of Production - Boo Boo!

...Sleep.

Seagull Hall

I love looking at other people's homes; how they've designed the kitchen, overcome storage problems, shaped the garden - great stuff. So I thought followers of my blog might like to see where I design and create. So this is Seagull Hall. It's a small white cottage not far from the sea, about 100 years old (just over). We've lived here for almost 10 years and are still renovating! Can you believe that.

Our Home - Seagull Hall

 This is the living room and we have another little room at the back where I like to work near the stove.
I have to say I'm always changing the room around, so it probably looks a bit different from when this photo was taken.

The living room

This is our stove in the back room. We bought it in an antique shop in Horncastle about nine years ago. I love this stove; it chugs away all winter, keeping us warm day and night. I'd love to know more about it, if anyone knows. I think it could be Victorian, as it's quite ornate.

So there you are, that's our home.

On Guard!

Someone has to keep an eye on all these mice, and who better than our dear cat Boo...

....who would never fall asleep on the job.

Caught Red handed!

Pete; caught in the act of straining his home made wine through (yes) his underpants!
We later labelled it 'Y-Front Wine' - and drank it!