U-handblog

Interview with Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy (and other distractions)

Here are one or two things that you might want to do instead of the house work, your job, going to the grocery store etc.

I have just posted an interview the lovely Alicia Paulson.  As you'd expect her words are such a nice read and her pics are yummylicious too.

Read Alicia's Crafting Heroes Interview on my CraftBoom! blog.

And as things are a bit contest-tastic on U-Handblog at the moment, I thought I would remind folks about what draws are currently happening:

Win one of 3 current issues of this groovy craft mag - complete with sequins and glitter pack.  End date = 9th June.

Win this pile of sewing booty.  End date = 6th June

And the regular Monthly Amy Butler Pattern contest.  End date = 30th June.

Somewhat more interesting than doing the dishes methinks :)

Misc-link-mania

Some groovy crafty goings on:

• Delicious weekender style bag and purse frame purses in African prints.
• Brilliant German quilt blog, talented gal!
• Switch plates by Pink Chalk Studio
• 56 free apron patterns (is that all?)
• Squillions of free embroidery patterns
• Zen Habits easy and simple ways to make life a bit easier
• More free fonts than you can shake your keyboard at
• Easy to use length converter
• Don't like DIY, and I don't like washing up either, but there you go...

Coming next: gorgeous (well, I think so) flower and plant pics from Kew botanical gardens.

Exclusive and in depth interview with Amy Butler!!

Aw thanks for your feedback on Al's song everyone.  Your comments have made Al so happy, he's puffed out his chest and now he wants to try and finish the song properly.   He's way too shy about his music and when his missus tells him that he's good it's like your mum telling you "well, you're special to me".

Yes right the interview!  Amy has very kindly let me interview her (and bless her) she has taken the time to write very in depth answers and provided photography to die for.  There's also YOU READ HERE FIRST!! hot news of her up and coming book which will be guaranteed to fly off the shelves (I'd love a copy and I don't have kids!) Intrigued...then pop over to my other blog for a read of Amy's interview. Hope you enjoy it :)
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Amy says: “I’m sporting a vintage find from my favorite clothing store “Foot  Loose” here in Granville.  The color is delicious. “

Monster Mess

Phew!  Snowed under today because heaps of deliveries have all arrived today (it's the same as the bus thing, you wait for ages and ages and then...) so the office is in an almighty mess.  But the postie has also delivered two Canadian stowaways called Colin & Kevin so they can help me clear up the office.  Al had invited these two chaps over as a surprise for me. 
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Colin: "Mmphff mmphff!  Would you mind awfully getting your foot out of my face?"
Kevin: "Sorree!  It's not like I have much choice!"

Kevin: "Ahh it's good to stretch your legs." 
Colin: "Bit flippin' chilly in the UK isn't it?"

"Aw come on Colin cheer up, I'll make us all a nice hot cuppa."

Pattern for a purse frame purse

Last chance saloon call for last minute entrants to the The Creative Family Book (with bonus prize) draw:  If you haven't entered already you still have time before the draw ends tomorrow.

Thanks heaps for your kind comments about my powder pink frame purse. I had a whole bunch of requests for the pattern that I used to make it.  So without further ado; here you go...

Note: this particular pattern works for a specific purse frame, but the shape of this pattern can be adopted for most any purse frame if you follow steps 1 - 2 of my purse frame tutorial.

So, start off with a 26.5cm x 16cm rectangle sheet of paper then measure and cut as shown in the pic below:

This pattern make a purse which looks like this.  To make the pattern follow the steps below:

1. Fold the paper in half by bringing the short edges together and create the pattern with the paper halved.  It's always best to make symmetrical patterns in this way.
2. On the bottom corner open edge measure a 95 degree angle and mark the line to the side edge (this line should be 12cm long) and trim off the angle.
3. Turn the paper on it's side (so the side edge is now facing you) and measure 62 degree angle and mark the line the top edge (this line should be 8cm long) and trim off the angle.
4. Now round of the top edge corners as in the picture.  You should be left with a top edge measuring 14cm (give or take a few mms).
5. There, that's the pattern sorted now you can follow the purse frame tutorial from step 3 onwards.
6. Proudly show off your yummy new purse in the U-Handblog Tutorials Flickr.

It was actually sunny yesterday, so one thing I did to make the most of the light was to take pics of the latest deliveries for the shop:

"Hello my pretties, I hope you had a pleasant journey and you feel very welcome here"  :)

This fabric is sooo cute it's made from quilted squares of chambray and faded florals...mmmm!


I'm leaving work slightly early because; my best pal is getting married today (congrats Nicci! X)   

Have a fabby weekend everyone!

Misc-link-mania

Hope you had a smashing weekend everyone.   It was my best pal's fiance's stag do last Saturday and somehow us girls got involved in celebrations towards the end, so I can't cope too well with loud noises at the moment...

I'm really glad you enjoyed the interview with Kristin of Sew Mama Sew.

Just so you know, today is the closing date for this month's Amy Butler sewing patterns contest.  Winners will be announced tomorrow - Good Luck!

   
• Not Martha - can't read...drooling (over  pics of choccy)
   
• Mochimochi - knitting patterns so cute (and daft) it hurts!
   
• Sock Monkey Calendar - fun calendar for those who still haven't bought one (like me)
   
• New Amy Butler Fabrics - released in April.  Drool, gimme, gimme
   
• Yummy Bracelet giveaway - with 4 designs to choose from
   
• Goldfrapp - her new album Seventh Tree may not be similar to her others, but it's no less delicious for it.  Sooo relaxing.
   
• Elbow - the new ablum Seldom Seen Kid is brill.  Thoughtful lyrics, somtimes rousing, sometimes gentle, and I would marry any man with a voice like his...(mmm...thinks naughty thoughts...)
   
• Designer Credit Cards - if my credit card looked like this I'd use it way too often and be very broke
   
• Free Music to download - I haven't investigated this yet, but it looks good.
   
• Scribd - free document viewer, sharer and storage.  I found this on Julia's blog and it works great.
   
• Sketchbook - an etsy shop selling yummy hand made bags
   
• Atomic Food Containers - a perfect way to liven up lunch/leftovers. Available in US & UK.
   
• Squidoo - lots of bag sewing links
   
• Madeit - a forum to talk about buying, making, selling Indie craft
   
• Monster Factory - wonderful monster plushies.  I bought Sebastian (see below) for Al for Xmas and they are now firm friends

Sebastian and I hope you have a great St Patrick's day!

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Crafting Heroes Interview with Kristin Link: Owner of the fabulous Sew Mama Sew!

Hey!  Thanks for your kind comments about my shoe, I'm really happy that you liked it.  I was a bit shy about it to be honest...

Have you ever wanted to know a bit more about the founder of the amazing Sew Mama Sew! fabric shop and inspiring blog?  Yep?  Well you're in luck.  If you haven't visited either her fabric store or blog before (where have you been? and you are in for a big crafty treat...)

Here's Kristin with her daughter - I love this pic.

To see the interview with Kristin hop over to my other blog.

Ohhhhhh!! Super excited because the postie has delivered my review copy of Amanda Blake Soule's The Creative Family.  I'll review it on this blog soon. You can see the Crafting Hero interview I did with Amanda here.

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Misc-link-mania

OK so there was no clear favourite as to what I should make for the oilcoth tutorial so I'll make more than one thing from the list.  Meanwhile (whilst I procrastinate yet further about actually making a start on the tut) here are some groovy crafty goings on you might want to check out:

• Melanie's - fabric lust....drool, she sells some of it too...droool!
• Jo's - first tutorial (which is better than my 1st!) is this lovely crochet hook roll.
• Christine - has done it again with a super easy diaper bag tute.
• Julia - makes her own corsets and she's used some of my tutes to make bags :)
• Craftjuice - a site to show off your crafty work.
• Claire's - Moo wallets can be found here - I have one and folks are always impressed when I whip it out of my bag.
• Lightbox tute - make the best of your photos by making your own lightbox on the cheap
• Guisypatch - aw man!  I LOVE her handmade wallets.
• Jennalou - is starting to sell her own patterns, one of them is this fab wallet.
• Eclectic Moi - pretty vintage items to make with or to wear.
• Savvy Seams -  mini duffel bag tute.
• Flossieteacakes - the sweetest (and tastiest) dinosaurs I've ever seen.
• Montessori by hand - name Meg's new dinky-doo apron and win an apron book.
• Anna's - pretty fabric waste bin tute - what a great idea!

In my next post I will announce the winner of the Handcrafted Journal...

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Happy Valentine's!

Soreee!  I haven't been able to finish the velvet bag yet. It will only take ten minutes to do, but I haven't got the time right now.  Thanks for all of your kind comments the oilcloth bag I will sort out a 'how to work with oilcloth' tutorial for those who asked for it :)

Meanwhile I've got to do some real work and be ready to go to dinner with my lovely guy.  We're going to a modest little French restaurant that we used to frequent when we were impoverished students, it'll bring back nice memories.  Have a lovely Valentines everyone OXO

Here's a cute Vintage Valentine taken from the flickr group of the same name.

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PS: For anyone who fancies it, on my other blog I have just posted whole bunch of tutorial links for quick & easy Craft Items with a Spring Theme.

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A blog editor that really works and is FREE!

I just wanted to tell you about a cool blog editor that I have been testing and using for the last 2 weeks.  I'm not being hired by these guys or anything, it's just that I really like when things work (especially when they're free!)

The editor is called Qumana.  Here are the things I like about it:

1. It's very easy to use.
2. There is a Mac & a PC (but not Vista - thanks for the tip Tina) **Update** Tina's asked around and it looks like this work fine on Vista :)
3. You don't need to log in to your blog in order to write a post, you don't even need to be online.
4. It looks pretty.
5. You can save posts to come back to later (which is relief for Typepad users).
6. Inserting pics and links is quick and easy.
7. It works for all the main blogs and you can use it for as many blogs as you want.
8. It has spell check (after all of these years I still can't touch-type!)
9. It has a good amount of editing tools.
10. It's free, free, free!

Here's a screen shot of me composing this very post with Qumana on my Mac. That's kinda mirror within a mirror isn't it?