Glorious, glorious sunshine

Wasn't today absolutely glorious? For those of you in the UK you will know that days like these are few and far between. I don't know about you but when the weather is like this I have more energy and the enthusiasm to get up early....even on a Sunday. Today, while the other half and his Dad put in the skylight in the loft (soon to be the illustrious sewing room!!) I painted some picture frames that we've had for a while. They were originally mirrors and were an odd off whitey grey colour, but we took out the mirrors and I painted them the same colour as our walls.

The plan is to find some art work that we both like for them.....which is proving to be quite difficult as we cant seem to agree!! If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to see them....

These are the 2 that are in our bedroom, you can just see to the right of the photo our textured wall that we have behind our bed.

OK I'm sure you'll all like to see the progress on the sewing room, previously I showed you that 95% of the room has been plaster boarded....well now the window is in!!!

And from the window this is my view!!! Beautiful isn't it? I can even see the golf course in the background.

And what a beautiful blue sky!! I've also managed to wangle myself the day off work tomorrow! So here's hoping that the weather will be just as good, I plan to sit in the garden and do some sewing.

Felt flower purse

Yesterday you saw the custom bag that I made Heather, today I'm showing you this very cute (if I do say so myself) felt purse.

Every detail is hand stitched by yours truly and if you look closely at the felt flower, there is a little diamante peeking back at you.

This design I was inspired to make for my 2 swaps that I took part in last month and thought I would make another to go into my etsy shop. Maybe there will be more in the future, who knows :)

Not the best photos that I've taken and you can just spot the tub of Vaseline propping the purse open Doh!! But all the same I'm very pleased at how it turned out.

Its listed here if you are interested? If you like the purse but would like a different colour pop me an emma@bagladee.com

As promised here it is

This is the custom bag I've been working on for a lovely lady called Heather who lives in the states (Hi Heather if you're reading). This is the Sienna bag that is available in my Etsy shop and website.....its custom because Heather specifically asked for lots of compartments, 1 large on one side, a phone pouch and small compartment on the other and of course the little drawstring pouch too. It also closes with a zip rather than a snap fastener.

What do you think?

So if you'd like a custom item making, don't be shy, come forward and say hello (emma@bagladee.com) ......pick my brains if you like (although I don't think there's much left to pick!! ha ha). I will make ANYTHING!! (Did I really just say that???? :o/) I love a challenge and aim to please ;) (watch me get a load of orders for leopard print thongs!! ha ha) Ooooerrrr!!

My my its early....

....for me anyway. Me, Emma blogging before 7:15 in the morning!!! Before work!?!??! Yes, that is unusual. I'm finding it difficult to sleep again at the moment. Not sure if its work, the never ending 'To-do' list that never gets smaller in size or just that time of year where its too warm to sleep???

I think I'm in need of a good strong cup of coffee to kick start my day. Yesterday I was on caffeine overload.....work was that much of a.....well lets say a challenge just even getting through the day. So 5 cups of caffeinated beverages later it was the end of the working day and I was free!!! Yippee!!!

Did a little bit of hand sewing last night and finished the custom bag so photo's to follow :)

Have a nice day my fellow bloggers xx

Fabric + Sunshine = perfect weekend!

I hope you've all had a nice long bank holiday weekend. Mine has been a strange one but definitely exciting. Saturday I took a trip to a local fabric store that has recently changed owners. Before they had some nice fabric but nothing really that ever caught my eye. There were some tempting fabrics in the window so I thought I'd take a peek.
(Yes for all you who know me 'Dangerous' I knew I'd come out with something!!) And boy did I!!

I love this combo of fabric........the first that whispered to me 'Pssssst Emma! Buy me! Go on you know you want to!!'

Then I spotted these two sweet fabrics.

And then this gorgeous pair.....its heavier than the cotton I normally buy but the prints were just too good to resist and it will make the making more interesting since its something different.

Best be off, must finish the custom bag I'm making today and some more instructions to write.......

Enjoy the rest of the day :)

Cheryl if you are reading this???

Back in February I wrote this post, do you remember?? I've thought about writing a follow up post......should I? Shouldn't I? After about a month of indecision I thought, lets get it out and over with.

I made this bag with a very special recipient in mind. Someone once asked me who I thought would be my ideal celebrity to fit my specific style. After a lot of deliberation I decided it had to be someone who is confident, has a unique sense of style, which is a mix of sophisticated, fun and classy. And why not be someone from my neck of the woods.....So it would have to be Miss Cheryl Cole.

A friend then kindly passed on her home address to which I posted it to, in the post office I sent it 'Signed For' as I presumed that since it was travelling Royal Mail, that it would arrive safely at its destination. After about 1 week I checked online to see if the package had been 'signed for' only to find that the only tracking was that of the post office where I had originally posted it from. Puzzled?!?!?!?

I decided after 2 weeks I would contact said Royal Mail to see if I could get confirmation of delivery, only to be told that 'SIGNED FOR' parcels were signed for at the discretion of the post man delivering. Well as you can imagine my response to that was not pleasant......why do you pay extra for signed for if they aren't going to bloody sign for it. I could have sent it normal 1st class and played the Postage Lottery just the same. I had a little glimmer of hope that the parcel did actually arrive and that she was pleased with the clutch bag I sent and maybe, just maybe she would have sent an email or something to say thank you. Me being me and wanting to see the good in people, I am resounding myself to the fact that somewhere in the ether of the postal system my little clutch bag is floating around lost....trying and hoping to get to its destination.....or even be returned back to me????

Where ever you are little bag I hope that you are safe and well and that someone is looking after you!!!! :(

Lesson learned: want something to reach its destination that is extra special.......Send it 'Special Delivery'.....more expensive but at least you'll know that it got there!

This is the beginning...

We've just arrived back and today was great. I'm on such a high :) I managed a bit of a lie in, a nice cuppa and then off we went......

We arrived a little early so we went to grab a coffee. After, we went up to meet John, he explained everything and we looked through my bags and notes. It was so exciting to see the format of the book and how it will look. We discussed the content and photos and how everything would need to be planned out.

John was really nice and really down to earth....he explained everything so well. It made me feel at ease and I'm so looking forward to getting started!! I cant wait.

Afterwards we went to the Bull Ring to have a look round the shops, only to find out that it was shut and was cordoned off by the police. It was from looking on the Internet when we came home we found out that there had been a chemical leak and the place was evacuated again this morning for the second time in 2 days!!

We're off out for a celebratory curry tonight, this is definitely the start of GREAT things to come for me and bagladee.

Wish me luck?

All packed and prepared :0/ I have my notes, sketches, bags, samples, photos and........me.

Nothing like a.....

Good cup of tea and 3 digestive biscuits after a tough day at work :D As the years go by I find myself drinking more and more tea to the point that I sometimes think I drink too much tea! Is there such a thing???

I was planning on going for a run tonight, but I still have a bit of work to do for my notes for the 'book' meeting on Friday. I'm a mix of emotions at the moment.....nervous, excited, curious and still in a state of 'is this really happening to me???'. I'm not entirely sure what I need for the meeting I hope I'm prepared enough.

210!!

I wasn't quite sure what to name today's post.....to be quite honest I'm still trying to wind down after a 'trying' day at work. I still feel annoyed and annoyed that I'm annoyed.....does that make sense? Any way I've been busy cutting out the fabric for a custom bag I'm making and I'm hoping to start sewing it together tomorrow, that will put a smile on my face :) It will be the Sienna shopper from my shop/website with some alterations. I love making custom items.

I'll keep you updated on progress as I go along. At Christmas we received this box of biscuits from someone in our family and after polishing off the biscuits I couldn't bring myself to throw out the tin. And after thinking for quite some time I've decided to store all my zips in it.

I especially love this little fella, this is the reason I couldn't throw it out. He is the double of my westie Dougal (who is no longer with us).....so its going to be kept where I can see it often.

Oh and the reason the post is named 210 is because this post is No.210, I cant believe I've reached that many posts already!!!

In another life...

...I'd be a super hero. But I'm afraid it would be for quite selfish reasons......I could fly here and there, get all things done in a flash, I wouldn't have to do the day job and nothing would be impossible!

Yesterday whilst reading through some blogs (angeltreats) I found this really fun application The Hero Factory where just for the day I could be The Meaty Flying Angel. And then I got a little carried away and made the other half into my partner in the fight against chores ;) ha ha

Doesn't he look hunky as The Gifted Knight. Go on try it......you'll get addicted. I started randomly picking people I know and made them into 'Goodies' and 'Baddies'. Great fun!!

The weekend was spent cutting fabric for a custom bag, knitting and sewing together more rectangles for Nell's sewing room blanket, trying to sort out some notes for my first 'book' meeting and looked for some craft fairs in the area that I can sell at. Right must dash....have some notes to finish before I make Omelet and chips. Yum Yum!!! :oP

Good enough to eat

OK I'm back with something more fun....I've just received these buttons that I bought from Sarah at Paper-and-string and I think they look like sweeties. Good enough to eat! I must have sat for about an hour when they arrived just playing with them and trying to pick one out that was my favourite but I just couldn't decide. They are all so yummy!!

If you'd like to own some of these gorgeous button then pop over to Paper-and-string where you can get your hands on them.

Yes there is more!! I love these little flower buttons, they are so sweet. I especially love the pink ones they are my fav.

And I did promise that after Ag received her Freestyle Swap gift from me I would show you what I sent her. I made a lovely bag in shades of orange which is one of her favourite colours, I also made a fabric box to keep bits and bobs in and a felt purse. And in the center is a pink butterflies note book that I found on Etsy.

Off to cut out some fabric before bed.....

Kitty V's Human......Kitty wins!!!

I was going to start off this post by showing you a picture of my hand where the lovely Oliver has left his mark but I decided that it was way too disgusting to show :( Thursday resulted in a call to my doctors, which then turned into an appointment that day for a tetanus jab (now Emma's not a happy bunny!!)

The reason for this is that my scratches are infected (ooohhhh lovely!) and because I changed doctors when I moved down here they cant be sure when I had my last jab?? I'm not squeamish so the injection didn't bother me......it was the fact that only today can I just about manage to raise my arm more than 5cm and pick things up (very annoying!). And looking at the scratches now......they are going to be some lovely scars on my hand :(

Oh well.....best be off to get some chores done. Then I can come back later and be a bit more cheery and show you some yummy buttons and some sewing (hopefully). Ciao for now xx

Audrey's Country Crafts Bag Swap - Received

Hey bloggers, thought I'd pop by and show what came in the post today. I LOVE parcels.....this one is my swap gift from Wendy at Bags and Buds. Hi Wendy **wave** she has a great blog and a wonderful etsy shop full of gorgeous bags and accessories.

Inside the box there was this very neatly stitched together paper parcel.

With this cute tag......
But just look at what was inside the parcel!! A gorgeous pouch, a key fob and brooch. This is now my travel make up bag for my trip to Paris as its very chic and I have a lovely cardigan that I'm going to pin the brooch to. I'll be using the key fob for my house keys, I can never find them in my hand bag but I'll have no problem finding them with this fabulous fob.

I love the stitching detail on the bottom section of the pouch and the colours are very me :)

2 FANTASTIC swap parcels in 1 week...how lucky am I!?!?!?

Many thanks to Audrey for a fantastic bag swap :) it was great fun!

Thanks to all of you that gave me a bit of well needed sympathy after our ordeal at the vets on Monday. Oliver is back to his old self and even came for a cuddle last night at bedtime. However I have put some elastoplast on my hand and I think a call to the doctors tomorrow to find out when was the last time I had my tetanus as its looking a bit gammy! :o/

Sew Hip issue 4 and one angry kitty!!!

After many months of searching for the elusive issue 4, I decided to lean on my fellow bloggers and request their help to find one......BINGO!!!!! The lovely Bex over at Bexs Buttons contacted me saying that I could have her copy as she had read it from cover to cover. Oh Joy!!

And here it is, it came in the post today tied with some lovely pink ric rac and a handmade card, with buttons on....of course. Thanks ever so much Bex, I'm looking forward to reading it.

This was a lovely present from the in-laws from their trip over the bank holiday weekend.....its a Good luck Book Mark with a cute little kitty.

And speaking of little kitties, this little man was not a happy bunny yesterday!! We arrived at the vets at 5:30pm but as there was an emergency with a dog that had been hit by a car we had to wait for an hour. He was a bit stressed miaowing for a very long time until he eventually lay down with heavy eyes.

When we went in to be seen there was no problem with checking eyes, ears, teeth and heart etc but the second the vet asked me to hold him still while she gave him his booster Oliver just went berserk!!! Like I have never seen him before, he started growling and hissing, then began making the most strangest of miaowes. And when I went to pick him up he frantically scratched my arms trying to get away. He was so scared bless him.....and had obviously had enough. I definitely came off worse, covered from head to toe with cat fur and a bleeding arm and leg. So when we came home he got lots of fussing and some special cheesy biscuits. I got some Savlon and a cup of tea.

All done....whats next?

Still reeling from receiving Ag's wonderful swap gits.....the grass has been cut, the weeds pulled out, the drive swept, the washing is blowing in the breeze, Oliver is sleeping on a mound of soil at the bottom of the garden (Oh how he is going to miss that mound when the garden gets a make over), Nell is trying to steal some of my cheese sandwich, a list of to-do's (craft wise) has been made, the house tidy and a lovely cup of tea in hand! Perfect.... love it when all the chores are done, that means the afternoon is mine :) Oh and the Velux window came yesterday for the loft!! YEY!!

Does anyone remember this post? Can anyone help? Last attempt was a bit of a dead end :(

Hope you're having a relaxing Saturday...

I am the luckiest blogger in blog land!!

OK and breathe........lets see if I cant write this post without hyperventilating with excitement!!?? (Probably not). Today when I came home from work (after an extra horrid day) there was this lovely large parcel waiting for me. Running upstairs for my camera.......as I knew it was my swap parcel from Ag. We were teamed up together by Sam from Silkie Sue for her freestyle swap.

Ag is an illustrator and graphic designer, she has the most amazing blog and even more amazing talent....please go over and check out her work!! You really are missing out if you haven't popped by before. And now you'll see why :)

Look at the gorgeous little details she put of the postage envelope, are you excited yet? I was!!

Inside there were two very prettily wrapped parcels and some "Mini Snappers", I've never seen them before but the illustration on the back looks soooooooooo yuummmmmmyyyyy! Cant wait to get my teeth into those.

Isn't this the cutest wrapping you've ever seen.

Straight into the card, and just look at what I found. This card is hand painted by Ag, I'm totally in love with it. The detailing is unbelievable and its BAGS!!!! I know, at this point my face was beaming like a Cheshire cat.....I just couldn't believe I was so lucky! Then I almost cried when I saw the big parcel, just look at this.....this is the sweetest gift I've ever had. Its my 2 kitties Nell and Oli. Ag I have to say, if I was ever to imagine the perfect painting it was this. Thank you so much, you really made my day!

Isn't it gorgeous? I love it, love it, love it!!!

I also received these lovely bracelets in my fav colour teal.

I really am the luckiest blogger in blog land.

Thanks to Sam over at Silkie Sue for organising such an awesome swap and a ginormous THANK YOU to Ag for being the best swap partner EVER!!

Unpacked, watered and rested.

Just got back from up north this afternoon, I had a lovely time, lots of catching up done and a little bit of retail therapy :) The Girls Aloud concert was brilliant...such a good show and I have to say that the 5 male dancers that they had with them were rather tasty ;) We had a look round the shops in the afternoon (I made the small purchase of a work shirt, dress and top) and then we went for a slap up steak at Frankie and Benny's, polished off with a generous slice of vanilla cheese cake!! YUM :P

The other half was out when I got back but I received a lovely welcome from the 2 kitty cats. Especially my baby Nell. I started unpacking, sorted out my clothes and went into the spare room, came back and found someone making a little statement:

Nell: Please don't go away again Mamma, if I sit in this bag you cant!!

Me: Are you coming down stairs for a cuddle Nelly?
Nell: Hmmmm yes please Mamma :)

And when I came downstairs to take a couple of photos someone had decided to get snugly straight away. She looks very contented don't you think?

Here is a photo of the magazine tote I bought from Matalan, its quite large....perfect I think for my sewing room.

There is a gorgeous embossed flower pattern on the front, you can just about see it here. It will go lovely with the wallpaper I have chosen.

And last of all I managed to get the last bits of hand sewing done for my 'Freestyle' swap (cant show you yet though) and knitted lots more rectangles for Nell's new blanket. This is a photo of the rectangles that I've managed to get sewn together so far......lots more still to do.

Lots of emails and orders to get sorted now so best be off to get them done.

Why I love my Note book :)

... because I can still say 'Hi' from up north :) What a little gadget, I don't know how I ever got by without it. My little lap top is becoming almost as essential as my lip gloss!! ha ha. No really you ask the other half, who will probably tell you I need to have it surgically removed ;)

Any who thought I'd just pop by and leave a post....although the weather has not been that great today I did (with help from my Mama) get some of the kitty blanket stitched together. I need to knit A LOT MORE rectangles now, but its starting to take shape. I cant post any photos just yet but will do so once I'm back at HQ.

Yesterday was spent catching up with a few friends and family which was lovely and today I had a quick trip to Matalan (for those outside of the UK its a large chain store which sells clothes and home wares). It was the home wares part I was after, I had some vouchers to spend and was on the look out for something we might need. That was until I spotted a very gorgeous biscuit coloured magazine tote, which has a lovely embossed flower motif on the front. I wont be using it as a magazine tote.....Oh no....I thought it would make a great accessory for my sewing room when its finished, I thought I could store the fabric that is currently being used for w.i.p or something similar. And that with some new socks was the vouchers spent.

Tomorrow is going to be spent on some serious over indulging....shopping, lunch, shopping, coffee, shopping, dinner, then the concert :)

Hope you all had a fab bank holiday (again UK) weekend.

Home....

Tomorrow I'm off up home to visit my parents. For those of you who don't know, although I live in Nottingham now my home town is Consett, County Durham. Not many people have heard of Consett or Durham for that matter. So to make things easier I say I'm from Newcastle most people guess that from my accent.

Durham is such a beautiful City, it has a very pretty Cathedral that sits on the River Wear. Its quite a quaint city with some of it still having cobbled streets.

Its been a while since I was up home, I'm in need of a break and was starting to feel a little home sick. I've bought tickets to see Girls Aloud on Tuesday so I'm taking my Mam out for a meal then to the show, thought it would be nice to have a girls night out. I'm taking what I have made so far for my kitty blanket as my Mam has said she will help knit some rectangles (since she is the master at knitting I'm sure I'll come back with most of them finished) :)

I'm also going to take the last bits of my swap with me so that I can finish the hand sewing. There's not much to do, but will mean I can tick them off the 'to do' list. Today the weather has been glorious. I have a confession to make!!! Today is the first time since LAST summer that I have washed my car! :/ I know bad isn't it? I felt so sorry for her today (yes, its a girl...my little fiesta) she was filthy inside and out. Since I only use her to go to and from work she is used and abused I'm afraid. I vacuumed inside, cleaned the windows, polished the dash, cleaned the seats, threw the rubbish out :/ washed, dried, t-cutted then Turtle Waxed her. And she is shinning like a new penny!! Looks like a new car so I'm very happy too. Just need the other half to check the oil and water and she's ready for the 2 hour journey tomorrow.

Audrey's Country Crafts Bag Swap - Sent

Now that Alexandra (Daisies Days) has received her bag swap parcel I can now show you the bag I made.

As Alex said her favourite colour was purple....off I went on a mission to find some yummy fabric and found these two shades of purple. Inside the lining is a lovely lemon colour cotton.

And some felted flowers (which I bought from Paper-and-string even before I started blogging) so I thought they would be perfect to embellish the bag. Alex also likes buttons so there are some in the middle of the flowers.

And then I thought I would have a go at a felt purse so after a couple of hours of sketching and hand sewing this is what I came up with. There is a little diamante in the centre of the flower.....couldn't resist a little bit of sparkle :)

Pop over to Daisie Days to have a look at the other goodies I put in her parcel. One swap down 2 to go...... I LOVE SWAPS!!! :)