Want to win one of these?

EDIT: Giveaway now closed

I thought it was about time I had a little giveaway to say thanks for being such lovely readers, there are one each of these kits up for grabs.

 There's the gingerbread man,

 the Christmas Angel......

....and the Gingerbread House kit.

Each kits contains full instructions with illustrations, templates and all the materials needed to make your very own felt Christmas decoration.

To enter simply leave a comment on this post.
Yep that's it, I will post internationally so anyone can enter outside the UK.
Only one entry per person.
The giveaway is open until Tuesday 1st November and the winners will be drawn on Tuesday evening.
Winners will be drawn at random.

I will also be taking entries from my Facebook book page for those no familiar with blogger (again only one entry per person, which ever page you enter the giveaway from).

Good luck!!

Hello

Hasn't it been a long time since I just sat and wrote a blog post on the spur of the moment?? For that I do apologise.

Since becoming an SBS (Small Business Sunday) Winner (thanks to Mr.Paphitis) Bagladee has taken a huge leap. Then there was the radio interview for BBC Radio Nottingham.....from then on every day has been filled with bag making adventures. I say adventures because no day is the same, from trade orders, commsions and website orders to christmas decorations by the bucket load and even working on some new ideas.

Even though I am exhausted I am thoroughly enjoying myself.

On the home front, at last after nearly five and a half years our home is almost fininshed. From completely gutting a 1935's semi detatched house, we have cleaned, stripped, plastered, painted, decorated, extended, built, planted, replaced every inch. You can definately say that we have put our heart and soul (blood, sweat and tears) into this house. The last thing to be completed is laying the turf in the front and back garden which will be done this weekend. I cant wait, I'm so excited to see it all finally finished. We will be able to sit back and enjoy our 'space' this is something that has been long awaited for both of us!!

I'm hoping to have a couple of days 'me time' this weekend...no sewing if I can help it. I want to make some cupcakes and get a little bit of house work done, then maybe veg out of the sofa and watch a film.

I hope you're all well out there in blogland. This is still my favourite place to come and 'escape' from it all. Bye for now, I will be back soon with a giveaway!! xxx

Make your own felt decoration kits

The kits are now available to buy here.

Happy Crafting ( ha ha best you thought I was going to say Christmas)!!

Dragonflies

I've been at it again :) Kindle covers galore. This one was requested for a birthday, it had to be purples and lilacs and had to have some kind of dragonfly design on it.

After looking at some images of real dragonflies I came up with this design, I drew out my templates and then the fun bit....picked the leathers. I had to incorporate this lovely magenta pink as my stash of leathers are quickly diminishing :(

The back is a lovely shade of lilac with a tab of leather cut out the top so that you can grip the Kindle to slide in and out. And of course wouldn't be complete without my Bagladee tag on the back.

I was pretty pleased with the design but was anxious to know if the lady in question liked it?!?! I received a lovely comment on my Facebook page this week to say that she loved it. Ahhh happy customer always makes a happy Bagladee :D

Now the race is on to find somewhere I can get my hands on some off cuts or old sample books of leather. Can anyone out there help I am of course will to pay for said leather. I'd be forever grateful.

More Kindle photos to come soon.....I've been making quite a few these past few weeks.

On their travels...

Edit: the kits are now available directly from my website here

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These little cutie pies are on their travels to far away destinations. The gingerbread gang and their house (although I do sometimes wonder how they all get through that tiny door??) are on their way to New Zealand. I wish I had have been able to hand deliver them as well as hand make them :( *sigh* well at least I know they'll enjoy their new home. They were so excited before they left ;)

And this cute set are winging their way to Australia....see I could have dropped these off on my way to New Zealand!!!

I'm amazed at how popular my decorations have been, I can remember last Christmas packing the 'ginger' felt away and feeling a little sad that it would be a long time before I would sew another again. But this year has passed over so quickly I barely noticed and before long I was sewing them by the dozen again :D

They are available to buy here and here. If you would like to make your own from my kits there are an Angel, Gingerbread man & Gingerbread house kits available to buy. I will be adding those to my website later on today. Links will be posted soon.

** the gingerbread man kits are very low on stock so be quick if you don't want to be disappointed**

Books and busy weekend

Phew!!! What a weekend. I am exhausted. Need another one to get over this one ;)

There has been sets of Christmas Decorations, Gingerbread men by the bucket load, more bags than you can throw a stick at and still the orders keeping coming in. So it makes the tiredness worth it :D

At last I got round to ordering some copies of my book from the publishers (I know I promised to do this quite sometime ago). I decided to add them to my website as signed copies so they are a little bit more special than the ones you can order direct from the publishers. I think they'd make fab Christmas gifts and would most likely fit nicely into a stocking ;) You can even have a personalised message, just make sure to add it in the comments on your order. You can get yours here.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Something for Rachel...

Even though I have a very structured 'To do' list I'm always moving things around and adding little bits here and there. I had two items on the list and without even noticing I had completed both tasks by finishing one :) BONUS!! The two tasks were:

1. To make a birthday gift

2. To  design a new shaped purse (as I was never happy with the original)

I wanted to make a purse for Rachel for her birthday and wanted to make it extra special as it was also a thank you for the fantastic sewing machine mat she made me. So I took the pattern of this purse, which is very lovely but I always knew I could make it prettier and more in keeping with the rest of the bagladee range.

Grabbed some scrap paper a pencil and my trusty grader square (which is the grand old age of 11 years old. I have to say that for a triangle piece of perspex it is along side my most treasured possession of my sewing machine) and got to work adjusting the pattern.

I'm a great believer that everyone has a gift, whether that be being a musician, singer, mother, healer, artist, scientist...you get the picture. Well I've never been that great at academic things, I got by at school with maths etc, but I always excelled at the more creative stuff. English, Arts and languages were my best subjects. But I honestly think my gift is that I can take a piece of paper and a pencil and draw my own patterns from scratch (to be honest I hate following commercial patterns because I enjoy the process of discovery when creating my own).

After one attempt this is what I came up with, it was exactly how I pictured it in my mind and I'm pleased as punch at how it turned out.

I love the fact it is more rounded and mimics the style of the clutch bag and has even more room inside than the previous design. All the time I was making this purse all I kept thinking was "will Rachel like it?" I used the button fabric as she had commented how pretty it was when she made me the sewing machine mat.
Thankfully she did and you can read her post here.

After I'd added the bow and rhinestone flower it dawned on me that I had just created the new shape purse that I'd wanted!!! And to boot made a very pretty present for a very special friend :D I know my gift of "being able to create my own creations from scratch" is not life changing or amazing, but I love it and love the fact that I can put a smile on someones face even if it is just for half an hour. Its still worth it!

Kits in the making

Thought you might like to see some 'in progress' photos of the kits. It felt strange at first with it being totally different from my normal crafty tasks but I thoroughly enjoyed chopping up bits of felt with my new rotary cutter and mat (see I even bought the right tools for the job) and the measuring and counting of ribbon, buttons and brads.

Then there was the task of making 60 little 'clouds' that's balls of stuffing really :D

I even enjoyed making 20 ribbon bows which I've pretty much got it down to a fine art now. Once all the copies of the instructions came back from the printers. C helped me fold them and slot into the already packed cello envelopes.

And then once the tops were folded and stuck down, they were all packed into a huge box and shipped off to Blooming Felt.

Don't forget to give me a shout if you want to pre-order any of them as the remaining kits will be returned to me this week. They'd make great stocking fillers.

Dreaming about the Magenta Ford Fiesta

Isn't this a beauty!?!?! Its the new Magenta Ford Fiesta, I've seen a couple on the road and have to say it turns my head every time. I currently own a Fiesta and have done for around 5 years. Its a 'Silver' edition,a 53 Reg and has been used and abused to be honest. I take her everywhere with me ;) she's been to trade shows up and down the country, takes regular trips up the M1 when I visit family and back and forth from work. And Oh how I love her. 

Ever since the launch of the new Fiesta I have been harping on to the other half about a new car.....at the moment not an option. So now I spend my days ;) day dreaming and 'picking' my car in the Fiesta 'Configurator' on their website.

But it was only yesterday that it crossed my mind to follow them on Twitter so now I am stalking following #FordFiesta on Twitter. After reading a tweet that the very lovely Shellibobbins had written about picking up her car that was being branded with her business, we spent a whole hour discussing sign writing on cars as advertising. And then got completely carried away with me wanting a Magenta Ford Fiesta with "www.bagladee.com" across the sides of the car with "Sponsored by Ford" underneath. Wouldn't it look lovely with my type face. Elegant & classy! Perfect.....advertising for Ford, me whizzing round everywhere in a pretty car with advertising for them and advertising for me and my business. Yes I know I'm a 'daydreamer' and my head is stuck in the clouds.  

 I love being imaginative and dreaming about stuff, its what makes life interesting and certainly gives you goals to aim for. If I didn't then I would 'imagine' that Bagladee wouldn't even exist. Seems funny that most people dream about having a Porche, Mercedes etc when all I would like is a Fiesta :) Simple but classy, a perfect car for getting around, with the added bonus of all the gadgets inside that you need for a busy lifestyle. The ideal solution for me and my ever growing business.

Can you tell I'm obsessed?!?! I could also be tempted with the black Fiesta with silver text. See I've thought about this in great detail :D

Not my usual post I know but sometimes you just gotta be a little bit diverse. Also would be real nice for Ford to sponsor me and deliver a spangly new Fiesta with my website across the sides. (Deluded I know, gotta be worth a punt).

(images courtesy of www.Ford.co.uk)

At last!

The secret can now come out. For weeks now I have been working on a new side line venture called 'felt creations by Bagladee'. Well this is what it will be called for now, I'm sure there will be more tweaking as I go a long.

There are 3 Christmas kits in the series (so far) the very sought after Gingerbread Man...

The Christmas Angel....

And the new addition to the family Gingerbread house.

The kits contains all the materials, instructions and templates to make your very own decoration for your Christmas tree and they will be making their debut at The Knitting and Stitching Show @ Alexandra Palace. The show starts tomorrow (6th Oct) and ends on Sunday (9th Oct). They are kindly being showcased by the very lovely Sarah from Blooming Felt and she will be there will all her felty goodies on

Stand M13

so if you want to get your hands on them that's where you will find them. If you aren't able to make it to the show you can pre-order them with me so just leave me a comment or contact me at emma@bagladee.com

If they prove to be popular I am hoping to add to the series with different holiday themed kits. Let me know your thoughts on them. Always after a little bloggy feedback :)

Almost

Right before I start unfortunately there are no photos in this post...Ahhhhhh. This is because the photos I have to show you I cant until a very huge brown box is received by a lovely lady in Essex. Oh I should mention that this is not connected to the 'other secret project' that some of you kindly thought was Harrods (yep in me dreams maybes).

I've been working on said mystery huge brown box for a few weeks and surprised myself when the contents were all packed in looking very cute and lovely indeed (yes I am biased) ;) It wasn't a smooth journey to getting them all ready and posted off, well it wouldn't be me would it.....nothing is perfect for me. I like obstacles :D

There was the incident of the 'only half of my delivery of "something" arriving' and then there was the printing saga that was finally resolved this morning (yes cutting it fine is the polite expression) then there was the mad dash to get them all in the post in time for 'Special Delivery' this meant swapping my shifts at the day job. Which in turn meant that I had to stay at work til 5pm YUK!!!

Any way all said and done the box went off on its merry way, I'm just bricking it that fore mentioned lady likes the contents of said huge brown box. I'm doing quite well at not spilling the beans so far aren't I. Its killing me to not just blurt it out!!!!

I will be back tomorrow with photos........Oh yes I will :D

Whats all this then??

Wow, its almost like its not even the 1st of October today, the sun is shining and its gloriously warm. I love waking up to good weather, it always puts me in a good mood.

The last couple of weeks have seen me working on some new projects, this is one of them, where I'm branching into new territory with things I never thought I would.....

I've spent this week thinking, "Will they, wont they" (work) and I will find out soon enough. In fact I will find out after next weekend.

I couldn't be happier at the moment, things are really starting to go places with Bagladee, I've even had the discussion with C about maybe reducing my hours some more at work!!! However I still need that cushion until C goes back into work. Oh how I would have loved to have had a year and a half off work.....well he did deserve it after flogging himself for 10 year then having a health scare so maybe my deal in all this is pretty sweet :D

Have a fab weekend and enjoy that sunshine, it wont be round for very long....well this is England after all.