Learning curve

This rather handsome gadget is my new camera :D yes very chuffed indeed!!! Always loved taking photos (and has a very modest G.C.S.E in photography) and up until Christmas I've had various compact digital cameras....not bad but nothing compared to this beauty!!


I have to say I was a little intimidated at first, lots of buttons and settings......had no idea about aperture or any of the other complicated features (obviously learnt nothing in my Photography class :D ha ha). And since my Dad bought me the camera when he was in China the manual is in Chinese....this I did not study. I had full intentions of downloading the English version, but so far that just hasn't happened :o/

Nope, taking after my Dad on this one where I felt the need to just dive in there, pppfff to the instruction manual. I then went through the motion of frustration, thinking to myself I can do this so why are the photos coming out crap?? Anywho after lots of encouragement from a fellow blogger, many links provided to very helpful tutorials and posts and re-charging the battery about 6 times (yes, I really did take that many photos) I am finally getting the hang of it. Who needs instructions???? I do ;)

Ruthie who has been helping me with all the links etc sent me this beautiful camera charm, which ingeniously can help you set the white balance on your camera (no I don't really fully understand this either but I am most def going to learn). The photo above is taken with my camera trying to get the white balance right. Not bad for a 'sort of' beginner??

I wonder if you can tell which photos were taken with my new camera, there have been a few so far here, here (Second image) and here.

New tags, new bag

Here they are proudly adorned to my new top secret bag....very fitting indeed. I'm extra pleased as this photo was taken with my new camera and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it (what do you think Ruthie?).

I am super excited about my new range of bags......they couldn't have turned out any better. Keeping them under wraps for the moment but I promise a reveal soon.

Mamma's got some brand new tags

Remember these? (Handy tute over here) A while ago you might recall me mentioning that I had only a few of these left and that I wouldn't be making anymore as bagladee had a makeover and it was time to make some new.

Some time (ages) has passed and sadly to say things have been a bit slow here at bagladee HQ (economic climate v's post Christmas season) so there hasn't been any need for speed on making new tags. I am thrilled to say that the drought is over, had my first trade order and things are picking up, new bags on the horizon too......so here they are :)

New design tags......

I think I love them ;) so much more feminine and fitting with my designs. I sewed my first one in a 'top secret' project yesterday and they look fab!! Even if I do say so myself.

Out of the funk

This was me yesterday, grader square and protractor in one hand, fabric scissors and a very pretty chrome bag frame in the other.....

....yes I'm well and truly out of my funk! I've been beavering away at a new pattern for a clutch bag, one that I have been meaning to get round to for quite some time. After making 2 mock ups I now have some very pretty and summery fabric cut out waiting to be sewn together. So that's my queue to make a coffee and get up into the studio. Photo's soon I hope :D

Fantastic Mr.Fox

One of my aims for 2011 is to use up some of the felt stash that I've been (hoarding) keeping safe for quite sometime. And since I had such fun making Christmas decorations I've stuck along the same lines......

May I introduce Fantastic Mr.Fox :D he is very soft and as you can see.....

Has a lovely bushy tail round back!

He is listed in my Etsy and folksy shops and will be joined by some friends very soon.

I am slightly distracted by the noise of Chris doing DIY downstairs, drilling through a door. Long story will save that for another day. So I'm off to shut myself away in the studio to see if I can get some peace!

2 offs

My first 'off' would be that I am not feeling myself at the mo....if fact I've felt like this for about 2 weeks. I seem to have lost my 'sync'....whats that? My synchronisation with everything....from getting my mind straight to concentrate on work (day job and bagladee), home stuff, personal stuff and just generally me.

I'm not in the least bit worried about it, every now and then I have a 'blip' where there is no point planning anything out because it just wont get done and usually I know when I am out of my 'funk' and ready to get back to it.

My second 'off' would be this gorgeous full length apron (which was sat in the 'make me' pile along with the Christmas aprons. I love this print I'm just so sad that I didn't buy more of this when it was on sale at IKEA :( the kitchy alpine print is sooooo cute, my favourite part of the design are the mountain goats locking horns at the top. Its an 'off' because there is only 1. If you are interested in this apron then please feel free to drop me a line (emma@bagladee.com) it is £10.00 plus £1 for delivery.

I did also manage to ssqquuuueeeezzeee a half apron out of the remainder of the fabric, all of my aprons have 2 generous pockets and the ties are pretty pink to match the trim on the pockets. Again if you are interested in this one then please drop me a line (emma@bagladee.com) it is the same as the Christmas themed ones £7.50 plus £1 for delivery. I think I might have a tinker with the pattern for these, see what I can come up with.

Today I have felt a little bit better as I have been working on some new patterns for new bags......this bit is always exciting! I'm not that great at maths but the great thing with fabric is that if it doesn't work you can always unpick it and start again :D

Wedding Gift

One of my friends got married today, unfortunately I was unable to attend :( however Victoria asked me if I would mind making her a little bag to go behind her bouquet to keep her bits and bobs safe.

I had ordered some gorgeous satin (from a supplier who has let me down in the past) which never turned up (and still hasn't...grrrr) so I improvised and used some very gorgeous cotton.

And this was my labour of love, made the pattern from scratch and I bought some pretty ribbon for the tie and handle.

Adorned it with pearls and a gorgeous rhinestone flower.

The lining inside matched the ribbon......

I decided to make the shape of the bag quite a classic shape, with a flat base rather than the usual rounded base for a drawstring bag.

Simple but very beautiful. I'm sure Victoria looked stunning in her dress today. Congratulations to you both Victoria & Jonathan xx

Phew I'm exhausted today, good exhausted though.....there were a lot of tasks on my To Do list today. Which included packaging up all the prizes from my giveaway. Dania I still need your postal address if you are reading this? I've also made some new fabric labels and been tinkering with a new project. The usual chores were eliminated too and the gigantic task of tidying the studio was accomplished. Armed with a glass of wine its time to relax.....have a lovely weekend.

I wasn't kidding when.....

.........I said you would laugh when I told you what I was doing the first week of January. I was making Christmas aprons!!! No I am not completely bonkers or very organised for making them for next year, these half aprons were cut out October 2009!!! I know how shameful. They were supposed to be all sewn together for the Christmas Craft fair that I attended at Rufford Country Park.

Alas time ran away from me and they never got finished....nor for this Christmas just gone, plain and simple because I forgot they were tucked away in a cupboard waiting to be sewn together :( How sad.

They are all sewn together and waiting to be worn, now I'm not going to do a crazy thing and go listing Christmas items in any of my shops just yet, but if anyone were interested in buying these beauties then please feel free to drop me a line (emma@bagladee.com) they are £7.50 plus £1 for delivery.

Something wedding themed for tomorrow :) (not my wedding though).

Valentine

Just listed these very sweet heart decorations in my etsy and folksy shops.....

I think I've been well and truly bitten by the felt bug.....

Who is your Valentine?

Is it what you've been waiting for? Giveaway Draw

Ooooh how exciting!!! Time to draw the winners of my giveaway. Good luck everyone :) I went for the not very 'tech' names in a hat (well a box to be totally honest) wrote all the names out on scrap paper (including the extra entries for the extra blogging, tweeting etc....thank you) folded them up tightly and then asked C if he would be so kind to pick out 8 winners.

And the winners are:

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Prize 1: Palm Shopper, pouch and brooch : Ruthie

Prize 2: Swirl Shopper, pouch and brooch : Fairly Girly

Prize 3: Dottie Brush Roll and brooch : Wendy

Prize 4: Nina Brush Roll and brooch : Mad about bags

Prize 5: Flamingo pouch and brooch : Magic making hands

Prize 6: Fungi pouch and brooch : Dania

Prize 7: Oriental purse and brooch : Kittens lost her mittens

Prize 8: Cupcake purse : Smilernpb
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Congratulations to all the winners!! :D

Please could all the winners email their postal address to emma@bagladee.com and I will aim to get all your prizes out to you this week.

Thank you to all of you who entered, don't be sad if you didn't win, watch out for some more goodies coming soon!

Birthday, bunting, ribbon and posh nosh.

So far being 31 isn't that bad :) thank you for all the birthday wishes and to my family for the gifts and Chris for the most quirkiest gifts as always.

A huge thank you to Rachel for sending me a card and gifts including this beautiful bunting, thanks Rach. I plan on putting it up in my studio tomorrow :D

My quirky gifts from Chris consisted of:
a potato ricer, a gourmet grater, a days cup cake making course and he took me out for a very posh meal at one of my fave restaurants (Darley's) on Saturday. (I've always wanted a potato ricer ever since I saw the lovely Nigella use one on TV).

I also treated myself to a selection of ribbon from here.....no I'm not addicted, I do actually use it and not hoard it away like a squirrel ;)

The photo's in this post were taken with my new all singing all dancing Nikon D5000, I have lots of links and books to read as I have no idea what I'm doing with it at the moment but I hope to be able to progress off the automatic settings and start taking some fabulous product shots.

You would laugh if I told you what I have been making today but I will save that for another post, don't forget you still have until Midnight tonight to enter my giveaway!!

Its my birthday!

31 today, crikey how did that one creep up on me????

Oh well they do say age is just a number :) Lovely start to the morning, cup of tea in bed whilst I opened my cards and pressies (will show you photos tomorrow). Popping into town shortly to buy a dress for tonight, C is taking me to a posh restaurant (no idea where as he wont tell me) and said I need to be 'dressed'. Now I'm taking he means smart and not actually just wearing clothes :D ha ha.

And then I will be coming back home to watch Sex and the City 2 before getting ready. Tomorrow I'm going to make Devils food chocolate cupcakes and sticky ginger cupcakes, partly for my birthday and partly for C's birthday which is Wednesday. (Oh I should say I did not make the ones in the photo above I found this in Google images, so thank you to the lovely person who did make them and took a photo of them :D)

Do you eBay?

You can still enter my giveaway using the link to the right--------->

Even though I have been registered on eBay for many years I think in total I've only sold about 3 items (non bagladee related) the most hilarious item being a bean bag sofa that I had made that was the same size as a double bed!!!!

I know a lot of people do it but I had never thought about selling clothes on there. Recently I had a big clear out, 1. because space was getting a bit tight and 2. because there were things in my wardrobe that had not even had the tags snipped off. Most of the worn items I had went into bin bags and then off to the charity shops, but the new with tags or new without tags I decided to list on eBay.

I took advantage of the 2 day free listing on the 8th & 9th Jan and listed 6 items. 3 sold and 3 I have re listed as people were watching them. I have to say I am a little overwhelmed by it (I know strange as it sounds) as now I have funds (it maybe only a little) in my Pay pal account to buy YUMMY CRAFTY SUPPLIES!!!!!!! Now that's a result!!

And since I am part time in the day job, the extra cash has been something of a little blessing. All hail to the wonder that is eBay, I shall visit you again when I can bring myself to part with more items from my wardrobe. Thinking it might be shoes next!?!?!

Sssshhhh! Dont tell anyone but its my birthday tomorrow ;)

SALE - Cushions

You can still find my giveaway here, ends 17th January.

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Want to grab a bargain? These hand stitched felt cushions are now on sale here. Wanting to make way for some new designs for 2011, so these little fellas need new homes. Another result of the big spring clean :)

There are only 1 of each design and will be on sale until they are snapped up. My fav is the one with the applique flowers (centre).

Win these...

First of all just wanted to say thanks for all the lovely comments wishing everyone well.

Here it is then, my first GIVEAWAY of 2011. It seems such a shame for this lot to be just sitting in my studio with no where to go :( so I thought it would be nice to find them all new homes to go to :D plus its a nice way of saying thank you for all your support in 2010.

There are 8 prizes up for grabs (blimey!!)

Prize 1: Palm Shopper, pouch and brooch

Prize 2: Swirl Shopper, pouch and brooch

Prize 3: Dottie Brush Roll and brooch

Prize 4: Nina Brush Roll and brooch

Prize 5: Flamingo pouch and brooch

Prize 6: Fungi pouch and brooch

Prize 7: Oriental purse and brooch

Prize 8: Cupcake purse

Rules:
1. Leave a comment on this post to enter.
2. Make sure I can contact you via your comment (email add or link etc)
3. You can gain extra entries by Tweeting, blogging or facebooking about this post, just pop back here and share the link.
4. My giveaway is open to international entries.

That's it!!

The give away will close Midnight (GMT) Monday 17th January and I will post the winners on Tuesday 18th January.

Good Luck!

***Comments now closed!!***

I think I might just have to have another....

....lemon cupcake :D I had planned on posting a giveaway today but the days events prevented me from taking any photo's while the light was good. So keep those eyes peeled for tomorrow there are lots of prizes up for grabs. Oooh and it will be my first giveaway of 2011!

I have a Mam who has fallen in the snow and broken her wrist and chipped her shoulder bone, a poorly cat who has not eaten for 3 days who is now on antibiotics, the bank accidentally lost £500 that I deposited into my bank last week (this is all sorted now thank goodness!!), C has been feeling wobbly again (not good).....and I am feeling pretty exhausted.

These are my very first attempt at some homemade cupcakes (shocking I know) they are zesty lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting and they are d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!! Super easy recipe and take 25 minutes in the oven. Can you tell that I received some silicone cup cake moulds and a food processor for Christmas? I took some into work to let my colleagues taste test them.....verdict : Yummy! Best go and grab one before C eats them all.

**Big, big Hugs to my Mama, wish I was there to hug you properly (and I could have drawn some flowers on your cast to make it look pretty). xx**

Gifts revealed - part2

Now that my other friend Kelly has received her Christmas gift I can show you the iPhone cover I made for her. I loved the colours that I used for this one, the K is sparkly gold leather backed with a creamy gold and the pouch itself is a pale beige.

I am thinking about maybe making some more and putting them in my Etsy and Folksy shops, maybe not with initials on them.....hhhhmmm I will have a think about that one.

Here they are together....lovely. Glad both Andrea and Kelly liked them. Hi Ladies :D *wave*.

Spring cleaning even though its not Spring

Well it just had to be done didn't it? I had a studio which was in a post Christmas state so I decided I would spend an hour or two yesterday getting it straight. I started by taking down the decorations I had up there, then tried to make some sense of all the things piled up on my desk.

Once this was out of the way I rearranged the contents of my cupboards and since Chris added an extra shelf under my desk the week I was ill pre Christmas I thought I'd have a move around.

Now all my supplies (felt, finding etc) are all stacked neatly under the desk, my new camera has a home, all my packing supplies are stored in one cupboard and all my other least used stuff is in another cupboard. Just need to sort my fabric pile (I love that job) and have a quick vacuum and dust.

I had a load of old stock of which some is no longer listed in any of my shops so I've packed it into a bag and will photograph it at the weekend and have a new year giveaway. I'm also going to have a sale on my felt cushions, I have new designs planned and the ones in stock need new homes as they are taking up valuable space in the studio. Needs must an all!! Nothing like a good clear out to start the year.

Gifts revealed - part 1

Now that my friend Andrea has her Christmas gift I made her I can now show it off with pride. A new media for me......leather, I've never made anything out of leather up until now, not sure why? Maybe I was a little scared of it to be honest, I have no idea what I was worried about as this iPhone cover turned out great.

I always have an air of panic when I'm working on something new thinking that its going to turn out rubbish. But I have learnt now to reserved judgement on a new project until its completely finished.

I was given a whole bag of A5'ish leather samples a little while back and its took me until December to figure out just what I was going to make with them. These are Andrea's favourite colours and thankfully she loved it :D I was so surprised at how nice it is to sew with, there was something really satisfying using my new leather needles on my machine. Keeping the seams together was a little tricky but using masking tape to hold them together made it easier.

Top Tip: I used double sided sticky tape for holding the letters in place while I sewed!!

I am now tinkering with little leather purses, I'll post photos when they are done.

See you next Christmas :(

I'm going to miss making these little fella's :( just as well I have got something else planned in place hey?
This photo was a late order placed a couple of days before Christmas and they went on their travels this week. Today I have written my first To Do list of 2011. And my is it a long list!!!

Lots of new projects, tutorials and events to prepare for. I'm looking forward to tackling the list this year. And it all starts tomorrow :D

Hello 2011

What have you got in store for me this year??? Whatever it may be I'm ready for it. Christmas was a quiet one and New Year was a small event but very lovely all the same. Both me and C were spoilt rotten receiving some lovely gifts.

C gave me this awesome tray for my hand sewing projects, I did have one which sat on my lap but this meant that Nell (my cat) couldn't sit on my knee and when I moved, the thread and beads rolled around all over the place....well No more!! :D This tray is perfect.

C's parents bought me new fabric scissors and a couple of stitch rippers :) and I received a gorgeous hand made Mug Rug from Rachel and a very cute pocket mirror from Sarah with my initial in blue felt.....gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!! Thank you so much ladies.

My Mam and Ian bought me some embroidery threads on some very interesting bobbins which look far too pretty to unravel.....and I was very lucky indeed to get a Nikon D500 from my Dad. I cant wait to take some new product shots with it. Just need a bit of practice now! Best get the battery charged.

A year with bagladee

Looking back briefly at 2010 the year seemed to fly by so fast, exciting milestones and some not so pleasant times but all in all a pretty fab year!

January saw my 30th birthday which was planned to perfection by Chris and I moved into my studio. April I attended the BCTF for the first time and took my first trade orders. May saw the launch of my first 'How to' book and new and revamped website and blog. We had quite a hot summer which was unusual and in July I went part time at the day job, which completely changed the way my life was planned out......for the GOOD. We had a fantastic holiday in Madrid and I came back with the most gorgeous engagement ring :D October I met Russell Brand and Autumn really set in with a beautiful array of colours. November and December saw my first attempt at felt Christmas decorations and Christmas tutorials and a little feature on the Elle decor Spanish website.

So that was 2010.....I want to say a huge thank you to all the support, encouragement and comments from you all over the year it really means a lot to me and I always feel that blogland is the place I can come to and feel that I am among good friends.

Thank you so much, here's to a prosperous and fortuitous 2011 for us all.