Winner!!

And the winner of my first ever giveaway is Natalie at

NOfkantsCurios

Well done Natalie and I hope you enjoy using my 'Serene water' bag. It will be winging its way to Natalie as soon as she returns off her holiday.

A big thankyou to everyone who took part. For anyone who hasn't done one it is an interesting thing to do. I have learnt a lot about what people like in my shop and I have made some new friends in the people that now follow my blog and follow me on Twitter.

look out for my next giveaway.....

Janice

x

Charity shops

I have been surprised recently by the price hike in our local charity shops. I am very lucky as where I work is only a few minutes away from 5 really good charity shops. So lunchtimes at least 2 times a week is spend trawling round them. I have noticed that prices have starting to rise over the last few months but its still a good buy and I can still get a bargain.


Last weeks however I needed a new handbag, I have been having shoulder problems and so wanted to get a small cross over the body bag to ease the strain. There were 2 I liked one was perfect for what I wanted but was a very bright colour and had a badly ripped lining, which I could have repaired, I was going to get it, to see what I could do, until I saw the £6.50 price tag, had it not been damaged that would have been OK. But then I went next door and found a cord bag that was a bit tatty but not actually damaged but they wanted £8 for it. To some that may be a bargain, but when you consider that later that day I went to John Lewis and there was several different bags in the sale for £10, then it seemed no so good. Also a friend at work had to buy a suitcase on the high street for £10 when the ones she went to see in our local Charity shop were £7/8 and were not very pleasant at all.

I feel that they are no longer being realistic about there pricing. Oxfam as ever is still good and obviously keep an eye on what is going on in the rest of the market place. But I think the others do need to be careful that they don't loose customers or become unaffordable for those who can only afford to shop in Charity shops.

Lexie

Yesterday me and Mr Wellydog travelled to the depths of Devon to meet Lexie, our eldest daughter's latest addition.

Lexie is a collie/spaniel cross and I think she is 9 weeks old now. She is going to be a lovely temperament and a people dog. She wasn't fazed by our arrival or Mr WD winding her up so much on the laminate floor.We took her a little fluffy bone and she played with it all day.

She is delightful and I am so glad we saw her as a puppy as she will grow so fast.

I did try to steal her but she wouldn't fit in my handbag!!!!

Fishy Folksy Friday

My Obsession with fish continues with this selection of Fishy items from Folksy

Jaws

Patchwork butterfly

Batik ethnic shopper

Purple Orchid

Nipple pasties "Gone fishing"

Tassels and Trinkets

Angel Fish Sun Catchers

Diomo Glass

Give us a kiss fish

Two by Two

Fish necklace

Kettle of Fish

First wellydog giveaway

I thought it was about time I did a giveaway, both as a thank you to everyone who has followed me on twitter and my blog, but also to try to promote my new direction.

Read about it here http://wellydog.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-begginings.html

I am giving away my new 'Serene Water' design bag, This is a lightweight cotton bag, ideal for keeping in your handbag or pocket, to use for those unexpected buys, and to try and hep us all cut down on the amount of plastic bags used.

I have hand drawn the design onto the bag, from an original design by myself. I have signed and dated it as I would any other art work I produce.

For a chance to win this small piece of everyday art then

take 2 simple steps.

Firstly visit my Folksy shop at http://www.folksy.com/shops/wellydogdesigns.

then comment on my blog and let me know what your favourite item in my folksy shop is.

Then please follow either my blog, or me on twitter ( if you aren't already) at http://twitter.com/wellydogdesigns

I will draw the winners name at random after 6pm on the 31st July

GOOD LUCK x

Same design.....

........ another way to use it. This is a sample to see how the design works in black and white and is hand drawn straight onto the cotton and then I made a bag. I am thinking of having it printed onto canvas bags for me to see but need to do some costings.

Is this something you would buy??

Its finished

So at last my Wall hanging is done, I put a yellow border around

the embroidered panel to match the fish, added purple strips to make up the finished wall hanging.

The centre panel was machine and hand embroidered and finshed off with little faux pearls and beads. The completed wall hanging is suspended using pine blocks and hung on silky white cord.

Close up detail of embroidered panel with faux pearls and beads

WIP

So here is an update of my Wall hanging design. I think its starting to come together. Let me know what you think??? I can take it

Printing on fabric

As I said on my last post then I thought i could get my design printed on fabric. My what a complex process.

I asked advice from my friends at Folksy ( where else would you go for crafting help?)

They kindly as always supplied me with ideas... So possibilities so far are (courtesy of padleighcorner ) Print directly from your PC onto fabric sheets. I think you then have to be careful as you may have to then seal it in some instances.

Some examples are

http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/Supplies_…

and

http://www.ehow.com/how_2123099_print-fabric-in…

Also bonnitagraphics suggested these companies that can produce printed fabric for you

http://www.spoonflower.com/

http://www.thefabricpress.com/

I would love to get fabric printed but it looks pricey for what I want,

Of course there is always the hand drawing method I could simply buy some fabric pens, but I really wanted a more graphic look and blocks off colours rather than me colouring it in.

The research will go on so watch this space.

Wall hanging WIP

I did a designs the other day, I like snorkeling and it a design based on some under water photos we took in Egypt. There are a few things I could develop it into. I might even get it printed onto material at some stage, but for the moment I thought I would make a wall hanging. So I started to piece it together today, I still have a lot of work to do but the bear bones are there. So I thought I would give you all a sneak preview.

Cuteable

I just had a lovely e-mail to say I was features in a blog at http://cuteable.com/ I was well chuffed, check it out its a great blog and loads and load of wonderful craft item to see. You will find my sewn heart in the 'Craft Juice Tuesday'

Purple Folksy Friday

PUrPLE....need I say more!

Purple Flower Necklace

Bbel

Purple and White Rose Sun Catcher

Diomo Glass

Purple Biscornu Pincushion embroidered

Jo's Lovely Things

Purple Square Dichroic Cufflinks

Hand Over Your Fairy Cakes

Slipper Sock Boots

moocow

Handmade ceramic buttons - mauve circles
mimsical ceramics