D.I.Y. Fabric Valentines Card.

Hello :) This isn't really a proper D.I.Y. because I forgot to take pictures along the way  but i loved making this card so much and it was so easy that I think it will be pretty simple to pick up! I saw something similar when I was browsing pinterest and knew I had to make one. I think they will make a the cutest valentines present and I want to make one for everyone I love. 

To make a card you will need:

- A regular postcard to use as a template.

- scraps of felt.

- a scrap of your favourite material.

- scissors.

- a needle.

- some embroydery thread. 

Steps:

- To start, using your postcard as a template cut out a postcard size piece of your felt and your material.

- Using a different coloured felt cut out a stamp and some letters to spell out what you want to write on the front.

- Using your postcard for reference mark where the partition on the postcard between message and address is and stitch a line here in black embroidery thread. 

- Using your thread sew the letters onto the right hand side of your postcard and sew the stamp into the top left  corner.

- Add any other little details you want. I added a space for the address, a post mark, and AIRMAIL stamp and those wavy lines that you see on every post card (I don't know what they mean.) But get creative and google some old fashioned post cards for inspiration.

- Once you feel satisfied with the front of your card lay it face down on top of your piece of fabric and using your hand or a sewing needle sew three of the four sides together. 

- Flip the postcard inside out and carefully sew up the final side making sure you tuck the edges in to prevent fraying. 

I also left the top of my heart open so I could leave a little personal message for whoever I gave it too inside the heart. I'm giving this one to my mum...

I hope you like this little loved up D.I.Y. and if you do decide to make one leave a comment and send me a photo! Remember you don't need to have a boyfriend to make lots of lovely valentines gifts for everyone you love (including your dog! although I think Posy might eat this one...)

Happy Friday.

Love Scarlett. 

The Click on This List

1. These incredible mock movie posters from the Shiznit. 

2. This Music Video.

3. The Bridesmaids DVD Commentary - I finally got round to watching this last weekend and oh my god it's SO funny. Dare I say it even maybe as funny as the actual film! It's with most of the cast, the writer and the director and they taped it days before it came out so no one has any idea if it will be a hit or not! It's seriously good. 

4. The Dresses at the SAG awards.

5. PUPCAKES! - I'm thinking Posy's birthday?

6. This Old Fashioned Twitter Poster. 

7. This Photo - One of Zooey Deschanel's Twitter followers found this in a Life magazine from 1965! The resemblance is incredible. I wish I had a 60s doppelganger. 

8. This way of eating carrots and humous. 

9. The Kristen Bell Sloth Video - This is literally my favouritest thing of all time ever ever ever in my whole life.

Happy Clicking,

Love Scarlett

x

Did You Make That?

When I grow up (which I am intending on doing one day) I want to be Karen! She’s pretty, funny, clever and most importantly of all SUPER crafty! Her blog ‘Did You Make That’ has been top of my ‘blog stalking’ list for ages so imagine how happy I was when actual real life Karen asked me to do an interview on her blog. It was an opportunity  I could not miss so I of course immediately told her I would but only if she did an interview on my blog as well. 

Not only does Karen knit, crochet and write brilliantly but she also makes clothes. I do a lot of crafty things but not in my wildest dreams will I ever be able to make some of the stuff Karen has made! In my opinion ‘Did you make that’ should be renamed ‘There’s no way you made that, it’s just to good!’ – But I have a feeling that’s a slightly less catchy title.

So, I am extremely EXTREMELY excited to publish my very first blog interview with one of my all time blog heroes. And equally as exciting if you go over to her blog you can read her interview with a very over-excited me. Enjoy her words of wisdom!

What inspired you to start your blog in the first place and what's been your favorite part of it so far?

I started my blog two years ago in February! The inspiration came from all the other sewing and knitting blogs I was reading and commenting on. I started to have a creeping suspicion that maybe I could contribute to this active community with a blog of my own. I’d already been blogging regularly at my writing website – www.karen-ball.com – and have been an editor for 20 years and a children’s author for quite a while, so I felt very comfortable with the written word. Photography and blog design was a whole other ball game, however, and one I knew little about. I’ve learnt a lot over the past 24 months!

I’ve seen from your blog that you also have a career as a writer of children’s books. I’m scared that when I get older I won’t have time for all the crafty things I love. How do you manage to squeeze it all in?

Ha, ha! Time management certainly becomes a pressing issue when full-time jobs enter the mix. I remember when I first started working after university – I found a day at the office exhausting! But in terms of squeezing everything in: if you enjoy something enough, you will find the time to do it. When I’m on a serious sewing roll, I have been known to creep out of bed very early before work to sew. My worst example of this was getting up at 3am to do a bit of sewing. This was a big mistake – the sewing was awful and I felt dreadful for the rest of the day. When I’m being more sensible, I do bits of sewing in the evening after work and at weekends. Sewing can be my reward system, as I also write my books at the weekends: ‘If I write 2000 words, I can go and sew for an hour.’ But sometimes you have to accept that life is just too busy for the hobbies. This week, for example, I haven’t had time to sew at all. It’s a good idea to avoid giving yourself deadlines with your sewing or crafting – though often deadlines creep in if there’s a party you want a nice dress for!

I’ve recently started to explore the world of sewing but I find it all very scary! How did you start making clothes and do you have any tips for getting into it?

I started sewing about three years ago, when I scored a free secondhand Toshiba sewing machine via Freecycle. My first make was a very simple tunic top in cotton. Cotton is a great fabric to work with on first projects, because it behaves itself. Opening and reading a pattern for the first time can be intimidating, but just take things one step at a time. Google your pattern and see if any pattern reviews come up on line – Sewing Pattern Review is a great website for seeing what experiences other Sewists have had with a make (even if the design of the website is clunky). A lot of sewing bloggers post tutorials and these can be massively helpful. Just choose a simple pattern you like the look of and go for it! You’ll never look back.

I’ve been drooling over the pictures of your amazing coat and loving all your updates with your progress. Your stuff always seems to come out so perfectly! Have you ever had a true crafting disaster?

I regularly have disasters! Everyone does, and if they claim they don’t, they’re lying. It can’t go right all of the time. In fact, most makes involve something going wrong – usually at least one seam that will need unpicking. My last ‘disaster’ was wasting a whole load of pretty white cotton broderie anglaise bought in Paris. I’d intended to use it to make a dress, but the dress didn’t come together at all well – the cotton was just too lightweight. I ended up throwing the fabric away and that always kills me as it’s such a waste of money. But here’s the interesting thing – disasters stop feeling so dreadful. You learn to shrug your shoulders and move on. It’s all a learning curve; no experience is wasted.

How long have you been doing craft for and why do you think traditions like sewing and knitting are so important to keep going?

I’ve been knitting for probably about ten years, sewing for three years and crocheting for one year. But these crafts were also a big part of my childhood – my mum had a sewing machine and I’d be allowed to sew as a child, one grandma did a lot of intricate crochet and my other grandma always had an aran sweater on her knitting needles! I used to knit and sew as a child and in hindsight I think it’s clear that I had a talent for these crafts even then. So coming back to these things as an adult was a bit like coming home. Which answers the second part of your question: I think these traditions are important because they cement people’s sense of who they are, where they came from and what they are capable of achieving. There’s also a huge social benefit. I have made many truly great friends in real life since I started my blog. My life has never felt so enriched.

The writing on your blog is always so lovely and you have a very strong voice. Do you think you prefer the writing or the crafting side of having a blog?

I love both! The crafting can be painstaking and sometimes slow – a fitted dress can be a three-month project. But I love the sense of achievement. The writing is fast, fast, fast and I’ll knock a blog post out when I get home from work, or lying on the sofa or sometimes squeezed into a lunch hour! I don’t really plan my blog posts – they’re very spontaneous. I have a strong sense of my audience and firmly believe that they help make the blog what it is. The best blog posts become conversations and rich exchanges of information. But I’ve always had a huge fondness for comedic writing and I think it’s fairly clear that I indulge that side of my creativity in my blogging! Sometimes people worry a lot about their blogging ‘voice’ and how to blog, but my key advice for blogging and for life is: Just be yourself!


Remember to read Karens interview with me over on her blog 


Love Scarlett 

The Scrabble Cake

You have already seen the first part of my mum's birthday present which was the knitted version of her but this is the very exciting second part! A SCRABBLE CAKE!

My mum's absolute favourite game in the whole world is scrabble and even though I hate it (more because I get way too competitive than anything) I decided to put my hatred aside for one night and make her this cake. 

Even though it looks fairly complicated it was actually not that hard to bake. I baked a simple vanilla flat square cake using an easy recipe I found online. It took ages to bake because it was so big so I was standing by the oven sticking skewer after skewer in for most of the night! 

I also baked TONS of square shaped sugar cookies and actually used real scrabble tiles to cut round to make sure I got them the right size. I then wrote the letters on with black writing icing and I really wanted to put the little  butnumbers in the corners too but it was too fiddly! 

Then I died some ready made fondant icing green and covered the cake with it. This bit was so hard and I was terrified I would mess up! Then I used a ruler to mark out where the grid should go and although I didn't get it at all perfect I don't think it looks too bad! And I finished it by spelling out Happy Birthday Mummy - scrabble style!

Oh I also had LOADS of drips down the side (we can't all be perfect) so I covered the sides in caramel buttons (her fave)

She really liked it and we all had it for her birthday tea! She also got some macaroons from Laduree and I couldn't not put a picture up because they just looked so pretty! 

I hope you like my scrabble cake, it was very fun to make and although it took AGES I think it was worth it. I have a super duper exciting post coming up tomorrow so make sure you check back here!

Love Scarlett

x

February Photo-a-Day Challenge

Okay so I was looking through the photos on my phone and this is what I found. 70% were of Posy, 20% were of the things I have made or baked, and 10% were screen shots of my ipod so I could remember where I was in my audiobook. I think we can all agree this isn't exactly the coolest thing to find in your iPhoto. 

So I decided to start the February photo-a-day challenge. It was created by one of my favourite bloggers fat mum slim and she's making one for every month this year. 

I'm going to do it on my iPhone and then tweet and instagram my pictures with this hashtag. I'm so excited and hope I can keep it up. I'm also hoping to do a post at the end of each week with my pictures I took that week. A picture a day doesn't seem like that huge a thing but imagine having all those pictures at the end of the year to look back on. 

Anyway, it starts on Wednesday, so wish me luck!

Love Scarlett 

x

Get Set Bake!

Hello :) Okay, this is a really exciting post for me for a lot of reasons. 

1. It is all about this No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Cake Kit which has made literally the best cake I have ever tried in my life (and I've tried a LOT of cake)

2. The kit was made my one of my closest friends who has just started her own company (what! she's only 17!) 

The company is called Get Set Bake and was started by her and her sister. I've always known Annie was a great baker because she would always make cupcakes and other yummy things to bring into school and when I got sick she made me the most beautiful cupcakes ever! 

This is how Annie and her sister describe Get Set Bake: 

We’re two sisters who have a love of baking – and eating!  Since we were little, we have constantly kept our family munching on our various concoctions and experiments.  (Actually, when we were very little, much of what we came up with was pretty inedible!)  Our other two sisters, however, weren’t at all interested in what we were doing – they just enjoyed coming home to the smell of a rich chocolate cake baking in the oven, or a plate of warm oatflake and raisin cookies waiting for them on the table!

To even things out a bit, we started to put Baking Sets together.  That way, our sisters could make our cakes themselves, without the faff of buying the ingredients, wondering what size tin they needed, or having to follow a recipe.  Even our parents started to struggle to work out which sister had made which delicious tea-time treat!

Through word of mouth, we started to supply our Baking Sets to our friends and other members of the family.  Over time, our range has grown to include cupcakes, fruit cake, low-calorie and gluten-free products, as well as gorgeous party cake kits.  We’re happy to take orders for the finished article, for example we’ll often supply chocolate delicacies and cupcakes for weddings and parties (see our chocolate cherubs and chocolate toffee popcorn hearts!) but we’re also really keen to help everyone make their own.

Now, everyone knows I love to bake things myself but so as soon as I saw Annies website I just knew I HAD to order one. I ordered the no bake chocolate fudge cake because that is one of my favourite things to make and I wanted to see what the kit was like. And I was blown. away! Seriously! Not only is it the literally most incredible cake I have ever eaten, but the instructions, ingredients and package are all lovely!

It comes with chocolate buttons, marshmallows and maltesers and honeycomb as well as a very cute star shaped mould. 

All you need to supply is some cream. I do love to bake from my own recipes but this was so quick and easy to make and tasted incredible, compared to the hours I usually spend googling, shopping, preparing and greese-proof-paper-ing this was a very nice break! 

As well as the chocolate fudge cake kit, Get Set Bake has tons of other kits and Annie very sweetly sent me a cupcake kit which I can't wait to try out. I think that these kits would make the best presents for my friends who love baking and are bored of getting recipe book after recipe book. 

They would also be a great thing to do with kids and I'm pretty sure even my 10 year old brother would have known what to do!

Once the cake is done I put it in the freezer and then cut it up while we watched a movie. It was so yummy and whole cake has already gone! 

I know this is a new type of post for me to do but seriously check out Get Set Bake! I'm so proud of Annie and so excited to try out another one of her kits!

Happy Sunday!

Scarlett x

The Knitted Emma Freud (my mum)

So, as you will know if you follow my mum on twitter it was my mums 50th birthday this Wednesday. It was a very very exciting day for us because my mum is so amazing and we wanted to make it a really special day for her. I knew it was up to me to make a really great present so I decided to immortalise her forever in wool!

I've only knitted a person once before when I knitted Prince William for the royal wedding. I really loved the pattern for William which was from Fiona Gobles book Knit Your Own Royal Wedding. Sometimes I think my mum looks a bit like Kate Middleton (a teeeny bit) so I decided to adjust the Kate Middleton pattern to make it look more like my mum. 

I made the body the same, added LOADS of hair (my mum has huge hair) and tried to make the face look as similar as possible. I used blue wool for the middle of the eyes and a little red mouth.

My favourite dress my mum owns is this silver sequin one that she wore to the War Horse premier (doesn't she look lovely!) and it was my Dad's idea to sew sequins onto a white dress to make it look like this one.

I adjusted and shortened the pattern for Kate Middleton's dress and then sewed on loads of silver sequins.

Super excitingly my mum was awarded an OBE (my little brother says it means obviously best ever) and while I was wrapping the doll I found her OBE and pinned it onto the knitted Emma and wrapped it with the OBE attatched! It was really funny.

My Mum also ALWAYS wears a tiara (a look she copied from ME btw) so I made the doll a tiny tiara. 

When it was all done my mum loved it! And she's framed it in a box fram to put in her room. It's certainly not something I'm going to be doing for everyone because it took a lot of work but I'm so glad I could make it for my mum on her super special birthday. 

Happy Friday! 

Love Scarlett 

x