Polka Dots, Flowers and Butterflies Tote

Handmade bag with polka dots, stripes, butterflies and flowers.

All fabrics used are 100% natural lightweight cotton. 

There's a magnetic snap to keep it closed and two inner pockets: one with a zipper and one without.

The combination of fabrics is a jumble of some of my favourites.

It's a bonus that the bag itself is also very light and practical.

You can find it here.

Octagonal Green Floral Origami Bag

This is the reverse side of this green floral octagonal bag.

The fabric used is a fairly heavyweight cotton with discreet green stripes in an almost sage hue, with superimposed floral details in a more vivid green.

You can see the floral fabric of the other side peeking through in this picture.

Olive Green Drawstring Pouch

This is the pouch for my green tie tote, in the same material as the bag, with an added lace accent for a modest romantic touch.

All you have to do is fold the bag and place it in the pouch, cinch the drawstring and tie ribbon into a bow. Now you have a very practical bag for all sorts of occassions.

I always keep a couple of these pouches in my bag. There's always something extra to tote around and, as I've sworn off plastic bags, these eco-friendly reusable bags always seem to come in handy.

Olive Green Foldable Tote Bag

Another origami tote bag, in olive green.

I always have mine folded and tucked into my bag for any occasion I need an extra bag to carry something in.

Listed in my OnePerfectDay shop.

Nautical Beach Bag - Red Stripes

This is the reverse side of my Nautical Beach Bag in a more eye-catching red and white cotton. It's octagonal, it's large and it fits in much more than you'd think!

The wide denim handles have a charming deshabile paint-splattered detail. (No, it's not a result of an accident, that's how the fabric came...)

To see the other side of this bag as well as more details, click here.

You can find it listed here.

Linked to:

Annemarie's Haakblog

New Total Black Ruffle Cuff

New ruffle cuff in total black.

Quite dramatic on impact but very easy to wear.

You can just as easily wear it with jeans as you can with an elaborate costume or outfit.

It looks good peeking out of a jacket too.....

 Next time I'll add some lace, like this one or this one.

Or another layer.

I love the tiered ones as much as I love the more simple ones.

Or another layer.

I love the tiered ones as much as I love the more simple ones.

Linked to:

Annemarie's Haakblog

Autumnal Spirit

Some magical photos by Kelsie Taylor, perfectly capturing the autumn mood we've been having around here lately even though they've been taken half a world away.

See more photos from this fabulous fall shoot at Kelsie Taylor Photography.

Accessories: 

Coral organza flower hair clip by Fairytale Flower

White ruffle cuff by One PerfectDay

Model:

Madison Kennedy Taylor

Flower Motif Sea Rocks

There's something about sea rocks.

There's something most comforting about feeling their smoothness, their weight and the heat they give off from being under the beating sun in the palm of your hand.

There's also something to be said about carrying a marker around with you.....

These are quite large stones, not pebbles. The one that looks like a heart is about 9cm, or just below 4 inches, at its widest part.

The floral motif is a recurring one for me. One that I never tire of.

Easy to make and lots of fun, drawing rocks is one of the perks of a rocky beach.

If you would like one of these rocks for your very own -they're great paperweights!-  just leave me a comment below saying so. 
If there's more than one people interested, I'll make a mini draw.

Linked to:

Homework, The Dedicated House, My Creative Space, Annemarie's Crochet Blog, Today's Creative Blog

-Featured in Homework's Inspiration Board!-
Thank you Carolyn!

The BIG CHRISTMAS Choose Your Own Accessory GIVEAWAY

-THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED-
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Winner No.1: Gloria Grahame
Winner No.2: Breanna Bigby-Sackrey
The two winners have been contacted via email. If I do not hear from them over the next couple of days, I will redraw a name/names on Wednesday.
Thank you all for participating!!
I'll be holding another big giveaway for the New Year which will also be two year anniversary of this blog!! Hope to see you again then.
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It's just about that time of year. 
The most wonderful time of the year as far as we're concerned around here.
So it must be just about time for a big Christmas giveaway.

Two lucky winners will get their choice of accessory from one of these two shops:

One winner will choose a handmade fabric  accessory from OnePerfectDay.

The other winner can choose any organza flower accessory listed in Fairytale Flower.


This giveaway is international and ends on December 7 at 5pm PST.
There is only one mandatory entry -a comment on this blog- and many more easy options to earn more entries if you wish. Just follow the rafflecopter prompts.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This giveaway is linked to Giveaway Day at SewMamaSew where hunreds of giveaways with free handmade goods and supplies are linked for the whole week.
Why don't you head on over and try your luck?

The Rik Rak Happy Holiday MEGA Giveaway

I'm afraid I've been somewhat remiss in sharing the latest rik rak mega give-away for the holidays.

There are 5 fabulous prize packs to be won by 5 fabulously lucky winners! Each prize pack is valued at over $100.

Prize pack B has a wonderful set of freshwater coin pearl jewelry by sparrow grey, an eco felt stocking of your choice from rikrak, as well as a white shantung silk ruffle cuff from my very own One Perfect Day.

The winners will be chosen on December 4, so you'd better hurry up if you want to be in the running for this one.

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There will be another giveaway on this blog very soon. I'll be joining the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day on December 3, along with hundreds of others. 

Giveaway Day is actually a week long and you don't want to miss it! 

How To Make A Simple Scarf - a DIY for Absolute Beginners

This step by step instructions tutorial on how to make a simple scarf is for absolute beginners. 
While the scarf in the photos is a small square scarf, the steps are the same for any shape and size you would like to make.

1. Decide on your fabric and shape.
(This tutorial is basically for fabrics that fray, like cotton, linen, etc when you want to have a neat, stitched finish.) 
If you want a perfectly square scarf, and you don't want to get out your tape measure, just  fold your fabric over until you make a perfect triangle. 
Cut. 
Open it up, it's a perfect square.

 2.If you're pretty new at this and are not confident of your sewing skills, or if you just want everything super neat and tidy, it helps if you use an iron to flatten out all your seams before you stitch them.
This is how you do it.
Fold over a thin strip of fabric making sure that it's the same width all the way down. Press this down with your iron untill flat. 

 Once you've done this, fold it over again, in the same way, and press it flat with the iron again.
Do this for each side.

3. Stitch over all sides paying attention to the corners.

 Use pins to keep the fabric in place and help you make them align perfectly.

Tip: When stitching something that will see a lot of wear, backstitch a little so that you don't have unravelled stitches later.

4.Congratulations!
You have just made your very own scarf!
Now you can go ahead and make some more for your friends and family! 
 They make for cute Christmas gifts.

Linked to:

Threading My Way, Annemarie's Crochet Blog, My Creative Space

Black Friday Cyber Monday Sale 20% Off Everything!

From  November 23 to 27 November there's a Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale going on in both my shops:

OnePerfectDay - for fabric accessories and bags 

 Fairytale Flower  - for all sorts of organza flower accessories

There's a 20% discount on all items. Just apply the coupon code BLACKMONDAY20 at checkout at either shop.

The 'pay shipping for one item only' offer is always valid and I'm happy to combine shipping for both shops.

Newest Silk Ruffle Cuff in Dark Champagne Shantung Silk

Here's my newest ruffle cuff and it's in a beautiful shantung silk -just like my last one. Only this one's a dark champagne gold that shimmers with the characteristic glow of this particular kind of silk.

It has a wide vintage cotton lace in antique white.

The edges are purposely left raw for a shabby chic feel.

I have finished cuffs off with stitched edges and  the result is quite nice, but usually they tend to look much stiffer, without the flow that these -untreated- ones have.

I suppose it's simply a matter of taste.

Or mood.

The ribbon that secures the cuff to the wrist is natural cotton in a darkish camel beige.

I have some more golden silks I want to try out in these cuffs.

And I'm looking forward to doing some black ones with black lace again, like this one.

Linked to:

My Creative Space , Homework , I Heart Naptime , PetiteHermine