Sunday 16 June 2013

Wise Owl Book Marks And A Cottage Doorstop For Handmade Monday




Its been a bookmarky kind of week. I happily had two more of these to make after selling them...




 ...one of which winged its way over to Handmade Monday regular, Alice of the fabulous knitrun4sanity (thank you Alice, its always a special treat to make something for a fellow crafter!)


Wise Owl Bookmarks

I also carried on exploring the reading quote theme with this trio of 'wise owl' bookmarks.



Incase you can't read them all, the quotes are:


'talk less read more'
'a good book is a friend for life'
'reading is the cheapest way to travel'

I hope that these will appeal to both young and adult readers... what do you think?!

The fabric is a gorgeous natural white linen, the applique owls are machine stitched with a frayed edge and the quotes are hand embroidered.


They will be available from my usual outlets soon! (priced £6.50)



Cottage Doorstop

I've wanted to have a go at creating a range of doorstops for a while and this week i got started on creating a basic design for one in the shape of a country cottage.


I'm pretty pleased with how its turned out!

The roof section is stuffed with wool, and the base section can be filled separately with about 2kg of rice or something similar (i used pearl barley).

I wanted to create something that could be send relatively cheaply in the post, so the base section will be left for the customer to fill. I've put a really easy to use filling hole in the 'basement' of the house, so this shouldn't be any hassle!



I'm thinking i'll add a velcro sealed external flap as well as the internal one just to be sure no leakages occur :)

The barley i bought to fill this one cost £3.40 from my local shop and i'm sure the bargain hunters out there could find cheaper! As far as i can work out, sending one filled in the UK would cost over £15, and overseas even more, so i'm convinced that this is the way to go!

I'm thinking about creating some fabric designs to make these out of... country cottage and beach huts are my idea so far... maybe garden sheds... what to you think would work?

Also, do you prefer the idea of patterned fabric like the flowery one above or would you like something with a more realistic design (i.e door, windows, climbing roses etc...)  As always, i really look forward to hearing your thoughts!


Mystery Flower Time!

Speaking of how clever you all are... a whopping 6 people guessed the identity of last week's mystery flower!


you're right...


...its wild garlic! Currently filling the woodlands i regularly walk through with the most heavenly scent, and such a beautiful carpet of star-like white flowers.


In early spring i love to make a pesto from the fresh leaves and now we're enjoying the flowers in salads - they have a mild garlic flavour and deliciously sweet nectar. They look soooooo pretty on the plate too, they always make me smile :)

Speaking of tasty summer salads, despite some decidedly un-summery weather, i've had some delicious ones this week featuring these mystery ingredients...



A high-five goes out across the airwaves to anyone who can correctly identify them... all will be revealed next week!

Thanks for dropping by all, as always it lovely to see you. I'm off over the Handmade Harbour now to find out what the rest of the crafty Handmade Monday crafters have been up to... if you've never visited this fabulous linky party, i recommend you start today!

Have a wonderful weekend! :)


36 comments:

  1. Brilliant sayings on the bookmarks. I love the doorstop and the fabric you've used. I think it's a great idea for the customer to be able to fill it themselves, postage would be far too pricey. Re the fabric for the houses I love it. When I made my friend a dog doorstop she liked it but I didn't add any detail, eyes, mouth, etc. which she said she would have liked. So maybe windows and a door would appeal to some people.
    I'm pleased I guessed your plant correctly. I'm loving this game but have no idea what this weeks plant is. To me it looks like radish which aren't ready to pick but it's obviously not. Have a lovely crafty week.
    Ali x

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    1. thank you Ali!

      That's a good point about the doorstop, thank you ( i bet your doggy one is gorgeous!)

      i'm glad you like the game! we must have the same kind of mind :) your guess is a good one... all will be revealed next week! x

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  2. Your book marks are great and I love the wording. A lovely doorstop too. A great idea on the fill-it-yourself - easier on the postage costs too. Hope you have a good week.

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    1. thank you!

      i'm glad you think so, thank you, its good to know what people think about these things! x

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  3. I am really impressed just how much you've managed to make this week. It's great that you can find time for so many projects! x

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    1. thank you Emma!

      i'm v lucky not to have too many other commitments :) x

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  4. I really like that doorstop too and think the flowery fabric is a good choice. My husband is always trying to spot wild garlic when we're out walking but we have never seen woods like that! Not sure about the plant this week, is it spinach?

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    1. thank you!

      hehe :) i know, its amazing isn't it! i'd never seen it cover the woods like that until i moved here.

      thank you for joining in with the plant game! all will be revealed next week :) x

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  5. Love the bookmarks with the sayings. My first thought was radish, but I have just gone out to look at the radish leaves in my garden and they don't quite look like that. (I also tried eating one, but it was a bit furry and not very nice!)

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    1. thank you!

      hehe! on no! I feel bad i made you eat furry leaves :/ you're closer than you think with radish though... :) x

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  6. The bookmarks are wonderful, I love the sayings. Your hand embroidery is faultless. The doorstop is great, the fabric looks lovely.

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    1. aww thank you very much Natalie, i'm glad you like them! x

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  7. 'Talk less read more' would be perfect for my daughter (although she might disagree!). I thought the leaves looked like spinach too.

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    1. hehe :) kids today eh!

      not spinach... but thank you for guessing! x

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  8. Oooooh! I looooove your bookmarks so much! The machine sewn embroidery is beautiful and your hand stitching is so neat and precise! I'm in awe!
    Also love the fabric you used for them and the blue linen for the marine bookmark is simply divine!
    beautiful makes! x

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    1. aww thank you Martha for your kind words :) x

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  9. Loving the quote on the yellow bookmark.

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  10. Your appliqued owl bookmarks are gorgeous!

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  11. The quotes on you bookmarks are truly inspired - where do you get them from? I love the idea of a doorstop you can fill yourself too - the 'basement' opening is a brilliant idea.

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    1. thank you Lucy!

      some i make up and some are adapted versions of quotes i've seen elsewhere... i love it when i find a really good one!

      i'm really glad you like the self-fill idea :) x

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  12. My Dad loved the book mark! Thank you. I think the idea of sending the door steps through the post without the filling is really inspired. You are so clever. xx

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    1. yay! that's great news! :)

      thank you! I can't really take the credit though as i've spotted other people doing something similar a couple of times... i liked the idea so i thought i'd have a go at my version! x

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  13. Ohhh love the book marks - they look SO intricate and they are gorgeous! Clever trick with the doorstop... I was wondering about making some but couldn't think how to leave them empty (as I have an aversion to zips!) I'm sure yours will sell brilliantly :-) Simmi x

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    1. thank you very much Simmi!

      oh you should definitely have a go at doorstops, i just know they'll be gorgeous! x

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  14. I love your book marks and the sayings on them. Nice and cheerful to make you smile when the book is opened. I was going to say radish for the mystery photo, but I know it's not cos I've just pulled some up and eaten them!!

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    1. thank you! I'm really glad you like them :)

      radish is a great guess... you'll have to wait 'till next week to find out how close you are! x

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  15. What lovely bookmarks. I love the idea of adding reading quotations to them.

    I think filling your own door stops from the basement is a great idea. Perfect when they need to be washed xx

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    1. thank you!

      that's a good point... i hadn't thought of that! :)

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  16. Your bookmarks are amazing, your embroidery is excellent. Your doorstop is lovely to and you've come up with a clever way of sending them. Your recipients have an idea of the shape with the stuffed roof but without the problem of sending something heavy.
    Have a great week.

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    1. thank you very much Louise! I'm really glad you like this week's makes :) x

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  17. These owl bookmarks are brilliant! The white linen would be one of my favourite fabric and I am amazed by the finesse of your stitching.

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    1. thank you very much!!

      its one of my favourite fabrics too :) x

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  18. Lovely design for a doorstop. Very good idea sending it unweighted. The current postage charges for it would be a nightmare.

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Your lovely comments are much appreciated x