30 Days of Creativity - Living Space

Day 6: How does your living space reflect your creative nature?  Share a picture if you can!


I love having a kinda of quirky room. It seems to be a mix between a dumping ground and an outlet for my creative side! Strangely I decided to paint my room a sort of dusky pink when we moved in 4yrs ago... I hate pink... but I had this image of a dusky pink room with brown accessories & I love it. 

My to do list of 2013:

To Do List:

• Do a cross stitch
• Get a new job
• Make my 1st sales on Folksy or Etsy
• Rekindle my love for origami
• Read more
• Go on a high ropes course
• Keep some plants alive.
• Commit to A Make a Month
• Make bottlecap magnets
• Make a cosmic t-shirt with bleach!
• Update my blog more
• Go to a craft show
• Add more to this list!
• 
  

Mushi Monster

If you already know me, you will know I'm like a 2nd Mother to my little sister Sienna... For those who don't know me... Sienna is my 6yr old Sister. She is a gorgeous little girl who is full of personality and quirkiness & I adore her right to my very core. I was there at her birth, I have changed her nappies, done her night feeds, soothed her fevers, watched her grow & become a very proud second Mum.

For about a year now Sienna, like most children, has become scared of the dark, but only around the house. Now, I've been through all the obvious ideas... a torch, encouragement, stories about the dark, a step so she could reach the light switches...nothing worked. Recently we have just ignored it hoping she will grow out of it, but last night I came up with an idea... It's probably already been done (I will google it in a min), but I'm hoping it will work. A monster of her own. A good monster, that scares any bad monsters away!

I told her this evening about my idea & she was very excited, especially when I told her how we were going to make this monster magic... (Secret I can't share!). Together we chose a sewing pattern, Picked out materials & put it together. She even had a go at threading a bobbin, which she loved!

This is Mushi:

Mushi still needs some more stuffing, stitching & the special magic ingredient, but fingers crossed, we may have found the answer!

Have a look at the original sewing pattern here... Revoluzzzionary Monster

30 Days of Creativity - Favorite Artist

Day 5: What artists do you seek out for inspiration?  Create a small something based on your source.

My most favorite artist has to be Fiona Rae. I adore her style, although her name's, sadly, is not widely recognized.

A little bit about her:

Fiona Rae is one of the YBA's (Young British Artists), born in 1963 in Hong Kong.

Her preferred medium is paint, with which she creates wonderful, quirky & very abstract canvases, as you can see above.

She has participated in the infamous Freeze exhibition and also been shortlisted for the Turner Prize.

A few of my favorite pieces:

30 Days of Creativity - Doodles

Day 4: Do some doodling... share it and write about it!

Please excuse the awful quality... but this is my latest doodle. I've began drawing up tattoo I've wanted for a long time, ready for my 21st. Over the next week or so I will be adding some Victorian style scroll to it & possibly a very tiny spider. Watch this space.

30 Days of Creativity - Relax

Day 7: Relax!  Do you relax to create or create to relax?


I have to be relaxed to be creative. Whenever I'm stressed I have no motivation at all! I find when I'm stressed I tend to sit on my laptop searching Pinterest for inspiration or generally watching telly, but when I'm chilled I'll always doing something crafty!

Teacup Candles..

Yay! I finished my first teacup candles yesterday & I think I may have fallen in love with them. It's been a lot of trial & error, but it's been interesting to say the least! I forgot to prime the wicks, my wax sunk & a ordered the wrong wax... but I got there in the end!

You can now find these in my Folksy shop for just £12! A perfect gift.

So here is the finished product...

You can find these in my shop!

I also started some more yesterday, but unfortunately run out of wax. They're these adorable pink french toile design teacups that I have scented with an interesting mix of rose & vanilla. Hopefully my wax will arrive soon & I can finish them off & make some more! 

Grrrr

Am I the only one that loses their creative flare when life get's stressful? The past 2 weeks have officially been a nightmare & not once have I picked up my knitting needles! To be fair I did make a tape measure brooch, but that seemed to use up all my inspiration.

Also, having no internet sucks. Almost as much as having no internet & no TV, as I'm sure I'll find out this weekend. Look's like I'll be knitting, candle making & working on my costume all weekend!  Although, on a lighter subject, I am welcoming the new month with open arms. I love December. It means family, fun & love & also it's the month of my birthday & Christmas... woohoo! And this year it's finally my 21st. The big one. My very own Mad Hatter's Tea Party... at a night club... with a silent disco! Couldn't get more random if I tried.

30 Days of Knitting...The Answers

30 Day of Knitting

Day 1:


What was your first finished project?

My first project was the Chocolate Gateau Slice!

It seemed to take forever, my knitting was still slow & there were a few dropped stitches by the end, but I made it! It now takes pride of place on my cake stand in my room.

Day 2


What is currently on your needles?

At the moment  there's a little bat on my 4mm's and a heart on my 3.25mm's... will hopefully both be finished off tomorrow! Eeeeek. I only tend to have one or two projects on my needles 

at a time, otherwise I'll never get them finished! I get very easily side-tracked!

Day 3

Do you have any other WIPs (works in progress)?

Well I started two hamsters, a basic one & a skeleton one... they fustraited me though, so they ended up in little zip-lock bags in my knitting basket! I only tend to take on projects that take a few days. Generally, the easier the better!

Day 4

How did you learn to knit?

I was taught to knit about 2 or  3 years ago by my great great Auntie. My Aunties are very thrifty ladies  & I loved their outlook. They keep those forgotten crafts alive!

Auntie Eddie & Auntie Dot

Auntie Eddie was a dab hand with knitting needles & Auntie Dot with sewing needles. So week upon week for about 2 months Auntie Eddie taught me to knit. She was highly amused at just how terrible I was and how long it took me to pick up, but we did it! She would pick up my dropped stitches for me and taught me the different stitches... & that's when I fell in love with knitting!

Teacup Candles in progress...

I'm rather excitable today... had my first go at candle making! Found some adorable cups & saucers in local charity shops and after seeing ideas in magazines & on other blogs, I decided I'd give it a go!

I wasn't quite brave enough to put a dye in since they are my first ones, but I did mix in some fragrance oil... what's the point in unscented candles!

Here are some pictures of today's adventure:

Keeping the wick in place...

Pouring the wax...(& making a mess)

Got my wax from this great shop www.whicksandwhacks.com, they do lots of candle making bits at really good prices!

So many crafts... so little time!!

With all the craft ideas popping up & watching Kirstie's Homemade Britain, I thought I would make a list of all the crafts I would like to try! There are so many lovely projects I see on other blogs and think 'I'd love to have a go at that', but never get round to it... so I'm hoping making a list up will make it a less daunting feat!

• Knitting
• Crochet
• Amigurumi
• Cross stitch
• Stained glass
• Scrap-booking
• Patchwork
• Applique
• Paper Marbling
• Decoupage
• Quilling
• Card Making
• Felties
• Candle Making
• Altered books

I covered a fair few crafts in art & textiles at school & also in my Art & Design BTEC at  college, but we only briefly touched on some crafts and techniques. So I want to -put my time into each one. Find out what works for me & what just doesn't! If any one has any hints, tips or wisdom... please share... I could do with all the help I can get!

Pussywillow & Purl on Facebook...

Hello all! This week I'm shouting about my new facebook page!

Pussywillow & Purl on facebook...

It's all rather exciting... I posted my first to items for sale yesterday & will hopefully be adding more today or tomorrow!

Go check it out & give me your feedback, good or bad, it would be much appreciated & if you have your own facebook shop... send me the link :D

Happy Stitching,

Jade Sophia x

Olivia the Bat

TGIF!!

Yet another week has flown by, yet this week has been slightly more stressful than most!

Fugly now has someone to keep him company though :)... Meet Olivia... 

Olivia is a little shy but loves fruit trees, singing & warm nights.

She doesn't like small spaces, cats & early mornings!

Find this fantastic pattern here by Luciana Jorge.

WIP Wednesday - Little Bats

As asked by my 6yr old Sister...I've begun knitting up a girlfriend for Fugly, since apparently, he's lonely!

I love this pattern, it's so quick & easy! Although, I have slightly altered the pattern for the wings, to make it as one piece. May also have to make them some little feet to hang them up with. I'm sure they're not particularly happy sleeping on their backs!

She just needs some stitching, stuffing, a name & a pretty little face!

Little Fugly getting excited!

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SatsumaPumpkin!

Okay, so it's got nothing to do with knitting but I made the cutest Satsumapumpkin that I had too share!

Only one slight problem... It's too small to fit a candle in! Will be shopping for Pumpkins & Oranges on Sunday!

Knitted Hearts

Knitted Hearts

I found this adorable free pattern on the MochiMochiLand website (click picture for link) & had to give them a go! Still fairly new to knitting so decided to skip out the felting part. Here's my results:

Here's my first attempt... also taught myself to mattress stitch too, so the seems are lovely & neat. Seemed a little plain when I finished it though, so I added a cute heart-shaped button & some wool to hang it up with! 

After making that one, it was so quick & easy I wanted to male more. I had the idea of making them as Christmas decorations for my friends & family. I might even spray them with some festive scents!

Knitted Cakes...

18th October 2011

Well it's already midweek. The weeks go so quickly now, but I've been rather lazy with my knitting the past few days. My Lemon Drizzle Slice is coming along nicely just the sides to knit and make it up! So hoping it will be ready for FO Friday

14th October 2011

Happy Friday people! Glad the weekends here even, even if I’m stuck working.

Been a busy bunny this week… Finished off my chocolate fudge cake, made & finished my carrot cake, in just 2 days & also started on a lemon drizzle cake! Plus I got my first 2 orders in!

So here’s my week in knitting:

Noodle, my naked rat enjoying some treats. Although they had to be taken away from him rather quickly since he tried to smuggle them into his cage!

Patterns: 20 to make: Knitted Cakes
Needles: 3.25 straight

9th October 2011

It's taken me quite a while to get the hang of knitting a pattern, but with a couple of repaired drop-stitches, here it is, my first successful pattern complete:

Now just to finish decorating it!

6th September 2011

So I have begun a new project...

After seeing some adorable knitted cupcakes in a haberdashery window, I had to go in and ask if they had a pattern! I'm not a great knitter... previously I'd only just managed to successfully knit a 10x10cm square! So this was going to be quite a challenge, but I had my mind set!The lady at the counter introduced me to a book.

I read the patterns inside and decided to take the challenge! I'd never followed a pattern before; It looked seriously complicated, but I left the store with a new book & a new hobby!

Tweet

Hello World :)

Hellew people! I'm Jade Sophia...20...Quirky...Ditsy..Sleepy...Odd...Bubbly...I guess that kind of sums me up, but I'm sure me friends would add things! So for my 1st post I thought I ought to explain just what I plan on blogging about! I have quite a crazy life, seldom does a week go by without some kind of drama. So look out for life updates! I also have some pretty quirky hobbies, which I like to natter about :)

• Knitting
• Art
• Bellydance
• Reading
• Sleeping

I'm a very creative person... my day doesn't seem quite right without some kind of creative output!