being biased.

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favourite friday.


i'm not going to pretend i'm not, but this week i'm being ever so slightly biased when picking our favourite friday of the week. this week saw the new joint venture of the boy & i - Rewind. Reuse. Revive - open it's online doors. and in all honesty i'm sad to see the vintage goodies we've scavenged for go to new homes because i want to keep them for myself! here are a few of my favourites...

it was even a struggle just picking those three out of the hugemongous selection of homewares, books, magazines, comics, vinyl records, cameras...

go have a nosey here.

xox.

belated valentine's.

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swaps.

i recently took part in the Alicia Rose secret valentine swap, where i made some goodies for the lovely What Katy Did Next...

and in return got some awesome goodies from Kate Blandford...

definitely going to organise a wee swap too at some point, so watch this space!

xox.

touche, crochet.

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trying new craft techniques.

& last weekend i tried my hand at crochet. i went round to my mum's & had a nice relaxing evening, relaxing until i started attempting crochet! it is very fiddley, however i persevered & it did get easier, even quite addictive. i managed to make myself a lovely little granny square...

...which is going to be the very first patch for our Post A Patch project.

like i say it is verrrryyy addictive, so i'm going to keep on practising & have even got a wee idea of a crochet project i can teach at meet & make at some point.

xox. 

upcycling.

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upcycling.

me & the other half have started a new venture called Rewind. Reuse. Revive. which does exactly as it does on the tin. we source out vintage goodies from days gone by & pap them on our online shop for you to reuse & revive! everything from antique books, to retro records, old school cameras to pretty homewares, the list is endless. our online shop opens on 22nd, in the meantime you can 'like' our facebook page here.

anyway, whilst out scavenging for Rewind. Reuse. Revive. i picked up myself some lovely floral china plates. i've been wanting a vintage cake stand for so long now, but i haven't been lucky enough to come across one that hasn't stretched the purse strings so much they snap, so decided to make one myself...

i love it. & it was so so easy to make. i found some old sherry glasses & glued them in between my lovely plates & bish, bash, bosh - i have my very own cake stand! 

upcycling is the best.

xox.

post a patch update.

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post a patch!

so after struggling to find just one charity that wanted our community-made blankets, we now have two!

Starter Packs Glasgow & now So Go And Run Free - a charity that offers support to bereaved parents in the highlands, who lose their babies before, during or shortly after birth & provide them with memory boxes. our blankets will be used to wrap the babies in whilst the parents say their goodbyes & can take it home with them to remember their special wee one.

both charities really need our help, so get your knitting needles & crochet hooks out & get making patches! and spread the word, the more the merrier :)

for more info on what to do & where to send your patch, click here.

xox.

post a patch.

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when a plan comes together.

after struggling to find a charity willing to accept the donation of our community-made blankets (read more here), thanks to your help we've now found one!

Starter Packs Glasgow is a charity that provides starter packs of basic household necessities for homeless households in glasgow. our blankets will be gladly received by people who don't have much & are striving for a fresh start.

so let the knitting commence!

all you need to do is...

• knit/crochet a 10cm x 10cm patch, in any colour or pattern you wish - be as creative as you like!
• send your patch to:

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21 Burnside Avenue

Aviemore

PH22 1SE

• we will then sew all your beautiful patches into lovely blankets & send them to Start Pack Glasgow, who will pass them onto people who will benefit immensely from them.

there's no deadline on this as i would like it to be an ongoing project which could hopefully help other charities as well, but the quicker you get knitting the quicker the blankets will be made & enjoyed by people in need around glasgow.

go get your knitting needles out!

xox.

dairy-free baking.

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favourite friday.

recently i've figured out that it's most likely that i am lactose intolerant. which means no more dairy products for me. i've actually tried being vegan before, i've been vegetarian for about 5 years now (bar a couple of drunken macdonalds incidents) so thought i might as well go the whole hog. but my love of cheese & milk chocolate was too strong. i do only use soya milk & soya butter though, which was an easy swap, it's just a shame vegan cheese & chocolate tastes so yucky. so in attempt to solve this, i made some vegan brownies, which were scrumptious!

and today's favourite friday is also baking based...

not only am i a sucker for home-baking, but typography too & Madi's illustration is choca-bloc with both.

xox.

p.s. if you would like to be featured as our favourite friday, add photos of your work here.

project help.

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community projects.

and so far we've concentrated mostly on collaborative zine projects (have a look here & here) which have been so much fun to organise & have introduced me to some very talented people.
however, this project is going to be a bit different. it's far from a new concept, but i think it's a lovely one.

introducing, post a patch...

now, i've been thinking about this project from waaaayyy before xmas & have been contacting charities to offer them the donation of these proposed blankets - something i didn't really see being a problem. i mean surely children's charities that help orphanages, charities that help people in 3rd world countries, homeless charities that help people on the streets, would jump at the chance of the donation of blankets, right? wrong.

i contacted Oxfam, who replied saying it would be too expensive to get the blankets overseas (which i can understand), Barnados who replied saying they already have a local ladies group that provide them with handmade goods, Action For Children who never replied, Shelter who passed me onto Crisis, Crisis who said they already have bedding... it goes on.

i never, ever imagined it would be so hard to give something away to charity. some have suggested to sell the blankets & donate the money to them, but that's not what this project is about. it is about one community giving something to another. a blanket doesn't just keep you warm, it makes you feel safe & knowing that it was made by people from all over wanting to help, i would hope would make the receiver feel wanted, loved & less alone.

so before we even get our knitting needles out, i need your help. do you know of any charities that would welcome our blankets with open arms? do you live near a nursing home/homeless shelter/orphanage that would benefit from these blankets? any suggestions would be very much appreciated. and if all else fails you will see me handing out blankets to homeless people on the street myself!

xox. 

knit, knit, knit.

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favourite friday.

this week has been FULL of knitting. i've been knitting a whole lot of hairbows & bowrings for the adorable Made With Love Finnieston, I finally sent off my knitted patch for Garterstitch 100 (hurry, you still have time to send yours too) & i've been busy knitting a patchwork cushion for our meet & make group on the 27th to give everyone an idea of what they will be making this month.

all this knitting & you know what? i've never knitted a jumper, ever. it's something i would love to do, but the time it would take & the money it would cost just really puts me off. which is terrible! maybe i'll just wait till some of my friends start popping out wee ones so i can knit small jumpers. or get a rabbit...

isn't this week's favourite friday by Jess Marshall cute?

xox.

p.s. want to be next week's favourite friday? just add a photo of your work here.

we have colour!

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getting things done.


the last couple of days i've not been feeling great - sore heads, dizziness & general bleugh-ness, which is usually my body telling me i need to take a break before it stops working altogether. so today i took my first 'day off' of the year.


did i spend it curled up in my duvet? in front of the box watching trashy tv? catching up on gossip with friends? nope. instead i got things done.


FINALLY one of the walls in the living room is finished!!


after much stripping...

& much painting...

(finished wall colour)

getting my diy on & putting together the table my granda made which i LOVE, we now have a one-side-liveable living room!

xox.

valentine's.

i heart...


favourite friday.


well it's nearly that time of year again, that day that i usually stay in & watch trashy rom-coms, stuff my face with pizza & ice-cream & dream that one day i'll have my happily ever after - yup, valentine's day is just over a week away.

however, this year i won't be all alone with a puffy face from greeting my eyes out at a soppy storyline or have a sore tummy from eating so much junk food - i'll be spending it with my boy like a loved up pup (it will be our one year anniversary too!). but seeing as i won him over by taking him for a night-time hot chocolate & brownie picnic in the park, i do hope that some yummy treats are still involved.

this week's favourite friday is perfect for such thoughts...

this scrumptious piece was created by Mel Chadwick, who is also one of our featured artists in our recently launched 'my favourite place' zine, which you can get here.

happy valentine's day when it comes to all you love birds out there, and to the singletons out there, say hello to hugh grant, matthew mcconaughey & freddie prince jnr for me (i'm secretly jealous i won't be spending my night with them on my screen & a slice of pizza in my hand).

xox.

p.s. if you would like to be featured as our favourite friday, just add your photos here.

january meet & make.

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meet & make.


last sunday saw the first of our meet & make monthly workshop/crafty get-to-gethers. it was lovely to see some familiar faces from my previous workshop at Made In The Shade - Starting From Stitch, as well as some new faces too.

our meet & makers were shown how to master different embroidery stitches & then went onto sketching out their very own design...

then they got their back-stitch, cross-stitch, chain stitch, french knot & blanket stitch on!

i had a lovely time chatting to everyone, having a cold beverage & getting crafty, thanks again to everyone that came along - i look forward to seeing your finished results at the end of the month!

if you would like to join in, click here to book your place.

not from glasgow but would like to come to a meet & make? let me know! if enough people are interested i would love to get a meet & make started in a whole lot of different places!

xox.

'my favourite place' zine launch!

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our 'my favourite place' collaborative zine.

& today is launch day! the zine consists of artwork & sounds of 10 different talented people, depicting their favourite place. And yes, you heard right. The zine has sounds! not only will you be able to see what the artist's favourite place looks like, you'll be able to hear it too!

From New York to Newport, swans gaggling to magpies cawing, a cosy cabin to a spider skull mountain where the spider skull monkey lives, you can safely say there's a huge range of different places, sounds & techniques included in the zine.

With pieces from...
Murray Somerville
Barbara Ana Gomez
Helen Macdonald
Melanie Chadwick
Gillian Gibson
Natalie Hughes
Emma Cowley
Sarah McGarva
Matt Ellero
Daria Hlazatova

...the zine is full to the brim with talent from around the world!

To get your eyes & ears a copy, click HERE. & be quick! it's a limited edition of only 30!

xox.