Kate Selene

Lots of red

So I have been away from my blog for a little while, I must confess, I have been living my creative life on Instagram! I have made so much stuff over such a small space of time and I have really been trying to introduce more colour into my outfit, and since red is my favourite I have been brave and started making and wearing colourful and tiny work.

I have been making toadstools like theres no tomorrow and I have been hand painting my pieces so that each piece is like its own scene. I have been having so much fun!

It always surprises me how exciting it is when your drawings become a thing, especially things I can wear!!

I have been sharing my work with the IG crowd, its been such a supportive community and has really given me the confidence to sell some of my things. Im just seeing how this goes and I have been making some of my first orders orders this week!!

Some of my strawberry pin sharpener necklaces have gone out this week in the post, one all the way to America!!

I have also been busy making and tending to my terraniums, what have evidently inspired my work.

The link to my etsy shop is on the top right, I will be adding new things as I go along, until then im having another crafty night by the fire!!

K

Blood and bandages

Well thats how my mum refers to these colours, red and white, my favourite!! About two weeks ago I started this blanket and the first thing my mum did was look at me suspiciously and say 'red and white hmmmmm', I pointed out that I'm unlikely to jinx myself having just spent a couple of weeks in hospital after my accident, so I carried on with my blanket. Mum is a superstitious person, no shoes on the table, cant have peacock feathers in the house and red and white are symbolic of well......... Blood and bandages!!

I love red and white, and I had wanted to make a spotty blanket for ages, just hadn't plucked up the courage to go all out red!! Im really glad that I did though, it looks really nice! And its sooooo red!!!

Mum always tells me I need to finish off my work, that means tying in the ends! I have a couple ( sorry that was a lie) a lot of things that just need tying up and its beginning to be an unsurmountable pile!! I have visions of me being someone who just completes a project and then starts a new one, well I really wanted to change my ways and I don't think I will ever look back!!

Before I put the trim on the red blanket I tied in all the ends and felt rather smug about the fact that there would not be the daunting task of threading, knotting and snipping right at the end, which is how my blankets usually end. I reached the end of the blanket, and it was all finished!! Amazing!!

So I decided to start another one!

A mood blanket! Another one. But this time I would throw away a pattern and ideas of a colour pallet and just go with what was in the basket.

I found it quite a challenge to just go with it, have no formal colours or pattern, I found myself looking at what I had made and then trying to pick the next colours, which wasn't the aim of this blanket, so I just picked colours, made a square and joined it!

I love making this blanket! I really didn't at all to begin with, it almost got put at the back of the cupboard, or was almost a cat bed, but the more I made the more I liked it, and the more I enjoyed not being stuck to a routine!!

But its definitely a project that stays at home!! Huge!! In fact today I will be starting the last row and then it will be trimmed and done. Iv tied in all the ends and finished each block as I go.

It has been the perfect project to keep my going over the week or so, we have all been full of the worst cold, tummy bugs and aching bones. Cwtched up in front of the fire ( me ) and playing with toys ( minnie ) has been the way it has been round here, but were all on the mend, well, it feels like it anyway!

Have a fabulous weekend!!
X

Pincushions and granny squares

Its been about pincushions lately, lots and lots of them, I mean lots of them!! I made one for Phillipa and I just couldn't stop! I had never made these types of pin cushions before and they really are so much fun to make! Im always seduced by transformation and these little beauties go from squishy blobs to taught beauties in minutes!! Its reminds me of that magic that happens when you polish resin! Goes from nothing to something in a flash!!

And of course theres the endless combinations of fabric and buttons! The red and blue one in the middle was my favourite so far, until I went to visit my mum who decided that it was her favourite too (it never came home!) so I just made a heap more!! I even dug out some of my vintage printing blocks from the attic and printed my own fabric...........

....... This transformed the pincushion process! I could make small prints of my very own original fabric! I wasn't the only one to enjoy these, a number of then have found a new home.

However, one evening I went to bed dreaming of how small I could make the pincushions, could I make them wearable, what print could I use? So the next morning when I had a spare half hour I printed some spotty fabric and made my first tiny pincushion........ I was in love. The blue one quickly followed.

So in between making pincushions, project bags, and lavender strawberries, I wanted to start a new blanket. It had to be red and white! Im always reminded by mum about the superstition of using red and white ( she says its symbolic of blood and bandages) but I pointed out that I may have had already cracked the back of that with my little vacation in hospital before christmas, so Im making a red an white spotty blanket......... And I love it!!!

The road to recovery

Why hello!! I have been quiet here on the blog front but I have definitely not been quiet on the crafting!! The recovery is going really well and life as I know it has returned to some sort of normality!

I have been able to go upstairs for weeks now and after what felt like a long time, I have been reclaiming the house! I have been making non stop to decorate Minnies room and to give pretty much the whole house a clean start.

My best friend came round a few weeks back and we were supposed to do some crafting........except we ended up sorting out the endless bags of stuff that is craftily hidden in my attic! I think she felt like she had stumbled upon one of those rare charity shops that have all the things you enjoy rummaging through.

Needles to say, the day ended with my fabric stash (10 years worth) downstairs and one happy helper who liberated a bag, some scarfs and a really vintage hanger cover! I have too much stuff!!

So, in a bid to actually use what I have got, instead of sticking to a rigid colour scheme I just chose lots of pretty prints in a similar pallet.

Iv made curtains, bite guards for the cot, toy bag, laundry bag, loads and loads of cushions for Minnies room and the rest of the house, and some wall decorations.

It has been really fun making this stuff, I even made bunting and cushions from a really old granny blanket my mum made before I was born. It was too knackered to repair but at least now its been out to good use in my home.

I have of course been crocheting, but not as much in the last few weeks, as the tendon in my left hand is quite bad, so im trying not to aggravate it too much with excessive knitting or crochet!

Filling my house with plants has been a big thing lately, they are everywhere! Spider plants are truly invading and Im in love with succulents! I picked these from a neighbours wall, they look so amazing!

Finally I tackled the ripple! After looking at so many ripple blankets on the Crochet mood blanket group I just had to make something! There are tons of patterns out there and its very easy!

And of course, back to using up that stash!! I made loads of project bags and my friend came down from Wrexham to stay for a crafty weekend, she needed a pincushion so I made this one for her and then I just carried on......... They are multiplying! I even ordered more hollow fibre (5kilo!) to make more cushions and strawberries!

So, whilst My body is busy knitting back together I shall be making the most of this precious time I have at home with my little family.

X

Crafting to get me through it.

Happy New year!! I have had a little break from the world recently, I never did manage to make it to my Christmas stall ( it would have been super I just know it) or make any christmas gifts ( it was a rather large list!!) or really work for more than 3 weeks!! Truth is, I had a wee accident ........... Well, thats not really truthful........ Quite a big accident actually, on my way home at the end of november, which resulted in me being cut out of my car and rushed to ICU in Birmingham where I stayed for a week before I was able to be moved onto a ward and eventually home, just in time for Christmas!

The good news is that I will be able to walk again, all be it in a few months!! And I didn't break my hands or wrists so I have been knitting ever since I came home ( truth be told, I had my crochet and knitting supplies brought to hospital!) but I did manage to break lots of other things, such as my left shoulder blade, all my ribs on my left, punctured my lung, broke the bottom of my back and my tail bone and my pelvis in three places.

I was very lucky.

Mostly I have been thankful for being able to finally hold my baby after over a month and being able to spend time with family.

I know a lot of you saw me in the day of my accident and I have been overwhelmed with the support, kind words and cards and flowers that I have received, all those good thoughts really went a long way to help me stay positive and recover enough for me to be home weeks earlier than expected.

My craft room has been converted into my new bedroom so its easier for me to get around, and im surrounded by yarn and fabric, enough to keep me busy! I have knitted a cardigan for Minnie and a new scarf for myself, to replace the one that was cut off me during my accident, and its very snuggly and in one of my favourite colours, mustard.

Christmas was good, but mostly it arrived and then went before we knew it was new years eve and it was all over, but I did decorate my own tree! Yaaay!!

My parents moved in with us to help out, and with a 7 month old theres sooo much to keep us busy, iv just been appreciating being able to see her, after almost 3 weeks of not seeing her I really thought she may have forgotten who I was, luckily she didn't.

So............ 2013 was definitely an eventful year, this one will just start off a little quieter, but il be back to being myself soon, the crafting will get me through the days I cant do much and I look forward to being able to walk upstairs and put my daughter to bed, but.........each day at a time! Il just appreciate small triumphs, today was the second time in 5 weeks that she has fallen asleep on me, something she did every day.

Im very lucky.