Hot Water Bottle

When it's cold I love to snuggle up in bed with my hot water bottle.  I've never liked an electric blanket (The Teenager loves his!!) even though they only cost pennies to run. I recently bought a few new bottles for Christmas presents but they didn't come with covers.  So today I finally dug out some felted tartan and quickly made a cover.  This is the first crafting I've done since school went back in August!  I really enjoyed it. It's not perfect but it's just for me. I'll road test it tonight to see how it performs before I go into production!

A cautionary tale.  Please please never buy a cheap hot water bottle that doesn't have the BS kite mark (or whatever legal safety mark your part of the world uses) and never over fill it.  And regularly check the rubber to see if it's perished. Earlier this year, OH's son had a very serious accident when a filled bottle exploded at the side seam and gave him very serious burns.  His arm, chest, back and cheek took months to heal but luckily he didn't need skin grafts. 

It gave us a huge fright at the time so now we're extra careful using them.

Playing with denim

I've got my crafting mojo back too!  I've been playing with denim (ie old jeans!) and mixing it with felted tartan.  The above cushions have denim backs.  Both are for sale on my FB page.  Just search for The Tartan Tower.

I've also been playing with Harris Tweed and made some brooches with it as well as denim ones.

I picked up these red frames after Christmas last year for peanuts so made a few tartan and denim pics.

These ones are Harris Tweed and denim

 

I've also been busy working on the house and spend lots of time in DIY superstores looking at lighting, paint shades and other boring but essential things.  Whilst there last week I found this Jamie Oliver salad kit reduced.  So I'll have fresh salad leaves growing on my kitchen window sill soon :-)

It's November!

How did that happen?? Sorry for being MIA. I just needed a little time to re group myself and work out a few things.  As much as I would have liked to stay in bed and pull the duvet over my head for a few days when you've got kids (and dogs!!) you have to just Get On With It!!

 

So quick round up of a few things.

 

It's suddenly become winter so that means soup.  I had a few leeks and half a bunch of celery lurking in the bottom fridge drawer so they were chopped up with a token carrot, added to some veg stock, simmered then blitzed to become Leek and Celery soup.  Even the Teenager declared it delicious served with a wee spot of crème fraiche!

My latest frugal find in the supermarket.  This pack made 3 meals for me.  First meal simply fried in a little butter, second was baked with spinach and then lastly it was fishcakes. Very nice!

I've also discovered that I have a Lidl within walking distance :-) I've been testing the quality of their meat (it's all Scottish!!), fruit and veg.  So far I'm impressed with quality and obviously the price.

3 more kilts (ladies ones) were treated to the boil wash treatment and felted ready for use in The Tartan Tower.  I still haven't set up a proper sewing area so that's a priority.

I've been having a smashing time in the kitchen.  Ugly tiles are now removed so the walls are ready for re plastering.  I don't have a date for that yet so I'm cooking in a half madeover kitchen *rolls eyes*

Yesterday was my dad's 70th birthday.  All he wanted was his family together for the day so we pulled that off for him.  For the first time in many years all 6 grandchildren (ages 26 to 13) were together in one place.  He was a happy Grampa :-)

And finally a rare pic of me and my 3 boys.  I also got a rare pic of me and OH with all our 5 kids.  Precious!!

Being creative

 

This really sums me up.  I've been so busy with the practical stuff for the last 4 weeks (yes, I moved house 4 weeks ago today!!) that I've had no time to be creative.  And I've really missed it.  So much that I actually bought pink and cream yarn to make a throw for my living room instead of trying to find my yarn stash.

 

It doesn't look very pink in the pic but in real life it's a soft vintage shade.  I've also made some curtains for the Teenager's bedroom as the venetian blinds were letting in light.  They were free (my favourite price!) as I found a bag of stuff from middle son's old flat.  They're just Ikea basic ones but I doubled them so they're lined.  Should also keep the heat in and light out.

And I won some Harris Tweed oddments on eBay.  I have some new ideas for The Tartan Tower so look out for a relaunch very soon :-)

I can't believe September has been and gone.  In a few weeks the clocks will go back and winter will be well on the way.  And then I'll need to think about the C word!!

Catch up

It's been a wee while since I've posted.  Sorry about that.  The Teen hasn't been well and kindly shared his bugs with me.  A few weeks of flu followed by a nasty d and v bug hasn't been fun!!  He seems to be back to normal and thankfully is on school holidays now.

 

Lots of stuff has been happening here.  I had another viewer last weekend.  They still haven't come back and said if they're interested or not.  I'm finding the whole process disheartening.  I think it's very rude when people come into your home with a view to buying it and don't even have the decency to respond to phone calls from the agent.

 

Today I attended a craft fair.  It cost £10 for a table, £12 in petrol costs and I didn't sell any of my tartan things.

 

I did get lots of lovely comments but no one bought anything.  More experienced sellers than me have been telling that craft fairs are just soul destroying and not worth doing.  Maybe they're right.  Think I'll concentrate on my Etsy shop and FB.

My lovely mum and aunt knitted some wee chicks and bunnies and stuffed them with a creme egg.  We sold a few of them and made £11.  Barely enough to cover the cost of the yarn and the egg.

Good job I scored some 10p bargains in the supermarket last night then!!  2 pizza bases, 2 vegetable samosas and a mini garlic baguette.  All went straight into the freezer.

Facebook Page

I finally got round to setting up my Facebook page for The Tartan Tower.  I've uploaded tons of photos into albums of my work.  There's a lot more than I thought now I see it all together :-)

I'm not good at blowing my own trumpet but if I don't promote my stuff I won't sell anything.  I'm attending 2 craft fairs as a seller in the next few weeks.  Both events are on FB so I'm hoping to get a wider profile.  Sounds like I know what I'm talking about!!

If you use FB, please look at my page and like it.  Just type The Tartan Tower into the search box at the top.

Thanks :-)

Kilt to corset

I took a felted kilt, a 4m lace, bias binding and some cotton lining to a 2 day course in Glasgow at the weekend and turned them into this -

A traditional boned Victorian corset with 16 steel 'bones' and 26 brass eyelets!  It just needs a wee hook and eye fastening at the top to help it sit flat.

The rear view with the lacing (it slid down the mannequin, it isn't really higher at one side!!)

And the view from the side.

I really loved the 2 day course.  I am so thrilled with the finished product.  It was made to fit me but I'll be taking it to craft fairs to show what can be done with my felted tartan.  I'm hoping to make them to sell.  The tutor showed us many samples of original Victorian corsets and a vintage Vivienne Westwood one with a zip up the front.  She also showed us ones she's made herself including one made from a PVC tablecloth and one from a pair of old jeans.  I'd love to try that idea as it appeals to my upcycling senses!

My first Christmas Fair

Although this was my first fair as a seller I've organised and taken part in many fairs over the years as a teacher and PTA member.  But it's very different when you're on the other side of table trying to earn money for yourself!

 

The venue Mar Lodge near Braemar is a National Trust property.  It's a country house originally built as a sporting lodge in Victorian times. It can be used for functions and events.

 

When we arrived we were told to pick a table.  All the local folk had bagged the downstairs area so I had to go upstairs to the panelled landing.  It was a lovely setting but very dark!  It took us ages to work out how to use my lovely new camera but I managed to take some pics.

 

 

First layout of my stall.  When I stood back it looked too cluttered so it got re arranged several more times after this! I didn't take any more as customers started to arrive.

With the baskets removed

My lovely mum and aunt knitted these wee Christmas puddings.  They have a well known chocolate inside ;-)

Heart cushion.  I nearly sold this but the lady dithered (good Scottish word!) and said she'd think about it and come back.  She didn't!

Star cushion.  Really thought I'd sell this one.

In the end I sold 4 wee brooches, a star tree decoration and loads of the wee knitted decs.  Total made was £53.  Not a huge amount for 4 hours but the table was free.  I handed out a few business cards so maybe I'll get some commissions at a later stage. And I can add a National Trust Christmas Fair to my CV.

But the best part of the day was talking to 2 of the other stall holders.  They were so generous with their advice.  I learned loads of practical tips about setting up my stall (battery powered fairy lights, bunting in the textile you're selling, display boxes/shelves) and got amazing business advice to take my stuff to the next level.

They both talked about how you can never predict what will be a good fair (in the sense of making money) Weather, location or time of year don't seem to be indicators of potential customers or how much they will spend.

The lady next to me made items in Harris Tweed (phone covers, keyrings etc) She has been trading for just 18 months.  She was featured in Country Living magazine and sells her products throughout the UK!!  Like me she works from home and has turned a hobby into a thriving business.

I am seriously considering her advice.  Scary yet exciting at the same time :-)

Busy is good, right?

Oh my, it's December already.  I am so busy with stuff right now I don't know if I'm coming or going.  The Christmas fair season is upon us and I have orders to fill, I've had my first commission (6 tree decorations in a specific tartan) and am desperately trying to get my website photo gallery sorted out  Not helped by my camera getting smashed as it went through airport security.  Hey ho.

 

I have managed to fit in a quick trip to Vienna.  Sadly no photos but we had a lovely time visiting my middle son who lives there and seeing the gorgeous Christmas markets.  Lots and lots of lovely inspiring ideas.

 

Next batch of brooches for the shop in Crieff

Present I took for my son :-)

Last night it snowed here.  Just a little but enough to make me realise I need to get myself more organised for the big freeze they're predicting.  A couple of years ago I had so much snow I couldn't get my car up the wee lane to my house for 7 weeks.  It snowed, then froze. Then snowed again and froze.  For several weeks.  It's going to be that bad again apparently so I need to make sure I have plenty of food and supplies.  We also lost the electricty for several dyas as the snow brought down the power lines.   Since I'm so rural I'm at the end of the lines so am always last to get reconnected.

Despite the cons of living here, the pros are good enough to make it worthwhile though :-)

Technical stuff!

I am not a techy person at all but today I out did myself.

I built my own website!!! :-)

Have a look here www.thetartantower.co.uk

Still a work in progress but once I've figured out how to do the photo gallery I'll be happy.

I also set up a business email address and ordered some business cards.

All low cost so hopefully I'll re coup it over a period of time.

I've had lots of lovely comments from friends and family.  Let me know what you think!