Bunting, Bunting, Everywhere

Yet another stitchy thing I’d been meaning to make for ages- the inspiration to start finally came with the purchase of a beautifully floral vest from h&m that looked lovely on the hanger, but hideous on me. It’s very easy to make whilst watching TV- always a win in my book. 

Christmas Marzipan Sweets

Fran has a rule that she will love anyone who buys her Marzipan Fruits forever. I made these festive treats for her Christmas present last year. All I needed was a block of marzipan, and some food dye. It's like edible play-dough :)

A Midsummer Night's Dream

One of my best friends is named after Titania in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. She had a fancy dress party of that theme for her birthday, and I managed to find her the perfect present; a teeny tiny copy of the book, printed in 1917. I decided to sew a cover for the book to be kept in as the vintage leather was really delicate. 

Fricken Pie

I've been vegetarian for the past 12 years, so the protein element for my part of the awesome Sunday roasts my other half cooks normally consists of something Quorn-based. This is a "chicken" and mushroom pie I made a while ago. Tom and I call Quorn chicken pieces "fricken" - short for fake-chicken. I've been working on my pastry skills recently- a good excuse for lots of pies (as if an excuse was needed!).

Tea-Pop

The creation of this teapot combined three of my favourite things; tea, Pop Art, and spending time with Fran. Paint Pots, our local pottery painting cafe, has these amazing ceramic skulls to paint- which lured us in one Saturday morning. Fran was all over them like the skull-enthusiast she is, but I decided to go for a teapot instead because I am boring and practical. And because I did not own a teapot, which is just WRONG. 

I’ve always been a huge fan of Lichtenstein’s work. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve copied 'Wham!' onto books, cards, and walls... I painted ‘Varoom!’ onto the lid, and his ‘Cup and Saucer’ onto the other side. 

I’m really not so good at the whole ‘painting’ thing, but I was pretty pleased with this overall. And tea tastes all the sweeter when it’s brewed in something you poured such effort into. 

I think I forgot to mention before, but I love puns more than I love Hugh Jackman. Seriously. 

Here it is below with some actual tea in it. I made the cupcake in the picture too- the topping is edible Lego. Yes, that's right- EDIBLE LEGO. I bought it from Dylan's Candy Bar when Fran and I went to New York.

Stag Head Cushion

I bought a t-shirt from Primark that had this awesome stag head printed on it, and I decided to turn it into a cushion cover instead, because it didn't look good on. I decided on tartan backing fabric to give it a look of Hunting Lodge chic.

Pimpin' my Pimp Chair

I made this cushion to accentuate the whore-house chic that is my Pimp Chair (a thing of beauty I inherited from an ex-housemate. The photographs don't do its sleazy velvety-ness justice).

I had the leopard faux fur left over from a spontaneous staple-gunning of crushed velvet and faux fur onto a chaise longue I used to co-own that was incredibly uncomfortable to sit on (it basically ate your bum) but looked brothel-tastic. We left it behind in the old house, because it was too damn uncomfortable. There was an original plan to ride it down the steep hill we lived on into the sea, but we were afraid it would splinter and throw us head-first into traffic/a lamppost/an extra-angry seagull….

I added the floral buttons because I think they are beautiful. 

Zombie Wizard of Oz

I made this for my friend Abbey's birthday present. She loves the Wizard of Oz, and zombies- so I decided to combine the two and cross-stitched my own version of a Threadless design I found that combines the two into a whole new level of awesome. 

Fran's Birthday

I spent weeks and weeks on this birthday present for my bestie, Fran. I created the design myself (apart from the cherries, which are a Cath Kidston design from her book “Stitch!”), after being inspired by a font I saw on Skull A Day. Happy to say Fran loved it :)

Victoria Sponge with Berries

Home-made sponge with vanilla cream, Pam Jam (my Nanna's home-made jam) and berries from our very own garden. Mmm...

Pop Art Tins

I’ve always been a big fan of cake, and my favourite way to get cake is by baking it.  I decided I wanted some pretty tins to put them in- more for display purposes than actual storage, as cake never lasts long enough in our house to get cold, let alone stale!

I was going to go and buy some tins, but then I remembered we had a cupboard full of tins left over from Christmas chocolates, so I decided to paint my own. A quick dash down to B&Q for enamel paint sample pots, and I was ready to go.

I took my inspiration for this one from Emma Bridgewater’s Union Jack range. The painting is totally rubbish on this one, but I counted it as a practice run. If we run out of tins, I’ll just have to eat more Quality Street. *Sigh*

For my second attempt, I spray-painted the tin with enamel paint and added the design in marker pen. This is my version of a Lichtenstein babe. "Brad" is the man who featured heavily in his work- this was before Brad Pitt. 

Rob Ryan Cushion

After spotting a Rob Ryan style cushion cover in my local patchwork shop I decided to give my own version a go. It took a little while to make because I decided to hand stitch it, and because I couldn’t decide on a design for the back of the cushion. It seemed a waste to have a plain back to it, so I went for a Squirrel- my best friend Fran's nickname for me. I made it out of felt so it's nice and cosy for snuggling up with in the winter, and blanket-stitched the edges to add to the home-made look.

Cross-Stitch Bunny

My friend Amanda recently gave birth to a beautiful little girl, and I decided to make her a "Well done on giving birth, Superwoman!" card. I made up the design as I went along, so for a while the bunny looked like it was wearing a wrestling mask... I was pretty pleased with the final product- and thankfully Amanda was too!