the market, Edinburgh

Ugh, what a miserable day it is here in Edinburgh this morning! Cold and wet, wild and windy and just plain bleh...
But while I am waiting in for a parcel to arrive (and feeling quite grateful that I don't have to go out in said miserable weather just yet!) I just remembered that I promised you lovelies some news of a another wee craft fair I'll be doing this Christmas...

The Market will be held at St.Columba's by the Castle on Saturday 17th December (the last shopping weekend before Christmas), from 12pm til 5pm. Entry is free and I know there are going to be lots of tasty treats to enjoy while you are browsing, you can find all the details of the other exhibitors up on the Facebook events page.

So if you are out and about in the city that day doing a wee spot of last minute shopping or just taking in some of the city's festive atmosphere, I would love for you to pop by and say 'hello'... :) It will be my last work day before taking a much needed break so I am looking forward to having a lot of fun and meeting lots of new folk, can't wait... !

Emma, x

colour your monday happy

Image credits: 1. RosaMaría, 2. greta♥loves, 3. madelinetosh, 4. Candi Mandi, 5. CocoRose1

Happy, happy Monday my lovelies! I do hope you all had a wonderful weekend... !?

Today I'm feeling inspired by these cute collections from our fabulous Flickr pool 'all colours in'... and must confess to feeling just a wee bit jealous over such a gorgeous collection washi tape, not to mention those beautiful tins! Let's hope Santa is reading this, eh?

Anyhoo, today I need to focus on making my own collections for these Christmas fairs... wee flowers charms, pincushions, garlands, granny cushions and anything else I can hook over the next couple of weeks. Yikes, less than two weeks to Selvedge... eek!

Emma, x

celebrate color : all good things

Yes indeed, as the saying goes 'all good things must come to an end', and so it is true of Celebrate Color... *sigh*

I can't tell you how much I have loved taking part in this wonderful blogging event with dear Rachel, of Stitched in Color, sweet Shannon, of LuvintheMommyhood, and lovely Mollie, of Wild Olive. Not only has it been the most wonderful way to celebrate all things autumnal, it has also been a joy to see a whole crafting community come together to do just that. Every one's enthusiasm and eagerness to participate has been so inspiring and it has been a joy to welcome so many new faces to my wee blog to share in my colour inspiration posts... hello every one!

This is the first time I have taken part in such a blogging event and to tell you the truth I can't wait for the next one! But I am getting ahead of myself just a wee bit here, first lets have a wee re-cap...

Inspiration...

Let's start with a few of my particular favourites from the Inspiration collection including this great interview with Lotta Jandsotta by dear Rachel; these wonderful embroidery floss inspiration palettes put together by lovely Mollie; some great autumn / fall decorating ideas curated by Rachel and another great interview, this time with fabric designer Joel Dewberry, thank you again Rachel!

Image credits: Lotta Jandsotta, Wild Olive, Goodknits, Jackie Rueda


Tutorials...

Alongside all this wonderful inspiration some wonderful ladies have spent many hour dreaming up and creating a collection of inspiring tutorials, thank you so much for all your hard work ladies! My favourites include these pretty and practical insulated crochet hot pads by the talented Penny of Sew Take a Hike; this super quick and easy fabric cardigan tutorial for the wee ones in your life by Anna of Noodlehead, which she temptingly tells us that could easily be up scaled to an adult size; this lovely 'Simple Gathered Stockinette' scarf by Jacey of Jaceycraft and this adorable embroidered table set by lovely Mollie of Wild Olive.

Image credits: Sew Take a Hike, Noodlehead, Jaceycraft, Wild Olive

Your projects...

Oh, and what about all your fabulous projects!? You guys have made it so tough to be a judge in the monthly competitions, your are an incredibly talented and prolific group of crafters... such an inspiration! Here is the smallest handful from all your lovely entries in the different pools, which include Fabric {Home Decor}, Fabric {Wearables}, Yarn and Needlepoint.

Image credits: Maureen Cracknell, Greenleaf Goods, krista stitched, crafting..., Maureen Cracknell, My Sewical Hour, Maureen Cracknell, imagine gnats, knitterlydesigns, unmashin, Ikomi, OCD: obsessive crafting disorder, the knottygnome knits, jenn of all trades, Sunshine, Handmade, The crafting Fiend

Oh, and there are still November's prizes up for grabs and if would like to be in with a chance of winning something you still have today to get your submissions in. Remember that your projects must be new, that is they must have been completed during the Celebrate Color event which is anytime during September, October and November. See all the details here and good luck... :)


Oh my, I think I'm feeling a wee bit of creative inspiration overload here, how about you guys!? I know I desperately want to rush off and make a few insulated hot pads, raid my stash of delicious yarns for a cosy new scarf and my urge to learn to quilt is getting fierce now! I am planning a long holiday break once the Christmas fairs are over but somehow I think I might just be as busy as ever with all these projects I keep adding to my 'Oh, that will be great to do over Christmas!' list... it might even be June before I finish half of them, hehe... ;)

Have a fantastic day everyone,
Emma, x

the best-laid schemes

...o' mice, men an' crafty folk alike
Gang aft agley...

Hehe, so I may have have embellished this quote from Robert Burns poem 'To a Mouse' just a wee bit... but oh, it is so true! Some days everything works out perfectly, just as planned and everything just as you imagined. Then on other days... just when things are ticking along nicely and yes they seem to be turning out as you planned, but somehow they don't look nearly so nice as you imagined... :(

Okay, so I think I am sounding overly dramatic here, but this wee charm display has been a right pain in my butt today... ! My plan was to spend a happy half hour wrapping it's black metal frame with a lovely light fabric to make it all spiffy for displaying my wee flower charms on my upcoming Christmas fair stalls. Which in itself sounds fine and two hours after I started (I'm skipping over the parts where I had masking tape stuck to all my finger tips, not to mention millions of frayed threads everywhere and a whole bunch of fabric strips that kept unwinding themselves when ever my attention slipped!) I had the charm display I had imagined...

Only it wasn't quite right and I couldn't help thinking that it didn't look great at all once one of my wee charms was dangled on it... it was blending into the background and lacking some oopmh! Once I had realised that I just couldn't leave it alone (despite my best efforts to ignore it while getting on with the more important crocheting to do list) and after a fidgety few minutes I picked up my scissors to unwind and unwrap all my work before trying to decide what colour it should be wrapped in... I was almost tempted by one of those lovely shades of green there, that was until I imagined it looking like the most pathetic twig of a green Christmas tree it is possible to imagine!

Eventually I settled on this lovely charcoal grey floral fabric in the hope that this dark neutral would be the perfect backdrop to show off the cream crochet and snippets of colour that make up my wee flower charms. Which thankfully it is and, to my satisfaction, now looks quite spiffy indeed... :)

I guess some of you might be wondering why I'm having a wee rant about something so unimportant on a day like today, that is Thanksgiving. Well, while I am not an American and it is not my birthright to celebrate this day, it is a tradition that I wish we had here in the UK. I think many people here could benefit from being reminded what they have to be grateful for.
There are many things I am grateful for including all the obvious ones of course like family and health. There is the good fortune I have had this year thanks to so many kind people including all you lovely folk who stop by to read my blog and continue to support my work, I thank you all very much for that. There are other things too that I am grateful for, but those I do not wish to talk about here. So I guess that what I want to say is that today I am thankful that the only iffy part of my day has been a silly charm display... :)

Now I am off to welcome Mr Lurgy, who has been knocking at my door for a day or two, in the hope that the sooner he arrives the sooner he will leave!
Emma, x

things that are just peachy

One: the last of a delicious homemade bread and butter pudding (made with sultana scones instead of bread) that I have just scoffed for my lunch.

Two: all you fabulous advice about dear old Bertha, you guys have so many great ideas that I shall definitely be filing away for any future furniture refurbishment projects too. As for Bertha, I'm thinking there may be some glossy cream paint involved and a wee bit of wax... oh, and I'm thinking of these knobs as suggested by dear Miss Tif.

Three: This perfect peachy pink Gladioli stem which sprouted up in our garden this November... I then took upon myself to rescue from said garden after the wind damaged it's delicate stem, leaving it's pretty blooms teetering dangerously above the muddy ground...

Four: another fabulous thrifty find that had me giddy and almost breathless at the mere sight of them... I can only compare the moment to something like finding myself in a chocolate shop on a day of free tasting and being told there was an infinite supply of fresh mint tea! Thankfully I was able to keep control of myself long enough to grab them, gesture manically at my Man through the shop window and rush to the till to pay for the two most beautiful Arcopal bowls I have ever seen... ! Yes, I have seen many a pretty Arcopal bowl online but they were not nearly as lovely as these two, simply because I knew these two would be coming home with me... :)

Five: Last but not least and maybe not quite so peachy as Arcopal but still very peachy indeed... We have five lovely ladies in line for five complimentary tickets for the Selvedge Christmas Fair (all the fives, very peachy indeed how that one turned out!). Diana, Francesca, Dawn, Emma and Concetta, my Mam and I have a lovely ticket for the each of you, yay! If you lovely ladies could email me at 'emmalamb[at]easy[dot]com' with your addresses that would help me out hugely (I'm so very busy crocheting as you know) and I shall pop your tickets in the post asap!

Wising you all the most peachy day... :)
Emma, x

colour your monday happy

Image credits: 1. jasna.janekovic, 2. citrusandorange, 3. wood & wool stool, 4. Gail Griggs, 5. One Little Bird Studio

Good morning... !

Oh, it really feels like the countdown is on now... it's less than three weeks to the Selvedge Christmas Fair and not much longer to the festive break itself! I'm starting to feel all sparkly and fizzy just thinking about it... ! I'm also going to be doing another wee festive fair right here in Edinburgh, but I'll tell you all about that one later in the week... Until then I need to keep my nimble fingers hooking along making lots of lovely ladies to fill my stalls... :)

Before I nip off to do just that, I do hope you are loving today's wee collection from our fabulous Flickr pool 'all colours in'... I know I can't get enough of these hot neon pinks, scarlet reds and festive gold, an absolutely delicious combination! Oh, and Miss Leanda, of One Little Bird, is generously offering her welsh blanket inspired design (last picture) as free desktop download (also available in blue and green here if you're not partial to pink!).

Emma, x

a cosy nook

During my impromptu break last weekend I took it upon myself to shuffle a few things around my wee studio to create a cosy wee nook for lots of winter crafting. As well as wanting to move my desk away from the cold window (I love our old wooden sash and case windows but the can be a wee bit draughty at times) I also wanted a change from my mood board shelves as lovely as they are... so I trundled my desk (dragged more like, that thing is heavy!) into the perfect position with a lovely blank wall / brand new mood board to play with... my meagre washi tape collection is giddy at the prospect of lots of sticking!

I also decided to take the casters off my low shelves to upend them for some neater storage, you wouldn't believe how much more shelving space this seemed to create! They now work so much better for holding all my files, my most favourite books and lots of my pretty clutter that was residing on my desk. Now as well as having more space to work it feels like I have more space to breathe... it's very invigorating and the only place I want to be at the moment is there working, hence the late in the day post but kinda useful with Christmas Fairs looming... :)

Oh, and now the lovely Bertha here (my fabby dresser rescued from the street back in the spring) is living quite contently and patiently under my wall shelves while I try to decide what to do with her. She is destined to be honoured with storing my yarn but it is her outer that I can't decide how to finish.
After stripping back her nasty varnish to reveal the beauty in her wood veneer (I love her flames!) I just can't decide what to do with her... a glossy coat of creamy white is one possibility but that would mean hiding that gorgeous wood. I'm not sure if a clear coat of varnish would work, oil is definitely not an option as it soaks into everything else too, but maybe a wax seal is the way to go...
Any suggestions would be most welcome... !?

Emma, x

selvedge christmas fair

Hip, hip, hooray!!!

At last some exciting news about this year's Selvedge Christmas Fair... that is my lovely Mam and me will be sharing a wee stall at this fabulous festive event which is just under a month away now, yay!!! I'm so, so excited about this and not just because it will be my second appearance at Selvedge but because I am going with my Mam and her gorgeous knitted lovelies... :)

All images: A Crooked Sixpence

All the details:

~ The fair is on Saturday 10th December at St.Augustine's church hall which is opposite the Selvedge shop on Archway Road, London... more details can be found here.

~ Doors open at 10am and close at 5pm, tickets are £2.50 (redeemable if you spend over £20 in the Selvedge shop) on the door and again there will be lovely goody bags for those who get there early enough (I think for the spring fair they were all gone by lunchtime because there were so many visitors and I can only imagine the Christmas fair will be even busier!)

~ There will be some amazing exhibitors that should not be missed, alongside my Mam and me you will get to see the gorgeous wares of such lovely ladies as Emma Cassi, Julie Arkell, Emma Mitchell (silverpebble), Rachel Eardley, Catherine Ball, Charlotte Macey and some gorgeous boutiques including Tok's Originals, The Great English Outdoors and The Black Rabbit.

~ Oh, and there will be tea and delicious cakes provided by High Tea of Highgate and there will be a wee bookbinding workshop held in the Selvedge shop.

All images: A Crooked Sixpence

What is more exciting is that my Mam and me have five complimentary tickets that we would like to give away to you, yay! So if you are going to be able to get to London on Saturday 10th December, or will already be there, and would like to come and say 'Hello!' to us...

Leave us a wee comment on this post telling us that you are able to make it to the fair and please do leave a way for us to contact you otherwise you will not be eligible to win this wee giveaway.

So exciting, we can't wait to be there and are so looking forward to meeting some of you lovelies again! We shall randomly choose ticket winners next week... :)

Emma & Karen, x

colour your monday happy

Image credits: 1. calloohcallay, 2. Hard Days Knit, 3. E L K, 4. clarabellacraft, 5. knitalatte11

Yikes... 'so what happened there then!?' I hear you enquire...
Oh dear, I must confess to not being quite as revitalised and refreshed as I thought I was last Monday morning... my 'raring-to-go-ness' just evaporated into thin air along with my blogging mojo. So there was nothing for it but to take a impromptu break, a moment of calm before the storm of excitement that will be the last push before a long and much anticipated seasonal break. I have much to tell this week so do keep a wee eye out for some lovely news... :)

But right now it is another wonderful Monday morning and I am particularly loving this wee collection of gorgeous images from our fabulous Flickr pool 'all colours in'. For me these lovely earthy colours with just a hint of sparkle, are a wee reminder that the autumn will soon be drawing to a close and something a wee bit more magical is on it's way... :)

Emma, x

today i'm loving : 'Home Sweet Home' by One Little Bird

This perfectly granny chic styled 'Home Sweet Home' print by my dear friend Miss Leanda, of One Little Bird...

Isn't it gorgeous!?

It is Miss Leanda's newest giclee print inspired by kitschy vintage wallpaper designs. As well as this pink, gold and white edition it also comes in a lovely vibrant midnight blue and retro green colour way. I think both are really beautiful but this one here is my favourite and I'm putting it right at the top of my pretty prints wish list. Especially so since I don't already have a 'home sweet home' print and have been on the look out for a great one for as long as I can remember, this one is definitely a great one... !

Which one would you love to hang on your wall... ?

Emma, x

colour your monday happy

Image credits: 1. 1Lisbeth, 2. cottage45, 3. yvestown, 4. dottie angel, 5. thelittleleaf

Good morning, good morning... :)

It is a brand new week and after a very restful weekend (it was a treat to have the longest lie in yesterday morning, ah such bliss!) I am feeling refreshed and raring to go!
This week I have some very exciting news to share with you all and a crocheting to do list that is long as my arm, especially now that we are heading fast towards the festive season... that guilty twinge at the mere mention of the 'C' word has vanished, yay!

But I shall not get ahead of myself as today I am loving a few gorgeous granny chic inspired picks from our fabulous Flickr pool 'all colours in'. Including the most perfect mix of gorgeous vintage tapestries, crochet blankets and fresh flowers... oh, and I have some serious mirror envy going on this Monday morning!

Emma, x

colour palette : a wee hint of cobalt

Image credit: Anthropologie

I must have looked at this image of the Windsor Love Seat from Anthropologie and dozen times or more, but it wasn't until just now that it struck a chord for me. It was as though I saw the composition of the colours and pattern with fresh eyes... something about this lovely cobalt blue drew me in and I knew I wanted to draw a colour palette of inspiration from it. This beautiful Vernal Cusp Rug has been in my favourites for as long as I can remember too, and again today there is something about the way it's colours are looking quite subdued that are appealing to me. It's inspiring to be able to see a new perspective on old favourites.

I am thinking this week has been full of exciting ups (I shall tell you more about the rest of them another day) and one or two fretful downs... but after spending the whole day convinced it was Monday I am quite pleased it is not!

Emma, x