Folksy Friday

This Friday i've picked Flowers as my theme ....

Flower Brooch by Polka

Flowery Cafetiere Cosy by Vintage Town

Thank you Floral Card by Elli Moody

Daydream in Pink by Ducking Fabulous by Carla

Bath Smoothies Neroli with Orange Flowers by BeKind

Have a wonderful weekend everyone... Meow xxx

New Button Watches in my shop !!

I've just listed lots of button watches in my shop, just like this one:

and i've put some of my other items up in a **SALE**. Please pop by and take a gander xx

Fantastic Bunny Giveaway for Easter

Hi all, Sparrow Primitives is having an absolutely fab giveaway over on her blog... check out these bunnies that are up for grabs
Click here to go to her blog so you can enter..

My First Folksy Friday

Ooooh this is exciting, not done a folksy Friday before.

I decided to pick Butterflies as I love them, so beautiful and elegant.

Here goes xx

Chocolate Butterflies Guest Book - by Dottie Designs

Titanium Butterflies Pendant - by Sian Bostwick Jewellery
Fused Glass Hairslides - by Sarah Myatt Glass
Butterflies - Paper Travellers by Rae Welch

Bright Butterfly Cushion - by Top Floor Treasures

Trees and Butterflies Card - by the Bisket Barrel

Have a lovely weekend everyone - with Love from the Blackcat xx

Its that time again folks when i put a fellow folksy member under the spotlight...

Let's get to know our lovely Sophie aka Frankie

Could you start by introducing yourself and describing what you make?

My name's Sophie. I make jewellery, mainly using sterling silver and semi-precious gems.

What influences your designs? Anything and everything!

What do you love the most about what you do?

Everything :) I love the use of colour in my work - I'd like to think I've got quite a good eye for it, and I love mixing and matching different colours. Also love looking over finished pieces, it makes me feel proud :)

Where can we buy what you make? In my folksy shop

Do you have a blog where we can follow you? Yep - http://www.sophiefranck.blogspot.com/

What are you doing when you are not crafting?

Working! But as well as that I love spending time with my friends and my boyfriend, either chilling out at home or at the pub/cinema. Also love shopping, not that it's any surprise.

What are your ambitions for the future in terms of your jewellery making?

I've recently started playing with art clay silver, which I really enjoy. I'd like to do another course in it, and maybe a silversmithing course. Would also love to try out resin jewellery, it looks like so much fun.

Easter Eggs or Cake? Cake

Carousel or Roller Coaster? Carousel

Matthew Mcconaughey or Brad Pitt?

I'm going to cheat here...Johnny Depp :)

(funnily enough I did have Johnny Depp written down but I deleted him.. sorry Johnny x )

Planned or spontaneous? Both!

What's your favourite film? I have too many I could possibly list. Little Miss Sunshine, Edward Scissorhands, Stand By Me, The Notebook...to name but a few.

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?

Japan seems like a cool place to visit.

You are a nanny so you must have some funny stories, can you can share any with us?
One thing that pops into my head is something that happened when I first started working for this family. I was taking the kids to school one morning and we'd just come out of the house. One of them turns to me and said, "ooh, it's a bit froggy!". I had no idea what he was talking about, then realised he meant it was FOGGY. He also later claimed that Stephanie from lazytown wears a 'twig' on her head, he clearly meant 'wig'...very cute.

Finally, tell us one thing we would not know about you..
As well as jewellery making I also love performing, and have been doing stage shows since I was 6. I've even performed in the West End, which was really fun!

Thanks Sophie xx

I've been Interviewed!

Narkey Markey interviewed me alittle while ago and you can now read all the juicy details over on her blog.....

http://narkeymarkeysblog.blogspot.com/

xxx

Soooo Cold!

The sun is shining which is lovely but it is still soo cold... if we get up to 10 degrees its going to be declared a tropical heatwave... oh how nice it would be to live somewhere hot! I wasn't designed to live somewhere cold.. Might consider putting a complaint in with the man upstairs! ... anyway enough of my waffle SERIOUSLY


WHERE IS THE SUMMER????... I don't do cold.

IVF here we come!

Yesterday I blogged to say we were going to see the IVF dr today.. well we saw him and we will be starting our treatment at the end of this month.. it's all so very real now, especially having seen the needles! Oooooo... according to the Dr I need to de-stress my life, start on a high protein diet, keep up my acupuncture and drink ooodles of milk and water. Scared - AM I! xx

Debs loves Nick Cave!

Well good morning to you all..... I answered some questions for flutterbies this week, she asked me what flower I would be and I said a Lavender as I would like to be up high so I could have a nose at what was going on.. so as you can imagine doing these interviews on follow folksy folk is rather up my street being a nosey parker an' all.... Here is my next installment with the lovely Debs.. also rather a coincidence me loving lavender as Debs uses it in her designs.... Super!

How would you introduce yourself? I'm Debs and I run Pipistrelle Crochet Design.

What do you make? All sorts of lovely crocheted things! At the moment I'm having a bag phase, especially these little tote bags I designed - I'm having great fun making those. I also have a few hearts and lavender bags in my shop, but I'll be branching out into cushions and wall hangings as well in the future.

When and why did you get into Crochet? My mother taught me to knit when I was a girl, and I always enjoyed it, but it wasn't until January 2009 I decided I'd like to learn how to crochet, so I set about teaching myself, with the help of the internet, magazines and YouTube. Now I much prefer crocheting to knitting - it just seems to suit me much better and flows much more nicely. I used to get terrible cramp from holding the knitting needles, but I don't have any problems like that with crochet!

How would you describe (and what influences) your style?
I'm not sure really. I think there's quite a gap between how I see myself and how others see me. My shop was recently called 'funky', which was a real surprise to me because I never thought it was! What I try to do is create something modern and beautiful, and perhaps not what people might expect when they hear the word 'crochet'. It's not all shawls and doilies, not that there's anything wrong with those of course!

What one word describes you the best? Impatient!

Where can we buy your goodies? In my Folksy shop

Do you have a blog we can follow you? Yep, here http://pipistrellecrochetdesign.blogspot.com/

How do you fit your crafting into your family life?
It's all very as-and-when, really. I have a 3 year old son, who I stay at home to raise, and so I'm very busy with him and his father. I get most of my work done in the evenings after my son has gone to sleep, and on the rare occasions he goes out somewhere without me I can get some done then. I've got into quite a good routine with it now, and usually manage at least an hour's designing/crocheting a day, usually more.

What is your proudest memory? The day my son was born.

What is your favourite flower and why?
Poppies. I love wild poppies and the oriental variety. It's just that wonderful splash of red against the green/brown of the garden or field. They're so cheery and full of life.

Favourite movie? The Company of Wolves.

If you could have dinner with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be and why?
Nick Cave. Because I fancy him! And I've been a fan of his since I was a teenager, and I think he would be a charming dinner guest.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I don't think there were many things I didn't want to be at some point! Checkout girl in Marks and Spencer, butcher, vet, dancer, police officer, all sorts of things. I've always been fairly aimless, career-wise!

What are your plans (in terms of your crafting) for the future?
I'm planning to start experimenting with freeform crochet, and I'm really looking forward to creating some things with that. I'm also planning some larger pieces, like wall hangings, some abstract and some depicting landscapes or seascapes. It's just a question of when I can find the time!

and FINALLY.....

Tell us one thing we would not know about you?

When I was 9 I won a Bucks Fizz record in a disco dancing competition at school. (I can't believe I just told you that! How embarrassing....)

You gotta speed it up... then you gotta slow it down... da da daaaaaa.....

(Yes you told us that.... take the shame Debs!!) xxx

Will Spring bring us a baby?

I don't often talk about this as I don't want to be a bore but today I just can't help myself. My hubby and I have been trying for a baby for the last 3 years or so... anyway tomorrow we see the consultant for our first appointment for IVF and we will find out when we start our treatment. It's all so close now and i'm feeling really emotional I needed to blog.. sorry! It's wonderfully sunny outside and I was walking to work thinking how fab it would be to be pregnant in a few months time, I had to stop myself bursting into tears with anticipation.

Ask me how I'm feeling about it most days and I just cry with fright and other days (like today) i'm feeling quite excited (there are not many days like this i'm afraid). Why am I scared of something that will hopefully give us something so wonderful? because I so never wanted it to happen like this, IVF is extremely invasive and a minor detail - i'm needle phobic. For 31 years I did everything for it not to happen but then I met a wonderful man who I married and I stupidly thought it would happen when I wanted it to.... story is it didn't! Anyway we see this man tomorrow who will (fingers & toes crossed) hopefully give us the gift of a family, what an amazing job he has! xx