Fabric swap goodies and some answers
I went into hospital on Thursday to have a tilt table test. It’s a bit of a weird experience where you are covered in wires and blood pressure cuffs, strapped to a bed and have your heart rate and blood pressure monitored. After a while when they’re sure you are stabilised they tilt the bed to an almost standing position, it feels weird on the back of your legs and I didn’t know what to do with my arms or neck at this point as it was very unnatural, but turns out I didn’t have to wait for long. 12 minutes into being upright I had one of my “episodes” which is the reason I was referred to the hospital and I now know I have NMS (Nerally Mediated Syncope), which is a posh way of saying my blood pressure plummets to fainting point. Why this happens to me we are not sure yet, NMS is a symptom rather than a disease in itself, so I may have to go back for more cardiography stuff. For now I’m happy that it has been proved that it’s not psychosomatic 
So I have invested in some flight socks and trying to drink more fluids as a way of combatting it.
Anyway, I thought I’d share these lovely fabrics I got through the post today from Tammy in the Parallel Botany fat quarter swap:
Love that flower one!
And here’s what I sent (Tammy told me she liked primitive style):
I love these little double hearts at the moment so made her a keyring too
Right then, I’m off to make cufflinks!
Make 50: Week 37
I’ve started making cards! What do you think- do they work?
Make 50: Week 35 and 36
Another Heart on Sleeve bracelet for you this time, and I’ve also had a play with some tiny bezels to make “charm” style necklaces.
Spotlight on… Cherish Me
I saw these brooches whilst browsing through Folksy from http://cherishme.folksy.com and this girl share my love of Liberty fabric! I particularly like the animals and her packaging is pretty and sophisticated too!
Spotlight on… Akka Design
I discovered a relatively new Etsy shop in a treasury the other day and I like Akka Design (http://akkadesign.etsy.com) is relatively local, based in Dublin. I love all of the colours!
Spotlight on… Marmalade
I discovered this relatively new shop on the homepage of Etsy today. Everything at http://shopmarmalade.etsy.com is made with fabrics and resin, two of my favourite materials. These little necklaces look like tiny embroidery hoops- I hope you like them as much as I do!
Thank you Miya, Make 50: Week 20 and other stuff…
Sorry this post has been a while in the making- my laptop spectacularly broke and I’ve been working on articles and other stuff as well as going to unsuccessful craft fairs!
Firstly, the garden swaps should all have been dispatched by now, so if you haven’t got your package, you should expect it quite shortly, and please share photos on the Flickr group here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1121311@N21/pool/!
I didn’t photograph mine, so hoping Miya will do when they arrive (any day now!), but here’s what she sent me!
From left to right… Four little stitched notecards- I love these, very simple and useful for everything… A little fition book based around real life photos with a Gocco printed cover (I think- Miya please clarify this one for me I’m a bit dumb!)… A green pouch with seeds as an interesting spin on the edible part of the swap… a biiiig floral bag, perfect for all my kitchen miscellanea… Some fabric to add to my ever increasing collection of interesting designs and some earwires which are always useful!
Thank you Miya!
For my make last week (yes I need to blog another later this week) I actually finished a couple of Heart on Sleeve cuffs. They are completely handstitched, edging, buttonholes and all. If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you probably know this already, but they are a new bracelet concept, here’s the official spiel:
“Wear your heart on your sleeve with a new concept bracelet from PennyDog. This bracelet is made from fabric and backed with felt and designed to fit snugly around the wrist like a shirt cuff. This cuff will fit a wrist circumference measurement of 15cm. The cufflinks are interchangeable with others in the series and create a snug fastening.”
Only available at www.pennydog.com
I also have some new stuff in the shop, so keep your eye out as I’m currently going through a phase of adding new, here’s a few new bits…
And I should probably introduce you to Fletcher, Penny’s great-nephew, who has joined the ever increasing number of animals. Now we live in a bigger house we can have two dogs, though he has caused quite a lot of strife in the two weeks we’ve had him in the form of peeing, vomiting, jumping, stealing, running away for miles- and I haven’t even paid for him yet! Luckily he gets on with the Penz fine!
Make 50 Week 18 and 19 and a small request
I’ve kind of made two things this week, so I’ve decided to catch up as I think I fell behind a little while back. This bangle has vintage sewing pattern inside and reclaimed buttons and was made for vInTaGe VioLeT, who has been providing me with little tags to label my jewellery up.
I also made a ring with watch parts inside using a ring blank from http://www.dichro-findings.co.uk – they have loads of great things to choose from, so I think I will be paying another visit. Now I just need to name the ring so I can list it on Etsy and Folksy!
I went to Breedon Priory today again and picked up some awesome saucers with orange trees on them (not pictured), I plan to put these on the wall. I also got this exercise book, the pages are dated 1911. I got it because I really liked the drawings inside, and how the images of animals were drawn to support a mathematical exercise (pig pen size).
I also went to Staunton Harold and picked up some scrap fabrics from the quilting shop. I love scraps, because even tiny pieces can be made into jewellery, and the small parts make you appreciate the bigger pattern. This is where my request comes in! I would love to buy or trade for any fabric scraps you have with small designs on, so please get in touch if you can help! kerry (at) penny-dog.co.uk
Spotlight on… Begurple Designs
I stumbled across these on Etsy the other day, possibly from a treasury, and I can’t for the life of me figure out how they are made! These lovely fabric jewellery pieces from Begurple Designs (http://begurple.etsy.com) continue the range of fascinators and hair accessories, all made in this unique style. Truly amazing!
New necklaces
I added a couple of new necklaces to http://www.penny-dog.co.uk this evening. This is just a short post to show you them as I am really tired and almost forgot to blog tonight!
I am taking part in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month), so I will be blogging every day in November. Today is post 21: http://www.nablopomo.com/
