Category: Crafts

Crafts including crochet, knitting, paper crafts & children’s crafts

Handy Hobby Holster’s 

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I received a Grey Hobby Pack by Holster brands which you can buy HERE recently to try out and review and I have to admit I absolutely love them! They have been so handy when I’m crafting and so easy to use too. I love how they can be moved about to where you want too.

Handy Hobby HolstersI received the Lil’ Holster & Hobby Holster in exchange for my honest review and I am really impressed!

They come in a range of colours and I received these grey ones which is actually my second favourite colour and I am little obsessed with using them on my kitchen worktop whilst I do things like drawing.

The Lil’ Holster

lil' holster

They are basically handy little silicone pockets you can hang off of ANY smooth surface as long as it is clean and dry. The Lil’ Holster has draining holes in the bottom so it can be used by the sink I love using the Lil’ Holster for holding my Posca Pen’s I’ve recently won to stop tiny hand’s getting hold of them (again) whilst I’m drawing. You could literally use it for anything though.. I also found it quite handy to pop my glasses in at night as I often knock my glasses to the floor & struggle to find them haha!

They are so easy to use just lift the flap (they come folded) make sure the surface your using is clean and dry and press it down and your good to go! If your having trouble getting yours to stick simply wash it with soapy water and let it dry completely to remove the dust and dirt preventing it from sticking. They are dishwasher safe too! (Upto 120°c) Once they are stuck down it’s fine to get them wet, they still stay in place!

Hobby Holster

The larger Hobby Holster is amazing for crafting. Although I don’t have one (yet) they are ideal for holding hot glue guns as they are heat resistant up to 200°c! It also has a built in ruler which has been pretty handy with some of my crocheting recently as I can measure my stitches. We also used it to measure my brother’s coat rack as we had measured wrong to begin with and couldn’t find a ruler but needed to cut it down a bit!

Hobby HolsterTrying out the Lil’ holster and the Hobby Holster has been brilliant!

If you have a small desk & need somewhere for pens, stapler’s etc in. It’s handy for holding crochet hooks/knitting needles in too, these Hobby Holster’s really are handy little things!

How would you use your Holster?

Surprisingly Good Luck

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I’m one of those people I’d class as unlucky & always feel quite suspicious when things begin to go my way but I’ve had surprisingly good luck lately &  for now I’m going to attempt to enjoy it!

My streak of luck started last week with a £5 win on a purple scratch card that the Mr got me. It’s something we only do occasionally so I was quite pleased with winning. We did our usual thing of buying 1 more each out of the winnings and keep the rest. I won £1 again on my one too.. Another Relentless.. Cheers!

I then found out I had one a pack of Posca Pens from a giveaway on MeYou&Magoo’s  #Craftingismytherapy Linky too! If you’re a crafter please do pop over & link up any craft related posts, the linky is quite small and could do with some more love 🙂 

I also won a box full of baby bits this week but unfortunately everything was for 0-6months so no good for Izzy. I ran a poll on Twitter to see if people thought I should run a give-away or donate the box to charity. After I had filled it up with more items of course! The overall vote was to donate it to a Charity. If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them!

To top it all I found out I’m a winner of the Britmums Linky entry for the #Mamiadaysout challenge.. How awesome is that!? I was pleased when the Hamper arrived & again once it was empty! I filled it with wool to neaten up my craft stash, now I’m absolutely over the moon! (If you had a hamper what did you use yours for?)

Have you had any luck lately? Any wins or good luck in general? Let me know in the comments 🙂


Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

Christmas Bargains & Lies

Bargains / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Ugh Christmas bargains.. I love them.. OK.. I admit it.. I’m a liar. I said NO TOYS this Christmas after getting halfway through writing a post on why I’m not buying toys this christmas.. and what did I do? That’s right I acted like a child myself when the Mr spotted this Wilko Wooden Pirate Ship reduced from £15 to £5!!!!! Well now..

Christmas Bargains - Wilko Pirate Ship

At that price and being the last one on the shelf, I couldn’t resist. I can’t wait to play with it I cant wait to see Izzy play with it.. Especially as she is a huge pirate fan just like her Mummy! 😉

On to the next Aisle and I spotted the Wilko Wooden Peg Story kits reduced to 50p each!! So of course I had to grab one of each… Realising I had officially started Christmas shopping!

I had that ‘I’ve started so I’ll continue’ moment and picked up two £1 Shopkin Activity Kit’s as we’ve bought a few. As there’s always at least 2 of the activities inside the girls love to do them together. Not exactly a bargain as all these activity packs cost £1 in most places but still well worth it. (Again I lied, as I had previously told Eva NO SHOPKINS THIS CHRISTMAS!)

I have to admit although I totally lied to myself about not buying toys this year, I am pretty pleased that for a grand total of £8.50 I am up to 6 presents already! Ah I do love Christmas bargains!

I may have talked myself into believing I technically only bought 1 toy as the rest are ‘craft kits’ but I’m hoping we don’t end up buying too many toys. In all honesty though with Wilko amongst other’s reducing things like this and me still being a bit of a child at times, I can see it being a struggle, haha!

Perhaps I’ll just stick to non character toys?.. Or maybe I’ll fail miserably, get carried away myself & end up picking up toys for the next 10 or so years lol! (When do children stop wanting toys?) Keep an eye out for future posts & fails 😉

Have you started Christmas shopping? Have you found any awesome bargains yet? I’d love to hear and see what bargains you’ve found so far!

Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

 

 

Latest WIP – A Crochet Blanket For Eva 

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I’ve been getting a bit stressed again recently and as always I’ve fallen back on Crochet to help me through. It really is amazing how calming crochet can be, especially when you are familiar with the stitches/pattern.

I knitted a fluffy blanket for Izzy last year & Eva wanted a blanket of her own. With limited funds I haven’t managed to find any really nice soft fluffy wool/yarn for her but thanks to my friend adding to my stash I have started on a simple blanket for now so she doesn’t feel left out, especially with winter nearing and our love of sofa days with pillows, blankets, TV, books & hot chocolate!

Eva loves anything reallllllyy colourful (hence loving her colourful crocheted bag!) so I suggested making a blanket up out of lots of different colours/shades, which she was quite excited about.

Crochet blanket for Eva

I’ve been working on this blanket on and off and finally picked it back up again this week, mostly as Izzy keeps telling me I need to… ‘MUMMY! SIT! ROUND AND THROUGH! SIT!’ haha!

With Eva picking colours as we go it has slowly grown over the last week or so & we have decided to make it big enough to fit Eva’s bed for winter too so I will be making a second square & attaching them. I’m really enjoying making this blanket, changing colours and not having to think too much about what I’m doing as I can do this stitch with my eyes closed! (Yes I have tried, it amuses the girls haha!)

Eva wants me to incorporate the cupcake stitch I recently learnt somewhere in the blanket. I’ve been doing 3 rows though. Cupcake stitch is 2. What do you think? Maybe I could use some more of the colourful wool to blend it all together?

Do you crochet? If so, what are you currently working on? Or thinking of starting?

Me You and Magoo

Dear Bear and Beany

 

Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

Challenging My Crochet Skills

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Somehow over this summer holiday I have managed to fit in a little bit of crochet in between the chaos and been trying to challenge myself a little more.

My first project was the crochet flower heart wreath Eva had spotted over my shoulder whilst I was scrolling through Pinterest.

The wreath Eva spotted on Pinterest

I hunted around the flat and found some gardening wire to make the heart shape and quickly got to work crocheting 18 flowers & 18 leaves, letting Eva pick the colours and sequence of the flowers.

Once all the flowers & leaves were finished we got to work attaching them to the wire to see how it looked and after a bit of neatening up we ended up with the wreath below…

Next time I will use thicker wool/yarn to make the flowers sturdier and a sturdier wire too as it is fairly floppy but sits well once hung.

Eva decided she didn’t want any buttons or extras added in the end and it is currently hung up on her bedroom door.

I really enjoyed making the wreath and definitely want to try a few different ideas soon!

I also managed to crochet Izzy a little handbag big enough for a fruit shoot & crisps/fruit bag for walks to the park which she seems to love!

I’m really enjoying getting creative with crochet but only knowing the basic stitches was starting to bore me so I decided to have a look around and find a new stitch to learn.

After a little look around I decided to try out the 4 point star stitch (Marguerite stitch) which is really easy once you get the hang of it and look lovely!

My first attempt was quite loose but with a different hook I think it will look much better now I’ve worked it out.

I love how quickly you can learn a new stitch especially with such great tutorials on the internet! I decided to start again with my favourite hook and was much more pleased with how the 4 point star stitch turned out.. What do you think?

Have you learnt any new stitches recently? What’s your favourite stitch?

 

The Secret Diary of Agent Spitback
Me You and Magoo

Crochet fun

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I’ve got to admit I’ve been having so much fun crocheting lovely pieces now I have such a lovely stash of wool! I’ve been having lots of crochet fun!

After finishing Eva’s bag I really couldn’t think of what to try making next but Izzy helped me out by asking for a hat for her baby since one baby already had one attached to her. I quickly got to work and got a hat made up and gave it to Izzy the following morning, she absolutely loved it!

Izzy loves watching and helping me crochet and gets really excited when I pull out a ball of wool so I wasn’t surprised when she passed me a ball of wool and shouted at me as she pointed to her baby dolls feet. Socks.. Or shoes? I went for shoes as I struggled to follow a sock pattern and just altered it to the style I wanted and they didn’t turn out too bad! Although next time I think I’ll use thicker wool as the wool I used was quite thin.

crochet fun

I absolutely love the colour of the wool though & may use it for a light cardigan when I find a pattern I can read haha! I seem to be having trouble following pattern’s although I know the stitches and abbreviations!? So far my guessing hasn’t worked out too badly luckily..

Next Izzy wanted a dress for her baby and chose a pink (yuk), purple (yay!) & blue wool. Trying to find a dress pattern I liked and was easy to follow was hell to be honest. Most were too girly and frilly and I couldn’t stand them so after a bit of a sulk.. (I had already had to put up with using a wool with pink in it lol) I decided to just use the stitches I know and made it up as I went along adding button holes on the straps to make it easier for Izzy to dress and undress the doll. I have a huge stash of heart buttons & found some dark pink ones that I thought went well with the colours too & luckily Izzy loved the dress when it was finished.

I’m impressed how quickly I can crochet things like this and really enjoying learning all the stitches even if I am struggling to follow patterns.

I’m now debating what to make next and sorting my stash hasn’t helped at all.. Sooo many choices!!! If you dont follow me already then pop by my Instagram as I tend to share wip’s & finished projects on there 🙂 dont forget to follow me too, I follow back!

Colourful Crochet Bag

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Having received 2 bags of wool last week and unsure what to make with all my amazing purple’s I started a little project for Eva using some rather colourful wool that had Eva written all over it which I found in the bags!

I decided to crochet a bag for her to give myself a bit of a challenge but struggled to find a pattern I liked so decided to just wing it with what I know and hoped for the best.

image

I was shocked when it started looking like a bag, maybe not perfect but for my first attempt with no pattern I was quite pleased with myself to be honest.

Surprisingly it began to look like the bag I had pictured in my mind fairly quickly and I was quite impressed with how quickly I managed to finish it considering I was only doing 10-20 minutes here and there across the week. I managed to twist the handle when I stitched it on so had to unpick the stitching then  untwist the handle and restitch it again but luckily that didnt take too long either!

Im looking for 2 funky buttons so it can be done up and I still need to tuck the ends in but this is the finished product so far…

Eva absolutely loves the colours and pattern of the bag and has asked several times if its for her and if she can have it but I’ve told her I’m making it for someone else so I can hide it and fill it with gifts for her birthday.. Which I may have a little head start on already… 😉

I cant wait to give it to her! What do you think?

Now I need a new project.. Haha!

The Secret Diary of Agent Spitback

Me You and Magoo

Purple crochet/knitting project hunt

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I am absolutely over the moon! Some of you may have seen on my Instagram yesterday a friend gave me 2 carrier bags full of wool, knitting looms and needles. It really made my day as I was very low on wool and hadn’t done much crochet or knitting lately!!

I’ve been struggling again since the steroid injections began wearing off and clearing through the flat over the weekend has left me hurting even more so lots of new wool to play with is a much needed distraction. I love how many purples there are and have already begun a little crochet project for Eva with the neon multi-coloured wool but I’m on the hunt for a project I can use the purple’s on for myself!

image

I know a few of my readers crochet and knit and would love some suggestions if anyone has any?

The Secret Diary of Agent Spitback

Another Crafty Bargain

Bargains / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Crochet hooks

I shared with you all my Crafty Bargain before but completely forgot to metion another crafty bargain in the same shop in Grays highstreet, PoundCity.

I was really impressed when I spotted these and noticed that they were different sizes to what I already had so definitely had to be bought, I bought my brother a set too as I am trying to teach him to crochet as he already know’s how to knit.

Have you found any crafty bargains recently? Or starting/completing a project? Don’t forget to share them with me & leave a link in comments 🙂

Our Weekend Box Fun

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

We were lucky enough to have the chance to review a brand new mini Weekend box this weekend. These mini weekend boxes contain 2 full themed activities and all the bits you need to complete them.

A weekend box is an awesome little box of crafts to do with your child over the weekend that arrives via 2nd class (Posted on a tuesday) which we recieved on friday morning. Each box is themed and we recieved the rainforest theme.

We love crafts and Eva was really impressed when I showed her what had arrived for her.

weekend box fun

Eva loved the colourful box and found it funny that it matched her special My little pony rainbox dress haha! I thought it looked really fun and loved how excited Eva was over it.

We couldn’t wait to open it up and see what was inside to keep us entertained over the weekend.

Eva really enjoyed reading about each of the character’s and seeing which characters were on the packets which she thought was really cool. We decided to spread everything out on the table and see what this weekend box was really about.

There were 2 activity packs as promised along with any card needed, some collectable cards and even some vouchers to hand out to our friends for a free box!

The 2 activities stated they were of medium difficulty and would take 40 minutes to complete. Awesome naptime activities for me and Eva to do across the weekend. One activity wasto make a parrot mask and the other to grow a rainforest!

Inside the box itself there is also a certificate for the child to colour in and write their name on and keep too!

download (3)

Eva couldn’t wait to get stuck in and decided to do the mask first. I helped her cut out the mask and attatch the beak using the glue supplied then Eva got busy following the instructions making ‘feathers’, ‘gems’ and then decorating it with the crayons.

Eva spent hours flapping around the flat wearing her mask so I know she really enjoyed it and having everythting we need to hand was really helpful.

Grow a rainforest was up next. I cut a bottle in half and Eva peeled the pellets that were supplies and we soaked them in water in the bottom half of the bottle.

 

We then had to make a hole in the bottle lid and thread the string through the lid then screwed it back on the bottle. We then had to transfer the soil into the lid half of the bottle, Eva sprinkled in the seeds and we popped the lid half into the bottom of the bottle which we had also filled with water making sure the string dipped into the water.

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We completed both tasks a little quicker than 40 minutes but it was really fun doing the activities. Eva really seemed to be enjoying herself and it was so nice to just pull out the box and get going with an activity. We have a ton of craft stuff but it can sometimes be difficult to find everything we need (mummy’s poor organizing!) so I can really see the appeal of these boxes!

When I asked Eva her opinion on the activities she said ‘It was all fun, I liked making the rainforest because it was messy and I liked making the parrot mask because it was fun making it colourful and drawing rainbow’s on it’.

Mini weekend boxes usually cost £4.95 however we recieved ours free in exchange for an honest review. If you’d like to try one yourself for free then use the promo code EMBER298 when you sign up at https://www.weekendboxclub.com Please Note Future boxes will be £4.95 for Mini Box and £7.50 for a Bumper box, but you can pause or cancel your boxes if you’re not completely satisfied at any time.