Baby Name Print

Seeing as I'm on maternity leave, to keep my creative juices flowing, I decided to set my self some projects. The first being a mobile for Harry's nursery (see previous post), the second being a baby name print for a friend's little ones christening present. I've created a few of these before for family but I particularly liked making this one as it's bright and cheerful and for a boy.

I used my silhouette cutting machine for the train parts which have been mounted using sticky foam squares to make the stand out. I bought the letters from the local art shop and hand painted. 

All images © mrspeabod

I'm quite tempted to get started on one for Harry's room, maybe I'll put hot air balloons on that too, or is that overkill?

DIY Card Mobile

I am three months into being a new mum and have finally found some time to do some crafty projects. The first being a DIY Mobile for Harry's nursery. We chose to have curtains in the Harlequin Distant Shores (see below) and so thought it would be nice to pick elements out the design to make into a mobile to hang above his cot.

Distant Shores by Harlequin

It was the first time I had made a mobile and I am really pleased with how it came out, I think Harry is too, so I thought I would share how I created it with you all.

The Balloons:

1. Draw a template in cardboard of your hot air balloon and use to cut out the shape in five different coloured cards.

2. Take each of the five balloon cut outs and fold exactly in half.

3. Take the first folded cut out (in the this case the yellow one) and apply double sided tape to one side.

4. Now cut the tape to fit the balloon shape

5. Peel off the backing on the tape and stick to another of the folded balloon cut outs (in this case the blue one) as below

6. Repeat steps 3-5 with the next cutout (this time red) and stick this to the blue cut out.

7. Repeat steps 3-5 with the next cutout (this time green) and stick this to the yellow cut out.

7. Repeat steps 3-5 with the next cutout (this time orange) and stick this to the green cut out.

8. To finish the 3D balloon, apply double sided tape to the orange cut out and attach to the opposite blue cut out

The Clouds:

1. Create a template for the cloud in card and use to cut out five cloud shapes out of cream or white card.

2. fold all five of the cloud cut outs in half

3. Attach double sided tape to one side of each (as with the balloons) and stick each to another cut out until you have stuck them all together to form a perfect 3D cloud shape.

As you can see from the original photo I also created a Red London Bus, a Blue Campervan and Grey Elephant to go on the mobile but you can add what ever shapes fit with your little ones room.

I used the inside of an embroidery hoop and attached 4 pieces of red ribbon, equal distance around the hoop, for the top. The mobile elements are attached using invisible thread that you can buy from most craft stores.

I hope you enjoy trying to make your own mobile as much I did. Happy crafting!

I'm Back!

Well after nearly two months of silence I'm back. I apologise for my utter laziness with regards to posting but I have been a wee bit busy with our new arrival, our son Harry who is now 7 weeks old today! As any of you new mums out there will know, looking after a little one doesn't give you much time for anything else. I didn't realise how much free time I actually had before.

I promise I will try to post more often but please forgive me if occasionally I have a relapse and disappear from time to time! ;-)

Jubilee Jelly

Tom and I went to a jubilee party at a friends yesterday and as our contribution we took some finger sandwiches and this Jubilee Jelly.

I think I went a bit overboard with the cream topping, but hey at least it looked patriotic. The base is Elderflower jelly with strawberries, the middle is vanilla cream and then it's all topped with grated white chocolate, mini meringues, Strawberries and Blueberries and of course union jack cocktail sticks. 

It was very yummy and I thought I would share the recipe with you:

Jubilee Jelly

To make the Elderflower jelly with Strawberries (makes 2 litres of jelly)

1 bottle of 500ml Elderflower cordial

2 punnets of Strawberries

24 leaves of Costa gelatine

Mix the elderflower with water to make 2 litres of liquid. Chilled foods, like jelly, lose some of their flavour so use double the quantity of cordial you would normally if you were making a drink. (I used the whole bottle of cordial as it was quite a weak tasting cordial)

Cut the leaf gelatine into small pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl with a dash of the Elderflower liquid.

Leave it for 10 minutes, then rest the bowl on a pan of simmering water and melt the gelatine. Mix thoroughly with the remaining juice and pour into your mould and put in fridge.

Hull and wash the fruit and set it aside. The jelly needs to be almost set, which will take about two hours, before you push the strawberries into it. Do it too soon and they'll float. You're aiming for a crystal clear gel with the strawberries evenly distributed through it, looking as though they're just hanging there.

To make the Vanilla Cream:

600 ml double cream

a teaspoon of vanilla extract

75g Icing Sugar

Place the cream, vanilla and sugar into a bowl and whip until stiff enough to spread (similar consistency to cream cheese).

Spread this over the top of the jelly once set, grate a fine layer of white chocolate over the top, and decorate with meringues and fruit.

Enjoy!

London Calling at Fabric Rehab

It's been a while since my last post. The only plausible excuse I have is that I am in the last 2 weeks (hopefully) of my pregnancy and as of a week ago I was still working full time. It's not much of an excuse but now I have much more free time to post away, so hopefully you'll be hearing a lot more from me.

When I received a newsletter from Fabric Rehab titled 'London Calling' I had to share it with others. They have got some fantastic London inspired fabrics just in time for the Jubilee celebrations and Olympics. So get patriotic people and use these fabrics for your jubilation's this weekend!

From the top: London Buildings, London Crowns Red, London Blocks

All Images from Fabric Rehab

Pamplemousse

I realise the title of this post is a little strange but this is what my husband and I have been calling the bump for the past 8 months, it means grapefruit in French. I think it came from a nickname Tom once gave me but we figured it was a good enough name our little wriggler. The only problem is that when the baby finally arrives, hopefully in about 5 weeks time, it'll be really hard to call it anything else. Rest assured though I am definitely not going to name our child after a random fruit!

These images are a selection of silhouettes I have been creating all morning. We haven't taken many photos of me and the bump so I thought these would be nice as a memory, I might even frame them to put up in the nursery.

Just had to post about...Bluebellgray blog

This is my 'Just had to post about...' section, where if I see an idea or image or something that instantly inspires me I have to share it with you.

Todays post is about a newsletter email I received from Bluebellgray and link to an image on their blog showing their wonderful fabrics framed in wooden cross stitch hoops. It was actually a link to an article announcing selected John Lewis stores will be stocking the fabrics, which in itself is very exciting, but I just couldn't take my eyes of the image. What a perfect way to use up remnants or bundles of fabrics, especially if they are as pretty as these.

Image from bluebellgray