We're all goin' on a Summer Holiday!

Finally the week is here !
The week BEFORE the Summer holidays !
Time to take a break from the planning and packing and  share a little summery crafty goodness !

I came home from work last week just itching to make a beach bag, after drooling over the many beach bags online I was really taken with a lovely bag by the beautiful Leanne at Elle Apparel . I used her super easy tutorial as a basis for my own bag -

I made some adjustments to Leannes lovely pattern to create my own 'designer' beach bag. I added an extra pocket on the front (super simple to do !) and lined the interior, adding a few pockets inside too!

I also added a ribbon closure (you can just about see it in the pics !) This allows for ladies who may overfill the bag (ahem! - moi!) and its also handy to tie the car & house keys to so they dont end up buried in the sand !

The fabric came from IKEA (years ago !) and the red and white bow was attached to some slipper socks I bought last Christmas ! I had about 1 yard of the main fabric and just scraps (maybe a quarter yard) of the red and white ticking. I lined the bag with cream remnant fabric making the pockets from what was to hand.



Not content with the bag I sewed up a little document wallet for our travel documents. I found the tutorial at the Sew Delicious Blog where the super talented Roslyn has posted THIS fab tutorial on a zippered wallet. I'm thinking I may need to create one for my make-up next....

The little anchor motif was wholly inspired by THESE fab crosstitch buttons I found on etsy. I chose an anchor to tie in with the nautical theme of the bag AND because we are going to be taking the ferry to France! (Ooohh!! I can't wait !)

 And when I was taking the shots outside I realised that my one and only completed cross stitch has a very nautical theme so it can sit well with this bunch ! I made this little beachy cross-stitch about 2 years ago, it was fun but tough on the eyes (I felt I needed magnifying glasses by the end!)
Think it may well have been my first and last cross-stitch picture ... taa daaa!!!

Have you been on holidays yet ? if not I hope you have a lovely holiday wherever your going !

Thanks for visiting !

Siubhan x x x

Two special gifts for two special girls !

Its been a really busy month in my 'day' job (more like 'morning, noon and night' job !) but all good things come to those who wait! and on Tuesday I had a blissful day off and finally caught up with some of my crafty tasks .

I posted of two packages to two very special young ladies ...

I managed to FINALLY wrap up a gift for my beautiful new niece, Cara Rose.

And her lovely mummy took some pretty nice shots of what was in the package!



The blanket you'll have seen before ! but I made the bag from some really pretty 'Cath Kidson'-esque fabric I found in France last year. Can you see the little bib on the bedpost? I thought I'd give a bib a go after seeing this lovely bibs and tutorial from the lovely Jamie at 'Sew She Sews' . Click HERE to link to the tutorial.

Lovely bib from Jamie at 'sew she sews'

I didn't manage to print off the pattern (no paper!) but I made up my own pattern with a sideplate, a cup & some greaseproof paper! I think it came out pretty good, all that remains to be seen is if it fits the little lady in question ! (& if it dosen't it'll always fit a teddy bear!)

The second parcel was a lovely snuggly pink blanket to my old school friends daughter Grace.
Grace suffers from RETT's syndrome which is a genetic condition. You can find out more about RETT's here. It was Graces seventeenth birthday last month and I know that she looks beautiful in pink so when I saw this wool I just had to make something nice for her.
And I'm delghted she likes it ...look at that beautiful smile !

Have a lovely day wherever you are & thank you for visiting !

Siubhán x x x