Today I wanted to introduce a new monthly subscription box I’ve been loving recently. The Geeky Little Stitcher cross stitch club from Jess, based in Exeter. It’s kawaii themed and each month is a based around a different cute foody character. The first box was released in April with an avocado theme, May’s was burgers, June is cake and July’s (now available) is doughnuts – you can see the pattern emerging I’m sure.
The box costs £9.99 plus £3.50 UK p&p and includes one main pattern, including all the threads you need, an embroidery hoop, aida cloth and a needle. The patterns are bold and contemporary but simple so it’s good even for beginners like me.
You will also receive a second surprise pattern and themed extras. These are a fabulous touch as the box is already great value. I love the ‘B is for Burger’ pattern (this would make a lovely unusual addition to a kids bedroom). The burger fabric swatch is dead handy for keeping needles safe and I always have room for cute stickers and address labels. And sweets, always room in my belly for them!
WIP shot. I worked on the pattern for a couple of hours a night for 2 or 3 weekends. I’m pretty slow but I’m sure my stitching will speed up as I tackle more patterns.
The finished product! I think I like it without the hearts as well, but let me know if you disagree! I can’t decide.
Can’t wait to get started on the next one. You can sign up here and check out Jess’ other designs as well.
Photo courtesy of Joe Blogs
I love an easy peasy DIY, I’m forever pinning them on Pinterest although sometimes it takes me a while to get to doing them. I pinned the Paper Umbrella Wreath by Family Chic at least a year and a half ago. I finally got round to doing it last weekend. It took me ten minutes. Yeah, get crafting your pins, folks.
All you need is a whole load of paper cocktail umbrellas – I got mine from eBay here, 144 for £3.99 – and a foam oasis – again I got mine from eBay here, two for £5.99 – bargain!
I’m sure you can figure this bit out, but all you do is open the umbrellas and push them one by one into the foam. Make sure you do one pointing up the way and one facing downwards to make sure that as much of the foam is blocked from view as possible. I tried to ensure an even distribution of colours.
Ta-Da! I’ll be hanging one on my front door and one on my living room door for my pre-birthday cocktail party. I’m sure it’ll get everyone in the mood. And the best thing is this only cost £10 and I have plenty of umbrellas left for the drinks. Result!
This is possibly my favorite item in my living room so I had to share how awesome it is. It started life as a nice but standard cheap lamp from The Range (similar here). For just £15.99 I thought it was a pretty acceptable addition to the living room. But then David’s mum offered to jazz up the plain white shade and made it 100 times better.
-Sorry, slightly different angles on the photo there!
I think that this very simple DIY makes an already statement lamp into something really special and unique.
Today I wanted to show off my Instagram book from Blurb. One of the things I wanted to do from my 
Keeping my pictures in date order, I decided to go with a square, 4-a-page layout with the odd single page photos. I think that this looks really effective. There were lots of choices, including for the images to fill the whole page, but I liked the borders. It leaves the option on going in and adding details like date or prompt name later if I decide to. Just like an old-fashioned photo album.
I then laid out the front cover (is three photos of myself on the front a bit vain?), and added the book title to the spine. Lastly, I choose the format of the book, going for a hardback book with no dust cover and premium matte paper. The finished book has 101 pages and cost £35.77 including postage. Pretty good deal I felt! It arrived within 10 days which was a lot quicker than I expected.
Overall, I really happy with my little book. The photos look great, considering the fact that Instagram is fairly low-res, and the finish of the book is great. I would definitely order from Blurb again and would happily recommend them if you were thinking of having a photo book printed.
