secret santa delights....

I signed up a little while ago with

Australian Wandarrah Etsy team

to do a little secret santa this year

 

I wanted to show you how sweet everything was wrapped.

 and look what was inside!

 A darling beautifully stitched wool applique felt pincushion with a sweet little bird.

A vintage Japanese tile plate, two vanilla candles, Japanese origami paper, vintage buttons and the prettiest collage card.  Below is a larger picture if you would like to click on it you will be able to see in more detail.

My Sweet Secret Santa was

Natalie

who has two Etsy stores

Bird in the woods

&

Cat and the Bird

click on the links to see her beautiful stores.

 

thank you so much Natalie xx

Everything is just delightful :)

 

have a lovely day!

~ Gillian ♥



wool felt brooches & vintage delights...

circle series no.51

polka dot series no.4

polka dot series no.9

house series no.28

circle series no.52

 

It has been a little while since I last blogged...

to cut a long story short

we have cared for a loved one,

 I had a little foot operation

and I got busy with starting up my etsy store again.

~ all good but sometimes in life blogging has to take a back seat.

 

But I decided tonight was a good night to say hello! :)

 

as I just said above, I have been working on setting up my etsy store again

it has been around a couple of years since it was open and I have missed it.

I've been enjoying working on it for the past 3 months,

Lots of Vintage collectables and curios,

some of my brooches (with more to come)

& my jewellery....

 

I love that I have a place to share some of my gorgeous vintage finds and another place to share my brooches and jewellery...

 

have a lovely week

~ Gillian ♥

keep calm and create.....

 life is a little busy in our part of the world at the moment....

but not too busy to work on some things that have been swirling around in my mind!

above is some more wool felt brooches in my word series

keep calm & carry on

each brooch is sold individually but it was fun to make up this little popular phrase :)

You can see more of my wool felt brooches in my madeit store here

..............................

I have been wanting to make a little succulent mini garden in a pot for a while now.

I've been madly pinning other peoples beautiful succulent creations on pinterest.

I decided it was time!

I have had this large terracotta pot for years that my parents gave me, but I never really knew what to do with it....a few succulents, potting mix & stones later I had created my first mini succulent garden.

 of course everything needs to grow a little

and fill the pot out...

 Crassula Gollum 'lady finger'

 'hens & chicks'

 'sedum green mound'

graptoveria 'fred ives'

(excuse me if I have any of the names wrong, as I'm a beginner)

there are a few others in the pot one of my favourites is the Senecio Rowleyanus 'string of pearl' not pictured here individually but you can see it in the front of the pot, I first had string of pearls when I was a teenager and have always loved it.

 

Fingers crossed my little succulent garden grows well and I can show you how they have filled out the pot in a few months.

 

Have a great weekend

~ Gillian ♥

layers of lovely dots.....

wool felt brooches

polka dot series

no.2  no.3  &  no.4

layers of lovely dots....

 

Have a lovely weekend

& if you are celebrating mothers day on Sunday

may your day be blessed.

~ Gillian ♥

a polka dot & what is on my hook......

 

 I love polka dots - always have

they are fun and a little 'quirky' ;)

So I decided it was time for the

Polka Dot Series of wool felt brooches.

similar to my circle series but a little smaller.

polka dot brooch no.1

 

ps...just wanted to show you this gorgeous old pressed glass stamp/paperclip desk tray

I do think it is a lovely piece.  It is stamped on the bottom Made in England.  I love the way the light bounces off the pressed pattern in the bottom.

 

now...onto what is on my hook!

 

 The pattern is called Tutti Frutti by Edie Eckman

and I found the pattern in

Crochet World 2012 Fall Special Easy Afghans.

It is a lovely relaxing piece to crochet

and I'm using beautiful

Cleckheaton Country naturals 8ply Wool & a 5mm hook.

 

have a lovely day

Gillian ♥



the word series....

 no.6

 no.5

 no.4

no.3

 no.2

 

 no.1

 These little word brooches are just too much fun to make!

Each brooch is carefully and slowly stitched on my sewing machine, yes even the little letters are sewn on my machine with great attention to the shape and form.

Brooches can be worn individually or grouped with like words or to form statements :)

made from beautiful pure wool felt

they measure approx 4cm x 3cm.

 

 

it has been a little longer than I hoped since my last post,

but school holidays were too much fun!

I've not forgotten also that I mentioned I would share some crochet

- it is coming ;)

 

hope you are having a creative day

whatever your hands lead you to create!

Gillian ♥

little country churches....

The next series of wool felt brooches

The Church Series

no.2

I love driving through the countryside of NSW Australia

and seeing the old wooden country churches many of them over 100 years old.

It is these little churches (not forgetting that many were used as schools on weekdays) that inspired this collection celebrating Christian Faith, Worship & Community.

 no.1

For this series I have made background one colour and introduce design with thread.

 The Simplicity of design draws your eye to the Cross in the roof space.

Four layers of pure wool felt are used for each church, all layers are hand cut, layered and sewn and no two can ever be exactly the same.

They measure approx 5cm tall and 3cm wide.

 and of course some sweet little houses

& another bird

 house no.26

 house no.27

bird no.3

 

You can see more of my brooches either by visiting my

madeit store Eclectic Moi

or by using the labels at the bottom of this post.

 

I hope you are having a creative week

I have been working on an interesting series of brooches that I hope to share this week with you and crocheting a rug which I will share as a work in progress with you this week also ;)

happy creating!

Gillian ♥

a collage, birds & a house all made of felt.....

 Collage Series no.3

 introducing the

bird series

my next series of wool felt brooches

 no.2

 no.1

This little bird is one that I love to draw

I have taken my drawing and turned it into the sweet little brooches.

measuring approx 5.5cm x 3.5cm

.................................

and another little house added to the

house series

no.25

 

I trust you are having a creative week

Gillian ♥



love letters....

 my newest series of wool felt brooches

the love letter series

 no.5

 no.4

  no.2

no.3

 no.1

I love both receiving and sending hand written letters. 

This is my little tribute to this beautiful form of correspondence.

each little letter brooch is approx 4.7cm x 3.7cm

they don't open, but are sealed with a sweet little ♥

..............

and of course some more little houses!

 no.24

 no.23

no.22

have a sweet day

~ Gillian ♥

a new series.....

'the collage series'

 no.2

 no.1

In this new series of brooches I share my love for collage art. 

The felt I use is 100% pure wool which adds not only to joy of wearing but to the enduring quality of the brooch.  Each brooch has its own unique personality some may come with little antique or vintage buttons others may have some free form stitching adding detail. I look forward to sharing more of this series with you as they are created.

..................

These three little houses appeared in the series this week

I do enjoy making these sweet little felt homes.

 no.21

 no.20

no.19

 

I do hope you are having a lovely week,

~ Gillian ♥