Drawing with sewing machines!

Don't you just love a new toy! I had wanted a freehand embroidery foot for my sewing machine for ages and once I saw this book by Poppy Treffry, I knew I had to have it to give me a helping hand! I was tempted even more when Hannah from Bubblebay Designs posted about the very same book and her first attempts.I finally got both the book and foot for my birthday and decided to have a go at the weekend.

Excuse the poor pictures - they were taken late at night after playing for hours!

The first attempts weren't great, but I loved the idea of it already. I love drawing and did an illustration HND many years ago, and this little toy seemed to combine sewing and drawing together! 

I loved writing with it - and was my main reason for wanting to do freehand embroidery as I have lots of project ideas that seem to involve having writing on them!

A bit rough and ready, but hey I'm a learner!!

I obviously need to practice a bit more, but overall I was really pleased with what you can do! Now I need to put all of these ideas into practice and make some nice new and exciting things!



Time to snuggle up with a good book!

I love reading and it is that time of year again when the heating goes back on and all I want to do is cuddle up on the sofa with a really good book (in between watching X-Factor - god, I hate to say it but I am totally hooked this year!). 

I have just finished this fantastic book.

I loved it, although it did take me a few chapters to get used to it being narrated by Death - but what an amazing read and as with all good books it made me laugh and cry. It is a teenage book and what a brilliant read for teenagers to read and learn about WWII, from a young German girls point of view.

In another life before kids I worked in Children's Publishing and was amazed at the fantastic and totally brilliant teenage/young adult novels that are out there, that I had the pleasure of reading as part of my job - so many adults miss out on reading them! Many adults have probably read Harry Potter and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy but there are so many more of these fantastic books out there - my list could be endless but authors such as Robert Cormier (very dark novels), Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines - wow!) and Eoin Colfer to name just a few of the fantastic authors whose books I have read and loved (and was lucky enough to have met).

If only I could get to my box of books which are tucked away in the shed, waiting for some shelves to made in the living room. They have been there since we started building our kitchen extension about 2 years ago and I am itching to get them out and just be able to look at them!

After singing the praises of young adult novels I will have to say that another book that I read recently and is currently up there as one of the best books I have ever read is this amazing one, which is not a YA one!

But you must read it, if you haven't yet read it, please you must. I promise you will not regret it!