Well Hello There....(Post Edited at the Bottom!)

Fancy meeting you lovely people!! We hope you are having a lovely Easter. Unfortunately our day jobs mean we have to go and sell tickets, scoop popcorn and pick up rubbish the whole weekend!! but rest assured we will be fitting in some bank holiday activities where we can (I'm planning on painting the sewing room at wessex drive in lovely shades of teal and ochre yellow!)

Anyway....we've been busy stitching and sewing as is the normal around these parts...so without further ado we bring you a round of photos from our little shop up the stairs!!....

We had a big order for some more Crabbittz from MADE so we spent a lot of last week working on those, and of course we had to buy new fabrics to play with at the same time!! (its a rule dont'cha know?)We are both rather taken with the fabric used on the top Crabbittz and the fabric on the third one down (which you can get from fabric rehab.)

We also had a young gentleman pop into the shop for a few days to do some work experience for his degree...I'm pretty sure we terrified the boy guy...but he left knowing how to use a sewing machine which i guess is something (although I'm pretty sure the things we taught him about sewing machines will make textile teachers all over the world turn over in their graves!! He made a Cat plush with a monocle...If you like why not pop over to his blog and say hello, his illustration work is rather good we think.

We also helped a young lady called Jody who asked if we could run her through how to make plush creations...she made lots and lots of these critters...Shes a very nice person who has a lovely eye for cool vintage things so we recommend her blog to you too!

We also made some new labels thanks to the wonderful tutorial over on bagladee's blog and now we want to sew them onto EVERYTHING!!!the cream cotton tape we used makes them look rather professional!

Hmmmm what else have we been up to?? ohhh, we brought three new sets of rubber alphabet stamps so spent most of yesterday stamping messages onto calico fabric in preparation for a brooch making session!!you should have seen the state of my fingers after all of that stamping!

Last but by no means least....i came across a Finnish tradition/fable called the soul bird or Sielulintu basically the soul bird is what gives and takes away your soul. in Finland they have ornamental ones on their bedside tables because the soul bird is also mean to keep you and dreams safe whilst your asleep which we think is just so cute. We felt an urge to make some sort of embroidered picture of one...

Theres the rubber stamps getting put to good use!!
What do you think? we made them with the idea that people would hang them by their beds?Well....we think this marathon post has lasted as long as it can!!
speak soon

P.S. Have just finished uploading photos from our first proper photo shoot on flickr, take a gander if you fancy it.
xx

Thankyou!

wow...stuffednonsense followers...thank you for your responses and offers to join in on the swap. unfortunately the rules of the swap mean i can only get 6 people on my team so I'm fully booked. I'm going to edit this post in a few hours with the names of the people who are on my team (as soon as i locate the pieces of paper i wrote the first 6 people on!!) so that the people who aren't on my team will know. if you still want to play perhaps you could follow the links over to the people on my team who will need 6 people each to play...make sense?? anyway...stay tuned for tomorrow ('yeah right...so that means in about a week?' i hear you say!) for some snaps of whats been going on up the stairs in 40 Albion Street!

speak soon

EDIT: the people playing in stuffednonsense's team are: Holly Knowlman, Lowisa Warburton, Nikki Moulton, Bagladee, Olly and Sarah.

Thanks to everyone who wanted to play!! and i so sorry if ive messed this up...to be honest it kind of got the better of me so im sorry if anyone thought they were playing but now aren't...sorry

xx

posted by bex

Would You Like to Play?....

Hello dearies? how are you all, we hope your head didn't hurt too much from your St. Patrick's days festivities. We've spent a lot of the time hiding from the drunken race goers who descend on Cheltenham once a year...its been quite an adventure!

Anyway....if you could please lend me your ears (or eyes) i would be most grateful...

We are going to take part in an arts/craft swap. it is an international swap, and all you have to do is make one lovely hand made piece ( be it a picture,a card,a purse,something beady,something sparkly...anything goes!) in return you get 36 pieces sent to you from all over the world. it works on a sort of chain type system...when i think about it too much hurts my head...but trust me it will work.

soo if you would like to play in this art/craft swap please get in touch by leaving a comment or dropping us an email.

we decided to do it because there are some rather talented people already playing and stuff like this is kind of what blogging is all about. think of the all the new people you could get in touch with just through making one small thing.

anyway....hopefully hear from you soon!!

Warmest Regards!

(Thanks for listening to this StuffedNonsense broadcast!)

Posted by Bex.

Well Lookee Here...

Spring has definitely sprung here in sunny 'ol Cheltenham. I'm sat here typing this in my lovely sunny and bright sewing corner supping on a cup and saucer of St Margaret's Hope First Flush Darjeeling (ohhhh that's sounds fancy doesn't it!?) whilst listening to my shiny new (belated Christmas present from ma and pa smith) DAB radio...readers let me tell you, it is a thing of beauty all retro style with cream and brown and a big dial on the front....wonderful!

Anyway, we have been a little bit absent around these parts and its most definitely time to get spring cleaning....i think I've gotten rid of most of the cobwebs but things are still pretty busy so please hang in there if there are a few still floating about.

Right...the PipSqueaks are finally up and running!! It took El and I about 6 goes to get the design right. It was great to see our design process working, we sure do make a good team i think!! Here they are...

These four are the free standing ones that have squeakers in them (there were five of them but one got snapped up by ma smith) please note the lovely flowery background fabric which is destined to become a pair of ohh so fashionable culottes for me to wear in the summer...if my jedi sewing skills and stretch that far!

(please excuse the chipped grey nail varnish! i went to a party at the weekend dontcha know! and i haven't taken it off yet cos I'm classy that way!)i like the way that this one looks like he is asking a question.this one has nice old bit of Amy Butler Fabric for her tail and wings.and i think this one just looks a bit mean, don't mess with her!

I like it when we make things like these little guys. At StuffedNonsense we make a conscious effort to only work from loose patterns so when we make little critters like these guys each one is guaranteed to be different in one way or another...I think that's a nice thing.

What else? Hopefully telling all of you lovely people this bit of news wont jinx anything...but I'm too excited not to tell you all. If , at the end of April, you happen to by a wonderful magazine called Sew Hip! you will probably (fingers crossed...) find a tutorial on how to make the PipSqueaks (written by our own fair hands!) and also (and rest assured my fingers and toes are crossed even tighter for this one) you may find a bit of a feature on us!!! EEEEEKKKKK!! we are soo honoured and happy to be asked to help with this magazine (I've brought it since issue one!!) So if you please, send all your good luck thoughts to us!!

Also, StuffedNonsense is going to be rocking like true felt princesses at TWO music festivals this year!! Wohooooo, from the 4th-6th of June we will be running felt monster making tutorials at The Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham; And from the 10th to the 12th of September we will probably be at The End Of The Road Festival in Dorset, showing the lovely people down there how to monster it up!!

Soooo, there you have it that's all of our exciting news....we hope we haven't jinxed it for us but we had to let you all know because loads of you have been there with us from the start and its only fair. It looks like the StuffedNonsense journey is getting more and more exciting doesn't it?! We're glad your here to join in with us!!

P.S. the PipSqueaks SHOULD be up on folksy by the end of this afternoon.

Posted by Bex

Recent Comings And Goings...

Alright there dearest followers?

Its been a busy week at StuffedNonsense, with lots of planning and furious stitching. Following the success of HandMade for Haiti we had a few orders to quickly make up, including a batch of rather colourful and cute Warm Thoughts for a customer...There were also a few Spring/Summer ideas which we wanted to launch. "Ooohhh how exciting!" we hear you say! And we would like to say back that at this point in time things are rather exciting for for us and our little shop. We wont say much more in case we tempt fate, but we promise to let you know when its all confirmed!

Anyway...where were we? Spring/Summer...

First up are these sweet little creations, they are called PipSqueaks...

The free standing ones squeak when you give them a little squeeze, but the hanging ones don't though. Perfect for Spring and Easter, they will be in our folksy shop soon (and also hopefully MADE) just as soon as we transform from almost round calico balls...

Also, we've been working on some bits and pieces for the home. Now the sun is beginning to make more of an appearance we felt the need to create whatnots to help you enjoy the sun at home. Imaging sitting on a garden chair, in a patch of sun, your favorite paperback on the table by your side, enjoying a delicious cup of Rosie Lee (and some cake!) ohhh so delicately placed upon this wonderful placemat and napkin...

We've also conjured up a design for some coasters which we think would make a lovely mothers day present. They brighten up any coffee table...
And last, but by no means least, some place mats, perfect for protecting your dinning table!

Righto', that's it for tonight my dears, its time for some rather delightful sausage and mash and then some equally delightful music!

Posted by Bex.

PHEW!!

Well...we said we would raise some money for Haiti...

And boy did we do it! A HUGE thank you to every one who helped out today, the sellers, the customers, our friends, arthur for making tea, john for carrying bags of cakes, rich for taking photos (not the ones you will see here..yet..he has a fancy camera so there will be better ones to come soon!) We made a fabulous (drum roll please..) £240 for UNICEF to go towards the relief they are providing in Haiti as we speak.
'Well, this all sounds wonderful' i can hear you say 'but what about some pictures?' Ohhh alright then...

TaaDaa...the first batch of cakes done!

A Tea break...i swear i am not eyeing up the wonderful Victoria sponge...honest.

Some of the other baked wonders. Don't worry...the cakes were lovely but we aren't going to open a bakery instead of running our shop. We were baking these beauties until half ten...which is probably responsible for Bex looking like this this morning...

But on the other hand it was responsible for all of these lovelies cakes. the giant cookie was donated by the lovely Mrs Smith (or Bex's mum)...

We thought we would finish up with some pictures of the lovelies which were so very kindly donated by NelliD, Lou Peaujeux, Oh badgers, and Wollies....

NelliD's wonderful jewellery...The coolest buttons and brooches from Wollies.Awesome badge sets from loupeaujeuxSome cards from Bobbie Thomas.Just a sampler of some of the awesome screen printed cards from OhBadgers.

Well, I'm afraid I'm in danger of falling asleep at the laptop so that's all for now...

thank you!

xx

Posted by Bex

HandMade for Haiti's Little Helpers...

O.K. so when we said we would be back on Saturday with some more info on HandMade for Haiti what we meant to say was we will be back a week on Saturday...hope your not disappointed in us...and if you are we hope we can fix it with some lovely pictures for you right now!

So we're going to let you know about the four (yep that's right four!) new and exclusive sellers to StuffedNonsense. They have ohh so kindly donated some of their handmade wonders to our cause...but be quick...their lovelies are only here for the 27th and two weeks after that, then they will be winging their way back to their masters.

O.K....Ready? Then we shall begin....

First up we have NelliD, we are super chuffed that this talented lady wanted to help our village tea party inspired fundraiser. We've had our beady eyes on her handmade wonders for a while. She describes herself as an 'eccentric British designer, with a love for all things Royal Britannia and Kitsch Fairy tales. Her choice of colour and shape in her jewellery is seriously cute. She also has a healthy appreciation for face hair...something which is must for us (as both of our handsome young man friends have hairy faces.) See for yourself...

I'm am seriously a little bit in love with these beauties, the gold flamingos are wonderful.The wonderful 'Tashley Tote'..tipping her hat to the moustaches!Such a kitsch brooch...love the little flower details on it. Find NelliD on her folksy, etsy, her sparkly website, her blog and twitter. Or in StuffedNonsense from the 27th!
Next up we have Oh Badgers. OhBadgers is run by Steph and she is an illustration student with a rather lovely talent for making lovely things. we were first attracted to her work because she uses lots of images of birds (and I love birds...in fact I'm typing this with my favorite bird jumper on!). we love her Screen Printed Owl envelopesAnd also her Ostrich Skeleton Pendant
Find more of her lovely work on her folksy shop, or her etsy shop.
Then we have, the wonderful creations of Olly from Wollies. We've had dealings with this talented young lady before and we have to say that's he is truly charming. She describes her work as 'Colourful, Quirky and Made with care' We are in love with every item she comes up with we actually need these little beauties. And these little brooches are such a good idea (we know because we have one ourselves!) Find her on folksy, her blog, or her website.
Lastly but by no means least we have the ohh so talented Lou Peaujeux, She is a freelance illustrator with some serious style! Her cards are wonderful, we love the way she makes them around commonly used sayings such as these awesome cards
And we just love her style of illustrations, especially (yep you guessed it) her birds...
We're pretty sure that we need this mirror. Find her on her folksy shop, or blog.

Well, what do you think? its going to be an awesome day isn't it? we've just got the metres of bunting to make and the cakes and then we should be there...fingers crossed! we will keep you posted and promise to take lots of pictures of the day for you (if you can't come!)

Speak Soon

xx

Posted by Bex