Describe your work in 3 words.

Fun, easy and colourful.

Who or what inspires you?

I get my inspiration from everyday life, such as clothes my kids wear, window displays in Paperchase and all the lovely people in my Facebook group who help out with ideas for new designs. If I am struggling to get inspired though, I find cleaning such a helpful way to clear my mind and inspiration usually strikes.

How did you first get started with cross stitch?

I very first started when I was around 6 and my nan taught me (my first proper kit was a Groovy Chick one). But I got back into it after having my first baby and, like many mums, I needed a new hobby that wasn’t feeding, changing or rocking.

Tell us about your design process. How do you turn something from an idea to a finished project?

I have so many ideas that I have had to teach myself to learn to let some of them go because it would be impossible for me to stitch them all. I usually start with some sketches; this is when I decide how big the design will be. Then I get some opinions on whether to turn it into a pattern, usually from my sister but also from my Facebook group.

Once I have decided, I turn the sketch into a pattern by first tracing it onto graph paper and then using a software on my computer. Then I have to decide the colours, which is the hardest part because there are just too many.

I always stitch my patterns before turning them into kits/downloads, because they always turn out a little different to how you would expect and there may be some tweaks to make.

Your shops on Etsy and NOTHS focus on cross stitch kits and patterns. What do you love the most about creating them?

I love that I don’t have to be amazing at drawing to design a cross stitch pattern; working with squares is very helpful when I’m in the design process. And I love that I don’t need to be an expert at sewing to create a handstitched product. As a busy mum of two I like to keep things simple and easy.

You’ve recently started recording a podcast – tell us all about it!

This is something I was so nervous about starting (as you can probably tell from my voice on the first few episodes) but I personally love listening to podcasts and I wanted to create more accessible content for my audience and customers; something they can listen to while stitching! I love how personal podcasts are because as I am talking, stories come out that I never would have thought of if I was writing a blog post.

I try not to talk about the business side much on it (although it sometimes slips in) but make it more of a place to share any tips around creativity and cross stitch. And sharing any cross stitch related products I come across such as books and patterns.

How do you juggle running a small business with family life?

Well, I definitely drop some of those balls sometimes. I try and make sure there are different blocks to our day. Some blocks are just for family time and other blocks are just for work. They tend to get mixed up sometimes, especially during the week when I don’t have my husband here to help, but usually I try to be focusing on one or the other. My 4 year old is in pre-school part time and my toddler naps most days so I have that time too. But most of my work is done when they go to bed or during the weekend; breaking all the rules of a normal work week. As I spend so much time with the kids in the week though, I quite like escaping to work on the weekends.

What advice would you give to anyone who is just starting out selling their wares?

Try to focus on one thing at a time. This goes for everything, from what products to sell, to what platforms to sell on. Know your numbers from the very beginning and make sure you’re not undercharging. And be patient. Building an authentic brand is something that can only be done slowly, so try not to compare yourself to someone who has been doing this for years more than you (although I think looking up to these people can help, as long as it makes you feel good when you do). Also, try and find a community or create one yourself as the self employed world can be quite a lonely one. I don’t think my business would be anywhere near where it is now without the support of the online community I am part of.

Thank you SO much for chatting to us, Hannah!

Juggling a small business and a family is such hard work, but Hannah is doing an amazing job! I totally agree that you end up working all hours and during nap times (hooray for nap times!), and Hannah’s advice to work on one thing at a time is a top tip if you’re just getting started or if you’re getting overloaded. I’m looking forward to seeing what you make next, Hannah!

I’m so inspired by Hannah’s designs and hope you are too! Do check out her podcast, The Cross Stitch Podcast, which you can find on on iTunes or via Hannah’s blog. If you’re interested in getting started with cross stitch, you can purchase kits from her website. And don’t forget to follow @hannahhandmakes on Instagram too!

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The art of writing letters

Do you still write letters? Many of my long-term readers will know that it’s something that I try and do as much as I can. I really love spending time making cards and envelopes to send (yes, I still do that after many years!) and I always send thank you cards for gifts that I have received. I think it’s really important to do this – partly because I was brought up doing it, and partly for the pleasure of saying thank you. For me, it’s much nicer to do that with a card or a letter, with something you can hold in your hand. What do you think? Do you still send letters or thank you cards? I’d love to know, so please do leave a comment in the box below if you have time. I do hope you can tune in on Monday! 10am (BST) on BBC Radio 4.

If you’d like to make your own cards or envelopes, there are loads of tutorials on my blog! See links below or browse through the archives to find inspiration.

An update

I had so much fun on the show and have had some lovely comments – thank you so much! Here are a couple of photos of me in the broom cupboard at BBC Newcastle before we got started:

It was a really great experience – thank you all for tuning in! I’ve been working on something exciting since the show…stay tuned for more information coming soon!

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Future creative projects will be a way of bringing together things that inspire me to create something. It might be a particular tutorial that I want to follow to the letter, and I’ll make it exactly. Or it might be that I gather inspiration from several places to create my own version of something. A creative project might be something I sew, bake, build or experience. It can be anything creative, but I’m saving my inspiration on my blog and sharing my ideas with you.

My first future creative project is to make some new cushions for our living room. We have a lovely collection of cushions that we’ve collected over the years, but they’re all a bit mis-matched! I’d really like to update them and use some lovely fabrics that compliment our purple curtains and the decor. I have pinned some inspiration on my #futurecreativeprojects Pinterest board if you’d like to see – there are lots of vintage fabrics, pretty trims and different shapes that I’d love to try! I particularly love the tutorial from Fall for DIY which would be great for using up some fat quarters.

I’ll be using the hashtag #futurecreativeprojects to share my ideas on Pinterest and also on Instagram If you’d like to join in with me then you can! Just use the hashtag on Instagram and tag me @hellohoorayblog – I’m looking forward to seeing your future creative projects, so put the kettle on and think about what you’d like to make!

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I chose the same fabric to match my machine cover, but I needed it to be a bit stronger to be able to take the weight of the machine. I used some white cotton drill, which you can pick up fairly cheaply in many places. The amount of fabric needed really depends on your machine, but a metre should be plenty.

You will need:

1 metre of white cotton drill

1 metre each of two different colourful fabrics (you may have enough with 1 metre, but I made bias binding from the solid colour, which always uses more than you think!)

A rotary cutter and cutting mat

Matching thread

Pins

An iron

A bias binding maker (I used a 2.5cm / 1″ maker)

Step 1

Lay out your cotton drill and place your machine in the middle, so that you can bring the fabric up around the sides of your machine. Work out how deep and how wide the bag needs to be and then cut a rectangular shape to size – for my Janome 525S this worked out at two 75 x 54cm pieces. Then I cut out a 10 x 10cm square from each of the bottom corners. These pieces will form the lining of the bag.

Step 2

To make the outer bag pieces, I laid some of the solid colour over the bottom of the lining, so that it covered where I had cut out the squares and about another 12cm or so (to allow for seam allowance) up what will be the side of the bag.

Once you have cut this piece, lay out the lining and the solid colour to be able to work out how big to cut your patterned fabric (allowing a centimetre or two for seam allowance, and then pin them together. You can see the selvedge here on my fabric, so I stitched just outside of it so that it wouldn’t show when pressed open.

Step 3

Press open the seam allowance and iron the outer and lining pieces. Place them together and pin before quilting them to make them really secure.

I stitched between alternate kits shapes on this fabric, like I did with my sewing machine cover. This took quite a while with both pieces, but it’s really effective and will help the bag to be nice and strong. You’ll notice that I only quilted up to the solid fabric, and I think this looks really great, if I say so myself!

Step 4

The next step is to make this into a bag! Place the pieces right sides together, and pin along the sides and bottom. Don’t do anything with the cut out squares yet, but stitch along the other edges with a 1.5cm seam. Trim the excess and press to one side. Then you need to fold each corner so that the short, unstitched sides meet like this:

Pin these short sides together, checking on the insides that the lines of the outer fabrics match up (I forgot to do this, despite thinking about it, so I do have a wonky corner!). I found it helpful to pin the seam allowance to one side too, so that when I stitched along the edge (again, with a 1.5cm allowance), it tucked in the right way.

Step 5

Make your bias binding and then attach it to the top of the bag. I matched my binding to the solid colour of the bottom of the bag, and used matching thread too.

Step 6

The last thing to do is to make the handles. You could use some webbing here if you like, but I wanted my handles to match the patterned fabric as I love it so much! I cut out two pieces of cotton drill that measured 75 x 3.5cm, and then cut out two pieces of patterned fabric that were big enough to wrap around the drill (I just did this by eye rather than measuring).

Fold the patterned fabric around the drill and press it so that it’s all nice and flat. Pin it together and stitch to secure. I folded so that my seams ran down the middle of the drill, and then I stitched either side of them. Fold over the short ends and stitch them too.

Position the handles and stitch them in place. I did this with a rectangle around the edges of the handles, and then a cross in the middle. The cross is key to this, as it makes them really strong. It looks like there is lots of stitching here, but those handles aren’t going anywhere!

Ta-dah! That’s it Your new sewing machine bag is ready to use and take wherever you want to go. No more wondering where the pedal has got to – it’s in the bag!

This is such a spacious bag that even if you didn’t want to use it to put a sewing machine in, it would make a super beach bag!

Have you got any sewing projects planned this weekend? Happy sewing!

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I decided that I’d make a quilted cover, so chose some white fabric for the inside lining – it didn’t really need to be jazzy because no-one will see the inside! For the binding I picked out the pale aqua colour to co-ordinate, and got myself a bias binding-making tool too.

The first thing that I did was measure my machine with its plastic cover on – I measured from the middle of the front to the back, and then the width of the front. I also measured the width and height of the side. When I had the measurements I drew out some templates on craft paper, and to get the shape of the side pieces just right I drew around the side of the cover.

Once the templates were cut out, I then cut out all the pieces of fabric and wadding. I layered up the side pieces first and then pinned them together.

I tried out my quilting guide attachment for the first time today, and it’s brilliant for sewing evenly. I haven’t used it before because I’ve only ever used thicker polyester wadding, and not this thinner cotton wadding. I love the thinner stuff – it’s much easier to sew with! I decided to stitch between every other row after experimenting on some scrap pieces.

Once I had quilted the side pieces, I did the same with the large rectangular piece. This larger piece needed more pins to keep it all together, but I quilted it in the same way.

Once all three pieces were quilted, I pinned them (wrong sides together) before stitching. To make the cover fit a little better, I trimmed the excess afterwards.

The final thing to do was to make and attach the bias binding. The tool was really easy to use and it didn’t take as long as I thought! I also got a binding attachment for my machine, but I could not get the hang of it at all when I practised using it…so to save making a complete mess of my cover, I just pressed the binding in half and pinned and stitched it on.

Ta-dah!

I’m so glad that I chose this fabric – it certainly brightened up a very gloomy day today! Hopefully I’ll be able to sew dust free from now on…

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So firstly, my new blog name…I must point out that despite my musical connections, it isn’t named after an Alice Cooper song of the same name! I actually didn’t even realise that there was a song called Hello Hooray until I was Googling potential blog names and it came up. I have since listened to the song, and it’s not the worst song I’ve ever heard but it isn’t really my cup of tea to be honest! So I just wanted to clear that up As I said in my original post, the main reason for changing my name was that when I started blogging a couple of years ago it was just for fun, and I came up with the name because that’s how I felt about crafting at that point – I had so many things that I wanted to make, but had no time at all to do any of them! But that’s all changed now since I’ve gone part time in my day job, so the name didn’t really make sense anymore. I also realised that a blogger in America had a blog of the same name, so it was important to me to have something unique. Thinking of a blog name is really tough though! You think you’ve come up with the perfect thing and then you find out it has been taken. Argh! I wanted something shorter, something that sounded friendly and welcoming, and something less specific so that I can take my blog in any direction I want to. So Hello! Hooray! was born!

The direction of my blog has changed a bit since I started blogging a couple of years ago, and it has become such a big part of my life. I could never have predicted that! I love being a part of the blogging community, and it’s great to connect with people all over the world. I enjoy blogging so much more than I thought I would, and would love to make the jump from being an English teacher to full time blogger. Whether that’s actually a realistic possibility I have no idea, but I’m determined to make a go of it! So that’s one of my main goals – a long-term one, obviously. In the meantime, I’d love to get involved with other blogs and have guest posts on my blog too, so get in touch if you’re interested! I’m also keen to try out new crafts and have lots of projects planned, so stay tuned…Another thing that I have considered is selling a few of my makes, but I don’t know if that will be possible/practical/worth it. It’s something that I would love to do at some point, so maybe I’ll add it to my list of long-term goals for Hello! Hooray! and focus on building up my site for now. Who knows where I’ll end up…

In order to start working towards my goals, there will be a few changes on my blog. I guess the main one is that I’m going to be signing up to Affiliate Links to be able to place some adverts on my site. I know, I know, adverts are everywhere – but I need to start somewhere if I’m going to build things up! I don’t want them to take over, so they will be in the sidebars only and I’ll be picking and choosing the content that I feel is relevant to what my blog is all about. I may have some affiliate links in my blog posts, but I’ll be pointing them out to you so you know where they are. I’m also going to be trying to post more frequently – I do this as often as I can at the moment, but I’d love to have some brand new content for you every day. This is one of my mid-term goals, because I don’t think I can do it straight away but I’ll get there one day!

Although I’ve been working super hard to update everything after the transfer, some of my old posts from my So Many Crafts, So Little Time! days still need updating. I have over 300 posts now, so it’s taking a little time to get through them all! Some of the formatting was lost in the transfer and the majority of my photos on older posts are watermarked with my old blog name (I would NEVER do that again, but you live and learn!). I’m trying to update things as I go along, but please bear with me as it’s going to take some time…There have been a few other teething problems, but I have been trying to fix those too and learning a lot along the way. My Twitter feed should now appear at the bottom of the page rather than just a blank box, and the follow by email widget is now up and running again too – yay! This still doesn’t look like the prettiest box, but that will be fixed at some point.

The community feel of my blog is also really important to me, so if there’s something you’d like me to make/feature then do let me know. I love hearing your comments so you can always leave me a message on a post (good or bad!) or get in touch via my social media (links on the left and in the footer). It took me a while to find it (despite it being in an obvious place!) but if you’ve enjoyed reading any post on my blog, you can also let me know by hitting the ‘like’ button. It’s underneath the title of each post, as shown here:

I think that I have finally covered everything that I wanted to say – hopefully I won’t think of another 10 things later on… It’s actually very strange for me to have written a post without loads of photos, so I hope I haven’t rambled on too much. The final thing that I’d like to say is a big ‘Thank you’ to everyone who reads my blog – I wouldn’t have got this far without you reading it and it’s wonderful to have your support! Have a super dooper Saturday, whatever you’re doing

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I wanted to make something special for Donna, because I think it’s brilliant that she and her fellow Owls have taken on these roles, which are all voluntary. So I decided that Brownie badges were a good plan! Felt badges are really easy to make, and you can make the design as simple or as complicated as you can manage. So even if you don’t want to make owl badges you could make any felt badges in this way, so just follow the steps below.

You will need

Pencil and paper
Scissors (a pair for paper and a pair for fabric)
Some wool felt in various colours (I got mine here)
Matching thread
Pins and needle
Little pieces of fabric with a small print, matching the felt
Brooch backs (I got mine on eBay)

Step 1

Draw out your design and then cut out some little templates for each required piece (you might need to trace the design to do so). Pin the templates onto the felt and then carefully cut around each one. Layer them up to check that they are all the right size.

As I was making my owls, I changed my mind about the design – I cut body-sized pieces of fabric here instead of doing the separate scalloped pieces of felt that I had originally thought about. Don’t be afraid to change your design as you make, as I do it all the time!

Step 2

Next, I started stitching the pieces together. You might need to change thread a few times here, depending on how many colours you’ve used! I started with the beak because that was the smallest piece to get in the right place. I also stitched the head pieces on at this stage too.

Step 3

I decided that I wanted my owls to be on a background, because I wanted to stitch the pack name on each one. So at this point I cut out two oval-ish shapes of felt and then began to stitch the owl to one side of the badge.

As I got to the sides, I attached the wings at the same time. I obviously got carried away at this point, because I didn’t take any photos!

Step 4

I worked out where the lettering needed to be, and then marked it on with a fabric marker (ideally I should have used my dissolvable one, but I used a very fine quilt marker instead). Then I stitched over the letters using splitstitch, but you could use whatever you feel comfortable doing.

Step 5

The next step is to attach the brooch back to the other oval-ish piece of felt. Try to get it as central as possible!

Step 6

The final step is to attach the front and back of the badge, using a small running stitch.

Ta-dah! The badge is ready to wear. I also made a badge each for Snowy Owl and Tawny Owl too – I picked backing colours that would all work together. I really hope that the ladies like them, and wish them the best of luck running their new pack!

Post updated 23rd September 2024.

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We had a cup of tea and something to eat before we looked around – we wanted to make sure that we had the stamina! And also the showground was filling up, so we thought that this was a good plan before the queues got too big. Then we had a good potter around the stalls, and it was really difficult to know where to start! There were so many gorgeous things there, but one of my favourite stalls was Colouricious. They have the most beautiful hand carved wooden stamps, and they were doing some demonstrations of how you can stamp with paint and decolourant and used mixed media for different projects. I bought a set of blocks for printing and some decolourant too – can’t wait to have a go! My favourite stamp is this one – as you know, I just love owls!

Another lovely stall that we found was Farne Designs – they print beautiful textiles in Cornwall. We both bought a little selection of fabrics, and I got an embroidery kit for Mum for Christmas. Their stall was just so inviting – look at these fabrics!

One of the things that I was most excited about was meeting Stuart Hillard from the Great British Sewing Bee! For those of you who don’t know this programme, it has got so many people into sewing and making clothes and Stuart appeared on the first series. He was at the quilt show to sign his new book, and Mum has very kindly bought me it for Christmas so it will be fab to have a signed copy! Stuart was so lovely – he chatted to us like he had known us for years and was so welcoming. It really was a pleasure to meet him!

After we had spent up, we looked around the exhibition quilts. I can’t begin to tell you how inspiring they were – all the quilters are so incredibly talented, and the attention to detail is amazing. I love that people had incorporated different techniques into their quilts (including felting – look out for the planets quilt in my gallery below) and there were so many different styles. I went away with so many ideas, although I’m nowhere near good enough to create anything like these! The first quilt here won the ‘Best in Show’ and was by Liz Villalobos from Newcastle (quilted by Kay Bell) – simply stunning! I tried my best to take photos of all the labels so that I could credit all the quilters here, but I did miss one or tow (sorry). Click on the photos to see the quilter’s details.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” interval=”3″ images=”5720,5721,5722,5724,5723,5728,5725,5726,5733,5729,5738,5730,5731,5737″ img_size=”large” column_number=”2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1412354012241{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]Very inspiring, I’m sure you’ll agree! We left talking about all of the lovely things we’d like to be able to do with quilting one day… On the way home we met a lovely lady called Jennie at Harrogate station – she had also been to the show and had picked up some supplies for Christmas! Jennie has a Facebook page, so do pop over and say hello! Making a new friend was certainly a great end to the day! :-)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Sorry for the not-so-good photo – it was really difficult to get a good one! The box is 21 litres (not that I could really picture what size that would be from the photo online) and it came with two inserts. Each insert has 12 compartments, which is fine for the 3 x 4 cards, but the 4 x 6 ones don’t fit. I went and had a look at the manufacturer’s website and found that I could buy an insert with 6 larger compartments, so I ordered one and it came really quickly – yay!

So now that I had the inserts that I needed, I could get organising! I must admit that I LOVE to organise stuff – and I would be far more organised if I had a place to keep all my stuff in one place and easily accessible for crafting. Can you tell that I dream of having a craft room a lot?! Anyway, I started with the larger cards and realised that I needed to put some bits of sturdy card in the bottom of each one to prevent bending. I just cut up some card that was in the back of my Project Life paper packs to do this.

Next, I made some little dividers to separate each kind of card and kit in my box – I needed to do this because there aren’t enough compartments for all the kits I have now! So I used a 4 x 6 card as a guide, and made some little dividers with some spare white card I had.

The dividers have a tab in a slightly different place so that I can see what I’m looking for more easily, and I wrote the kit and card type on each one.

The 3 x 4 cards fit really well in the insert with 12 compartments – I didn’t bother making any dividers for them because a kit fits in three compartments, which is handy! So left to right, I have Blush, Kiwi, Strawberry and Honey.

It’s great being able to flick through all my cards more easily now! One thing that doesn’t fit in this box is my paper, so I got one of the scrapbooking boxes too. It has made my scrapbooking so much easier now that I have everything in one place – well, two boxes, but that’s manageable!

I also want to tell you about a really useful site that I found, where you can find out about all the Project Life kits and see what’s in each one. Check out Miss Magoo Scraps for the complete list of kits – it’s really useful if you’re wanting to get started or mix up your cards with some new ones! That’s how I realised that Kiwi and Honey would match Blush and Strawberry really nicely. You might also want to check out my Pinterest board if you’re looking for some inspiration! How do you store your Project Life kits? Has anyone gone digital with the app? I’d love to know what you think of it!

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We were immediately greeted by some art work by Francisco De Pajaro, who has been working on various pieces around Darlington this week and was doing the same around the site today. They are so much fun, and it was great to spot them throughout the day![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5581,5582,5583,5584″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851233983{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]Right from the beginning of the day, there was such a lovely atmosphere and SO much going on. We started at the Arena and main stage and pottered around the stalls there. I loved the Charity Shop DJ where people could choose cheesy tunes from a box of LPs from local charity shops, and have a go at DJing.

 [/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5587,5588,5589″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411847878771{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Next, we headed into the Beehive – just look at that writing! I love the retro styling of Lingfield Point.

There were some fabulous stalls in there, and I was super organised and got a couple of Christmas presents. It was here where we bumped into curators of the Festival of Thrift, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway! I explained that I’m a part of the School of Thrift, and they very kindly agreed to having their photo taken – thank you so much to you both!

After that we left them to rummage through some LPs and continued on our way. We came across a stall from The Beehive Brand, which had the most beautiful knitted garments in traditional patterns. I can’t really describe how beautiful they were, so you’ll have to take a look : [/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5596,5597,5598,5595″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851507792{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]The Beehive Brand was established in 1785, but after a period of decline has recently been bought by Andrea Freeman, who’s passion for this exciting project really shines through. Not only is she recycling the old brand, but the old patterns too, and new garments using old patterns are being gradually released once more. I’m really excited to see how the brand develops! If you’d like to find out more, visit her website.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411850503131{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Here are a few more photos from around the site! Look out for the tea ladies with the invisible dog (if, indeed, you can ‘look out’ for an invisible dog!) if you’re going tomorrow – they’re hilarious![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5602,5603,5604,5605,5606″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411849392734{padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_slide” interval=”3″ images=”5607,5608,5609,5610,5611,5612,5613,5614,5615″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411849832037{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Mum had a go at weaving, and made this to add to the huge spider’s web – fab!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There were so many lovely stalls around the event, but I was really pleased to catch up with my friend Victoria, aka Dizzy Miss James! We met a few years ago at a craft fair and it has been wonderful to see her shop develop. She designed all of these little guys herself – aren’t they adorable!?

It was also brilliant to meet some new people at the event, including Angela from Maison Royale – her stall was fabulous and she was so lovely to chat to! You see that gorgeous arrow light? That will be hanging in our new kitchen in a few months! Yes!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1411851452668{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]I took so many more photos, but I don’t want to give everything away! If you’re in the area tomorrow then you MUST go along. And don’t forget to tag your photos on social media – #FOT14

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We seem to have been out and about loads over the past few weeks, so I’ve got so many photos to share! Highlights include a trip to the Northern Quilt Show with my Mum, a trip to Beamish, our holiday to Maryport, and we also had tickets to the Great North Run 1 Million Opening Ceremony! We managed to get a spot right at the front on the quayside, which was amazing – a brilliant night!

I’m so pleased with this photo from the ceremony!

When I went to stay with Mum and Dad at the end of August, I made my Dad a very special cake to celebrate him working his last ever overtime on a Saturday – he’s done it for over 30 years! He loves his records and we recently gave him our record player, so I made him an LP cake. For those of you who don’t know, ‘Mornin’ avids’ is how Brian Matthews opens his radio show on Radio 2 every Saturday morning – Dad will be able to sit and listen every week now The cake is a Victoria sponge with buttercream and homemade blackberry curd inside, and I made the LPs out of icing, using a cocktail stick to make the ridges.

You might have caught a glimpse of some photos from the quilt show in my Project Life post yesterday – I will be writing a post about it, so you’ll get to see a bit more! There are some photos on Instagram so have a look there if you can’t wait… Other exciting things that have happened include: booking my ticket for Blogtacular 2015 (I didn’t go this year and really wished I had, so I can’t wait!), making top secret things and starting making Christmas stuff (sorry for using the C word!) and getting into Project Life. And there are so many exciting things coming up too! What have you been up to recently?

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The post Instagram gallery: February 2014 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

You will need:

A selection of 6 x 4 photos
A selection of A4 card in colours of your choice
Some double-sided sticky tape
A pencil and ruler
A paper trimmer
Scissors

Step 1. Measure half way along the card and trim it so that you have two smaller pieces. Carefully fold in half again to make your card.

Step 2. Trim the photo to fit the card. I like to leave a fairly large border around the edge, but you could leave a narrow one if you prefer.

Step 3. Measure two lengths of tape and stick them on the back. Carefully stick the photo onto the card, and turn it over to press it down so that you don’t get fingerprints on the photo.

And that’s it! Super easy but really effective. This photo is of a Queen of the Night tulip that we had in our garden a couple of years ago, but you could use any photo for any occasion. This was the willow tree we had in our garden (before it blew over!):

And these were some holiday snaps!

Why not take some snaps at Christmas for cards next year? Happy snapping!

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