Crafty Colour Palette #2: Colour list

Yellow: DMC 3078 / Anchor 292

Orange: DMC 3856 / Anchor 1010

Pink: DMC 3689 / Anchor 49

Purple: DMC 155 / Anchor 1030

Blue: DMC 3811 / Anchor 1060

Mint: DMC 966 / Anchor 206

These colours immediately made me think of the amazing wool felt colours from Cloud Craft. They are definitely the best colours in wool felt! So I got in touch with Nicole from Cloud Craft, and she very kindly sent me the felt for this project. I have such a large collection of embroidery thread that I had all the DMC thread that I needed! If you would like to purchase the thread or the felt in these colours, you can find the links in the project list below.

Crafty Colour Palette #2: Enamel pin holder

When I was thinking about what to make with these felt colours, I knew that I wanted to showcase each shade and I thought that a rainbow effect would be the best way to do this. I have recently started adding to my pin collection and thought it would be great to have something to keep them on. Ta-dah!

Materials

Templates (click here to download – prints on A3 paper)

7″ embroidery hoop

Needle and pins

Sharp fabric scissors

Paper scissors

A pencil

You will also need wool felt in the following colours (with matching thread in brackets):

Buttery (no matching thread needed for this layout, but matches DMC 3078)

Barbie (matches DMC 3858)

Ascot (matches DMC 3689)

Lavender posie (matches DMC 155)

Spearmint (matches DMC 3811)

Pistachio (matches DMC 966)

Step 1

Print out your templates and cut them out using your paper scissors. Lay out the template pieces next to your felt colours, so that you can work out which one goes with which colour.

Step 2

Carefully pin each pattern piece on the colour you want to use, and cut around them using your fabric scissors. Then layer each piece with about 1cm overlap on each side (I went from left to right putting the next piece on top each time). Pin in place. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make a perfect circle, we’ll sort that out shortly!

Step 3

When all the pieces are in place, check the positioning by putting the outer ring of the embroidery hoop over the top. Make sure you can see enough of the outer colours, and adjust the positioning if you need to.

Step 4

When you’re happy with the positioning, you can start to stitch! You only need one stitch for this, which is back stitch. Using the thread colour to match the felt (I started with apricot), thread your needle with 3 strands. Come up through the fabric and make a small stitch, a little way from the edge (see 1 and 2 in the photo below). Then bring your needle up one stitch length away from that (photo 3), before bringing the needle down through the felt at the point where your first stitch ended (photo 4).

Step 5

Repeat all the way along the line, following the line of the felt as a guide. Then do the same with the other colours, matching the thread colours each time.

Step 6

When all of the stitching is complete, turn the felt over so the wrong side is facing up. Put the outer ring of the hoop over it, and draw around the inside with a pencil. Use your fabric scissors to cut out the circle. You might cut some of the knots off at this point, but that’s ok!

Step 7

Once trimmed, place the felt back in the hoop and tighten the screw to secure it. You can leave the back open to see the pretty colours! I thought about adding an extra circle of felt at the back to cover it up, but this makes it too thick to put the pins through. No-one can see the back anyway! You may notice that I’ve painted my hoop to add a bit of extra colour.

Ta-dah!

Your hoop is ready to display all of your lovely pins on! Or just leave it plain if you prefer – that’s the beauty of this project

The pins on my hoop are by the following makers: Sally Sunshine pin by Leslieanne Made It, Fuelled by Tea pin by Samantha Eynon and I Love Tea pin by Kate Garey.

Want one of these enamel pin holder hoops?

If you’re not a crafter but you’d like to get your hands on one of these, fear not! They are now available in my online shop, where you’ll also find a vegan friendly version too. Also, head over to @hellohoorayblog on Instagram for details of a giveaway coming this week! You could win this hoop! Give @cloud.craft a little follow while you’re there too as Nicole has a super inspiring feed!

If you want to get your hands on some pastel highlighters, you can find them here.

Thank you so much to Nicole at Cloud Craft for providing me with the felt for this project. All other materials and tools my own.

Post updated 11th November 2019.

The post Crafty Colour Palette #2 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

In the garden this spring with Biscuiteers!

It is the perfect time of year for getting out in the garden or back in the allotment. At Gibside, the wonderful walled garden was being prepared and lots of planting was going on. Some vegetables had been grown over the winter, but lots of things were just being sown.

These leeks were not quite ready to dig up! But the worm enjoyed having a good look around…

Definitely time to get those wellington boots on and get planting!

In addition to the vegetable patch, there are some lovely borders in the Gibside walled garden. Another photo opportunity presented itself;f to show off these wonderful biscuits:

The gardens are going to look so beautiful this summer when all of the later blooms are out. I wonder if they have any sunflowers?

Tell me more about the Green Fingers tin!

Ok, let’s have a closer look at what you get in the Green Fingers tin. The biscuits are beautifully presented and I’m still amazed at how they ice so neatly! I must ask one day… Anyway, this tine would make a perfect gift for anyone who is a keen gardener. Don’t forget that Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday 18th June!

There were four layers of the most delicious chocolate biscuits in this tin – this works perfectly with the gardening theme. It’s a wonderful selection of flowers, produce and gardening paraphernalia – look at the detail on the wellington boots!

I think the little worm is my favourite!

So, it’s a long weekend this weekend – yay! Have you got any plans for getting out in the garden? We’ve got quite a few jobs to do, so fingers crossed that the weather holds out it’s also the RHS Chelsea Flower show this week, so we’ve been enjoying some of the coverage of that on the telly. Have you even been? I would LOVE to go! If you’re looking for green-fingered ideas, then why not try this lovely project with your Biscuiteers tin? Learn how to plan succulents in your Biscuiteers gift tin in this super post.

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend!

About this post

Thank you to Biscuiteers for partnering with me! This post contains affiliate links. I received the Green Fingers biscuit tin for writing this post, but all opinions are entirely my own.

The post In the garden this spring with Biscuiteers! appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

The Craft Cotton Co. very kindly sent me a lovely fabric bundle to be able to make this bag, and I chose these super blue vintage fabrics to make it. I like the contrast of the ditsy floral pocket with the bolder print for the bag, and there are so many possibilities to make it your own!

You can find the step-by-step tutorial here if you’d like to make your own  I’m the first blogger to be published there, but stay tuned for more exciting projects from other bloggers coming soon!

The post Foldaway shopping bag tutorial appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I discovered Flow magazine through Instagram – I kept seeing beautiful photos of things that were in the latest issue! Then I discovered that they had issued a special book to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the magazine. How could I resist?! 

As you flick through the pages of the Book for Paper Lovers, you cannot help but be delighted. I’m speaking as a stationery nut here – so if you love paper then you’ve got to get a copy!

There are beautiful papers:

Postcards to send:

Gift tags:

Craft ideas:

Beautiful words of wisdom:

And then even more paper!

These are just a few of my favourite things in this book – but there are so many more! It’s a bit like a Where’s Wally puzzle, in that each time you look, you see something that you didn’t before. This books costs €14.95, which some people may think is a little pricey. But I think it was worth every bit! I’m probably just going to admire it for a little while, so I can think carefully about what to use each thing for…

If you would like to buy a copy, visit the Flow website. They have a cool blog too!

The post Flow – Book for Paper Lovers appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

If you’re thinking about giving a handmade gift this Christmas, this would make a great present. And if you’re not thinking about that, you should make them anyway! Almond is one of my favourite flavours, so I doubt that these biscuits will last long. I followed the instructions below for my first batch which looked ‘rustic’, as I used a teaspoon to place the mixture onto the tray. For the second batch I rolled the mixture into small balls and they look a bit more like Gino D’Acampo’s – haha! This was messy and I could only manage 3 before having to wash my hands again, but it’s worth it if you want them to look more even.

Ingredients

340g/12oz ground almonds
340g/12oz caster sugar
4 eggs, whites only
30ml/1fl oz amaretto liquor
butter, for greasing

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

2. In a large bowl beat the egg whites until firm, and then mix the sugar and the almonds gently into it. Add the amaretto liquor and fold in gently until you have a smooth paste.

3. Place some baking parchment on a baking sheet lightly brushed with butter. Using a teaspoon place small heaps of the mixture approximately 2cm/¾in apart. as they will expand whilst cooking.

4. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!

This is the difference between my batches…they look different but they all taste good!

If you like these then you might also like these Pastelitos de Boda that I made as gifts last Christmas!

The post Amaretti biscuits appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.