So the main event in June was obviously my trip to London for Blogtacular (click here and here to see my posts about it if you haven’t seen them already). You can now see Grace Bonney’s keynote speech here – well worth a watch if you weren’t there. I am still coming down from it to be honest! I was wondering if that was a bit weird, but it seems like so many other people feel the same way. So many ideas have come from it for us all – it was just frustrating to not be able to work on them last weekend! Although, having sat down this morning to write this and make some plans, I think the enforced time out has been a good thing for me. I am ALWAYS busy, and I do love that, but I am really bad at switching off and doing nothing! So today I am planning and making and feeling grateful of the time to do that. Happy days!

I took so many photos whilst I was in London and I do have a couple more posts planned, so look out for those! One of which is about Columbia Road flower market, which I think has to be one of my favourite places. Here’s a taster for now:

I really enjoyed the coverage of Glastonbury last weekend (if you didn’t see it, I think you can catch up on iPlayer). Lionel Richie was amazing! I’ve actually seen him live in Newcastle, and he’s such a talented musician. You can see why he’s been around for decades, and he was obviously overwhelmed at the response he got last weekend. Also loved hearing Leon Bridges sing an acoustic version of one of his new tracks. If you haven’t guessed, I’m a huge fan of soul music and I love his old-school style. Very Sam Cooke-esque, so if you like that sort of thing then you should have a listen.

My on the train reading for my journey to Blogtacular was Pip Lincolne’s Craft for the Soul, and it really was the perfect reading for my trip. I enjoyed it SO much that I read half of it on the way down, and the other half on the way back! I’m actually reading it again now, and will hopefully write a little review of it for you soon. I don’t think it’s actually out in the UK yet – I bought mine from Australia as I couldn’t wait! Pip’s lovely blog Meet Me At Mikes is one of my always read blogs, and I’d highly recommend it.

July has started well so far, and I’m hoping to be posting more regularly again Hope you all had a super month! If you have any recommendations of things to do/see/hear then just leave me a comment below!

The post Bits & Bobs: June 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

The day started out with the photo walk, which as you probably already know, I was SO excited about! And it didn’t disappoint. I’ll be posting about that separately so you can see lots of my photos from the walk, so look out for that soon. Balloons. That’s all I’m saying…

After the photo walk, we made our way to the venue which was the beautiful Royal Institution of Great Britain. It’s the perfect venue, with the main lecture theatre being used throughout the day and additional rooms for talks and workshops too. I think I speak for all attendees when I say that we were eagerly anticipating the keynote speaker, Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge. Her message was to embrace change and use it to take control of what you are doing and find your true path, and she really connected with the audience. So inspiring! And also (from the point of view of my day job) she has such a great presenting style – so relaxed, but she maintained a great relationship with the audience. So if you want to learn how to give a presentation or just find out more about what she said, keep a look-out for the release of the recording which will be made available (thanks to MailChimp who sponsored the keynote).

It was actually really difficult to choose which sessions to go to on the day – they all sounded amazing! I caught up with the lovely Josephine from Courage and Dash, and we had mainly decided to go to slightly different things which allowed us to swap notes on a few sessions I loved hearing more about how Francesca Stone made the leap to full-time blogging, and the Grow Your Audience panel was super interesting! Great to hear perspectives from bloggers who blog about totally different things, and how they have built up their audience through their blogs and social media. The photography styling workshops were naturally very busy, but it was great to get some hands on tips and style things in a completely different way to my usual style. I went along to the Food Photography and Styling workshop with Marte Marie Forsberg, who talked about her concept of ‘visual storytelling’. She has such a distinctive style of photography, which we got to replicate in the workshop, and she highlighted ways in which she considers light, composition and angle when styling a photo. The next two photos are what I took in the workshop – what do you think?!

Blogtacular 2015 Official Photos by Piers MacDonald

One of the key themes to emerge throughout the whole conference was creating the sense of community – making connections and building each other up, rather than putting down or competing with other people. Collaboration was emphasised a lot and we were encouraged to make new connections and build upon existing ones, and it was refreshing to be in a place where everyone felt the same about that. One of the things I loved is that this sense of community was promoted in the run-up to the big day. There was a Facebook group, Twitter chat, people linking up via Instagram before Saturday – and all of these things meant that you could hope to spot a friendly face, or look out for someone you had always wanted to meet. So people just mingled, swapped business cards, chatted and exchanged ideas – whatever their blogging background. At the dinner organised for the Friday night, I went along on my own not really knowing who I’d be sitting with. I ended up having a really lovely chat with Renee from East London Knit, Aby from You Baby Me Mummy  as well as Blogtacular organisers Kat and Kat (and her husband)! I also found myself sitting next to Marte and Nikki McWilliams, who designed the amazing bag which contained all of our lovely goodies. So having asked several times ‘are you sure you don’t mind me sitting here?!’ I ended up chatting away and feeling really relaxed about the whole thing. This is what it’s all about – the blogging community is just the best!

Another theme was to be authentic. There were some great tips given by the Mollie Makes team (Lara Watson and Jessica Bateman) about how to achieve this, and their session Finding Your Voice left me with so many ideas and things to think about! In a world where so many people are blogging it’s even more important to be you. One of their top tips was to write as though you are chatting to a friend, avoiding cliches if you can. They also have a list of words that are banned from Mollie Makes, which included ‘totes’, ‘darling’ and ‘an Aladdin’s cave’ – love that!

The closing keynote was by Anthony Peters, who has been working on a documentary called ‘Made You Look: a film about creativity in the digital age’. It went down a storm! And it’s safe to say that we’ll all be going to see this when it is released in October. We were shown some clips from the film, where creators such as Anthony Burrill speak about the analog creative process and perceptions of that process in a digital age. I left with so many thoughts about this and I’m still trying to process them all! So for now, if you want to see the trailer you can find it here – I would highly recommend it.

We headed over to West Elm for the Pintacular evening event of crafting and more chatting! There was a line up of amazing makers hosting craft workshops – Mr X Stitch, Nikki McWilliams, Zeena Shah and Viktorija Semjonova from AndSmile. I painted a cactus print with Viktorija, who was so lovely and encouraging despite my lack of drawing and painting skills! You can see my creation on her Instagram feed. After that I had a quick scout around the other crafts, but I was so tired (having got up at 5:15am!) that I decided to call it a night.

West Elm x Pinterest UK Pintacular at Blogtacular 2015 Official Photos by Piers MacDonald.

Blogtacular was even more than I thought it would be. I hope I’ve managed to convey some of what we experienced in this post! Whether you have a big blog with thousands of followers or you’re just starting out and building your following, there is something at Blogtacular for everyone. And not just one thing – many things! So if you haven’t made it along yet, you should definitely do it next year. Come and join the community – I’ll see you next year!

A couple of final things to say – firstly a HUGE thank you to Kat and Kat for organising Blogtacular. I can’t even comprehend how much work must have gone into organising it! Thank you also for making me feel so welcome Thank you to the sponsors who make it possible too, and to Mollie Makes and Piers MacDonald for the excellent photography (and permission to use it!).

Main photo credit: Blogtacular 2015 Official Photos by Piers MacDonald (thanks Mollie Makes!)

The post Blogtacular 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

One thing that I have been working on my dress for the Simplicity blogger challenge this month, and managed to get it finished just in time before the deadline (which is actually today!). Once I had finished it took a while for the weather to calm down to be able to take photos of it, but we managed to get some in the end.

I have spent a lot of time reading this beautiful book called Snail Mail by Michelle Mackintosh. It’s such a gorgeous book, filled with ideas for sending letters to friends and family and it’s so inspiring. I’m definitely going to set aside some time for doing this next month!

We visited Craster this month (click here to see photos of that) and stopped in Alnwick on the way. The castle looked beautiful as ever, and we went down to the river to take a few photos. Tom took this with the snazzy camera:

And I took this through one of the crosses carved out of the bridge (I have this thing about taking photos through gaps!):

Even though we’ve been to Alnwick so many times, we still haven’t been to the castle! We could hear some sort of jousting tournament going on (well, there was a lot of cheering so something was happening!) and it sounded like a great atmosphere. Something to do when we’re next on holiday, I think…

It was lovely to be playing music again this month, as we were in the band for the production of ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ at The People’s Theatre in Heaton. Tom was Musical Director and we played lots of traditional jazz tunes in the show, which is about the dance marathons held in America during the depression in the 30s. The cast were incredible, and they are genuinely the best amateur company I have ever seen. We had great reviews too, which is always nice! One of my favourite things about the show was that we got to wear a costume and sit on a platform at the back of the stage to play. I wore a fab dress and hat, which were both 30s originals. Even though the show ended last week, we are still singing the tunes! Here’s a photo of the band – a lot of fun was had by all!

We spent this weekend in Leeds catching up with lovely friends – the kind who you don’t see for ages, but when you do it’s like you only saw each other last week Fab! We talked non-stop, had an amazing Mexican meal and went to Roundhay Park, which was so lovely as I haven’t been there since I was young. We even found the Chelsea Garden section, where the Leeds Council gardens are brought back for people to enjoy. Here are a few photos I took:[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” interval=”3″ images=”7677,7678,7679,7680,7681,7683,7684,7685,7686,7687,7688,7689″ img_size=”large” column_number=”2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1433097635431{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]In other news, I have decided to set up a personal account on Instagram as there are so many photos that I want to share but I don’t always want to share them on my blog account. So you can see even more photos there, and I’ll also be posting my 365 Grateful posts on my personal account too. If you’d like to follow me, you can find me @clarealbans – but there will still be plenty of stuff to see on my @hellohoorayblog feed too!

So June has more fun to come…the main thing that I’m looking forward to is Blogtacular, and I’m so excited that I got a place on the photowalk with Xanthe Berkeley! Excited doesn’t actually cover it I’ve been checking out new (to me) blogs written by attendees and profiles of the speakers, I’ve ordered my Oyster card and have been planning what else I can squeeze in to the weekend…look out for another post about that soon!

I hope that May was a good month for you What are you looking forward to in June?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Bits & Bobs: May 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Here are a few photos that I took – I could have stayed all day, but we had to get back to the conference!

[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7478,7456,7475,7474,7455,7457,7458,7461,7462,7460,7463,7464,7467,7466,7468,7469,7470,7473,7472,7471″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1429562379077{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]The alpine house was definitely one of my favourite parts of the garden! I’d love to go back and explore more if I’m ever in Leicester again. If you’d like to plan a visit, you can find out more information on their website. Hopefully it will be on a beautiful sunny day like this![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Leicester University Botanic Garden appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

The first special I bought was the photography special. I am really keen to improve my photography skills (which has been well-documented on my blog) and as I don’t really know much about the technical side of things I thought this would be helpful in terms of doing a bit more than just ‘point and shoot’! There are loads of really helpful tips in here and this special is great for giving ideas about new ways of taking photos. I love the idea of making your own camera! There’s also a really great section on food photography, which is notoriously very difficult.

The interviews with various people who do this for a living are really informative and inspiring. It definitely makes me want to get out there with my camera! This is where I really saw Project Life for the first time, and it was one of the reasons I decided to get started with that. I’m really glad I did![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7365,7366,7367,7368″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1429176774500{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

DIY Fashion is up next – I love the Liberty print dress on the front cover (made by Lisa Comfort of Sew Over It, who also guest-edits here) and will definitely have to make one out of that fabric at some point! This special is divided into four different fashion trends: vintage, quirky, bohemian and retro, with different projects and features in each one. Whilst I don’t necessarily stick to one of these trends, each one has inspiring elements which you could adapt into your own style. So you could take the fabric painting technique used in the flamingo t-shirt, and make your own retro style print.

The embellishing tips are really useful here too – I’ve got some ideas in my head for projects and I’ve never really done anything like that before. It’s a good excuse to go and buy some supplies! So even if you’re not going to make the exact projects from this special, you’ll certainly be inspired to go and create your own wardrobe.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7357,7360,7358,7359″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1429177451187{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

The Blogging special has been really helpful in so many ways for my blog, so whether you’re new to blogging or you’ve been doing it a while now, I’m sure there’s something in it for you. The interview with Elsie Larson from A Beautiful Mess is super interesting to read, as she talks about perceptions of blogging as a career and is really honest about the pros and cons of that. Great to read all about it from someone I really admire. The feature on Blogtacular made me even more excited about getting a ticket for this year – woo hoo! Can’t wait to make new connections and learn so much in June.

I guess that’s one of the main things I took from this special – there’s always more to learn. Since buying this I’ve tried to put some of the things I’ve learnt into practice, and I’ve also been signing up for online classes and events like Blogtacular. In a sphere that’s constantly changing with so many people blogging now, it’s important to be yourself and get yourself noticed as much as possible. This special will certainly point you in the right direction! I believe I am right in saying that all physical copies of this have now sold out (on account of it being really popular!) but you can still download it for Apple or Android through the newsstand (or Android equivalent).[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7361,7362,7363,7364″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1429178510451{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

Next up is Sewing, which features another of my favourites Tilly Walnes from Tilly and the Buttons (as well as a bit more from Lisa Comfort – yay!). How gorgeous is the patchwork dress on the front?! Like the DIY Fashion special, this is really inspiring, even if you don’t make the projects as you see them. There’s a lot of repurposing and reusing, and it’s great to think about things that are in your wardrobe that can be reworked into something new.

If you’re new to sewing, there are loads of handy tips about sewing machines and techniques. I just love looking at different fabrics and there are plenty to lust over in this edition! Will definitely be trying to track down some of them…[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7369,7372,7370,7371″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1429175183628{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

I’ve saved this one until last as it’s my favourite (even though they are all lovely!). It is divided into several main sections that cover Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, with an extra (brief) section for things like Google+. For those of you who are completely new to any of these social media, there’s a handy bit at the start of each section to explain how they work and what the different functions do. Lots of people will know this already, but it’s great if you don’t know your likes from your pokes on Facebook, for example! Even though I know a bit about social media already, I have learnt so much more from this special. Who knew that Pinterest has an analytics function?! I didn’t, but will definitely be trying it out soon! It also made me have a little spring clean of my boards, so do check out my Pinterest boards if you’re on it.

Another thing that I love about this special is that they have included some suggestions of people to follow on each of the social media too – the feature on Emily Quinton of Makelight is really interesting and I’ve been a fan of hers for a while now so it was good to find out more about how she’s grown her audience. I found the section about Twitter to be really useful too. It’s my least favourite of the social media by far, but I know it’s one of those things that I’ve just got to do! Hopefully the ideas here will prompt me into being a bit more proactive on my Twitter account.

[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7379,7382,7380,7381″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1429178784523{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]”So are there any downsides?”, I hear you ask…well, these specials are a bit more pricey than the usual magazines at £7.99 (the Blogging special was £9.99 but it is slightly bigger). I didn’t get the Christmas one last year because I actually had lots of the projects featured in it in craft books that I already have and it seemed like a waste of money really. So if you’re thinking of getting them you might want to flick through it first. If you’re an avid Mollie Makes reader and have been reading for some time, you may also recognise some of the projects from previous issues (e.g. the fabric camera strap in the Photography special was in a back issue a couple of years ago or so) – and the interview with Zoe Pearson in the Social Media special was in issue 51 of the main magazine only last month. It must be difficult to get the balance between reusing content that takes AGES to write and shoot, and keeping regulars happy. I really enjoyed reading the rest of the magazine so it didn’t bother me too much, but I wouldn’t want to see too many features reused in such a short space of time too often.

If you’re a blogger or a small business person looking to improve your blog or photography, or you want to get the most out of social media then you should definitely grab a copy of these specials! The sewing one is beautiful too – I was really inspired by some of the projects and especially by the prints and styling of the photos. Fab!

Have you bought any of these specials? What did you think?

***This is not a sponsored post – I am genuinely a huge Mollie Makes fan!***[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Mollie Makes specials appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I have loved taking part in Make It March this month! I found the prompts really helpful and it has been so good to see what everyone else is up to as well. There are some very inspiring people on Instagram and it has been great to connect with some of them. You can see a little round-up of Kate’s favourites over on her blog today.

I’ve been following Xanthe Berkeley on Instagram for a while now (and I’m keeping everything crossed that I can go on the photo walk with her at Blogtacular in June!) and love her stop motion videos. Anyway, she has been sharing her trade secrets in this post and I’m hoping to give it a go next month. I’ve never made a video before (other than silly little ones on my phone, like being on a carousel at Beamish!) so it will be good to learn a new skill.

This month I have mainly been listening to Bear’s Den. I saw them for the first time on TV when they played whilst Dermot was doing his mega dance-a-thon for Comic Relief and I loved them. I love how their voices blend together – they played the track ‘Agape’ live and I bought their album straight after hearing it. It’s great for crafting to! I imagine it will be on repeat a lot in April too…

I do want to share a few of my March photos with you too! We celebrated 10 years together this month, and I am amazed at how quickly that has gone by. So much has happened, and so much is yet to come

I am constantly admiring and snapping the beautiful spring flowers that are appearing all around. My friend Tiffany came to stay with us for a couple of days last week and we had a little wander along the river. The blossom had bloomed and we played Pooh sticks on the bridge – fun times![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7259,7260,7264,7268,7261,7262,7265,7266,7267,7263″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1427962008335{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Next month, I’m really looking forward to making a Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress with Daria – after a lot of searching we have both finally found suitable jersey fabric! Neither of us have sewn with jersey before, so wish us luck…I’ll be sharing photos here I’m sure, so you’ll get to see the results!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1427962321249{padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]I am really looking forward to spending some time with Tom this weekend and we’re hoping to get out in the garden if the weather is ok – fingers crossed! It’s a tradition to have hot cross buns on Good Friday so I’ll be making some today (so they’ll be on the blog tomorrow). Whilst looking for a recipe I did come across this hot cross bun fudge, which might have to wait until next year if I can hold out that long!

I hope you enjoyed my first Bits & Bobs post and that you had a lovely month too. Feel free to share anything you enjoyed in the comments below! :-)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Bits & Bobs: March 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

We took our snazzy camera along, so Tom had that (I had my glasses on and I can’t use it when I do – how ridiculous is that?!) and I had my phone camera. The spring flowers are just coming up so the snowdrops and crocuses are out (although the crocuses were closed up to protect themselves from the wind). There are so many kinds of snowdrops there, and Christine (who owns the gardens with her husband, Mike) was busy doing an inventory of all the different kinds. Such a windy day to be doing it, so cups of tea were frequently required to help! We had some lunch first to gear up to face the winds. Here are a selection of photos that Tom took:[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7154,7155,7152,7153,7151,7156,7157,7158,7159,7161,7162,7164,7165,7166,7149,7167″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1426091973134{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]I really love being able to see the bare bones of a garden at the beginning of spring, with the pops of colour here and there. Here are some of my photos:[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7169,7170,7171,7172,7173,7174,7175,7176,7177,7168,7178,7179,7180,7181,7182,7183″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1426092376214{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]The hellebores were just beautiful – the wind made it difficult to take photos of them at times! One of my favourites from the day was that unusual iris with its pale blue and yellow petals. Just gorgeous! We bought a couple of plants to take away with us too, so hoping to get them planted out soon. And we’re really looking forward to going back in a few weeks to see some more of the spring flowers and how the garden has grown![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Birkheads Secret Gardens in spring appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I completed the 100 Happy Days photo-a-day challenge earlier this year, and enjoyed doing it so much. Suddenly the little things that can easily pass me by became important, and it was great to be recording them. I genuinely think it changed my outlook on things too – although I’m generally quite a positive person, it was good to have something that helped me to focus on these things every day, even if I was having a not-so-good day. It was so good to look back and remember these things too, and when I read about this challenge I knew I’d have to give it a go! Obviously, 365 days is going to be more challenging than 100, but I’m up for it!

I’ll be sharing my photos for this challenge on Instagram (follow me @hellohoorayblog if you fancy!) and I’ll probably be sharing a selection on my blog too. If you’d like to find out more about this challenge, visit the website.

My Father-in-law, Keith, is taking up his own challenge this year and will be blogging about what he is doing every day at 20:15 – if you’d like to follow him, click here.

What challenges or goals are you setting for 2015?

The post 365 Grateful: Hello! Hooray! 2015 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

So the first thing I made were these record placemats for my lovely sister and brother in law. They got married last year too, and had a record-themed occasion (Ant is seriously into his records – what he doesn’t know about dance music isn’t worth knowing!). I originally found this project in issue 41 of Mollie Makes magazine, which came out way back in June, and had them in mind since then.

I wanted to match the middles of mats to the colour scheme that Naomi and Ant had at their wedding, which was teal and purple, but I just couldn’t find the right thing that I had in my head! I found this selection of fabrics in John Lewis – most of them are from the Glow collection by Amy Butler, and they compliment each other really well. 30cm of each one was more than enough to make these and to have a bit left over for my ever-growing fabric stash!

The next project I made was a perpetual ‘paper’ chain for Helen – when I saw them I immediately knew that she would like them. I found it in a wonderful book called ‘Stitch the Halls‘ by What Delilah Did, and then they printed it in Mollie Makes too! But it’s such a lovely book that I’d highly recommend investing in it for next year, and I’m so pleased that I have the other projects to work on as well.

These chains are definitely a labour of love, but are really lovely! I had never used waste canvas before (and actually bought the wrong thing at first – get the right stuff here). The ESTs (Estimated Stitch Times) given in the book are quite accurate, although it did take me ages to stitch the stags, and it took me about 20 minutes to remove the waste canvas.

[vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”6488,6484,6485,6483″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1417803771710{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]Plasticard is a new material to me (I got mine on eBay) but it’s really great for strengthening felt and I’ll definitely be using it in future projects. I got a pack of seconds with a few scratches on and this made it cheaper – no-one will tell when it’s sewn in!

I’m so pleased with how they turned out! I also made a fabric envelope to keep them in. In case you’re wondering how long the chain is, I made 12 links in 6 different colours and they fit nicely above a door frame with a small piece of ribbon at each end. It’s the kind of gift that you could add a couple of links to every year, which would be great!

My final make this year was our Christmas cards – I had the photos for this printed out for so long but it took me ages to get around to making them and we didn’t get them in the post until the 19th December. Oops! Tom took this photo in Keswick last year and we knew it would make a lovely card. I made them size A7 with mini envelopes to match (if you’d like to make some envelopes and cards this size, click here for my tutorial from last year).

What did you make for presents this year? Were you lucky enough to receive a handmade present? I received some wonderful craft books, so look out for more projects in 2015!

The post A handmade Christmas appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

The views from the castle are brilliant (even on a dull day) and from the top viewing point you can see both the north and south bays – obviously this called for a panoramic photo!

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6316″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1415388265215{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1415388100967{padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]It’s such a beautiful view! Here are a selection of photos from the castle and then around the south bay.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”6307,6314,6308,6309,6310,6311,6313,6312,6275,6276,6277,6305,6278,6279″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1415388192564{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Some of the final photos are from my Instagram feed – I just love the coffee bean and the donut man! They reflect part of the British seaside style which is just brilliant. And the double 99 was yummy too! It was good to spot those little colourful beach huts and we’ll definitely have to go back one day for a closer look. Maybe on a warmer day![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post Scarborough fun appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

It has been a bit of a gloomy day today – I’m just watching the news and am surprised to hear that some parts of England have had snow today! So to cheer you up, here’s a lovely photo I took a few weeks ago. This is a daffodil obdam – simply beautiful! I haven’t used any photo effects here, I was just lucky with the light

The post Brightening up a gloomy day appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Whilst shopping in Madrid, we found the best fabric shop ever! Situated on Gran Via is the Julian Lopez shop, and I think that Beth and I could have spent about a week in there. They had the most amazing selection of fabrics and then a home section upstairs too! It was simply beautiful – a crafting heaven!

These were the window displays – so inviting! It was like being in a sweet shop!

I managed to restrain myself when it came to purchases, although I could have bought the whole shop! I settled for a metre of this pink fabric which I’ll use for a quilt that I’m planning to make:

And I also bought two metres of this lovely fabric – I think I might make a maxi skirt or possibly a dress out of it:

It will probably be some time before I start making a skirt – I’ve got the wedding waistcoats to finish first!

The post Possibly the best fabric shop in the world… appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

On Sunday morning, Beth took me to El Rastro – the most popular market in Spain. The atmosphere there is amazing, an if you’re planning a trip to Madrid then it’s a must see! Be careful with your bag though, as pickpockets are everywhere. I bought a few things at the market – a couple of bowls, a bag and a necklace, so quite a good haul! Here are a few photos of our trip there.

And when you’ve finished shopping, there’s always time for a coffee and a bite to eat!

The post A weekend in Madrid: El Rastro appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Last weekend I visited my gorgeous friend (and bridesmaid) Beth, who has recently moved out to Madrid. We needed to go bridesmaid dress shopping and Madrid seemed like a good place to go to do that! The dress is all sorted but I can’t show you just yet – but I thought I’d share some of my photos. We packed quite a bit into a weekend!

Our first destination was Mercado de San Miguel – a really amazing market where you can buy pretty much everything food-wise, sample the sangria (although I had iced tea!) and generally soak up the atmosphere. Fabulous!

The following day, we shopped in the morning before doing some more exploring – starting in Buen Retiro Park. There is a beautiful rose garden there, and one or two of them were in bloom. We even spotted some cute ducklings!

We also visited the Crystal Palace and spent ages taking photos there. Inside, there was a lovely art installation.

Here we are enjoying the sun (briefly!) – it was a pretty chilly weekend!

That evening we went to a little tapas place, which seemed to be very popular with the locals! The food was amazing – we had feta and caramelised red onion tortilla with some chicken and some ham and cheese croquettes. Yum!

This is already quite a long post so I’ll write about our visit to El Rastro in another post, but the first photo gives you a sneaky peek!

The post A weekend in Madrid: Retiro Park, the Crystal Palace and some tapas appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Beachcombing is one of those things that I could actually do for the whole day. Every beach is different, and every day is different, and that is the beauty of it. Sometimes you end up with loads of finds, sometimes the haul is not so good – but our walk along Crossapol beach was rather fruitful!

Here is a selection of some of the finds:

The textures and colours on these shells are beautiful – they are fairly similar in shape but each one is unique. I also made these other finds, which include a small patterned stone, some fragments of pottery and some amazing purple shells – such a beautiful shade of violet!

Crossapol beach was probably one of my favourites on Tiree – the long white sands make for great walks and it was so peaceful there.

I hope you’re enjoying these photos from Tiree!

The post Beachcombing on Crossapol beach appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Apparently, it is spring…but you could have fooled me! It is snowing as I write this, and as I look out at my garden it seems as though spring is on hold. The bulbs have half come up and have realised that it is far too cold to contemplate flowering – I just love how they do that.

We do have some beautiful crocuses that have decided to brave it, and it was quite sunny a couple of days ago (only briefly, which fooled us because it was still freezing!). I managed to get some lovely snaps of them and they are really beautiful!

This variety is called Crocus Pickwick and I love the patterns on the inside – so striking.

We’ve got lots of lovely spring bulbs waiting to bloom, so hurry up sunny weather!

The post Hello Spring! appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Today was such a beautiful day! We had a day catching up with friends and also had a bit of time to have a potter around the Quayside. Despite the fact that we work in the town centre, we don’t actually get down to the Quayside too often – although every time we do I always think ‘we should come here more often!’

The sun had brought a lot of people out who had obviously thought the same thing. We had a wander around the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and went up to the viewing platform on the 5th floor – the view is great from up here!

I’ve got a new 360 degree photo app so had a play around with that too – I think the results are really cool! Will definitely be using this app quite a lot. I love the Sage on this photo – you can really appreciate the design of the building when you’re standing on the Quayside.

The post A sunny day on the Quayside appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

One of our friends suggested to us that we visit the Camera Obscura during our visit to Edinburgh last month, and it was an excellent suggestion. When she told us about it, she said that it is quite difficult to describe, but we would know what she meant when we visited. And she was right! But this is a good thing, and you have to see it to believe it!

I couldn’t take photos of the Camera Obscura itself – it is in a darkened room, but we were shown amazing views of the city by our guide. There are fantastic views from the rooftop terrace, which allowed for more photo opportunities! It was quite a dark day, so some are better than others.

There were some amazing chimney pots, and I’m wondering if I can take some inspiration from them for a crafty project…this will require more thinking!

After admiring the views, we went through the exhibitions in the World of Illusions. There are lots of magic eye prints (including an amazing one of wolves in a wood – my description isn’t doing it justice but it’s hard to describe!), holograms and other installations to trick the eyes and the mind. There is also a mirror maze and light exhibitions which are wonderful – I’m pleased with how these photos turned out!

This final photo is taken at the end of the Giant Vortex Tunnel – you walk across a stationary bridge whilst the light wall spins around you. It made me feel so queasy but Tom was fine! He obviously has a much stronger stomach than me!

The post A weekend in Edinburgh: Camera Obscura appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.