Race for Life 2012

Since I lost my Mum to Cancer in 1994 I've always been active in raising funds for Cancer Research, and once again this year I took part in the Race for Life. This year I decided to come back to Kirkcaldy and took part in the race in Beveridge Park on the 24th June. My best time to date was 40mins and 40 seconds when I walked/ran at Holyrood in Edinburgh. I had made it my goal to beat that time and raise at least £100 in the process.

Self Portrait - just before the warm up!

Well I am really pleased to report that I came across the finish line at a time of 40 minutes dead!! So very happy with that result as my training time had been very limited by parental responsibilities and work commitments! As well as achieving that target, my final fundraising target (including gift aid donations) came to £187.25, which I will be personally be bringing up to £200!! So thank you to all the family and friends who supported me, donated their hard earned cash and kept me going to the finish line! Donations are still welcome though and can be made via my Just Giving page here: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/lisamjones1977

I will, of course, be taking part again next year, not sure which venue yet though (I really liked the Holyrood course).

There's a great report about the event in The Courier here: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Fife/article/23524/fife-race-for-life-supported-by-thousands.html

House of Pinheiro - Pincushion Swap

A couple of months ago this fabulous pincushion swap was brought to my attention and I couldn't resist taking part. Hosted by the 'House of Pinheiro' Blog (http://houseofpinheiro.blogspot.co.uk/), I was matched and paired with Jenny for our swap!

I knew straight away that I wanted to make a pincushion hat... after all millinery is my thing! And as the project was to be shipped by Jubilee Day I decided to go with a red, white and blue theme!!

My package arrived shortly after having sent mine and was full of vintage goodies. The pincushion was a sweet vintage egg cup, perfect for sitting on my desk while I sew. As well as that I received some vintage sewing accessories, scrabble tiles that spelled out my name and a swirly lolly pop, all wrapped in tissue paper and tied up with some gorgeous ribbon!!

Jenny is a fellow crafting Mum, and writes The Gingerbread House Blog (http://the-gingerbread-house.co.uk/). Please pop over and take a look, especially for the Lego cookies... think I'm going to give those a go with Kaylee as a surprise for her Daddy who is Lego daft!

Treasury Tuesday

So this is the first in a new feature on my blog. Bringing you the best of Etsy (and mostly featuring the work of British sellers), every Tuesday!

This week I've decided to create my Treasury based around the theme of 'Rainy Day'... we've had so much rain this past week that its felt more like September than June/July that I felt it was only appropriate to search out some rain themed pieces to cheer us all up! There's something for everyone in my treasury from artwork to jewellery, housewares to patterns for the creative among us and a few things in between.

I hope you enjoy this weeks treasury... any suggestions for following weeks themes, then please leave a wee comment!

Here Comes The Rain Print by Sparklehen £7.85 (plus postage)

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTg1Nzg4OXwyNzIwNDU3NTE3/rain-rain-go-away

Bridal Fascinator for Sonia

Back in February I met with Bride-to Be Sonia to discuss creating a special fascinator for her Big Day. She was having a Vintage/Scottish style wedding and wanted me to create a piece that would fit with the style of the event and her gorgeous dress!!

At our first consultation we spent a lot of time talking about her plans for the wedding, so that I could get a feel for her day and we discussed the style of fascinators that she had been looking at. Luckily for me Sonia also had been documenting her search for inspiration through Pintrest so I was really able to see the kind of thing she had in mind. After this meeting a drew up three different designs based on the styles she had liked and presented these to her at our second consultation. The piece she chose was my favourite by far... a circular ivory sinamay base trimmed with diamantés, sequins and pearls all echoing the design in her dress. One of the things Sonia was certain about was having a birdcage veil and this she wanted to be detachable so that she could wear the simple fascinator for the evening reception. We agreed to decorate the veil with diamantés for added sparkle!!

Then work began on the piece. First I had to block the base. This was done using 3 layers of sinamay, stretched over my vintage head block, coated with stiffener and allowed to dry for a full 24 hours. Next the base was cut to shape and trimmed with matching bias binding. Then began the task of trimming the base with diamantés, sequins and pearls in ivory and blue... each sewn on by hand... the process took 3 hours to complete but the effect was stunning and very organic.

A bow was created from ivory shot satin and a lucky silver sixpence hidden in its centre. The veil was spotted with diamantés and attached  to the underside of the bow with a couple of ivory buttons.

I was so happy to be involved in creating this special piece and I'm sure you'll agree that Sonia looked stunning on her Big Day! Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Kerr!!

Queens Jubilee Pillbox by Lisa Jones (Off With Her Head Millinery)

Back at the start of the year I was invited to participate in a new design competition on Talenthouse. The brief was to make a hat to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee. I knew straight away that I wanted to create something that celebrated Britishness, and used red, white and blue as my colour scheme. I came across a lovely cream and gold crown print cotton and knew this would be perfect for creating my hat base. I decided on a pillbox as it is simple and elegant and I feel this style is really something that is associated with the Queen.

So I blocked my pillbox in buckram and cotton interfacing, covered it with the cotton print fabric and lined it with cream wool felt. For decoration I decided to create a birdcage veil, spotted with diamantes and handmade a trio of shot satin roses each finished with a heart shaped union jack button in the centre. I finished the piece with a flourish of feathers.

Voting is currently underway as I’m sitting in the Top 50 at the moment!

  You can take a look at my submission here and vote until 6pm on May11th.

Kinky Knickers

For those of you in the UK, you may have like me just finished watching The Bottom Line with Mary Portas. Well I'm a big fan and when I heard that she was planning to try and bring back British-made knickers in her new show I was hooked on the idea. I love what Mary stands for and her work ethic is second to none! What she achieves in her shows is just amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the show. 

I was lucky enough to grab myself 3 pairs (one in each colour!) of her brand of 'Kinky Knickers' from John Lewis priced at £10.00 each, which I know may sound like a lot when compared to Primarks £1 a pair... BUT... these knickers are well worth their higher price point. Mary wanted to create a pair if knickers that were not only pretty but functional... comfortable to wear and with no VPL! Well she succeeded. The Nottingham Lace is so very beautiful and makes each pair special. They are amazingly comfortable to wear...  to be honest they were so nice it felt as if I were going commando!!

Kinky Knickers in Pink (Size M)

And the packaging... well I love vintage anyway but the little boxes that you knickers nestle in are just so sweet. The packaging reads, "Best worn when the Sun's up but the blinds are down, you're on top of your day (or under the milkman) and you're feeling just a little bit naughty underneath... Top Knickers for the Finest Bottoms", And proudly states MADE IN BRITAIN!! Simply adorable.

Adorable Vintage Style Packaging... and its recyclable too!!

The quirkiness of the product doesn't stop there as hidden away in the gusset of each pair you'll find a little ribbon label telling you exactly which one of Mary's recruits lovingly made you pair... two of mine were made by James and one by Adrian... thank you Boys!!

My Knickers, Proudly Made in Britain By Adrian

So I highly recommend that you go out a buy yourself at least one pair of these fabulous knickers... say knickers to the others and show Mary and her team your support!!

Buy British!!

A family holiday in Nerja.

March and time for a family holiday! We'd been saving for a well deserved break from the everyday and booked ourselves a 5 night stay in Nerja, Andalucia.

What a fantastic time we had! The weather was fantastic, temperatures of between 19 - 23 degrees, just nice with a pleasant sea breeze and not too warm overnight to be uncomfortable. The views in this unspoiled part of Spain were simply stunning and the old cobbled streets with white washed terraced homes were just beautiful.

Balcon de Europa

C/ Caraebo

Kaylee was well catered for almost everywhere we went, the only downside was the lack of high-chairs even in some family friendly establishments, however she weathered this by showing what a big girl she is becoming and sat on a grown up chair in most places! As for things to do, we all highly recommend the Nerja Donkey Sanctuary who do a fantastic job of looking after the Donkeys, Horses, Pigs, Sheep and Dogs in their care. We adopted Ginny and Ozzie, a Mum and her 5 day old baby! 

Ginny the Donkey

The land train was also a favourite for us, Kaylee loved being taken round the old streets waving to everyone who we passed. There was also no shortage of toddler friendly play areas dotted around the town! 

The Little Blue Train

 I must also highly recommend the traditional 'Chocolate Y Churros', well worth the calories!!

Churros - sweet doughnuts best served dunked in think Hot Chocolate!!

I was very pleased to see lots of little shops with independent crafters selling their wares instead of mass market tacky tourist trinkets!! Kaylee bought me a lovely bracelet from jewellery designer Isolda Navarro and I treated myself to a gorgeous little leather coin purse sculpted into the shape of a scallop shell!

Bracelet by Isolda Navarro

Isolda's Studio on C/ Carabeo

Scallop Shell Purse

A lovely place, and we'll certainly be going back some day!