Knitting hats in February

Hello everyone!  I actually have a couple of Blog posts lined up but I'm going to start with this one today!  First I would like to thank everyone who commented on my last post about the amigurumi I've been trying!  I haven't had a chance to practise anymore as I'm bust prepping for my first ever craft fair, but I have taken everything everyone said on board  :-)

Even though its getting to the middle of February I've been trying to knit a new range of hats as personally i think it is still hat weather :-P Eventually I hope to have some matching hand warmers too!  That's the plan anyway!!

These are the three hats I've done so far!  The mustard yellow one sold within a day which i wasn't expecting at all!  I am going to redo it and make the hand warmers to match to make a little set!  I've started on the rusty red mittens, just waiting for more yarn supplies!  The hats are £12 each and I pretty much do them in any colour people ask for!  So far I've done a forest green with grey bobble, a purple and cream hat with a lime green bobble and a black and white hat with a black bobble!  It never ceases to amaze me the different colours people like :-) I keep meaning to make myself one but I never seem to have the time!

I'm currently working away on some brooches for the craft fair.  I'm really nervous as I've never done one before and March is quite late so knitting might not sell as well as it does in winter, but I guess it is all practise!  I've also started work on a new mixed media project but that may have to be put on the back burner for a little while!

This is just a first draft, I will probably draw her again too!  I want to work on the mouth and make her look a little happier.  I drew the glasses to look like my own but I'm not sure it's worked, I may try a different shape, we shall see :-)

Well that's it for now.  I have an exciting Blog post I will be doing on Friday hopefully, well its exciting to me :-P Oh if any of you are interested in the hats then please don't hesitate to email ;-) 

Is it really nearly November?

I feel like I closed my eyes in may and now it's nearly November!! I'm really not sure where the time has gone! They say time flies when you're having fun so maybe this is a good sign?!?  As usual I have lots of things to squuuuuuueeeeeezzzzzeeee in to one post :-P If I don't do them now I won't remember them later!!

First up i have an announcement for my little shop Snow Bunnys knits! For the whole of November you can get 20% off any order over £5 by using the code WINTER14 you can also email me directly (snowbunnysknits@gmail.com) for the same discount if you don't have an Etsy account! I've been adding quite a few new things in time for winter, my fave so far is a bobble hat I've done which you can also get in any colours you like!

This is me in said bobble hat.

Anyway i will probably mention this a million more times but please do feel free to have a nose around my store and let me know if there is anything you would like :-)

Next up is some more Happy Mail! I love getting happy mail in the post.  The only letter I've really received for the last few years have been bills and various other official things whilst dealing with my mum and dads estate.  So I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Darnell (you can visit her Blog here) for sending me the sweetest little card.

Isn't it lovely? It sits on my shelf with all my other cards people have made/sent me.  I've actually had to start a new shelf but that sol because I just love it!! I'm in the process of trying to make her something equally as nice to send back!!

I STILL haven't got round to finishing my mermaid :-( This is hugely disappointing to me as i REALLY want to get it done! I've been getting my arty fix by painting vinyl toys at the moment!! I don't know how many of you have seen the huge array of painted vinyl toys you can get these days! My obsession with them started when I got a really cool Swatch Watch one Christmas.  It came with a collectible vinyl toy that an artist had painted to match the watch (it might have been the other way round :-P) either way each watch was by a different artist in a different style (I now have two of those watches). Since them I have been collecting them like mad! 

These ones are called Dunnys, they are by Kid Robot but each design is from a series and each series has a different theme and different artists painting them.....I feel like I'm not explaining this very well :-P Anyway I do have other toys by other companies but these are the main ones! They come in 'Blind' boxes too which means you don't know which one you will get...it also means you might beta  repeat! I've only had one repeat so far though :-P

I soon discovered you can get DIY ones that you paint yourself.....well i had to try that didn't I!! The kid robot ones are called munnys and come in different sizes and styles, I pretty much have all of them i think! Again you can get different ones from different companies! I also have a little android, a monkey type figure, a little girl with bunches and a boy.  They are plain white and you can just go crazy! For my first attempts I used sharpies but now I use Posca paint pens! I'm still learning the best way to go about things but its just so much fun!

These are my sharpie attempts! I'm actually pretty pleased with them.  Sharpies don't give great coverage but it does the job if you are just playing around a bit! The top one is inspired by Gaudi and the bottom one I just though lets use as many colours as is humanly possible haha.

These last two are my first attempt with the Posca pens! If you look at the bottom one you can see where the paint has chipped off...i think i need to prime them before i go in with the pens! Or maybe it was just a faulty pen as the other colours seem ok! I must investigate.  The top one isn't varnished and the bottom one is super glossy!! I do like shiny things!! I'm in the middle of painting 3 more..i can't just stick to one thing! I shall post photos when I am done!

Wow this post is long, I do apologise! I shall leave now before I bore you all to death with vinyl toy talk! If you have some spare minutes though, google munnys and have a look at what people can come up with using the DIY blank toys!! Amazing!!

Tangle Time

I haven't written a post in a little too long! I wanted to try and post at least once a week but time seems to be passing by at breakneck speed these days! Anywho I've been a busy little bee preparing to reopen my Etsy shop....which never actually closed but didn't have any stock in for a while!

I opened it back in 2010 and I did manage to make a few sales through it! I also sold some things in person but then my Dad died and my partner left me then my Mum died and I just didn't have the heart to even think about it! But now it's back and I've had much more time to work on it now!

Snow Bunny's Knits

That's a little sample of one of my scarves! I'm adding a scarf a day at the moment.  I'm also going to (hopefully) be making hats and hand warmers and things too! I might be able to take a couple of commissions to so if you see a pattern you like but want a different colour just drop me an email (snowbunnysknits@gmail.com) I'm always willing to have a look and see if I can accommodate you lovely people :-)

I've also been working on some zentangles.  I was using quite small paper and a quite think nibbled pen and I've discovered this doesn't work well for me.  I've now bought bigger paper and a Sakura Micron pen (best thing EVER) and I'm pleased with the results! I've bought some online classes too but I never seem to have time to sit down and do them! I'm in the process of making a Rainbow Mermaid and I just signed up for a Book worm girl...I like her because she is wearing glasses :-P 

I think I'm getting better but i find them quite relaxing to do which is always a good thing! One last thing before i go, it would have been my Mum's Birthday today.  I don't find these days any more difficult than every other day but it is a day that i remember specific times we had together.  It's only been a year or so since she was taken from me and sometimes I still go to txt her something I know she would be interested in or find funny. Here is a picture of us from when i was about 6 :-P

Until next time take care everyone :-)

Progress report....

Before I went away from Wales I had a literal blank canvas and a big idea! I always have big ideas but they never usually amount to much or they don't come out quite right! Well I no longer have a blank canvas........

This is a terrible picture but I just needed you to all see that I actually did draw on my canvas! The trouble is its awful quality! It's bumpy, not textured like textured paper but there are actual bumps in places! I have no idea if my posca pens will work or if I should just bite the bullet and go for paints! My actual plan is to buy a better canvas or paper or soothing and use this design on it and prime over this and use it for another idea I had! It's based on the idea behind my little shop....Snow Bunny's Knits (the link is at the side of this post), there isn't anything in there yet but there will be one day! I'm hoping to get some visitors who will let me know what they think :-P

Other works in progress are actual things for my little shop! First up is Zooey Zebra, she will be a present for my best friends little girls birthday (bit of a mouthful) so I'm working very hard to make her perfect!

I probably should have moved my tesco vouchers out of the shot first but originally this was just to show my friend my progress!! All I have to work on now is the mane and then she will be getting pink felt inside her ears and on her hooves so you know she's a girl!

For those interested you can order this in any colour combo you like and with any colour felt in the ears and on the hooves! You can also name he/she whatever you like! If anyone is interested you can contact me at snowbunnysknits@gmail.com or though Etsy since I haven't officially listed her yet!

I have made a promise to myself to make my days more structured and to do a bit of something relaxing in the evenings unless I have a special deadline I need to meet! I have some online art classes i will be starting shortly and I'm quite excited to get the old (and I mean very old) creative juices flowing!!

Blank Canvas

So I'm still coming down from the Summer of Colour Fun, I had a really great time and I really wish it was the year of colour or something like that :-P Although I actually think it would send me insane in the nicest way possible!!

So today I am off to a caravan in Wales! The weather is forecast to rain pretty much the whole weekend so I am taking my knitting and my art stuff so i can pass the time and hopefully get my creative juices flowing! At the moment I have this......

Literally a blank canvas!! I have ideas though, BIG ideas...well big for me and I'm hoping I can get it started whilst I'm away! There won't be any wifi (sobs) and I don't get much of a phone signal so I won't be able to check in with everyone when I'm away.....I do not like feeling cut off but maybe it will do me good!!

I've also been working on a special commission for a friend, it's almost done and I'll post better pics when it is but here is what i have at the moment!!

You might be able to tell what it is from this, it seems kind of obvious to me but then i did knit it :-P I'm also working on a knitted panda that I'm hoping to put into my shop as soon as possible! I've had my shop for a while but due to circumstances beyond my control I've had to abandon it for a bit but I'm working on getting it back up and running so next time there should be something for you to have a nose at!!

And finally, today it is 3 years since my lovely, amazing Dad passed away.  This is a pretty terrible photo of me but it shows my Dad with his trademark mega grin, this is how I'd like to remember him.  I miss him every day, the day he left me my heart broke in to a million pieces.  But life goes on and I finally feel like I am moving forward a bit.  I've signed up to some free on line art classes and I'm starting up my little business (again) but this time I'm going to power though and hopefully make it happen! As The Rock would say 'BOOTS TO ASSES, TEAM BRING IT' :-)