Hello!

Hello! I couldn't take a picture where I didn't look miserable or crazy, so here's both!

The third anniversary of this blog was a couple of days ago. I've spent some time tonight reading over older posts , being reminded of things - some just feel like yesterday.... Here's a small selection:
Purple squares
Art,Craft,and Design Fair
What If (?) - Crazy Patchwork Revisited
This is for you...
Thank You!

Writing my nonsense here has lead me in lots of ways I couldn't have imagined when I began. I had no idea how many creative and friendly souls there were out there! Really big hearted lovely people... and I've had great opportunities arise after people saw my work on the blog. But you'll have noticed the posts have become more seldom...many reasons why, but mainly I think its time for a change...and now seems like the right time. So Miss-Frugality is officially retired, although I'll still be blogging over at materialised, Twittering, undating my Flickr and Facebook 'fan' page It would be great if you would drop in and say hello now and then. All your comments and support has meant so much to me over the past few years.

Before I go here's something I've never done before - a little something for the hundreds of people who end up here after typing frugal into google:

Miss Frugality's Top Ten Frugal Tips

1.Leave your credit cards at home and make sure you only have the money in your purse you would be happy to spend.
2.If you don't need it- don't buy it.
3.Wear an extra pair of socks & jumper when it's cold.
4.Plan meals from what's available in the cupboard & fridge.
5.Womens magazines are designed to sell you inadequacy - you don't need to spend money on that.
6.Love what you have.
7.If you don't love it make it into somethiing you do...or pass it on.
8.Have your own style- don't be a slave to fashion.
9.Do it yourself.
10.Join the public library.

Any more ideas? feel free to add them in the comments.

All my best wishes,
Juliax

Sewing ...don't you just love it?!

Been taking a bit of time out to work on a couple of personal projects...with varying degrees of success! Yesterday I finished a smock dress made from new look pattern 6775. I don't always get on too well with pattern instructions, so I was pleasantly surprised how easy this was. Although I worked on it over a few days, I reckon it could probably be made in one full day,which is a bonus if you're desperate for something new to wear. I really like the style too - nice and simple. Having put on rather a lot of weight (and not wanting to go to the bother of diet & exercise) I wanted something I could just fling on over jeans, and feel comfortable in...well so far so good...

I love the fabric too. Difficult to tell from the picture - its linen, with a metallic thread running through it. I almost never buy new material any more, but I saw this and had to have it.

So where did it all go wrong?

When buying fabric :

• Do not buy fabric which matches your Scottish pale blue/pink complexion!
• Do not buy fabric with a shiny surface, which from a distance may resemble flesh tone wet look PVC, especially if you are trying to cover up a spare tyre or two around your middle!
• Do not buy fabric which has a funny whiff to it, admittedly this was n't apparent until I ironed it...but nobody wants to smell of cat pee.
• Do not choose a pattern that accentuates your faults...like short wide sleeves at the widest part of your body!
  

Having said that... I'm going to give it another wash and leave it outside to air (its definitely NOT cat pee BTW) I might be able to wear it with a dark brown scarf...and may be gather the sleeves...or just make another one , to save myself from looking like a giant clanger.

Thankfully the cushion I made for the bedroom was much more successful :-)




I found this (much too small for me) top in a charity shop - just £2 .

Quickly cut it too bits.

Had fun choosing coordinating fabrics and arranging buttons. Made a cushion!

...about which, I have no complaints!

Torment, turmoil, dread and fragile hearts

Been craving chocolate so badly all day... the rain has been too heavy to think about going out though. Can't concentrate on what I should be doing so its a good time to blog instead.

These silk brooches are what I've been working on most recently. They're kind of 50% serious and 50% silly. I am guilty of taking things a bit too seriously sometimes...so I thought why not just own up to it ;-)

Albeit in a slightly melodramatic fashion! Its a lot of fun writing with the sewing machine although it requires a lot of concentration...a couple of these were second attempts. There are also some tiny hand stitches on each one . But its not all doom and gloom - I made some happy ones too! That's all of these, for just now anyway!

...and a couple of new cat purses. Although they feature the same little cat, these are slightly bigger and have free motion machine embroidered details. Both are one-of-a-kind.

On Sunday I was in Edinburgh, for a visit to the National Galleries of Scotland. I enjoyed Discovery of SPAIN but loved the exhibition of drawings Raphael to Renoir, which is on until Sunday. Drawings seem much more timeless, as if they could have been made yesterday, and not 500 years ago in Italy (or wherever!). They bring history alive for me.



The rain seems to have calmed down for a bit so I'm off to satisfy my chocolate needs!

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday, originally uploaded by Julia Laing.

Just a few of my recent favourite images found on flickr. I'm so grateful to all the artists for sharing their work there...even if it does lead to hours and hours of browsing, when I should be doing other stuff!

Find links to the individual images and find out who made them by clicking the picture.

Love is...

Embroidered hearts in progress, originally uploaded by Julia Laing.

Love is...playing with silk , linen and embroidery thread! I'm making brooches , not quite finished yet - still the backing and fasteners to attach. Ideas floating around for more...

Highland Pilgrimage

This time last week I was organising cat sitters, and packing bags - getting ready to make a pilgrimage to the Scottish Highlands. The first trip in our newly restored 1972 (?) Volkswagen campervan. It's been a long term project for Robb - a labour of love. It's comfortable to amble along in and has an easy to operate rock'n'roll bed, a cooker, sink even a fridge...luxurious indeed!

We watched films in this mobile cinema.
The festival was organised by Tilda Swinton and Mark Cousins, who were our hosts .They had put together a great programme of road movies, with a difference.Their suggestion - The road movie wasn't invented with (or is exclusive to) the birth of the freeways in the USA, but encompasses so much more. And they took this message to the people in towns and villages across the Scottish Highlands by means of a giant mobile cinema , which was ceremonially pulled by the film goers at various stages along the journey.
And a great time was had by all!

We also enjoyed the scenery...

And had to come home all too soon.
The rest of my holiday snaps are here ... if you're interested ;-)

New Purses!

I've been busy working on new purses this week. Lately, I've been too hung up thinking 'what will sell', which has to be a concern when every penny counts, but inhibiting what comes naturally leads to dissatisfaction and eventually complete creative paralysis (for me anyway)
So its time to just have some fun with fabric again!

I've been trying very hard not to think about it too much - just playing with the shapes, textures and colours and see what happens. I've raided my scrap bag , and my button jars...

and am using a mix of new and recycled fabrics - just whatever feels right.There's less enjoyment for me in repeating the same thing twice, so each of these is a one of a kind. More to come soon...In the meantime I'm previewing the latest work over on my newly set up facebook page...come over and say hello :-)

Oh and there's a Shopping List Saturday post here.

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday, originally uploaded by Julia Laing.

A few of my recent favourite images from flickr.com
Find out more about the artists and their work by clicking the picture.

Blogging !

When its been so long inbetween posts its very hard to know where to start. Let's just say I was questioning why I was blogging...spending a lot of time worrying about not blogging...and worrying about everything else too. But some time away has given me the space I needed to make decisions about the direction of this blog.

Writing about my personal feelings in the same space as the more blatant plugging of my wares (which I have to do to earn a crust) made me feel increasingly uncomfortable. For that reason I'm glad to say I've just written my first post on my new dedicated shop blog, which is hosted on my own website materialised.co.uk
Of course its a work in progress , but I'll enjoy tinkering until it takes a proper shape .

I do feel attached to this little blog , and feel a renewed sense of enthusiasm for it now I can define more clearly what its for - That is - work in progress, personal projects, home improvements and gardening, every day life and other general nonsense, as I see fit.

This week I've been mainly...

Hope you are having a lovely Easter weekend! (if that's something you celebrate...if not, hope you are also having a lovely weekend!)

Not too much sewing been going on around here over the past week , although I seem to have found lots to keep me busy. My home decorating programme has been carrying on , albeit at a snail's pace! I love the amazing before and after transformations on design sponge ...wish I could do that! but the only way I've managed to make any progress all all is by stealing the odd couple of hours every week or two.This week I gave the kitchen shelves a lick of grey paint , mixed up from left over black board paint and white emulsion. This is how it looked before I just love how little things like a change in colour can make somewhere feel so much more like home.

After saying I needed to spend less time online ... it hasn't worked out like that! I've been filling up a new online shop. Can't remember if I mentioned I'm now selling on ArtFire ... My store is now open and ready for browsers...and buyers ;-)


ArtFire is a new handmade market place , similar to Etsy , although it has some features Etsy doesn't have , including currency conversion! Sellers are also able to get help and support by joining the Artisan Guilds on the site. I have joined the ArtFire Europe Guild, which is very active and now has a blog I wrote my 1st post for it yesterday. I enjoyed looking through the latest listings and chose some lovely cheerful items influenced by Spring.

Over the next week my plans are to have a clear out in my work room. There are a lot of supplies not being used and taking up valuable space, so I'm going to try making some available in my new shop. I'm also going to make sure that everything I have made is available to buy online ...and I'm still tinkering with my new dedicated shop blog site , which will be ready very soon.