Wedding belles

Those of you who read my main blog will already have seen my many wedding pics of our handmade wedding back in July this year in the Derbyshire countryside.  If you want a peek at more pics have a look here.

We had a really handmade theme to a lot of our wedding.  My husband designed the invite which we based on the royal wedding memorabilia (which you can see here), which were printed on tea towels and he designed the menus and order of service etc.  I made my wedding dress and accessories for the wedding day, the boutonnieres and made and sourced most of the decoration for the wedding too and me and my family did the flowers on the morning of the wedding, having bought flowers from the wholesalers that morning.  My brother took all the pics and my sister in law took a Super8 video of us too and our families worked their backsides off to help us out setting everything up and taking it all down after the celebrations.  It was a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it.  

Did you have/Are you thinking of having a handmade wedding?

Baby DIY

With a little bun in the oven of my own, I am starting to think about making some cute little clothes and baby accessories while I still have a bit of energy left and there is a tonne of inspiration and ideas on the internet, here are just a few.

Yikes! Aodrable baby booties from I Think Sew

Fitted crib sheet easy tutorial from Joanne Arbour 

'Cute as a button' button top tutorial by Shwin&Shwin

Yay!  A tutorial from Dana Made It for an easy skirt, and a cute one at that!

Lotta Jansdottir's book, Simple Sewing for baby has a lot of lovely simple patterns for baby, like this little swaddle blanket. 

Every baby needs a bib, find out how to make your own at Purlbee.  For your baby, not you, of course!

There is nothing cuter than a little bundle of joy in stripes.  Made by Rae shows you how to make your own

Apologies for going AWOL the last few months.  I was busy preparing for my wedding which was in July (tutorial posts to come) and also found out I was pregnant so been struggling with morning sickness which has thankfully now passed, with eveything going on the blog has been a little neglected, so as I was writing this post for my main blog, I thought I would copy it here and just to let you know I haven't gone for good!  

Put a lid on it!

Cute tutorial to jazz up your old jars from Designsponge using scrap paper.

I have to make this!!

Doilies plus wallpaper paste plus glue = fantastic looking lightshade!!  Tutorial from the amazing dosfamily

New Bettyjoy website

Yay!!!! I finally got myself organised and got myself a new website with the help of my boyfriend (who designed it) and Applebox Designs (who did all the tech bit and the online design). There are workshops, tutorials, surface pattern design and more to have a gander at on there so go check it out the new Bettyjoy website here and let me know what you think.

Cute 'all year round' wreath

A wreath is not just for Christmas as this cute tutorial over at Curbly shows.  

A different kind of writing desk

I saw this image on Kika Reichert's blog.  I love a good soak and whats even better is if you have a good writing tray to pen your memoirs as you bathe.  Check out this fantastic idea - you could knock one up using just old pallets and nice bit of varnish.

Canamel (or Caramel in a can)

Not a tutorial as such, but a very good idea nonetheless.  I found this idea onYolanda Campbell's  pinterest page.  Simply boil a tin of condensed milk.  

Cabbage Rose stamp

Cute easy-peasy stamp idea from good ol' Martha Stewart

A little horse

What an adorable and simple idea from lightbluegrey.  Check out her tutorial here.  Unfortunately i don't have a child to make this for, maybe one for me to galavant about the house on??

Ribbon holder

If you have ribbons and bobbins lying about in a tangle looking unsightly, these ribbon holders will not only keep you organised but they make a really pretty creative statement.

Super sewing brooch

If you pine for people to describe you as 'a bit arty' and want to give off a 'creative' vibe then this is the brooch to flash about!  And when strangers stop you in the street to ask where you got that fine accessory, you can casually reply 'oh, this old thing? I made it'!

Sew Super Necklace

This necklace doesnt even really need a tutorial as its as simple as threading bobbins onto a length of cloth or a scarf.  The necklace is secured by tying a bow at the back.

Bobbin drawer handles

Are your drawers looking drab, do they need a crafty spruce up?  These dapper drawer handles are super quick and easy to make and attach.

Crafty stamp

Super simple craft stamp which you can use to decorate wrapping paper, or envelopes & letters (if anyone out there is old school and still writes letters) and anything else lying about.