Spring Bunnies Free Pattern Release

I'm so excited that the Spring Bunny pattern is now available to download from Black Sheep Wools.  Designing a toy can be a stressful business; as I send over the pattern and pictures,  I anxiously hover over my inbox, waiting to see if they're happy.  Happy with the toy that I designed, happy that it meets their needs, that what I thought was cute they think is cute and something that their customers want.  It's a strange experience for me, in my day job I'm confident and sure of myself, of my expertise and ability, but designing is a huge leap outside of my comfort zone, opening myself up to public critique, good and bad.  I'm very pleased with how the bunnies turned out, and I hope you think they're as cute as I do!  

What's made the Spring Bunnies even more exciting is that Black Sheep Wools ran an Easter competition in their honour!  Twitter, Facebook and blog followers were asked to think of some adorable names for the bunnies to win everything you need to make them  including yarn, stuffing, safety eyes and crochet hook.  A great Easter present I think!

Good luck to everyone who entered; I'm choosing the competition as I write this post.  Don't forget to tweet, Instagram and email your pictures of the bunnies, I really do love to see them :) 

Fork Pom Pom Tutorial

Pom pons are a staple part of every crafters toolbox.  They can be used as decorations in their own right or jazzed up a little just like my pom pom flowers.  Pom poms also make the perfect tails for my Spring Bunny pattern, so here's my tutorial on how to make a mini pom pom using simply yarn and a fork!

That's it!  It really is that simple to make a mini pom with just a fork.  Make sure you tie the centre thread nice and tightly to keep all the yarn in place once you cut along the edges then simply stitch the pom pom into place. 

What a little cutie!

Sneak Peak! Spring Bunny pattern

For the past week or so I have been burrowed away (ha!) working hard to make an idea spring (ha!) to life.  Ok, ok, I'm sorry for that, but it was just too hard to resist; my brain has turned to all things Easter Bunny related following a week desperately trying to bring a rabbit to life in extra quick time :) 

The lovely ladies at Black Sheep Wools have asked if I have had any ideas for new designs a few times now.  Valentines, Mother's Day has come and gone whilst I've found myself disappointingly uninspired.  I was getting a little worried; perhaps I was not cut out to be a designer after all?  I was determined to make something for Easter, but found it very hard to find ideas I wanted to turn into something more.  Scanning through Pinterest and Ravelry only made me more miserable as I realised that it would be hard to come up with anything particularly original.  

I doodled in my little ideas book, a coral (my favourite) coloured leather bound book trying out different possibilities and shapes.  Doodle is an accurate word for what I was doing, drawing has never been my strong point and apparently I am particularly bad at drawing rabbits.  Still nothing.  But then one morning I woke up and had a perfect idea in my head of what I wanted to make, and how I wanted it to look.  I scooped up some cotton to get started on a prototype and crocheted away...

And realised I'd made a cat.  Rubbish. (although on the plus side, free cat pattern coming soon!)  I went straight back to it and by now had received some delicious Sirdar Cotton DK through the post from Black Sheep Wools in a selection of rabbity colours which spurred me to keep on.  I could see a little more clearly how I wanted the bunny to look; big feet and a round body.  It was starting to come together.  

So I worked away each evening to make sure the pattern was ready with just enough time to get crafting for Easter.  I even made a second bunny, partly to test the pattern out and partly to try out a couple of different looks.  I have to admit, the little cream bunny is my favourite, although there's something cute about the brown bunny too.  

Although the pattern isn't up on www.blacksheepwools.com just yet, I'm sure Black Sheep Wool wouldn't mind if I gave you all a sneaky peak of my bunnies, especially as I'm so proud of them :)

I hope you love them as much as I do.  I'l be sure to let you know as soon as the pattern is available to download.  I also have a photo tutorial coming out just in time to show you how to make a mini pom pom, perfect for a fluffy little rabbit tail.  I'd love to know what you think of the Spring Bunnies.  Have you been crafting for Easter this year too?

Pom-pom-tastic tutorial!

Pom-poms appear to be making a comeback and I'm right up there in the middle of it.  My Pinterest is full of crafty things to do with pom-poms, but the thing that I instantly knew I had to make was pom-pom flowers.  To give some context, I have a very lovely newish craft room, my christmas present from Coop last year.  The furniture is fantastic, I love my huge glossy red desk, but the room is very white and needs some brightening up.  What better way than different coloured pom-poms in brightly coloured vases?!?!

Here's how I made the flowers:

Step 1: I bought me some Clover pom-pom makers.  Now you can make them just as well using a cardboard ring but I'm a gadget kind of girl, and once I saw these online, I really wanted to get some pom-pom makers so that they are consistently sized, plus I couldn't work out from the photo how they worked and was genuinely quite curious!  There are several sizes available if you are interested and they are widely available online.The pom-pom makers come in two halves, and you simply start by wrapping the yarn around the semi-circle until you can't fit anymore yarn on.  Then you do the other half.

Step 2: Then you cut through the middle of the yarn along the gully, making sure you keep the arms shut so the cut yarn can't escape.  Tie it really tightly with some fine cotton along the gully (I made the rookie mistake of not tying them quite tightly enough and the pom-pom fell apart as soon as I picked it up!)

Then it will look something like this as you take the two halves apart:

But you just need to give it a little scruffle and it will puff right up.

Step 3: with lots of glue, attach the pom-pom to the end of a short garden cane.  This pack of 50 12inch  canes cost around 50p from my local garden centre.  The cane should easily poke through into the centre of the pom-pom.

I can't tell you how pleased I am with the results; these turned out so much better than I anticipated.  I bought these three cute vases from a local home shop as they fit in perfectly with the colourful theme of my room.  And with the multicoloured pom-poms... even better!  I'm so pleased, that I thought it was necessary to take lots of pictures from lots of angles just so you can truly appreciate their awesomeness :)

These three little vases of multi-coloured pom-pom flowers are perfect to sit on top of my white glossy Ikea cupboard where I keep all my crafty supplies.  And I can see them from the doorway too for a little splash of colour on the way to the bathroom.  *sigh* I love it when a little inspiration turns into something so cheery.  Is there anything you've made which gives you a smile whenever you see it? x