My new toy: Motex label maker

My daugther starts preschool when she turns 2 at the end of November and I got all excited about buying her a lunchbox, drink bottle and school bag. But not half as excited as I was about ordering my Motex label maker!!!!!

I bought it online from Qwerky Home who sell "fun and beautiful homeware, gifts, furniture and stationery in vibrant shades and lush fabric and quirky designs".

And look at the beautiful way it came packaged...

....with a lovely hand written note and some peas!! Yes peas but more about that in a moment.

I really should have finished putting away my groceries and clearing the bench but of course I couldn't wait and had to rip into it and get labelling...

...it is so much fun to use and so retro. I ordered extra pink and yellow tape and then ended up bying a pink and yellow lunchbox so it is all very co-ordinated!

Then I thought while I already had such a mess I might as well make a label for her bag too. I found some Amy Butler cardstock and randomly chopped some tag shapes and laminated them...

 

... added the name and found some recycled bakers twine....

and there you have it a bag tag...

Now back to the packet of peas...

...which I found very intriguing so followed the link that was 'motexed' on the packet and this is what I found in the FAQs....

What are the pea and spaghetti squash seeds all about?We try to do our bit to lessen our impact on our environment. Sharing some seeds and encouraging some vege growing on your balcony or with children out in the back garden makes us feel good.

How cool is that! We love growing our own vegies so I can't wait to get these planted or should I say give them to hubby to plant as he is in charge of the vegie patch.

Mini Embroidery Hoop Necklaces

I was so excited to finally find some amazing miniature embroidery hoops on Etsy and ordered 10 immediately......

...they are from Sonia at dandelyne who is so delightful to deal with and genuinely enthusiastic about her fantastic product and what her customers are creating with her hoops.

 

So here is the new range of Cupcake Cutie necklaces...

 

Mushrooms in blue and...

....Mushrooms in green.

Mr Fox

 

Ms Bunny

Babushka Mushroom

 

Babushka Hedghog

 

 

All the designs are teeny tiny cross stitches onto felt and have a 20" necklace chain...

....with a lovely back to finish them off...

 

You can find all the Mini Embroidery Hoop Necklaces in my felt or Etsy stores.

 

P.S Available as a brooch too!



Table Decal: Paint by numbers deer

I am very excited to introduce the latest addition to our family...

 

...my fabulous new dining table. Now it is new to us but is certainly isn't 'new' if you know what I mean. It started out life like this...

Excuse the shocking photo!!!

It is hard to tell but beneath many layers of navy blue paint there is a lovely solid wood table. After much stripping and sanding (thank you hubby!) the table started to look a lot better and after a coat of glossy white paint (again hubby you are a star!) it was looking fabulous and I couldn't wait to add its' crowning glory....THE decal...

I had been coveting this decal for awhile having first pinned this photo onto my Paint by Numbers board (on Pinterest of course!)

 

It is from the fabulous luvloo who make wall and table decals with lots of gorgeous designs to choose from. They make the decal to suit the size of your table with is great so make sure you measure your table 10 times to get the correct measurement.

I had measuring issues and had to trim half a cm off the entire decal....not fun and quite stressful because I soooooooo didn't want to ruin it!

Anyway I was very patient (for once) and measured .5cm increments all around the edge and very carefully cut holding my breath the whole time.

The decal is backed with sticky paper that you peel back to adhere it to the table, you can imagine on a round table this is slightly tricky, definitely not one for the faint hearted but so worth it.

 

Now that the table is complete I am eying up cole and sons tree wallpaper.....

 ...for the back wall and/or Marimekko 'Kaiku' curtains...

....or failing that I could get the tea towel version....

and make them into cushions. Maybe that might be a tree too far!

But I definitely do have to dust off the sewing machine and get started on some cushions...I can't wait!

Turn your photos into Pop Art with ease

I stumbled upon a great website today while googling something totally unrelated and after a few minutes I had created this...

....super cute pop art version of my kids.

It was so easy to do so I thought I would share it with you.

The website you need to visit is befunky.

You don't need to sign up or log in just go straight for the upload button and find a photo you want to turn into pop art. This is the original image I started with....

I decided to zoom in on their cute little faces by using the crop button on the top left.......

....then when you are happy with the area your photo is to become hit the 'Apply' button.

Then you will have the image to add the effects to.

Then on the very left handside click on the button that looks like a wand second from top and it will give you all the effect options. You can make your photo in sepia, black and white, polaroid etc.
Click on the pop art button and it will bring up the pop art options....

.....Click on the one you like (you can try them all out first before you hit 'apply')....

....and your masterpiece is done and you can hit the save/share button and save it to your desktop or send it straight to Facebook.

Easy peasy.

Coincidentally I just received an email about 60% off photo canvases so I ordered an A3 size for around $30 delivered. A bargain!

If you are a NZ reader you can find the photo canvas site here but be in quick because the sale ends tonight 15 July.

Happy Pop Arting!

An update + a chance to try out my Felt Mushroom pattern for FREE?

A quick recap to explain my blogging absence lately....

I have been to market....

I have added a new quirky cross stitch pattern to my Craftsy + Etsy stores.....

I have started a new project which I have been itching to stitch for over 6 months...my self control has been amazing!

And now I have finally had time to complete my Felt Mushroom pattern....

It would have been ready long ago if my Corel software hadn't conspired against me and kept eating my pattern!!!!!

Now what I would really like is a couple of you crafters out there to try out my pattern (for FREE) and give me some feedback. The pattern is in pdf and includes templates to make a large and a small mushroom.

What I am looking for is someone who is prepared to stitch up a mushroom or two within an approximately 10 day period and provide me with any constructive feedback....i.e are there any areas where the pattern doesn't make sense, needs more explaining, more pictures or better descriptions etc. Or if it is just fine I am happy to hear that too!

All you have to do is leave a comment below about your latest craft project (just because I am nosy!) and your email address and you will have a chance to be my pattern guinea pig!

You can enter on my the Cupcake Cutie facebook page too. I will choose one guinea pig from each.

PLEASE NOTE: I am providing the pdf pattern only and won't be providing the materials to make it.

Look foward to your comments and if you have any questions please ask.

Sell your craft patterns online.....FREE + simple to do....

The lovely Cinti from My Poppet has put me onto this great site called Craftsy. It is site entirely devoted to selling craft patterns which can be instantly downloaded.

Just sign up, have your paypal details ready and your patterns in pdf form and you can sell for FREE, yes FREE. No joining fee, no listing fee, no success fee. Even better your pattern never expires, no relisting required!

Needless to say I joined up immediately...these are a few new patterns I have listed today...

Russian Doll #2

Little pink flamingos

3 Little Matryoshkas

3 Little Riding Hoods

Duck Silhouette

And of course you can sign up to buy all the lovely patterns too. Best of all for BUYERS is that there are lots of  FREE patterns to download too.

This is the main reason I joined so finally my Free Babushka cross stitch pattern (shown on the right) is easy to be downloaded and the link never changes!

The Free Bunny hama/cross stitch pattern is there too.

This is going to encourage me to list FREE PATTERNS more often as it is now they are so easy for you to access.

Now I need to organised and start making my felt projects into pdf patterns...first up is the felt mushroom pattern which I am halfway through....

.....I think I will have a giveaway for this one when it is ready. So keep checking into my blog or facebook page for details.

In the meantime go and check out Craftsy and all the FREE patterns. Your next craft project is waiting for you!

New Felt Gingerbread House and pdf pattern (coming soon!)

I have been busy stitching away on my latest project.....a Woodland Felt Gingerbread house and here she is...

Mr Owl is watching over the front door and Mr Raccoon is hanging out with the mushrooms...

....Little Red is blissfully unaware of her 'friend' behind the tree...

Mr Hedgehog makes an appearence as always...

Mr Raccoon is ready for his close up....

Hanging out with the little houses......

....and with the Mushrooms....

I am going to start working on a pdf pattern for the Woodland Gingerbread House and soon it will be available in my Etsy store so you can start stitching your very own Gingerbread house!

Will keep you posted.