Shoes, Bags and a Bit Of Dressmaking

Well I'm not really a girly girl but this post will probably make me look like one!

As most men will tell you women have a thing for handbags and I must admit I have a bit of a bag problem.  Not ordinary handbags though, I love camera bags!  I even use a non-padded Crumpler bag as my work handbag.

The problem I have with my camera bags is they are not always suited to just carrying about without advertising the fact that I have a camera with me, and in addition to that I usually end up taking another handbag with me.  That was until this morning when this came into my life:

a Jill-e for Pentax ladies camera bag.

Jill-e make bags, but like all ladies camera bags they are quite expensive and aren't widely available in the UK so when I saw this brand new on e-bay for £40 I knew I had to have it.  (It's not from the Jill-e range it's one they designed for Pentax cameras.)

It's padded and has compartments inside so I can fit my camera, lenses, flash and also my day to day stuff in there like my phone, purse etc (which I often struggle with in my other bags):

I also had another parcel to collect this morning, which totally reinforces the female stereotype; new shoes.

I stumbled across Afeitar's blog when I was looking for cupcake recipes and have been following it ever since.  As well as posting about food and baking she also blogs about the cute outfits she wears.  One of her entries was about some lovely shoes she had bought in Duo.  

When I failed to find some new shoes in town I decided to check out Duo online and I'm so glad I did because I found these in the sale:

They were reduced from £80 to £20 so I couldn't resist.

A girly post wouldn't be complete without a frock so in true Blue Peter style here's one I made earlier:

It's a dress I made (and blogged about earlier in January).  This is the final finished version with the zip in and hemmed.  It's from a Vogue pattern (ref v8470).

I wore it to a vintage dancehall event last weekend and I am pleased to report it survived the evening and remained intact.  I also used the event to practise my photography skills and I managed to get a few decent shots.  This is one of my favourites which is of the dance teachers in action:

I also have this event to blame for me going hunting a camera [hand]bag as at one point in the evening I managed to velcro my camera bag to the netting on my underskirt.  Well that's my excuse for needing a bag and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks for looking.

Ruthie x

Work In Progress: The Sewing Machine's Out Again!

After the (reasonable) success of my races dress last year (here), I decided to get the sewing machine out again.  The Vogue pattern I made the dress from has a number of variations on it so I've decided to have a go at the halterneck style. It's not going too badly and all it needs now is a bit of finishing and the zip going in:

The spots are actually red, but I was messing with effects in Vignette so they've come out pink on the pic.

I must confess there is a big underskirt on the mannequin which I didn't make.  It's one I bought with another 1950s style dress.

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

A Two Challenge Combo, and A New Toy

This week I've managed to combine two challenges into one card.
Keryn set the dare over on Daring Card Makers...

It's Keryn here this week and I've been lucky enough to get my hands on a 'Big Shot' die cut machine and I'm loving it. I want any excuse I can find to make cards, well anything really using die cuts. This week I want you to play with me. Dig out your dies and your die cut machine. Cut shapes of any size and theme you please and use at least one on your card for this week.

 I combined it with Kazan's sketch over on 2 Sketches For You and came up with this:
 

Ingredients:
Dies (as per Keryn's dare): Nellie Snellen frame (painted with acrylic and sanded); flowers made with Cuttlebug asterisks; Sizzix flower pot; Quickutz grass
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Poundland gems
Ribbon from stash
Papermania paper
Pen stitching

As well as card making, I'm trying to expand my crafty repertoire and this week I acquired this..

..Mum's old sewing machine.  It's older than me, but still works a treat (and weighs a ton).

No more pen stitching on cards for me, I'm going for the real deal.  I've even bought some separate needles to use on paper.

I've not just got the machine for my paper crafts, I am attempting to make a dress! It may take some time as the last time I did any sort of dressmaking/machine sewing was at school in about 1987, and I think my Mum ended up finishing it off!

Cheers

Ruthie x

Die Cut Felt Christmas Gift Tag

This year I've decided to wrap my Christmas pressies in plain brown parcel paper and then tart them up with some nice ribbon or raffia. According to a recent interview I read, Nigella [Lawson], queen of all things domesticated is also a fan of wrapping presents in brown paper so I am in good company! She also said she uses Italian broadsheet newspapers, however I don't think the Lancashire Evening Post or Chorley Guardian would have the same artistic effect.

As part of the present tarting up I've decided to add some homemade tags. I started playing with a few ideas last night while watching CSI (double episodes on Tuesday, love it). Here is the first one I did:

Last year I did some cards with paper puddings on so I decided to try and recreate them in felt. I cut brown and white circles using the red sizzix die and then cut a wavy line in the white one to make the sauce. The holly leaves are a quickutz die and the raisins are mini brads. I didn't have any black ones so I painted some gold ones with black nail varnish. To make the tag stiffer I glued another brown circle on the back. It also hides the back of my very primitive stitching and traps the ribbon. To make the bit for the message I just cut one of the smaller sizzix circles from card and glued it on.

Now I just need to buy some presents to wrap. Urgh Christmas shopping!

Cheers,

Ruthie x