Friday 7 October 2016

September in Pictures: Bargain Threads & a Gift-Wrapping Challenge

Time for a look back at my Instagram photos from September...

This month I scored the bargain of the year, getting a whole heap of embroidery thread at John Lewis for just 10p a skein (that's 90% off the normal price! crazy!). Sadly the offer has finished now, but I am not going to run out of embroidery thread any time soon.


Hilariously, a few days after buying all those threads I had to buy some more as I didn't have the exact colours I needed for an in-progress project. Typical!

Of course, I couldn't resist arranging all the threads in colour order so I could a) see what colours I'd bought b) store them in colour groups for easy-access and c) ooh over their loveliness. All together now: ooooooooh...


I've been busy behind the scenes working on new projects, but I also started a fun new personal project - setting myself the challenge to come up with 100 gift wrapping ideas. I'm sharing the ideas on Instagram as I go along, then blogging about them in batches. So far I've shared ten ideas - click here to read all about them.

I'm hoping to have some free afternoons to do some more gift-wrapping soon!


I also blogged about some of my crafty projects and beloved toys from my childhood, including the felt fashions I stitched for my Sylvanian Families. It's been so lovely rediscovering all this stuff and sharing it with you guys - and hearing all your stories about your own childhood treasures.


I squeezed a few Nice Days Out into September, though I haven't yet had time to blog about them (though I did finally blog about my visit to Seville Cathedral many months ago!).

I spent a busy day in Oxford exploring the Colleges and other interesting buildings during the annual Oxford Open Doors weekend. Balliol was particularly swoonworthy:


I also used my Art Pass to visit Eltham Palace (wonderful!)...


... and spent an afternoon at Tate Britain, enjoying the architecture and revisiting some of my favourite paintings.


I simply had to take a snap of the platform at Pimlico on my way home. This kind of urban patchwork makes me so happy - all those blocks of colour! It reminds me of a painting but I can't for the life of me think which one.


I also popped into The Village Haberdashery to deliver some samples for the classes I'll be teaching there this autumn - you can learn to make an autumn wreath, a weather-themed baby mobile or these vintage-inspired Christmas ornaments.


Annie from The Village Haberdashery also interviewed me for their shop blog, The Daily Stitch. We chatted about my crafty childhood, how I started my business, the early days of craft blogging and the realities of making stuff for a living.


In other September news...

... I am trying to send more Proper Post and bought some awesome stamps for sending my letters (the Agatha Christie ones include tiny writing and other clues to the mysteries! So cool).


... the Partridge & Pear Wreath I made last year was republished in Mollie Makes Christmas (it even made the cover, which is always fun!).


... I finally bought wadding and backing fabric for the Christmas quilt I'm sewing for my sister. I'm hand quilting it, so there's lots of hours of stitching still to do. No prizes for guessing how I'm spending my evenings at the moment!


... and I got new glasses! I'd had the same glasses for over five years, and the same style for over a decade so this new look took a while to get used to. Change is hard, guys. I love them now though, hurrah!



I'll share another Instagram round-up next month :)

I'm lauralupinhoward on Instagram - click here to visit my page and follow me. You'll also find me on Facebook and Twitter.