Crafty rut

Maybe it's the countdown to the beginning of the summer holidays, but I've been feeling very antsy of late and not at all inspired to do much in the way of craft. Part of it has been lack of time, but I also think that crafting (and blogging) is a habit. When I get out of the swing of doing either, it's quite hard to begin again.

But today I decided to give myself a bit of a shove. I had a make something moment, anything, but it had to be quick, because between chores and collecting Johnny from school, there was only three quarters of an hour and I wanted a coffee too. So I whipped out my rubber stamp carving stuff and made a little envelope stamp. My return addresses will be so much cuter for it.

And d'you know what? It worked.Because over Johnny's veg-in-front-of-the-box hour (my answer for over a year to no nap) I made a little tote too.

Tasha sent me this fabric a while ago now, and it was beginning to look at me in an accusing fashion. The bag pattern was from Eco-bag - a Japanese craft book I have been trying a couple of patterns from. I quite like this style, but the pink fabric is linen and is a bit too floppy to be a truly successful tote. It does feel nice though. And I made French Seams. Fancy.

Comments

[samantha]

what a neat carver you are - great little envelope. And I love doing french seams, it makes me sort of couture, well in another of my little fantasy's!

[Sasha]

Cute bag! I *heart* French seams, it makes things so tidy and finished. And I wish I could cut such great lines, my last two stamps were all wonky.

[kat]

that is the cutest envelope stamp ever! wow! And if I could sew well, I would so want french seams for everything. I think they make all the difference :)

[kirsten]

must. carve. stamps!

how nice to get some crafting in!

[Sarah]

I adore the envelope stamp!

Ah, french seams, pretty but time consuming... I'm trying to muster up the courage (and patience) to make a jacket with hong kong seam finishes...

[ellen]

Ali, thanks so for stopping by. If you have a Ronnie, you are truly blessed! I enjoy your blog and will be back to visit.
I did try to find the cook book here in the US, Amazon doesn't carry it. I'll try a few other places.
Great stamp and bag.

[monique(moki)]

ahh I think the funk is going around as far as I can tell...I think I have an imunity to it right now ;)

Wish I could find that print in that color locally, I can only find the blue

[Soo]

ooh, I love your stamp!

[Gemma]

Love the stamp but I think I adore the bag even more!

I know what you mean about keeping in the swing of things. I find that if I go a week without blogging or making something I find it really difficult to get back into the habbit of it. Kind of the same with housework really but I'm more than happy to let that slide!

[lusummers]

hey ali! thanks for your comment on blu-shed, i really appreciate it. love the envelope stamp, cute, cute cute! the bag fabric (bottom)is just gorgeous, and french seams? you're just too fancy for words! :)

[julie]

The bag is lovely - those fabrics work so well together but I'm hugely impressed with the stamp - it looks brilliant and to think you just whipped it up AND had time for coffee!

[Angel Jem]

Love the stamp & the bag.... I think creative funks are a bit like s*x... the longer you put off doing it, the less you feel like doing it, the better it actually is when eventually you can't think of another excuse and have to do something! I go for the same answer in both, I think.... I put it on the calendar and treat it as an appointment I have to keep! One of them is Friday night.....

[Sarah]

you may have noticed there hasn't been a real dearth of posts coming from my direction lately, so it likely won't surprise you that i can relate to the sentiment in your first paragraph. my exact response to it was something like "yes, yes-yes, yes, yes!" creatures of habit, we are. when the habit goes, so does the practice. glad you were able, if only for a moment, to break free of the habit of craftlessness.

(i got your package in a surprisingly short amount of time, by the way. i *will* email you but just wanted to mention quickly that everything you sent is veeeeeeery slowly being doled out. it has become my summer arsenal, my bag of tricks, and it is precious, precious booty. also, i suddenly feel inspired to knit a sweater for a giraffe.) ;)

[Joanna Butchart]

hi I love the stamp a fantastic idea. My little boy stopped having naps around the age of 2.5 and the veg in front of the TV worked for a while BUT BE WARNED, he now wants to do stuff with me at all times. I love the bag, I have seen the bottom fabric before and really like it

[radiogirl]

What a great way to kick-start your creative spirit.

[monica]

that stamp looks so perfect!!! how can you do such straight lines?

First hidden zippers, now French seams... we're getting to posh for the like of us, my dear!

Or should ... m'am? (like in jam, not ham...)

[LucyKate Crafts]

cute little stamper, my daughter is obsessed with little envelopes at the moment. she's only 5 and uses them to write to fairies : )

[paula]

I really like these - the stamp especially. Pretty impressive for a "crafty rut."