1, 2, 3, 4, 5, once I caught a fish aliv.... er....hmm

We came home today from a lovely weekend down in South Devon with our parents and friends, only to find that one of our new fishy family members had sadly come to an early demise.

We are now down to four little zebra danios, hope they're not mourning their little brother too much!

Speaking of fish, I've been embroidering the crazy patchwork that I started a few weeks ago. Not having done a lot of embroidery before, I'm finding it very therapeutic!

Only a quick post today as we've just got back and I'm ready to catch a few z's!

I'll leave you with this photo of three of the four remaining fish!

Today I'm sharing this post over at Handmade Harbour.

The finished papercut heart

It's been a beautiful day here in Devon, the sun's been shining and we've been out for a lovely meal at the Clavelshay Barn near Taunton. If you're ever in the area, you really must visit; it's in a pretty spot by the river and the food is delicious!

Last week I finished a papercut heart for my Auntie. Here's how it started life...

 ...and here it is finished, many hours later!

I'm not sure what colour my Auntie will choose for the background, but I've shown it here on red for Valentine's day.

My Auntie requested that it feature lady birds, hearts, butterflies and the word love; can you spot them all?

Here are a few close ups to help.

The heart is in the middle of an A4 piece of thin card. It's almost as high as the card is wide.

I've now got another commission for a wedding present which I'm really excited about! It'll feature the bride and groom's names, their wedding date and a couple of little things representing their hobbies hidden in amongst the flowers.

I'll leave you with these photos of Westward Ho! taken yesterday and this evening. I love the vibrant green of the grassy tussocks against the sky.

If you've enjoyed this post and would like to keep up with my work, please 'like' my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter @ClareWillcocks. You can also subscribe to my blog using one of the buttons on the right :)

Today I'm sharing this post on the following blogs: Handmade Harbour, Manonpopje's Illustrations, Be Different Act Normal and Tatertots and Jello.

A papercut heart in progress

I've been working on a couple of things this week, one being a papercut heart for my Auntie. I haven't quite finished it yet as it's quite intricate! An early birthday present of a craft knife is making things a little quicker though, it's easier to cut around all those little curves than the stanley knife I'd been using before.

Someone asked me last week if I could show the process behind one of these papercuts, so I've taken a few photos as I've gone along.

I start by drawing the pattern out in pencil and outlining the most intricate bits in fine line pen.

Then I begin cutting either side of the lines, stopping and turning the card to go around corners.

It's best to cut out the insides of shapes first, for example, the insides of leaves or butterflies. If you cut the shape out first and then try to cut the inside, it tends to rip or bend the card at the weak points.

That's about it, just continue growing it outwards. This is as much as I've done so far.

This is it from the back, where the cutting is done. One thing I would say is make sure that you write any words backwards, I speak from experience!

And again from the front. It's the sort of thing that once you start, you get quite addicted!

Another early birthday present that I received from some friends this weekend is this beautiful papercut! Aren't I lucky! It was bought on a trip to China and seems to be some sort of transparent paper painted gorgeous colours.

Finally I'd like to introduce you to our new pets! These are zebra danios and the first additions to our tank.

I've named them Fred, Cecil, Barney, Sparky and Wonk (as he's got a kink in his tail). I'm not convinced they're all boys (how does one tell?) but I'm sure they won't be too offended if they're girls.

Sorry about the terrible photos, they're so speedy it's hard to get a good snap. We're working on making the tank a little more interesting for them too.

If you haven't entered my giveaway yet to win this papercut heart, head over to my Facebook page for instructions, you've got until the evening of Monday 10th Feb (UK time)!

I'm sharing this post on the following blogs: Manon Popje's Illustrations and Handmade Harbour.

Papercut heart with flowers - giveaway time!

I'm getting a little bit addicted to these papercuts. They're so satisfying to do and I love how the bright background colour transforms them when they're finished. The fact that they're hearts makes them the perfect Valentine's day craft project too!

Seeing as I can't seem to stop doing them I've decided to give one away! If you'd like to win this little papercut heart, head over to my Facebook page for details on how to enter.

This is another flowery heart I cut this week. If you'd like to get your mitts on it, it's for sale for £25 + p&p. Pop by my Facebook page and drop me a message if you'd like to buy it :)

Now, remember those fabric scraps from my Auntie that I told you about last week? Well, I had a go at crazy quilting. I was unprepared for how much brain power it takes to sew the pieces down in order! It's like some sort of complicated mathematical equation!

Here's how it turned out. I would have liked the outer pieces to have been shorter and fatter, but for some reason I kept needing to add longer bits to cover up the previous pieces' edges. If anyone has any tips on how to prevent this I'd be very grateful.

Nevertheless, I like how it turned out. I think it looks like sea (on the left), hills (on the right) and a fiery red sunset sky. Though that could be just my imagination!

I'm going to carry on and do a bit of embroidery over the top to give it some more interest. Then it will have pride of place on the wall!

Speaking of seaside views, Sam and I went to Clovelly yesterday. The weather was a little temperamental but a shower of rain was a good excuse for a hot chocolate in the pub!

Don't they look like little, painted model houses!

The last creative thing I did this weekend was bake a cake! It's certainly not the prettiest looking thing, but it does taste good! We've almost demolished the whole lot between us and the little that's left I'm sure we'll finish off with a cup of tea tonight!

I bought the sprinkles on offer after Christmas! Always looking out for a good bargain, me!

And on that scrummy note, that's it for another week! Don't forget, if you'd like to win my handmade papercut heart, head over to my Facebook page to enter my giveaway.

Today I'm linking up to the following link up parties: Handmade Harbour, Manon Popje's Illustrations, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello and Lamb Around.