WOYWW - A flock of dumflings...or maybe a herd???

You've heard of a parliament of owls and a murder of crows, right? Well which word would you suggest for a collective noun for dumflings? I have quite a hoard sat on my workdesk today.

They're migratory dumflings, mind you. They started their life on the sofa (I've been sat most evenings with the hand dumfer watching TV) but they're now grazing on my workdesk waiting to be mounted and framed.

I'm swiftly replenishing my stock, having dropped a selection of my work in at a lovely shop in Hednesford last week.

Also flying off to pastures new this week were these hand-embroidered pictures for two special little girls who turned one this week.

The pictures have been produced using a combination of applique, blanket stitch and running stitch.

Hopefully they'll add some hand-crafted charm to their bedrooms or playrooms.

That's all from Tilly Tea Dance Towers today, the supermarket shopping calls! Thanks for stopping by, I'll swing by some desks later today. If you have arrived at my blog by happy accident and would like to know more about What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, hop on over to Julia's Stamping Ground.

Happy crafting x

WOYWW - Needle-felted miniature gardens, a trip down memory lane and fairground fun

Morning all! Well it's been another busy week at Tilly Tea Dance Towers. Birthday planning continues with gusto ahead of Ben's first birthday, Ive been listing all Ben's baby clothes on ebay and I've finally got round to moving some of my stored items out of my parents house (more about that later). Despite these jobs I've still made time for some dumfing (a.k.a needle-felting).

Here's the workdesk this week...

Now that I am once again absorbed in dumfing, I decided that I needed to stock up on my supply of embroidery threads.

Ok so to be totally honest I was casually browsing the shelves of TK Maxx and spotted this package of brightly coloured skeins and felt that 'have to have it' warm glow we crafters get when we see something nice. You've got to admit it does look tempting. The question is, will I ever disturb the lovely neat rows of thread to use any of it!!

The dumfing I started last week is also on my desk, now embellished and ready to mount. I bet I've got every mount except the sizes I need!

New dumfing has taken place almost every evening. I had almost forgotten how good needle-felting is for helping you to wind down.

I have used the large background piece from last week's desk to start another poppy picture which will be free-machine embroidered, and I've done a few more miniature backgrounds which will be hand embroidered and made into cards or small pictures.

I'm sure by now you will have noticed some extra little friends loitering around my workdesk this week.

These are my 25 year-old Sylvanian families which have been reunited with their loving owner having been boxed up for decades. The intervening years have been spent lodging with mum and dad and, as they've been moving house, I felt it was time to relieve them of their duty of care! I'm not quite sure what I'll do with my vintage Sylvanian empire just yet. The little man may inherit some, whilst other bits might find a new life via eBay. Whatever the future holds for these woodland furries it's been lovely looking back over my childhood!

My last little pic is from earlier in the week when I took Ben on his first carousel. The boy loved it! He definitely has his mum's love of rides so no doubt we'll have many a fun time in the years to come whizzing around Alton Towers, Disney World etc.

Ill be popping over to Julia's Stamping Ground and look forward to catching up with other crafters taking part in WOYWW.

Happy crafting x

WOYWW - busy books encore!

Well I can't quite believe a week has passed since I blogged to share all the little creatures sat on my work desk waiting to get together in Ben's busy book. Thanks so much to everyone who dropped by to look at my work and leave lovely comments.

I've been spurred on to keep the project going at a pace and this week my desk has once again been invaded by jungle animals as the busy book pages near completion.

With the main creatures complete, this week I've been focussing on all the tiny creatures which are hiding behind flaps for Ben to discover. Here is a sneaky peak at some of them (just don't tell Ben what you've seen!)

Hiding in the bushes on Zebra's page are a pair of toucans and a snake...

Behind Monkey's ear hides a little ladybird...

Pottering through the long grass away from Lion's view is a little snail...

This little unsuspecting fly will sit on the water lily, where hungry Froggy is waiting for his lunch...

Hope you've enjoyed seeing my latest busy book characters. Stop by soon to see more! I'll try and visit some of your desks today too!

Happy crafting x x x 

Photo collage fun

 It's a nail-biting day of sport with the F1 at Silverstone and the Wimbledon final with Murray v Federer. Hence I'm sat on the laptop to give me a distraction that will save my nails (having discovered I can watch TV and type at the same time).

I've got so many lovely photos of my button creations that I thought I'd create a collage using my latest discovery - Picasa.

I've seen lots of these collages on Pinterest and think they are a really effective way of collecting together pieces of inspiration for a new project or showcasing the outcome of your labour.

I'll have to make some more things so I can keep producing more collages with the photos :)