Three embroidered birds, three triangle dangles, a tin full of beads and an Etsy shop

 

I'm in a mood to tidy things up.  It's not often that mood strikes me, so I better make the most of it.  But more of that in a moment.  I'll start off with these embroidered birds.  I'd already made the blue tit, and followed that with a robin.  Now, there's a second robin.  I reckon the first was a more pleasing shape than the second robin.  Plumper and with more character.  But either way I'm fairly happy with how these turned out.  I'm thinking of the robins in terms of Christmas tree decorations, but are they Christmassy enough, do you think?  

Sorry to drop the 'C' word in there, by the way.  It seems absurd to think about the festive season when we're not even into summer, but sometimes ideas pop into your head and you just have to go with them.  The other absurdly-timed idea involved a post on Ann Wood's website.  She wrote a blog post about making fabric triangles she called tetra charms.  The link's here if you want to take a peek.  Hers are stitched from natural materials.  I had the thought that they'd be a great way to use up tiny scraps of silk.  Those precious fragments that're too nice to toss aside, but not large enough for most projects.  

I used silk scraps that're strengthened with iron-on interfacing, and decorated with a few beads and sequins.  Rather than tetra charms I'm calling these silk triangle dangles.  Again, I see these as Christmas decorations, and they'd look so pretty hanging from the tree.  Here they are with gold or silver metallic thread for hanging loops.  

I might make a few more.  I think this could be addictive! Tassels could be added or beads strung on to the hanging loops.  They could be embroidered on to as well, so there are lots of options.  

After showing you my recent 'makes' I thought I'd share my tidying up too.  Because anyone who crafts knows it's a constant battle against a rising tide of creative clutter.  There's no point throwing things away as the minute you do, you'll need it, even if you've not used the damn thing for decades!  So it's a question of storage and organisation.  I've got loads of beads, some from broken-up necklaces and bracelets, others bought new, and had them stored in three old biscuit/confectionery tins.  But that was getting irritating.  Finding any particular size or colour of beads mean sifting through hundreds of beads and often not finding what's needed.  A matter of 'not seeing the wood for the trees'.  So I decided to have a sort-out.  

I'm not finished yet, but I've begun grouping beads into types, using a couple of these plastic storage boxes.  I only bought two as I'm not keen on buying plastic, and I didn't want to acquire lots until I was sure they were the right design for my needs.  But it appears these boxes are ideal, so I may need to buy more.  

Seeing the beads set out like this really makes me appreciate more what I've got.  Clumped together in a tin with everything else their prettiness and distinctiveness was lost amongst the jumbled mess. 

I did buy two necklaces from the charity shop the other day.  Couldn't resist 'em, so they'll be taken apart and sorted into neat compartments too.   

As well as beads, I've also been organising my embroidery threads.  A while ago I bought a massive bundle of threads off Amazon, and I've been gradually winding those skeins on to spools.  

I wanted to have these arranged in a way that'd enable me to see what colours I'd got at a glance.  But my thread box is full and I couldn't squeeze any more in.  So I unearthed a plastic A4 sized box that'd previously had cardstock in it.  I cut out lengths of card to make dividers, and into that box my surplus threads went.  

The washi tapes are temporarily in there until the box is full up.  I love the rainbow of colours, and doesn't seeing these threads make you itch to get stitching with them?  

I'm using some of the red thread to slow-stitch this, which is going to end up as another triangular coin purse.  Speaking of slow-stitching, can I make a shameless plug for my Etsy shop?  

There's a fabric scrap pack that'd be handy for a slow-stitcher in need of more blues.  Also, a bundle of sari and boho style fabric scraps, great for making boho style beads.  Plus a few patchwork creations and some journal ephemera.  The Etsy shop can be found via this link, and it'd be great if you took a look.  

Okay, I need to get back to my tidying up and organising, though I think I'm due a cuppa first. There's always time for tea!