Ticking Over

I notice from the date I've been a bit neglectful of this blog! I have been busy though corsage making.

Been working with a few new tartans - here is one - the Ancient McEwan - quite a nice looking tartan

Also been coming up with a different look for the corsages - another option for customers.

Just getting back to it all after the arm palaver. Not been back on my bike yet - they said to wait 12 weeks (in case I fall off it again!) however, it will soon be time!

Have a good day!
Mich :)

Burns' Night Frenzie

Have been so busy with corsages and pins for Burns' Night. It has been great to find lots of people ordering my creations and getting good feedback. I also got my first order from overseas (Germany).

Most popular tartan has been the Pearl o' the Tay tartan - I think because of the lovely colours.

I have used a new tartan - the Buchanan tartan which can have 2 looks depending on which part of the tartan you use.

Buchanan Tartan 

Colour 2 Buchanan Tartan 

My shoulder is on the mend thankfully - now it is the hard part of stretching the tendons and muscles that have been held in an unnatural position for the last few weeks. (Not very nice I will say!) I am going back to work today and hopefully I wont be too sore by the end of the day.

I have passed my massage course and am now qualified in Swedish massage and looking forward to doing a little bit of that in the evenings for friends once my shoulder is totally back to normal.

Busy times ahead I think!
Have a great day.
Mich:)

Advent Calendar 14 December 2013

Today's advent calendar picture is a corsage in the lovely Christmas colours of the Macgregor (Muted) tartan. Although this is quite a bright tartan, the muted greens keep it less loud. 

Well, managed to get through Friday 13th with nothing drastic happening! This weekend is going to be one of study as I have 2 exams next week - one on Tuesday and one on Thursday.

Have a great Saturday!

Mich :)

Advent Calendar 12 December 2013

Today's picutre is of a corsage in the lovely St Andrews Tartan.

Not perhaps the most Christmassy colours - but it's a really nice looking tartan. Not too loud and easy to match into whatever else you were wearing. 

Well the rain is back today - hoping it will clear by lunchtime. No fog up here but it does look foggy down south.

Have a great day!

Mich:)

Advent Calendar December 2

Here is today's picture - a festive looking tartan corsage in the Royal Stewart Tartan -

Royal Stewart Tartan

Have a great day (despite the fact it's a Monday!)

Mich :)

Cold but Dry Weekend

Well, Sunday night again. We had a lovely dry but cold weekend. I was glad it was dry today for the Remembrance Sunday Parade -

Took this picture of the Old Bridge Perth today also - how warm and summer like does it look?

I was working with the lovely Isle of Skye Tartan this week -

Made myself a pin to wear on my jacket as I really like this tartan.

It makes such a change when the weather is nice at the weekend! 

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Mich :) 

Time Passes So Quickly

I'm not sure if its an age thing or not, but the weeks seem to be just flying in. It seems no sooner is it Monday than it's Friday! I could be related to business ie my work is really busy, plus the evening classes, plus the corsages are busier and then I'm busy at the weekends.

Speaking of evening classes, get the results of my exam on Tuesday so fingers crossed on that one as the next exam is on 5 November so really don't fancy having to re-sit the first one too!

Corsage wise, made a lapel corsage -

Slightyly smaller in size than the brooch/pin and with some beads. Can be made in any tartan, but this one is made in the Irish National Tartan.

Also made this brooch/pin (or could be made into a corsage) in the lovely Blue Ramsay tartan - a nice change from red/green tartans.

Saturday I went to Edinburgh to see 'Cabaret' starring Will  Young. Was very good.  While there we went to the castle - and took this picutre of Edinburgh from the castle.

I am hoping this week is just a tad quieter! Though there is still studying, making etc to do plus going to see Craig Hill's show on Saturday. Let's hope work isn't so frantic!

Have a good day.
Mich :)

Busy Times

I was going to have 'It never rains...' as the title of my blog but then it rains quite often here - like today - and following a double drenching on the bike, I thought I'd stay away from anything rain related!

The corsages have been really busy this week - from Thursday - 5 orders! Haven't had so many orders at once and from all areas of the country.  It's nice to be 'found' on line and I must start asking where my customers do find me as that is probalby very helpful information!

Customer 1 from Durham sent me a picture of how she's going to wear her corsage on Saturday at a wedding - I have to say the colour tones in really well with her outfit.

This lady is going to wear the corsage on her lapel. The tartan is the Johnston (Ancient) and she chose it because Johnston was her maiden name and luckily it matches in with what she's wearing.

It's nice when customers send you pictures of how your products look.  The good thing about the corsage is that a picture of just an arm or lapel will do!

Have an exam tomorrow night at night class - the skeletal system. So am going to have to head off and do some last minute studying and fingers crossed it wont be as bad as I'm dreading it will be!

Mich :)

Bon Voyage!

Heading off on my first ever cruise tomorrow.  Fly to Palma and then we sail to Corsica, Italy, France and Barcelona.  Really looking forward to it - everyone I have spoken to said a cruise is great.  We have a couple of trips already organised - one to Rome and one to Florence.  I love all things Italian so can't wait for those. Hopefully will get some really good pictures.

On the home front, my 2 night classes are going well.  Though I do have an exam to sit the week I get back so will have to take my books with me for studying while away!

Squeezed in a couple of makes this week -

Black Stewart Wrist Corsage

Also this brooch/pin in the MacIntyre Hunting Modern tartan -

Well have a great week - wont have internet access while away - not much anyway.

Mich :)

Busy Quick Week

This week has been so busy - especially at work. However it's Friday so the weekend is here!

Despite rushing around like a headless chicken at work, I found some time to make a couple of things -

This corsage in the MacGregor Red Modern tartan - very vibrant.  Made this one slightly different with a looser wrap and some beads in the centre.

Following on from this made a jacket brooch/pin in the same style but in Pearl o' the Tay tartan -

Next week I'm going to night classes at the local college to do a body massage course - I've also got to do an Anatomy course alongside so it means 2 nights a week. Starts on Tuesday so wont be long. Will seem strange studying again!

Anyway, have a great weekend!
Mich :)

Corsage Update

Been busy on the corsage front last week.  Used these tartans:

Left to right - Royal Stewart, McAuley and muted MacGregor. I really enjoy using different tartans - though I have made one before with the Royal Stewart the other 2 were new to me.

Also made this one which is a slightly different look - a group of 3 smaller tartan roses with a burst of beads in the centre (in Royal Stewart).

Here is a picture of it on my wrist -

Corsages on my website here 

Have a good day!
Mich :)

Take Your Dog to Work Week

Well my dad is away on holiday this week (lucky him) and I'm left looking after the dog.  She is used to my dad being in and out all day so didn't want to leave her at home while I was at work as thought it may seem a long day so took her into work today.

There are only 3 of us in the office and my boss and the other surveyor aren't there all the time so mainly it's me so it's not such a drastic thing to take her with me.  Anyway, this was day one of 'take your dog to work week' and if I'm honest it actually went better than I anticipated.  She spent her time sitting under my boss's desk at his feet! The next time I went through to his office she was standing up with one paw on the desk! I mean, this is the dog who I call her name and she looks at me like I'm talking gibberish! We walked round to the coffee shop and she sat outside the door while we got our takeaways.  She obviously had some kind of 'sensible pill' this morning that I don't know about.  Either that or she's definitely a 'man's dog'. We will see how the rest of the week goes.

On the tartan front, found a piece of this lovely Melville (Ancient Hunting) tartan - a very lovely soft blue and green.

Have a good evening.
Mich :)

New Corsages

I have been busy this week making these new corsages.

I picked some tartans that I hadn't used before. My favourite out of these 3 is the Clans of Caledonia - it feeds my 'all things purply' obsession! (The colours on the computer make it a bit more red/wine but it is definitely more of a cerise/purple colour)

From left to right - Urquart (Ancient), Clans of Caledonia and Johnston (Ancient)

Have a great day. (Especially as its Friday!)
Mich :)

Dubrovnik Trip

Well Dubrovnik has to rank up there with one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We were lucky in that our hotel was about a 10 min walk to the old city.

We went on a cable car ride to the top of the hill and the view was even more amazing -

How I ever got on the cable car I don't know! (I think the trick was eyes closed!)

The wedding went well - it was such a beautiful setting.  My corsage looked good with my dress -

All in all was a great few days.

Back to reality now!

Have a great day.
Mich:)

Which Corsage

Well as I mentioned yesterday, I'm off to a wedding next week - in Dubrovnik of all places! Really excited about seeing the city as well as the wedding!

I am going to wearing a Pearl o' The Tay tartan corsage.  I have made a couple up and just have to decide which one!

Option 1

I decided to use a white ribbon as my dress is light coloured and summery.

The other option is this one with the white netting at the edge.

Option 2

I am swaying towards Option 1 but after trying Option 2 on again it does actually look quite nice.

Decisions! Decisions!

Have a great day.

Mich :)

Corsage

I got an order for a Baird Tartan Corsage this week. The Modern Baird Tartan is a green colour with a lovely cerise/pink colour in it.

The customer is going to send me some Ancient Baird Tartan to make a corsage in that - it will be interesting to compare.

Next week I'm off to a wedding myself and tomorrow will show you the corsage I'm wearing.

If you think a tartan corsage would be ideal for your wedding/event please check out my website - if you need a specific tartan let me know and I'll see if I can get it.

Have a good day.
Mich :)

Handmade Monday 72

I haven't been neglecting this blog (well maybe a little bit!) but with one thing and another time has been short for me this last couple of weeks. (More about my return to the dating world on a later blog post!)

I have though been busy in the corsage making department.  I just made this slightly different one for a lovely girl for her graduation next week -

I wouldn't really have thought about them for graduation until this order but actually think it will look good.  It  is made in her family tartan.

I have a lot of reading to catch up so am heading over to Handmade Harbour to see what everyone else has been up to.

Have a great week!
Mich :)

Handmade Monday

Well it has been a busy old week.  A lot of it centred around the gym - however this intense programme is just to tone me for my holiday and after that I'll get back to my normal routine as this seems to be taking so much time and leaving not a lot left to do much else but head to bed!

I have been making corsages this weekend for the kilt shop and also a couple of other things for the St Johnstone fanatic - though I definitely wont be making the hair clips again as they took an age due to the thickness of the fabric to work with!  The hair band I don't mind so much. She has also ordered a couple more things so that will keep me busy!

I'm adding a picture of a corsage in the Pearl O' the Tay Tartan which is exclusive to the kilt shop and one which they designed themselves. It is such a lovely colour.

Other news this week came from son yesterday.  He auditioned for the Cairngorms Ceilidh trail yesterday and got a call later on to say he had a placed. Am really pleased for him as it is paid work! (Pleased for me too!)

It seems to be have a very Scottish blog this week! (Next week I will write it in Gaelic  - only joking!)

I am now heading over to 1st Unique Gifts to see what everyone else has been up to this week.

Have a great week!
Mich :)

Handmade Monday

I am running at the last moment to catch Handmade Monday this week!  My weekend just went to nowhere - passed in a flash!

I got an order for a corsage - was really pleased as it has been ages since I've had an order for something.  The girl wanted it in the St Johnstone tartan (football club tartan) for a wedding she is going to next month.  So I made that on Sunday when I got the material - included a picture of it as I wasn't sure what the St Johnstone tartan looked like either!

I am still working on my wrap for the holidays but managed to make this little hat for the year old daughter of a friend - I have sent it off to her so am hoping it fits.  Just a change from a regular beanie hat.

Aside from the above I have been concentrating on my new gym programme and am happy to report that the  aching muscles have eased - thankfully!

Please pop over to 1st Unique Gifts to see what everyone else has been up to.

Have a good week!
Mich :)

Happy Easter!

First would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a good holiday tomorrow (if you are lucky enough to get the day off from work).  Starting on an Easter note - I saw this in window when I was out yesterday -

Not the best picture - I did actually go to the door to see if someone was in and ask if it was ok to take a picture but no one was in so took the picture from the pavement as opposed to their garden.

Craft wise, my friend Emma who has the kilt shop has asked me to come up with a corsage type thing for little and bigger girls. The kilt shop is mainly a male dominated area - for women there are only really tartan sashes so she thought it may be a good idea to have some little corsages for upcoming weddings.  I have been trying to come up with something incorporating tartan as opposed to just a flower of sorts.  I did get a bag of some really great tartan fabric scraps so have been trying to use them.  The problem I'm finding with the tartan material is that it is thick and also it frays easily to so use it I have to really use it doubled to avoid any fraying.  (Any suggestions on the fraying would be greatly received.)Here is one of the things I've come up with -

The other idea I had was to use tartan ribbon - not so bulky as fabric -

The advantage of using the tartan fabric is obviously firstly that the cost would be lower and also there would be a chance of matching it to the kilt tartan of the man. The ribbon is a lot easier to work with but there is cost involved and limited choice.  Anyway, that is what I've been working on/thinking about this weekend.

As my holidays aren't too far away now (only 6 weeks - it seemed to suddenly almost be here!) I decided to start a wrap that I could take with me for evenings when it will no doubt be a bit cooler when we are staggering er er sorry walking home from a bar/restaurant (more about the upcoming holiday later!) Anyway, got some cotton/acrylic blend yarn and a nice open stitch (the lacet stitch) and started it yesterday - it is coming along  and now I have the pattern rows in my head can quite happily do it while watching TV (with one eye on it of course too!)

Anyway, that is my weekend.  Pop over to 1st Unique Gifts to see what everyone else has been up to and have a good Easter Monday.

Mich :)