Good News Today

Turned out to be a good start to Friday. I got an email to say I'd passed my final anatomy exam and assessment essay that I needed to be able to start massaging - so that is both a relief and happy news!

I got a rush order in the week for a corsage to match black and white trousers. The customer wanted something with black and white in it. Luckily I had some of this Drummon Grey tartan -

I hadn't ever bothered to make up anything in this tartan as I didn't really think anyone would want it, but having seen it made up, it would actually look nice on a coat or jacket.  The customer was really happy with her corsage.

I have also had an order for 4 corsages for a wedding in the Thomson dress tartan - will post up a picture of these when done as I just managed to get the tartan yesterday, but this is what the tartan looks like.

I am looking forward to making these and hoping that the customer will send me a picture for my website of them being worn at the wedding.

Aside from the above not much else has been happening.  I've been trying to catch up at work after my time off and am slowly getting there! Start physio on Monday for my shoulder - think that will be painful! Physios enjoy stretching you to the extreme!

Have a good weekend. I'm heading to Edinburgh tomorrow to see the musical Evita - should be good.

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 20 December 2013

Back to the tartan today - the Black Stewart. Actually quite a nice tartan not so bright as the red stewart but a little brighter than its name suggests.

Well, arm still sore but getting used to it more I suppose. Had a bit of a problem with the muscles of my sore arm cramping - not pleasant!

Have a good 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 9 December 2013

Today's picutre is the lovely Christmassy colours of the Stuart of Bute tartan.  Doesn't this just remind you mulled wine? Such a warm coloured tartan.

(Today is the birthday of Donny Osmond - this was a very important day for me in my youth!)

Monday always gets here so quickly!

Have a good 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 :)

My Weekend

Sunday night again - it does seem to come round so quickly! Had a lovely weekend though.  Popped through to Dundee on Saturday for a bit of shopping. It was a lovely if cold day.

Took this picutre of a Dundee street looking down to the railway bridge. Edited it in black and white as I thought it looked more interesting!

Also took this one of the railway bridge from a different position:

Found time to make these 3 - Henderson, Anderson & Stewart (Old) - sounds a bit like a firm of solicitors!

Did a bit of studying too as the next exam is on Tuesday.  On Thursday now we are massaging client's at college for our assessment in the body massage class. Was absolutely exhausted on Thursday night after doing 2 full body massages. Felt in need a of a massage myself by the end of it!

Hope you had a good weekend too.
Mich :)

Good Weekend

Had a good day on Saturday despite the awful weather - raining for most of the afternoon. We ventured into town for breakfast and a wander around the shops - it wasn't of course raining at this time! Wore this pin on my jacket -

This is the one I'm not sure about the tartan - I have been told it's a Cooper tartan so will go with that!

Saturday night we went to see the comedian Craig Hill in Dundee.  It was a great show - very funny.

Today I'm going to be working with the lovely Isle of Skye Tartan -

This tartan is more of a purple colour than it appears on my computer - gorgeous muted greens too. Will be making a corsage and a pin in this tonight.

Exam-wise passed - now just have to go through the whole thing again tomorrow!

Back to the studying!
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 :)

Busy Week

It has been a really busy week for me.  Not just at work but also with starting the 2 night classes.

Anatomy and Physiology on Tuesday is going to involve a lot of studying - learning all about bones just now! The actual massage class last night was really good.  Learned how to massage the front of the leg! We got a list of what we have to wear/look while in the 'salon' - suffice to say I'll have to do some shopping this weekend for a suitable 'outfit' and also some nail clippers!

Managed to squeeze in making a couple of very easy wrap bracelets -

One will be for me and one for the first friend who says 'ooh can you make me one of those'!

Also made another tartan pin/brooch - Baird Ancient Tartan this time (a sort of turquoise theme this week all round!)

Anyway it's Friday! So enjoy the weekend.
Mich :)

Makes this Week so Far

After making this  for a friend's birthday, my daughter asked me if I could make her a wrap bracelet.

Came up with this (sneakily made in a purple colour so if she doesn't want it I'll keep it! lol) Made with a 10mm flat leather.

Of course made a tartan thing too. Got some nice Hebridean Ice tartan - which although is a tartan looks more like a tweed/check so if you're not that much into tartan but would like a pin/brooch for your coat or jacket, this could be a possibility. Finished with a nice button in the centre.

Night class tonight (Anatomy) - found a text book in the attic from a good many years ago and will take it with me tonight.  (Assuming that the muscles etc have not changed over the years!)

Have a great day!
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 :)

What to do when you can't sleep

Some nights I sleep for so long and then I have a real problem getting back to sleep even though it is nowhere near time to get up.

Tuesday night  was such a night - woke about 3.30am and tossed and turned.  Eventually got up at around 4am. Did a bit of sewing and made this pin/brooch.

It's in the St Johnstone FC tartan.  We will soon be getting into the autumn type weather when jackets will be needed (well up here anyway, maybe those of you further south will be ok for a while yet!) and it's sometimes nice just to pop a little thing on a plain jacket.

Then I noticed the sun was starting to rise so out I ventured camera in hand looking for a sunrise picture and managed to get this one after a short walk.

I didn't actually know I'd got the little bird (top left) until I downloaded the picture to my computer.

All in all it was a productive very early morning! (Let's hope tonight is not the same!)

Have a good day.

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 :)

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

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 :)