Artist's Feature: CinLynn Boutique

I'm really happy about featuring this month's artist. I've not met Cindy as she lives about a million miles away from me (over in Michigan) but she has been really supportive of my work over the past few months. She's been encouraging me when I've nearly thrown the towel in and I'm really happy to say thank you by giving her this month's feature. So thank you Cindy, and ...over to you! 

First up, a quick introduction...

My name is Cindy and I make jewelry and as of late, tote bags too. 

What got you interested and what inspires you further?

I've always had an interest in art, but never really found my niche until one day when my daughter-in-law gave me the tools to start making jewelry.  It didn't take me long to realize that I found my new love or, I guess you could say, obsession.  I get my inspirations by looking at beading magazines, looking at other jewelry designs (I don't copy), and by paying attention to what other women are wearing.

Do you have a favourite item? Does it have a story behind it?                 
I would like to say I have a favorite item, but I don't!  You see, my true favorites have either sold or I've kept them.  But I love everything I make or I wouldn't list them in the first place.  I'd tear them apart and re-make until I do.  I have a lot of items in my expired listings on Etsy right now just waiting for their re-make!


How would you describe your style?

I think my style is best described as eclectic.  I do a little of everything.  I love the simple classic styles, the beachy styles, etc.

Lots of artsy-craftsy folk juggle many different things in order to have time to spend on their chosen paths - how do you manage?

As far as juggling my life, yes, it IS a juggle!  I'm in the full time ministry as one of Jehovah's Witnesses and so I'm gone everyday for a few hours.  Then with my family to care for,  my house to keep up with, babysitting my grandchildren every other Friday, I have to MAKE time to make jewelry.  But so many of my friends have been such a great encouragement (because they love my jewelry), I continue to fit it in and I love it!  There has also been a lot of encouragement from fellow etsians;  I appreciate that too!

Are there any artists or crafters whom you admire or who have helped you along the way?
I do want to send a shout out to Deb of the Wuglyees shop on Etsy.  She has been such an encouragement to me that I can't even put in words just how much I appreciate her!  She's like my cheering squad!  :)

Do you have an online shop / blog / twitter / facebook page etc where people can find you? If so, please let us know
You can find Cindy in LOTS of places... I hope I've managed to remember them all!
website: http://cinlynn.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/Beadlynn7 
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cindy.newell1#!/CinLynnDesignandBoutique1
Etsy:  http://CinLynnBoutique.etsy.com  
Blog:  http://cinlynnboutique.blogspot.com
Zibbit: http://www.zibbet.com/CinLynnBoutique

Be sure to visit Cindy at one of her many sites and Cindy - a big thank you for allowing me to feature you! 

Blogs of Note

Every Friday I do a bit of an Etsy shout-out, featuring a few photos of different shops where I've seen some cute items. But I've realised that they aren't the only people who might want shouting out - you, my fellow bloggers, might too! So many bloggers have been inspirational, supportive and brilliant over the past few months, and it's you who I would most like to thank.

So here's the deal - every month I'll pop round to someone's blog that I read and enjoy and let you know that I'm putting a link to your blog on Creating Trouble. If it's OK with you, I'll post a photo from your blog and put up a link with a very short bio / reason as to why I think everyone should follow you and that's it. What do you think?


If you want to get ahead on the shout-outs, then leave me a comment and I'll try to make sure I go and look at your blogs first!!

Silent Sunday

That Friday Feeling...on Saturday

Firtly, sorry that this is actually late this week. Don't quite know what happened to the time yesterday but I had every intention of getting home from work, creating a blog post and then going to a friend's for dinner. Somehow that period of time at home got lost: I ended up going straight to dinner from work as I was late.
Anyway, my keyboard is playing up today and certain keys won't work until I punch them in. So today's post is hoping to get my keyboard letters back...

Postage stamp letter by Stamposaurus. What a great design idea!

Everyone needs an alphabet charm at some point... thanks to BaWStampedDesign 

Cute S Brooch by ismay

Cool Pinboards Online

Paper robot - from http://paperpunk.com/  

Have you heard of Pinterest? I've only discovered it very recently but it is my new favourite site on the internet. Basically it is like having a pinboard of all the different cool things that you find on the internet. In some ways it is a little like De.li.cious - a way of keeping a hold of the sites that you are interested in. But the fun twist to pinterest is that you pin the site and it will hold a picture of what it is you have pinned. You can arrange your pins into boards - which are basically categories - of your choice. As a crafter-on-hold I have had to put a lot of projects on hold. So of course one of my boads on pinterest is 'future projects'. You can go and look at my boards here. At present pinterest is still quite new so you still need to be invited to it - however it is quite easy to get an invite: you just click on the 'request invite' button. What I really like about pinterest is that you can look at other people's boards and discover more new things - and if you like it you can pin things you find to your own boards from there. It isn't just a pinboard for artsy-craftsy tweeps; you can pin whatever you like on it - they even have boards ready for you to pin up interesting reads, places you'd like to go etc etc. Just thought I'd share it with you...

How to... Make a NEEDLEBOOK

Since I broke my collar bone and have been totally incapable of making things for the past two months, this month's how to is again a fairly easy one: how to make a needlebook. I lose needles all the time - whenever I need one I have to hunt for about 15 minutes in all the different places I keep my sewing bits before I can find one so this project is going to come in useful. It's not very hard - I guess it will take you about an hour tops really unless you want to go over the top and make your book super decorative. Obviously what you put on yours and what your design is, is up to you. I have just received some lovely fabric from http://www.myfabrichouse.co.uk/ so I decided to use some of it for this. I have to admit though - the REALLY cool patterned material I just got from MyFabricHouse I've kept aside for a different project... but you'll see that another time!

What you need:
A sewing machine
Thread
Two small rectangles of felt (folded should make a small page)
Some material of your choice.
Pinking shears
A button
Trimmings / Sequins / Decorative bits...

Step 1:
Decide what size you want your needlebook to be. Fold 2 pieces of coloured felt and cut them to the same size. These will make a double page each. Cut around the edges of these with pinking shears to give them a zigzag edge.



Step 2:
As I decided to have a bit of a patchwork design, I cut strips of material and sewed them together - obviously if you don't want to have a multi-materialed cover then you just need one single piece of material cut to size.
Don't forget to leave a few millimetres on each side for hems. You need another piece of the same size for the inside cover.

Step 3: 
Place the front and back covers together with the right sides facing each other and the inside of the material facing out. Pin them / tack them together and sew around the 2 long sides and 1 short side leaving a couple of millimetres seam allowance.
I always 'hem' the edges of my seams - use a zigzag stitch along the edges to prevent fraying and to strengthen the seam.

Step 4:

Cut the corners diagonally so that you don't have bunched up bulky bits in the corners and then turn inside-out  (thus making it the right way round if that makes sense!)

Step 5:
Place your button about halfway down the sewn short side of your cover on the 'front' cover. Sew it on.

I did this in the wrong order so please
excuse that I haven't put my button hook
inside my cover!

Step 6:
Use either a bit of ribbon or some plaited wool as a button pull. Cut to size and then place between the two pieces of unsewn material. Fold the material in and pin/tack so that you have a smooth edge encasing the button thread into it. Sew along this edge.



Step 7:
Add any extra decorations you want - I had some pretty lacy ribbon that I decided to sew all along the edges by literally holding in place and sewing a straight line along it.





Step 8:
Pin the felt pages into the cover - make sure that the halfway line of the pages meets the middle of the cover. Use a sewing machine to sew down the middle line - reinforce by doing this twice.



Step 9:
Fold in half with the outer cover on the outside, do your button up and then check it works. And then start putting your needles in it because you're done!

Silent Sunday