and we’re flying through space…

Firstly I would like to say a big thanks to everyone who ordered a handmade by me surprise with presents in the post! This is now closed and all orders will be making their way out to you : ) For anyone who missed out on this, check out presents in the post here, they have different designers featuring each month and I know for certain that there are some awesome one’s lined up!

And on this rainy monday morning I am delighted to share with you my latest features in the lovely Garden and Home magazine this month : ) Both my fly away birds cushion cover and my space rocket solar system wallpaper were featured and I couldn’t be happier!!

GardenAndHomeApril13

FlyAwayBirdsCushionCover

GardenAndHomeApril13

Final_SpacePattern_LR

G&HApril

And here are some closeups of the fly away birds cushion cover, also available in tea towels, napkins, tote bags, purses, aprons, lampshades and wallpaper.

FlyAwayBirds_CC_Closeup

FlyAwayBirdsCushionCoverWrapped

Tea Towel

FlyAwayBirdsTeaTowelWrapped

Napkins

FlyAwayBirdsNapkinSet

Tote Bag

FlyAwayBirds_TB

Vintage Apron

FlyAwayBirds_Vintage Apron

And here is a closeup of the space rocket solar system wallpaper, also available in cushion covers and lampshades…don’t you think this design would make an awesome bedside lamp for a little boy’s room…

SpaceRocketSolarSystemWP

Cushion Cover

SpaceRSS_Cushion_Edited

SpaceRSS_CushionCoverCloseup

SpaceRSS_CushionCoverWrapped

And don’t forget all my fabrics are now available by the yard directly from the handmade by me online shop : )

HMBM Shop

Hello Pretty market and official launch…and you’re all invited : )

And finally the day is almost here when one of my favourite online stockists Hello Pretty officially launches their shop to the public with a lovely designer market consisting of all the lovely products they stock. Now you can see everything you’ve been drooling over the past few months for real! And meet the people who make them! I myself already have a few items I have been eyeing out for a while now and can’t wait to see what the day has to offer. Its on at the lovely Woodstock Foundry and apparently there’s free candyfloss!!  What more could a girl on a public holiday ask for : )

hello_pretty_at_the_foundry

And a few of us lucky Hello Pretty designers found some of our products featured in Fair Lady‘s Fabulous Gift Guide. Here’s my Pink Flamingo! cushion cover…available from…..Hello Pretty : )

FairLadyDec2

FairLadyDec1

My Pink Flamingo! Cushion Cover up close…

PinkFlamingoActualCushion

PinkFlamingoTeaTowelCloseup2

PinkFlamingoCushionCoverWrapped

Introducing my new lampshades….

Finally I can unveil one of the projects I have been working on of late. My latest addition to the Handmade By Me family…lampshades! And not just any lampshades, custom made lampshades in any size and shape you can imagine. This one here was just a tester…and made in honour of last weekend’s Christmas Night Market (which the southeaster managed to ruin)…hence the choice to use my Indigo Red fabric. And this is only the beginning, my next one will be a scalloped fluted shade….oh yeah! I sure aint taking the easy road on this…so watch this space for more details and pics and please get in touch if you are interested in me making a lampshade specially for you!

All shots below were taken at last week’s Tjing Tjing Exchange, I couldn’t have asked for a better space to show off my goods : )

TjingTjing4

Lampshade2

HMBM Lampshade

LampCloseup

TjingTjingExchange

TjingTjing3

TjingTjing5

TjingTjing6

YOU gift guide goodies…

Firstly I want to thank everyone who came to the Stellenbosch markets over the weekend. Despite the raging black southeaster friday night eventually turned out to be a success, and saturday was even better. What a beautiful venue. I really recommend venturing out to the Stellenbosch Slowmarket for their weekly market on a saturday! Oude Libertas is really gorgeous and there don’t seem to be any queues to the toilets or ATM despite the fact that it is a really busy market. There are plenty outdoor areas to hang out on the grass with views across the vineyards, and eat cheese and drink wine, and there’s live music!  I will definitely be back!

And on this pretty dreary looking monday I thought I would show you my products in the YOU magazine Christmas Gift Guide this year! How exciting! And what a great selection. My Pretty Proteas cushion cover is featured in the “In Full Bloom” collection and my Blue Origami Birds Cushion Cover is featured in the “A Natural Thing” collection. See more images below, and both are available from me here.

YOU_Dec12_2

YOU_Dec12_3

YOU_Dec12_1

My Pretty Proteas cushion cover up close…

PrettyProteasActualCushion

PrettyProteasCushionCoverCloseup

PrettyProteasCushionCoverWrapped

And my Blue Origami Birds cushion cover up close…

BlueOrigamiBirdsActualCushion

BlueOrigamiBirdsTeaTowelCloseup

BlueOrigamiBirdsCushionWrapped

The cutting edge of space…

Look who made into the Home Weekly supplement of the Sunday Times this last Sunday! None other than my space rocket solar system cushion cover! Seems quite appropriate given the week we’ve had, with Felix Baumgartner managing to successfully complete his Red Bull Stratos jump. And they called it a space invader…LOVE that! Here’s a direct link to the cushion cover on hello pretty and on Etsy.

handmade by me.

Now available at…Bespoke Wedding Registry

First of all let me warn you that this place is one amazing idea! For any of you who are getting married anytime soon this is THE ONLY place to have your registry. They can do ANYTHING! They can organise ANYTHING. You can have ANYTHING! It is amazing and I must say after thinking I would never want a registry for my own wedding, I might just have changed my mind after seeing what these guys offer! Obviously they are now stocking Handmade by Me so you can have all the lovely cushions, napkins, tea towels and aprons in the world, but what is even cooler is that if you want it, you could have a room wallpapered in Pink Flamingo!, or you could have your dining room tables reupholstered in the lovely Origami Birds. I just think this is the best thing EVER! Take a look yourself and see what you think…all you already married people start planning to renew those wedding vows ; )

Bespoke is a personalised wedding registry service that offers you the opportunity to customise your gift selection with a curated collection of the finest brands and stores on offer. Select what you want and where you want it from, and we’ll take care of the rest. You’ll have a wedding registry that’s tailor-made to suit your style, and your guests will have an easy, secure and effortless way to spoil you for your big day.”

Flamin’ Flamingos!

For those of you who aren’t friends of handmade by me’s facebook page you might not know the exciting news yet! I am also delighted that this is my first and very happy post from sunny Cape Town. I received an email a few days ago to let me know that my Pink Flamingo! Cushion Cover has made it to the shortlist of 250 products from OVER 2 MILLION to be presented in the DaWanda Lovebook for Winter 2012-2013!!!

This is such exciting news for handmade by me as “the Lovebook is sent to journalists from across Europe, the US and Australasia, who may then select products for publication and publish them in magazines and newspapers. Products from previous Lovebooks were later published in Time magazine, Vogue, Gala, Brigitte and many other publications.”

Take a look at the Lovebook Summer 2012 here:

And for those of you who haven’t seen my Pink Flamingo! design here is the cushion cover and matching tea towel, and the design is also available in napkins…

Now lets hope this is the beginning of great things to come! I am working on some very exciting projects so as always…watch this space!

handmade by me.

Cats and dogs go home…

Remember the bespoke design “cats and dogs” I created for my friend’s serah and paul? Well they sent me some pictures of their lovely cushions and napkins in their apartment and I would love to share them with you!

If you want to see the original post I did….including the super cute photos of their cat Greebie and their dog Bluff…and for more information about my design…click here.

And so….here’s how things turned out!



Handmade by me.

Nothin’ like the real thing…

So I have been very busy sewing away and I realised that some of you have only seen the designs and not the finished products. Here are a few of the things I have been working on lately! Still can’t decide which is my new favourite…

Pretty Proteas looking oh so lovely as a cushion cover…
 

New blue origami birds cushion cover…

Red vintage squares cushion cover and matching set of napkins…

Indigo red napkins…

And Nicky’s vintage bikes tea towel…

Still more on the way! watch this space…

Handmade by me.

beep beep bespoke design…

My friend Sabrina asked me to design her a cushion for her newborn nephew Charlie’s new room. We toyed with the one idea of featuring cars and trucks, and the other of baby animals. Toys and trucks won instantly, and so i got to work on a design. Sabs sent me a picture of the curtains that were going into Charlie’s room (see below), the walls were going to be painted a light blue with clouds like the sky (so super cute), and the cushion was to go on a bright red chair. I used the same colours as the curtains for my design, and because the chair was red, I thought that green would look the most striking against it.

Here is the design I came up with…

And here is what the cushion would have looked like…

And here are the super cute curtains that the cushion was to match…

Welcome to the world little Charlie! Hope you like your new cushion : )

Handmade by me.