Mother's Day Crafts

I believe that Mother's Day is right up there with Valentine's Day for best excuses to craft wonderful handmade things and gift them to loved ones.
Surely, if anyone is going to appreciate your time and effort (and just how clever you are) it will be mum, so here is a collection of Mother's day crafts which will hopefully get you inspired:

Crafty sewing projects:


Margaret Sling Bag (includes pattern) By Oh, Fransson
Jingle-Bell Slippers from Martha Stweart
Blossoming Brooch by Martha Stewart
Apron Pattern by "Better Homes & Gardens"
PDF Purse Pattern by Cotton Cloud


Tea Time Crafts:


Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing by Sugar Coated Kitchen
Tea Sachets and Gift Box by Martha Stewart
Tea Cup Candles - tutorial by design sponge
Tea Cup Flower arrangements
Painted China by Martha Stewart


Bath Time Crafts:


Body scrub by Martha Stewart
Homemade Bubble Bath (includes label printables) by Eat Drink Chic
DIY Bath Bombs by Art of the steal

I hope this inspires you to make your own gifts this Mother's Day.

Enjoy crafting!

Emily XO

Easter Craftiness Collection

Easter is just around the corner and as always I feel like celebrating the holidays by making crafty creations for our home, here is a collection of Easter handmade craftiness for your inspiration:

Amigurumi and knitting Easter happiness -


Knitted Easter egg ornaments from Craftzine
Bunny gurumi crochet pattern from Simply Handmade
Tiny bunny pattern from Rebecca Danger

Easter paper crafts -


Lemi the space wanderer paper model by Thunder Panda
Pink Bear by Lazy Bear (mostly is Japanese)
Egg mobile by Spagat blog

Fabric and felt crafts -


PEEPS Bunny Bunting by Dana made it
Paper Bunny Garland / Runner by Hostess with the mostess
Sheep Egg from Disney family fun
Bunny finger puppets from The pearl bee

Sweet Easter edibles -


Easter Cake Pops from the amazing Bakerella
Bunny cookie lollies by the ever-inspiring Cake Journal
Easter Cupcakes by Edible Crafts

Keep crafty!

Happy Easter!!

Emily XO

Shopping in NZ - Blue

Autumn is rearing it's head and soon enough we'll be spending a lot more time indoors, for that reason I've decided to decorate our home and make it pretty and cosy fot winter.
As an avid reader of many design blogs I see so many lovely things but sometimes I get disappointed when I see something I really like but cannot find it in NZ, shipping from overseas can easily mount to more then the value of the goods and that is if they ship to God's own.
So here's a collection of beautiful items from NZ shops, whether you buy online or from a brick and mortar shop I hope this inspires you to decorate your home with beautiful things.



fleur ice cream dish opal - sky blue from Nest
The National Grid Issue 5 from Endemic World
Mantel frame range from Nest
Typhoon Pantone Tea Towels Blue from Living and Giving
Cupcake Tea cosy from Living and giving
posy lantern turquoise from Nest
Ceramic vase from Nest
Metal classic flower clock from Iconic
Blue Spotty Quilted European Pillowcase from Wallace Cotton
Rockpool dinnerware from Nest
Retro Table lamp from Iconic
Wallflower magnet board from Endemic World (made by Leila Loves Handmade)
Swallow cups from Nest

Decorate and Enjoy

Emily XO

Yellow

I've been helping a friend plan her baby shower; my contribution is invitations, decorations and dessert.
Simple enough right? Yes, but it has made me come to the realisation that I am completely and utterly obsessed with the colour yellow at the moment.
How it came about is quite simple, my friend and her fiance have opted to find out the baby's sex in the delivery room (I wish I could be this patient) so the baby shower was to be yellow to accent the fact that we don't know the sex of the baby yet.

I found myself making pom poms in yellow, designing invites in yellow and planning to make yellow cupcakes (maybe City from NZ cupcake queen will give me her perky nana recipe) and discovered that I've amassed a huge collection of yellow themed inspiration on my computer so I thought I'd share the sunny love with you

Decorations
Bee themed birthday party pom poms


Tissue paper pom poms tutorial and inspiration from The Martha Stewart Website


Beautiful fabric poms from Once Wed



I can't decide whether I like paper or fabric poms better but for the baby shower I'm making tissue paper poms in hues of yellow and white and mix them with some bunting



Invitations
I was inspired by this lovely invite from sweetbeets on etsy


So I designed my version



Dessert
I can't decide between cupcakes




or cookies




It all started with a baby shower and ended with a facination for all things yellow

P.S
As I'm writing this post I learnt that Felt has displayed my Felt like Friday selection and the theme is.. YELLOW!



Sunshine goodness and craftiness.

Emily XO

Free Calendar Downloads

I have to admit - I don't usually have a calendar in my office but one of my resolutions for 2010 is to be more organized and in order to do that I've decided to get a calendar (and use it!).
I refuse however to spend good money on a generic looking calendar so I've decided to go on the hunt for a free one.
This is a compilation of free calendar downloads made by very talented (and generous) artists, I hope you find some eye candy for your walls:

Mibo who always have the cutest creature downloads have put up a free 2010 planner:



This lovely matryoshka calendar has no dates inserted so you can use it again and again, beautifully created by a print a day:



Sherry and John from Young House Love have designed this cute calendar:



(You can also dowload a template and insert your own quotes)

Love.Obsess.Inspire has put up this free download created by Gleaux read her blog and download here:



The Canon Creative Park website is a treasure trove full of free printable goodies, this calendar is so whimsical and fun:


Enjoy, print, organize.

Emily XO

L O V E

Hi Everyone and welcome to the first post of the Leila Loves Handmade Blog, I thought I'd start with something LOVEly and as the name suggests it's all about Valentine's Day, make it yourself or buy it - here is some inspiration:




A lovely printable box to fill with goodness and give to your honey-bunny on the day (I'm thinking homemade chocolates).

Here are some free goodie bag printables from Twig & Thistle:



If you're more inclined to decorate your love nest try this tutorial for a valentine garland using old magazines:



These beautiful cards from RIFLE are just the ticket for me



Free printable Valentine teabag wrappers and tags:



Lovely Valentine pins from the purl bee so you can wear your heart on your sleeve:



I hope these inspire you too, there's still plenty of time left so get crafting.

Emily XO