IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!

I finally got round to putting our tree up this weekend as well as doing the Christmas shopping. Now I feel really Christmassy I thought I would share a photo of our fully decorated tree complete with my handmade decorations. I have 2 more to add which were made by my boyfriend but I'm still waiting for him to paint them.....Hurry up Jamie!!! x

Christmas Stall

I had my 2nd stall at the weekend, which was quite successful.....Thanks to all my friends who turned up and bought some lovely Christmas gifts. I really appreciate their support. I am now thinking of doing some girly nights in 2011 where I will sell my designs at home over some nibbles and some wine :)

Pink Mini Cushion

My latest creation is this embroidered pink mini cushion complete with union jack roof. This is one of my favourite cushions I think it's quite quirky. I have finished it off with 3 colourful giant buttons. x 

Linda's Fascinators

My Sister went to her friends Wedding at the weekend and she asked me to make her some fascinators to match her dresses. I made her 2 as she didn't know which dress she wanted to wear. I think she wore the pink/purple one in the end, which is my favourite. I can't wait to see a photo of her wearing it.

First Ever Emma Elizabeth Stall!

I had my first Stall today at a Macmillan coffee morning in Sundon park. I was very nervous but it went quite well. I made just over £30, had lots of complements and a order for a embroidered cushion. I was very pleased. My next Stall is on 11th December at Chapel Street Nursery in Luton 10am -12pm. I can't wait, hopefully I will sell even more. x I have put more photos of my stall on my facebook page (click on the facebook link below & to the right)

Glittering Christmas Candles!

I made these Glittering scented Christmas candles to sell on my stalls. To add a more christmassy feel I have added some pretty Christmas ribbon. I think they will look lovely in the center of the table on Christmas day. x

Brilliant Bracelets

My bracelet collection consists of 6 different beaded bracelets with chains, ribbons & charms. The best thing is, you will never be wearing the same bracelet as any one else and they all have a bit of sparkle :) x

Button Rings

One of a kind button rings, adjustable to fit any size fingers. These are lovely statement rings for any occasion. x

New Necklaces

New Handmade necklaces, All made with original beads collected from Kuwait and Vintage markets. Perfect to accessorise any outfit and stand out from your friends.x

Vintage Button Earrings

These are my new additions to my earring collection, All made from Vintage Buttons and all one of a kind!

Embroidered Christmas!

For my Stall on Saturday I made these hand embroidered Christmas cards. I made 6 in total all with a different embroidery and I'm very pleased with them. I would have liked to have made more but they took so long to do. I also made some lovely envelopes with pretty bows to go with them. The embroideries on the cards are...Snow flake, Christmas tree, Christmas stocking, reindeer, candy Kane & 2 snowflakes. x

Vintage Button Brooches

It's amazing what you can do with an odd Vintage Button... I made these three brooches with my odd Buttons. Simple but effective.... They will add style to any plain jacket or coat. x

It's all Red, White & Blue's!

Check out my Red, White & Blue's cushion collection all made in a morning, not bad hey? They also go very well with my Union Jack cushion. I'm tempted to keep them for my own Living room.... But they will be for sale this Saturday morning at the Macmillian coffee morning held in Sundon Park community centre. x 

Beautiful Bunting

In Preparation for my stall I made this Emma Elizabeth bunting to decorate my Table... Hopefully it will look as good around the stall as it does hanging over my window. This was my first time making bunting and I'm very pleased with the outcome, I might make some more to decorate the Flat when I next have a party xxx

Treasure Chest Clutch

This is the 3rd of my leather clutch bags, made from soft navy gloving leather and decorated with gold and silver strips of leather stitched together with silver thread. It has a beautiful printed lining as well. I have to say this is my favourite out of all three :)

Everyone Loves a Bangle!

It's getting closer to my first Emma Elizabeth stall and I have a lot crafting to be getting on with. These chunky covered wooden bangles are among some of my most recent makes. The perfect accessory. xxx

Lavender for Dad

My Dad was very interested in my Lavender bags I made the other day and wanted some for his new home, however I think the ones I made are a bit too girly for my Dad, So I made these ones especially for him and they even have his initials (WJM) embroidered on the front of Each one. He loves the smell of Lavender so I have packed as much in these as possible, I hope they make his house smell really lovely. x

Home Sweet Home

I recently made this hand embroidered cushion as a house warming present for my Dad, who has just moved into a lovely little place in South Shields. Complete with Home Sweet Home slogan, White Picket Fence and Strawberry button fastening it is the perfect gift for a house warming. I hope that this cushion will now take pride of place in his new home and go with him where ever he moves. Good Luck in your New House Dad xxx

Dusky Treasures Leather Clutch

I have had a busy weekend this weekend helping my friend Ami make sparkly dresses for her A-Stars dance show in a couple of weeks & training for my 10k Run that I will doing for Afghan Heroes next Sunday. So I'm quite pleased that in between running and sewing dresses, I managed to finish this gold, silver & blues leather clutch bag, complete with blues and pinks floral silk lining and fastened with silver magnetic poppers. I have named it "Dusky Treasures" and hopefully whoever buys it will treasure it forever. xx

Gift for Helen

It was my friend Helen's Birthday at the weekend and to keep up with tradition of course I made her one of my handmade and one of a kind bracelets. I hope she will treasure it forever. xxx

Softies!

I recently purchased this Softies Book, which tells you how to make all sorts of cool Softie Characters out of felt. Here are my first two, Dorian the Dog and Vintage Dress on hanger. I think they look really cute, I can't wait to make some more. x

Girly Embroidered Lavender Bags

I made these pretty embroidered lavender bags recently with lots of Girly motifs embroidered on the front and a coloured ribbon perfect for hanging on a door handle on in your Wardrobe, you could even put one in your underwear drawer. These are all going to be for sale on my Christmas fair stall, an Ideal stocking filler. x

Christmas is coming!

I'm getting prepared for Christmas early this year... As I have a couple of Christmas Fairs coming up where I will have my very first Emma Elizabeth Stalls :) I thought I would try making my own Christmas decorations. I have made these salt dough decorations and these embroidered Reindeer decorations so far and I am also thinking about making some felt decorations. However at one of the Christmas fairs I may not be able to sell Christmas items and will have to keep to my jewellery and homewares, But that just means I get to keep these lovely decorations for my own tree...Looks like we will be having a handmade Christmas!

My first confirmed Christmas Fair stall will be at Chapel Street Nursery, Luton. On 11th December 10am - 12pm.... Please come and have a browse. xxx

Lisa's Bracelet

I recently made this Bracelet for my Friend Lisa's Birthday, I used lots of pretty beads and pearls and added a silver leaf charm. Hope she Likes it. x

Cupcakes!

Take a look at this Blog madaboutbags My "Yummy Cupcake Cushion" has been featured for the national cupcake week blog. Yummy!

Appliqued Union Jack Cushion

I have just completed my latest cushion design of this appliqued Union Jack. Made with red, white & blue patterned canvas fabric and ribbon trims. This Cushion has a button fastening at the back with contrast red buttons.

Sugared Lace Vest Top

I customised this Navy vest top at the weekend with some pretty beaded lace, some buttons, pearls and ribbon. I Love it xx

Patchwork Leather Clutch Bag

I made this Lovely soft leather clutch bag at the weekend, using different shapes and textures of greys & Pink soft gloving leather, all stitched together with sparkling silver thread. This has a quirky ice cream print cotton lining and is fastened with 2 metal poppers. Perfect to create a statement on an evening out.

Emma Elizabeth Textiles Online Store

I Have finally started to sell my designs on Misi (the home of buying & selling handmade in the UK). You can have a look by clicking on this image and it will take you there, I will be putting more designs on there soon. Fingers crossed I can sell everything. x

Yummy Cupcake Cushion

This weekend I made this yummy embroidered cupcake cushion with giant button fastening. To do this I used a Iron on embroidery pattern and then embroidered over the top with all my lovely coloured embroidery thread. I think it looks good enough to eat and I am going to add it to my collection of creations to sell. Ill let you know when every thing will be for sale as soon as I get my Misi account set up..... I'm very excited. x

Donna's Fascinator

My Friend Donna got a really pretty floral dress for her birthday from her boyfriend and she wanted to style it up with one of my fascinators, so I was more than happy to help by making one that matched the colours in her dress. I used turquoise flowers with hints of purples in feathers & ribbons. It matched her dress perfectly and she looked lovely at her birthday BBQ.

Birthday Bracelet

It was recently my friend Donna's birthday and seeing as she loved my designs so much I decided to make her a "hand made & one of a kind" Emma Elizabeth bracelet as a birthday present. This is the first bracelet I have made and is 3 bracelets made into one with a pretty pink & white bow. I have used pearls, gold thread beads and a sparkling glass cut bead. She loved it and hopefully will treasure it forever. x

My Labels

These are my handmade labels that I have designed for each of my creations. These all have my designer name and the name of the product on as well as some pretty pink bows. These will be attached to everything I have made when I sell them.

I am hoping to sell my designs on a site called Misi soon, so keep your eye open for them. x

"A Hoy There Sailor"

I have recently customised this vest top with some Lovely Nautical style Buttons. I think this is a great way to customise a plain vest top. This one is a size 12 and is on sale for £15.

Ring Range

This is my range of rings, some of which I have made to match my earrings, they are named as follows: Bobble Button ring, Glitter Garden ring, Big Bobble Button ring, Cute Lady Bug ring, Very Berry Strawberry ring & Floral Flower ring. These are all made with a silver adjustable ring, prices range from £10. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing any of my rings or my other creations and I will be Happy to help you. x

Emma Elizabeth Earring Collection

Since making all my necklaces I decided to make earrings too, Some of them very cute and quirky like my "Cute Lady Bug" earrings and my little "Sailing Boat" earrings. My most recent Earring creations are:

Baseball Button earrings, Very Berry Strawberry earrings, Lady Bug earrings, Sea Shells by the Sea Shore earrings, Purple Feathers earrings & Feathery Feathers earrings.

Prices range from £12.

My Collection of Necklaces so far...

After making my first necklace "Nautical but Nice" I really got into it and I have now made 9 in total. These are all made with pretty beads, ribbons, chains & cords. I have given them each an individual name as follows:

Pretty Pinks, Beads & Bows, Monochrome Beads, Hello Sailor,Tribal Glamour, Tortoise Shell Beads, Cracked Orange Beaded Necklace and Cracked Turquoise Beaded Necklace.

Prices Range from £20.

Emma Elizabeth Home Wares

I have always been into interior design as well as fashion design So I decided to start making my own home wares collection as well as my accessories collection. I started with these lovely embellished African theme cushions, which I love because they are unique and very colourful. I started with the fabric that I found in my fabric and trims cupboard, it was one of the many bits of fabric I have collected over the years and I have always wanted to use for something. I then cut it into 4 cushion patterns, sew them together and embellished them with coloured sequins which took forever to sew each one on individually but it was worth it. These cushions also have different fastenings just to make them a bit more unique, The African Wave cushions have a button fastenings at the back with lovely red textured buttons and the African Head cushions are fastened with bright red satin ribbons tied in bows along the top.

These are for sale at the Moment if anyone is interested in buying these unique cushions, prices range from £25.

Nautical but Nice necklace

This is the first necklace I made for my accessories collection, My boyfriend helped me name it "Nautical but Nice". It fits in well with this summers nautical trend. I used a mixture of cord, silver chain, satin ribbon, pearls, metal rings and nautical style buttons. I love this necklace as it started me off and now I have a whole collection of hand made one of a kind necklaces as I will show you in my next couple of blogs.

My Friends Winter Wedding

My Friend Lisa got married last December and as one of her faithful bridesmaids she asked me to make a few things for her and of course I was happy to help. I made all these lovely fur Stoles with satin bows for us older bridesmaids and little fur muffs for the younger bridesmaids (yes she had 8 bridesmaids). I also made some pouch bags with the left over bridesmaid dress fabric and more satin ribbon, very handy for your lipgloss or tissues.

If your interested in having any of these made for your wedding, just contact me.

Fascinating Fascinators

Last year I had quite a few weddings to go to and I had a couple of lovely dresses that I wanted to accessorise with fascinators, however when I searched round all the shops I couldn't find a single one that matched my dresses, So I decided to make my own.

I made a turquoise and bright pink one and a purple one as you can see. I got loads of compliments on these at the weddings that I attended. If anyone is interested in having one made to match their outfit please feel free to contact me, prices range from £15.

My Job now..

I Now work for a fashion supplier called The Fielding Group, I started in December 2007 as a assistant designer for ladieswear and I am now a girls sleepwear designer. I really love designing girlswear as I can use bright colours, quirky graphics and the samples always look cute. I'm designing at the moment for M&S & BHS spring/Summer 11. So hopefully I will see my PJ designs in stores this time next year.

My Travels

After returning from Kuwait, I went to visit my boyfriend who was travelling around the world. I met up with him in Australia and we travelled around the east coast for a couple of months before I had to come home and find a new job.

Australia was so lovely, I enjoyed every day there and found it very inspirational especially when we went to make our own didgeridoo's with an Australian family, I decorated mine in an aboriginal style with lots of dots that make up images. I found this technique really interesting and when I got home I made 2 photo albums and a boomerang in the same way which now have there place on our coffee table.

While we were staying in Sydney with my Boyfriends Uncle & Aunt we went to Paddington market just down the road from their house, this market sold loads of crafty bits and beautiful clothing and accessories that people had made, I love these types of markets and one day hope to be living in Sydney and selling my creations at this very same market. (I can only dream).

River Island Beach Collection

In summer 2007 River Island bought one of my prints to use on a beach collection to promote Graduate Fashion week 2007. The Collection included a bikini, flip flops & beach bag and they looked amazing. I managed to get a couple of each for free so I could keep a set forever. It felt so good to go into one of my favourite high street stores and say that's my design. The collection also got a lot of press and featured in the following magazines: Elle, Reveal, Look,

Sugar,

The Independent,

Viva,

Hello.

My First Ever Design Job

During Graduate fashion week I was offered an Interview with a kuwait fashion brand called Anotah, who saw my collection on the catwalk. I really didn't think I would get the Job of Assistant Designer for girlswear but 2 weeks later they offered it to me, then I had to make the difficult decision to move to Kuwait or stay at home and look for other Jobs, my theory was if I don't go and at least give it a try I would regret it.

So in July 2006 I moved out to Kuwait and started my first design Job, it was difficult at first being a blond girl I got a lot of unwanted attention but I got used to it and started to enjoy myself.

It is such a different way of life out there and their fashion is very different. They love bright colours and lots of bling, which made designing very exciting and for Kids clothing they don't have so many restrictions as the UK does. The one thing I had to remember was that in the middle east the girls have to cover up so if we designed a skirt and short sleeve top we would then have to design leggings and a long sleeve top to be worn underneath.

One of the things I really liked in Kuwait (apart from the sun shining every day) was the fabric souq's (market's) they had the most amazing fabrics and trims for sale and it was very inspirational before I left to come home after a year I took an empty suitcase and filled it with lots of fabrics and trims to take home, So I could make some lovely things.

These are my cushions and wall hangings that I made for myself from some beautiful fabric I bought at the fabric souq.

Final Collection - Egyptomania

My Final collection at University was one of my biggest achievements. I made a collection of 6 ladies outfits based on my inspiration of Egypt. All the Fabric I used started life as a plain white length and I dyed, screen printed, digital printed and embroidered everything to get the finished result, I even made necklaces, headbands & bracelets to complete the look.

I then got to show my collection on the catwalk at Graduate Fashion week in London where I won the Zandra Rhodes catwalk textiles award. This was very exciting especially being presented the award by Zandra Rhodes herself who I have always admired for her colourful textiles.

After the show one of my designs was featured on the cover of Drapers magazine which looked amazing as you can see to the right of this page and I was listed as one of the Top 15 young designers to look out for on the Vogue website... very exciting.