And the winners are....

Congratulations!!

The winner of the Mollie Makes book is Kelly

and well done to Catherine Etter who has won the parrot prototype!

Thanks to all who entered.

I will leave you with this fun whale I made earlier in the week!

Bye for now!

Mollie Makes Feathered Friends Giveaway!

 It seems like ages since I created anything with fabric, but I was delighted when Mollie Makes approached me to make something new for a future book, to be entitled "Feathered Friends".
 And nearly 12 months later, here it is!!

 Very exciting!

It contains over 20 projects with clear step-by-step instructions.....

....featuring crochet, sewing, knitting and more!

And here is my little contribution!

The book is published by Collins & Brown and is available here, but I have a copy to give away!!

And I am going to offer a separate prize - the prototype I made!

Who's a pretty boy then?!

To be in with a chance of winning either the book or the finished parrot, all you have to do is leave a comment underneath. I will announce the winners on Saturday 22nd June. Good luck everyone!

Another Giveaway!

Well, it is Christmas! There are 5 small prizes this time - a cinnamon robin for 5 lucky winners - just leave a comment stating whether you like the spotty or floral one, and I'll draw the names on Friday night. Bit of a rush-job, but Christmas seems to be hurtling towards us!
And don't worry if you're not a blogger, just leave a contact e-mail address!
Good luck everyone, and spread the word (it's the season of Goodwill, after all!)

And the winner is....

.....(and I'm delighted about this)..... Amanda!
Now, regular and astute readers may remember that I won Amanda's Giveaway not long ago. So when my little boy picked her name out of the hat, my second thought (the first being 'Yay, I know how much she loves those robins') was 'Oh bum, this isn't going to look good!' But, people, you're going to have to take my word for it! The girl won it fair and square, so, Amanda, if you can message me with your address, I'll send the goodies on to you. Congratulations lovely lady, Christmas might have come a little bit early for you this year! And thank you to everyone who entered and left such lovely comments too!

I've been pretty busy making bits for Christmas Fayres etc - I took advantage of a special offer with Moo and received these super cute stickers last week. They only measure about 3cm wide.

I also bought myself a stamp set recently, and have been using them on my driftwood Christmas cards.
In the New Year, I might start making some personalised pictures or cards for children incorporating text using these stamps - but no time at the minute!
I had a bit of a lightbulb moment yesterday when I decided to combine two of my designs: the Owl In The Moon mobile and the cinnamon robins - and this is the result!

A Cinnamon Owl - perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree and available in my Folksy shop now!

And finally, I'm beginning to think that I should give joint ownership of this blog to Steve, who's been creating again: this time not with pallets or driftwood but cardboard and duct tape!

Here's Herbie who pestered his daddy to make him a shield (he got one, and a matching helmet to boot) but has now decided he wants him to make a dragon too! Some people are never satisfied!!

100th Post Giveaway!

Well it's taken me a long time, but I've finally made it to 100 posts - yay! And such lovely inspiring people I've had the privilige to meet along the way! Thank you to everyone who has left a comment on here, you are a constant encouragement to me. So to show my gratitude I am doing a little giveaway. Some of you like my driftwood stuff, others I know prefer the fabric pieces, so I wasn't sure what the prize should be. I have therefore decided to giveaway not one, not two but three items: hopefully that way everyone will be happy!
So here they are...

First up, one of my boats, created from Cornish driftwood. That piece of wood was that shape when I found it, just crying out to be transformed into a boat hull, don't you think?

And it's got some pinky coloured paint on it, so I have used co-ordinating fabric for the flags - a bit of a girlie boat, this one! I've put a brass hanger on the back so it can hang on the wall or propped up on a shelf or windowsill.

And prize number two....

Any regular readers will probably recognise that this wooden fish is actually a paintbrush handle (found on the beach). So I've turned it into a very simple keyring - might make an unusual stocking filler for somebody!

And finally, I found these beautiful teatowels by Greengate: much too pretty to dry the dishes with, so I've cut them up and made some new cinnamon robins. So the third part of the giveaway is this pair....

Such a nice morning outside I photographed them amongst the ivy - shame there's no holly in our garden, but ivy is the next best thing!

So that's the prizes (all for one lucky winner). All you have to do is leave a comment and I will put your name in a hat. Followers get an extra go (not too late to join up and follow me) and I would be most grateful if anyone wants to spread the word on Facebook, Twitter etc!
I will announce a winner next Monday evening (that's November 8)
Good luck everyone!

Facebook Giveaway and more of Steve's makes!

The beach was an absolute mess on Saturday! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but let me tell you it was thick with seaweed! Not the most pleasant of conditions to be beachcombing in, although it was another warm sunny day - aren't we being spoiled this October?!
Anyway, there wasn't a huge amount of 'treasure' to be found, but I collected lots of little bits of bleached wood - which showed up brightly amongst the dull, dark seaweed.
And this is what I made when I got home...

The sun was still out so I sat in the garden with my drill and threaded them onto thick wire - most relaxing! (Herbie thought I was making a necklace at first!)The wreath is about 50cm in diameter.
I've decided to offer it as a giveaway prize on Facebook: if you're on FB already, just leave a comment and you'll be put into the draw (if you want to sign up to my page, simply click on FB symbol in righthand sidebar). If you're not on FB (lucky you, you probably have an extra few hours a week spare than those of us that are!), don't worry, I'm approaching 100 posts on here, so I will giveaway something on here too - promise!

The photo was taken about a month ago, where Steve discovered 2 lovely weathered scaffolding planks on the beach.... and carried them like this all the way back to the car (it was a long walk too!)
But he had an idea in his head, and this is what he knocked up the next weekend!!

The light's not good today, but you get the idea, I'm sure!

It's blimmin' heavy I can tell you!

And d'you remember this post where I dropped a subtle hint about wanting a couple of pallet chairs for the boys' room?

Haha, my wish is his command!! They look great, no?

And the storage part at the top is perfect for hold pens etc. He's not just a pretty face!!

Goodies in the post!

You know how most days the postman just brings boring bank statements or annoying junkmail? Well, not today! I had not one but four exciting packages arrive this morning!
I have to tell you about this giveaway I won over at Amanda's blog - I'm sure some of you even entered yourselves...but I was the very lucky winner!

Look - a gorgeous book - The Bag Making Bible -which I am looking forward to studying tonight once the children are in bed!

This sweet little brooch made by Amanda

Some fab organic cotton fabric - not sure what to create with this yet, but it will be put to good use at some point!

And did you see the bunny in the top picture? It is so intricate, this is a close-up of my favourite bit - love that harlequin ribbon!
Thank you Amanda for your generous gifts! If you're not familiar with her blog, pop over and say Hi!

So what else can I show you? Ah yes, some lovely ticking from Emma Garry...

so that I can make some more of these...

In another envelope: I'm loving this reversible Danish ribbon from NotOnTheHighStreet.com...

Talking of which, the first NOTHS Christmas catalogue arrived today....

Recognise anything familiar on this page?!

Or what about this one? This is from the November issue of Good Housekeeping! A bit of press for Kirsty Elson Designs! How exciting!

Hope you're having a great week xx

And the winner is....

You didn't think I'd forgotten did you?! I just thought I'd keep you in suspense that little bit longer....plus it took me blimmin' ages to write all your names - many in duplicate!


Thank you to everyone who entered and left such lovely comments, I am truly touched!
So here is the hat...

And the name drawn by the Herb is....(drum roll here!)























In real X-Factor style...




















Huge congratulations to you!!
Please could you e-mail your address to me (kirstyelsondesigns@live.co.uk) I wouldn't post it on here - you might have a mad Laura coming to beat your door down!

My work in print - and a Giveaway!

My mum must be so proud! First of all my sister's work graces the likes of Grazia, Red and the Times Style magazine, and then I go one better and get a slot in (wait for it) ....Popular Crafts magazine - DUN DUN DAH! Steve made some sarcastic comment about not letting it change me and muttered something about it having a distribution of about 30 people, but hey, it's a start, right?
The other thing is that it's coming up to a year (amazingly) since I first started this blog. At the beginning (like many other bloggers I suspect) I was a little nervous about the whole thing - who would be interested in what I have to say/make etc - but you have all been so kind with your comments, I have more followers than I could have dreamed of, and I've made some fantastic virtual friends along the way!

So, as a little thank you, and because I will be away on holiday at the actual time of my first blog anniversary, I'm doing a little giveaway early! These fabric caged lovebirds have had over 1000 viewings on Folksy, but no actual sales, which suggests to me that you like them but are a little expensive(?) So now one lucky person can win one for free!

The rules: everyone who leaves a comment will have their name put into a hat; followers get an extra go and anyone who puts a link on their own blog will get a further chance (shameless I know!)
The winner's name will be drawn on Saturday 15th May. So what are you waiting for?!