Friday Friends - Dusty Divas- Part 28 - Spincushions

Welcome lovely readers to Christmas Eve and the 28th Edition of the Friday Friends Dusty Divas series. It has been a busy week and I feel privileged as our workplace was able to donate two hampers of goods (a wonderful variety and generous contributions and not too many cans of baked beans were made by my colleagues) to the local St Vincent De Paul food bank so that those less fortunate can experience joy at Christmas. Being able to give something back to the community makes me truly thankful. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, back to my 28th Dusty Diva - this week it gives me such pleasure to introduce an exceptionally creative and colourful dusty diva - Shelley from Spincushions.

Environmentally conscious the gorgeous Shelley makes Spincushions bright, colourful felt creations which are completely hand sewn by Shelley and some of the Spincushions pin cushions are now being made with felt made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. I also noted while browsing Shelley's store that she makes the sweetest mini pincushions from recycled bottle tops ! How clever is this lovely lady ?

This red flower pot miniature bottlecap felt pincushion is completely handmade from all new materials, except the recycled and washed bottlecap used in the base.
I dearly love this felt brooch as would any chilli lover ( we have planted a chilli patch this year with a Thai Chilli, a Cayenne Chilli, a Black Pearl Chilli, a Habanero Chilli, a Birds Eye Chilli, a Jalapeno Chilli, a Hungarian Yellow Chilli, a Serrano Chilli and a Purple Tiger Chilli - can't wait for the explosion of colour)

and how hoot I mean cute is this lovely owl pincushion ?

I also love the lovely layering effect in the flower detail on this White yellow daisy hand sewn felt pincushion embroidered with french knots in the centre of the daisy - you really must check out the intricate needlework
Want to keep your pins nice and sharp ? Try this pin sharpening pincushion. Shelley says in her product description : Emery sand has been included under the blue daisy. The pin cushion is firmly filled with polyfibre fill. Sharpen your pins and needles by sticking them into the flower, or just store you pins in the outer sides.

I have been so incredibly blessed to win a chance to make a peacock pincushion from a kit that Shelley has put together, the call went out looking for two product testers. I am not too bad at following instructions and can thread a needle and I am very much looking forward to a new crafting challenge for the new year !

Dear readers, I invite you now to take a whimsical journey and to wonder at these gorgeous creations. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas,filled with love and laughter. Be kind to one another and remember that each day is a gift. Peace and Goodwill to you all xox
PS Don't forget to leave milk and cookies out for Santa and his reindeer tonight and wishing you all a joyous Christmas day, whatever you may be doing xox

The Story of Shelley & Spincushions
Hi. This is me, Shelley. I make bright, colourful and cheerful things from felt. This year, I started my etsy shop to help with my obsession creating pincushions. I think every friend, work colleague and relative of mine has been given a pincushion –I ran out of people to give them to, but couldn't stop making them, so I thought about selling them, after the encouragement of my friends.

I occasionally have a table at a local market, but living in rural Victoria, there are not many craft markets about. I stumbled across etsy and since I set up my shop in July, have enjoyed the whole experience thoroughly.

One of the first things I did was to join the DUST team. What a welcoming, friendly and supportive bunch of crafters and artisans they are! I have not only found some wonderful new friends, but I have also discovered some truly wonderful handmade things.

Our Christmas will be very different this year – a lot of handmade unique gifts to be enjoyed.

Felt is my main material of choice at the moment. I have just received a big supply of felt that is made from 100% post-consumer plastic drink bottles. I love the fact that I am creating bright and colourful, useful things out of what people have thrown away.

I will be adding a few new things to my shop items in the coming weeks. I am in the process of creating kits of a couple of my popular pincushion designs. This is something I am very excited about.

I love to create new designs all the time, but I get requests for designs I have made before. I believe making kits of these will stop me becoming bored with a design, while satisfying customers giving them what they want and the ability to put their own touches to a project.


I will also soon be making bookmarks, hair clip hangers and more brooches that could also be worn as hat pins and perhaps some crocheted items as well.
Colour inspires me.

I love to work with different colour combinations, creating things that stand out with contrasting colours, as well as blending similar tones to create more subtle designs.

I sometimes get a little creative with my embroidery, letting the needle lead the design as I go. I find French knots very therapeutic and have lost many an hour knotting away.

I have always been a crafter, trying many things over the years. I have tried candle making, paper making, embroidery, tassel making to name a few. Hand sewing has always been a strong common theme though. Now, I am really looking forward to getting a crochet hook going again. It’s been a long time since I made my baby sister a pram rug from granny squares when I was 10.

My kitchen table is my work space when I am at home, but I can usually be found with some sewing on me, ready to stitch whenever the opportunity arises. Thanks for taking the time to read all about me and my crafting fetish


Want to connect with Spincushions ?

Buy Spincushions goodies on

http://www.etsy.com/shop/spincushions
become a Facebook fan :

http://www.facebook.com/Spincushions

or follow the Spincushions twitter feed :

http://twitter.com/spincushions