A white christmas?

This completely sums up my 'theme' this Christmas, both at home and with my This is Wiss products. I know the scandi look of red and white can look super cool and oh so festive but I'm yearning for more colours this year. We've got a white box of a dining room, and because we are still settling in the decor in the rest of the house isn't quite what we want it to be so I think I'm overcompensating with the Christmas Decorations, but I'm thinking big, bright and bold!

The same thing has been happening at This is Wiss HQ. I've got some great new, some festive products and they are a bit technicoloured. And why not? I love them and so do kids.

The pink fluoro material I originally made my dice from was strictly limited edition and I've nearly used it all up. I've been searching for a suitable replacement that was just as bright but that could be washed too. A few weeks ago I found what I'd been looking for. Neoprene comes in a range of eye-popping colours but is machine washable, so ideal for my squishy, baby-chewable dice. The new dice are multicoloured - pink, green, blue, orange, purple & yellow - and very silky to touch. I hope you like them!

The felt crowns that I made for The Queen's Jubilee have been flying of the shelves - in fact they are perfect for school Nativity Plays! I have widened the palette for these and the crowns are now available in grey, pink or original yellow, all with multi-coloured 'jewels' and adjustable velcro fastening.

My Moustache t-shirts have been so popular that I thought I'd give some a chWISSmas twist. These Rudolph and Santa t-shirts are available in sizes 4 months - 4 years, and are appliqued onto Organic Cotton shop-bought t-shirts.

I wanted to have a couple of Christmas products this year so thought my Felt Twisted Streamers would be perfect for festive decorations (although they could be used all year-round and are a great alternative to bunting) These are made from synthetic felt so can also be washed and re-used. These will be available in various combinations of pink, aqua, green, red and white.

The final new product I have to show you is something I've been working on for a while. There are more and more people crafting, making, sewing, knitting etc etc and there really isn't a feeling that can compare to creating something yourself. I've been keen to make a kit of one of my products so that someone can make it themselves if they'd prefer and a Rudy Reindeer seemed like the perfect place to start. I've put together a complete kit which includes everything you will need to make your very own Rudy, including the wooden spoon. (You will need a needle and thread, or maybe a sewing machine though!)

All the usual This is Wiss products are still available too. Now for the important bit - where can you get them all from?

I am very excited to be part of two fantastic local Christmas markets. The first is this Saturday in Gipsy Hill, SE19. The Palace Christmas Fair is at Christ Church and will be open from 10.30am-4.30pm. See the link for more details and a list of all the other stalls and entertainment too.

The second is next Saturday 8 December at my favourite museum, The Horniman. The Fair Christmas Fayre is London's longest running ethical market place and will have loads of unique stalls selling handmade/eco/fairtrade items so you can feel good about your Christmas purchases! There is also a Santa's Grotto and a Carol Concert so click the link for more details.

If you can't get along to either of those then you can purchase via my online shop or visit my new Etsy shop!

Enough of the sales pitch now, thank you for sticking with me through it! As you can probably tell I'm a little bit excited (and maybe a little bit exhausted too!) I'd love to hear your thoughts about my new items, and if you've got any thing new you're making for christmas then let me know about it!

See you soon, angela

The Diamond Jubilee Build-Up - Day Three

Good morning and a special hello to all the new visitors to my blog. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying the Jubilee event on This is Wiss so far.


It's Day Three already and today I've got a couple of tutorials to help you get into the Jubilee spirit.


Crowning Glory


All the children were asked to wear a crown to nursery today, and although Wiss prefers his one made from gold card and sellotape (no accounting for taste!), I thought I'd show you how I made the felt crowns for the Queen & Country exhibition. 


I did cheat a little by cutting out my felt using a lasercutter, but if you don't have one of these at your disposal then careful cutting with scissors or a scalpel will be just as good. This crown does require some fiddly machine sewing, turning all the corners but it's still very quick to come together.


Start by measuring the head of your intended King or Queen, then add a few centimeters to this to allow for the Velcro overlap. Draw a repeating crown shape as simple or fancy as you wish. 

Washing Line Bunting


This idea is so simple that it's almost not worth a tutorial, but our bunting has been making me smile all week so I thought I should still share it. I love bunting; it's quintessentially British! But it can be a little fiddly to make and I always have a problem with where to hang it. And then I had a brainwave!


While Lewis was napping I cut triangles of red, white and blue card using pinking scissors (but normal scissors will do!) I folded over the top 2cm of each flag and pressed down to make a flap. When he woke up I enlisted his help to hang them on the washing line in our garden. He knows his colours and loved shouting out the name of each one as we hung it up. I used some cute bird pegs to secure them but any peg will do!

Once the washing line is full of bunting make sure you pull it up high so that you don't garrote anyone (I speak from experience!) But that's it. Bunting....done!

Tomorrow's post comes from another special guest, Amy from No More Disco so please don't forget to come back and visit for some more great Jubilee ideas.


I'd love to hear what you have planned for the Jubilee weekend so please leave a comment. Have a great day!

Handmade Diamond Jubilee Limited Editions!

As promised, I am back with some very exciting This is Wiss news! (In fact, there was so much news that I'm splitting it into two posts so you don't get overwhelmed!)

Jubilee Fever has struck! Regardless of your royalist beliefs, it's hard not to get carried away by these kind of events when you have children; it's a great opportunity to have fun (and of course, dress up!).

I wanted to make something to give a nod to the occasion so I was honored when I was approached by The Noverre Gallery & Shop who were interested in my Bobby Horses. They are running an exhibition called 'Queen & Country' which invites artists to interpret the title in their own quirky way. I decided to make a strictly limited edition series of 'All the Queen's Horses'.

The Queen's Horses are made from red, navy and grey wool blend felt, with reinforced vintage button eyes and bamboo blended wool for manes. So far, they are not all that different to the standard Bobby Horse but there are a couple of special touches:

Diamond Jubilee 2012 has been lasered onto the handle, along with the edition number for the strict limited run of only twelve horses made. And of course, there are the usual ribbons and bells.

You can't really think about 'Queen and Country' without thinking about a crown either, so I've also made some very simple but cute felt crowns. These are lasered from yellow wool-blend felt before being sewn together with round felt 'jewels'. They are adjustable with either Velcro or elastic to fit all kids' head sizes. Unfortunately, Wiss wasn't a very willing model so I had to enlist the help of someone more compliant!

'Queen and Country' runs at the Noverre Gallery in Norwich from 1 June - 27 August so pop along if you are in the area, it looks like it will be a really interesting exhibition. If you  aren't local to Norwich but would like to purchase either a Queen's Horse or a Crown then please contact me directly on mail@thisiswiss.co.uk

As Jubilee fever increases I have one more surprise planned - a 5 day blog event leading up to the long weekend! It will run from Monday 29 May - Friday 1 June, with craft ideas, recipes, activities for kids and some wonderful guest bloggers. Please stop by next week for some inspiration and if you're making any Jubilee-related items then I'd love to know about them...

I will be posting again very soon with more news about improvements to existing best-sellers, and an exciting new venue for Sell it Mama this Saturday!