Join our creative instagram community in March

It's the first of March and I'm sat here writing this and watching the snow whirl down outside. All the local schools are shut and we have a red weather warning in place for the South West. It's all a bit of a shock to the system as we're usually starting to feel some Spring warmth creeping in at this time of year. Can't complain though, it all looks very pretty from the comfort of a warm home...

The cold weather means I can stay indoors and get some crafting done. Although I suspect many of you don't need the excuse of a cold-snap to get creative.

February was a busy month for our Instagram hashtag. So many beautiful craft projects in our feed, it is always a real struggle to narrow it down to nine images for the grid. I love being part of this creative community and thank you to everyone who joins in each month.

Below is a small selection of the creative images tagged throughout February.

You can find out who the makers are behind the images by following this link

This month we welcome Jenny as guest co-host throughout March. She is a a doctor by profession, but when she has some free time, she loves nothing more than making things with her hands. You can read her blog here and head over to Jenny's @forthejoyofcraft Instagram feed to see more of her crafty makes.

If you enjoy sharing creative images on Instagram, then please feel free to tag as many crafty images with #craftingismytherapy_march throughout the month. At the end of the month, my co-hosts Jennifer Jain, Jenny and I will choose our favourite images and put together a round-up post over on Instagram. You can find my Instagram here

– Please share the love and comment on images added to the #craftingismytherapy_march feed.
– If you share your images and use the hashtag #craftingismytherapy_march on any social media channels that would be great. This will help us to grow the community. We will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention us (@pouchvintage/@JenniferJain)
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome!

Follow me on Pinterest to see blog posts, tutorials and much more...

Gardening in March: confessions of a seed hoarder

I love this time of year. The first hints of Spring are starting to appear. The sun feels warmer on your face, new shoots are appearing and I get a chance to rummage through seed packets.

My trusty Mr Men tin sits on the shelf for most of the Winter. It's only in late February, early March that I dust it down and have a look at the masses of packets I've gathered over the years. There's all sorts in there, including sunflowers, cucumbers, salad crops and wildflower mixes to attract the bees. There's also lots of home-dried seeds from plants I like the look of when I'm out and about. I dry them in paper bags over the Winter. If I'm feeling particularly organised, I might even label the bags with what's inside.

I 'borrowed' this tin from Magoo a while ago and she seems happy for me to use it for my seeds. I think it reflects my serious attitude towards gardening...or maybe that should be 'winging it' attitude towards gardening. I'm not Little Miss Perfect...in fact I'm almost definitely Little Miss Busy, which leads me to be Little Miss Scatterbrain most of the time.

Anyway, I'm nothing if not ambitious when it comes to seed planting. The Spring always makes me want to grow tons of different things. In reality, come June or July, I'm usually growing my favourites. Things I know will survive on semi-neglect.

These include flowers such as:

- Nastursiums

- Calendula

- Petunias

- Cosmos

- Geraniums

On the allotment we usually stick to:

- Masses of potatoes

- Wig-wams covered in runner and french beans

- Beetroot

- Garlic

- Onions

- Parsnips

- Courgettes and squashes

- Strawberries

As per usual I've ordered loads of seed catalogues and this year I'd like to grow something new. Hence the carrot seeds. I'm hoping to grow them with Magoo in a pot at home. I've always been put off growing carrots because of the fly they attract. I hate using chemicals, so only like to grow things that are pretty pest free. Anyway, we're going to give the carrots a whirl and see what happens.

Magoo also wanted a homegrown pumpkin for Halloween. Last year we started growing them too late and had nothing to carve in Autumn. This year we'll try and be more organised. Famous last words...

We found a small local nursery that sells strips of vegetable seedlings last year. They worked really well on the allotment. I don't have a large greenhouse so I can't grow loads of things from seed. I'm happy to let someone else do the tricky germination bit and buy the seedlings to save on time and space on our crowded windowsills.

Wish us luck with the carrots...

I'm linking up with 'How Does Your Garden Grow' over on the beautiful mammasaurus.co.uk

'The List' over on youbabymemummy.com

'Making Home' over on www.mrscraftyb.co.uk

My latest craft project: vintage fabric applique rabbit hoop

At the start of the year I decided to try and make more time for creativity. I wrote a post about the therapeutic effect of being creative. Sewing makes me relaxed and happy, so I resolved to do more of it this year. Alongside this, I've launched a new blog linky called "Crafting is my Therapy", it acts as a place for people to share their crafty skills. With Spring on the horizon and Easter only a few weeks away, this months project is bunny-themed.

Over the past couple of weeks I have sewn a colourful applique rabbit using vintage fabric and calico. I love blanket stitch and try and incorporate it into my sewing projects wherever possible. This version uses a floral fabric in shades of turquoise and cobalt blue. A few months ago I created a similar applique hoop using orange and chocolate brown vintage fabric.

Over the years I have amassed a wide selection of vintage fabrics so there is scope for me to make more variations. I find this particular manmade fabric features colours that really pop and they rarely fade.

I love the finished effect, but they aren't the easiest things to sew. It's quite hard work getting the needle through calico and the thick vintage fabric. The smaller blanket stitch around the ears was particularly fiddly. Having said that, I do still enjoy making them.

Looking forward to next month's project I'm particularly keen to practise some new embroidery stitches. The latest Crafting is my Therapy linky goes live this Friday on the 4th March...the focus of the linky is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives.

It doesn’t have to be a finished project, I love seeing work in progress photos or tutorial posts too. I hope any crafty bloggers reading this will come and join in with Crafting is my Therapy #2

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.meyouandmagoo.co.uk" rel="nofollow" title="Me You and Magoo"><img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t474/pouchbags/crafting_is_my_therapy_blog_badge_ONE_zpszefd7734.jpg" alt="Me You and Magoo" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

if you'd like to sew more of my sewing projects, I have a "Sewing is my Therapy" board over on Pinterest:

Follow Pouch : blogging + craft's board Sewing Is My Therapy on Pinterest.

This week I'm linking up with:

The 'Making Home' link up over on www.mrscraftyb.co.uk

Blogger Club UK over on www.cuddlefairy.com and mudpiefridays.com