Helen Philipps

Block Party

2012-03-01T17:18:00.000Z

These are some of my new farmer's wife quilt blocks spread out on the table.....i am still having fun making these, especially choosing the next one to do.....

.....and slowly but surely there will eventually be a pretty quilt filled with varied blocks at the end of the sewing ....maybe not for quite a while though ;-)......and there are some other (different but lovely) blocks here this week.....i was a bit late to this particular block party, having only just discovered Fee at Chipper Nelly....but i'm making up for lost time now......

.....the set of wooden ABC nursery blocks is just delightful, i love them as little works of art........

....i looked (without success) in vintage shops for years to find some just like these to use in pictures and to simply look at and enjoy......

......i think they are gorgeous, and the bunnies like them too ....i found Fee's blocks through Annie at Knitsofacto who is having a giveaway over on her lovely blog which happens to include a special block from Chipper Nelly...so pop over there and put your name in the draw if you haven't already.......it is open until March 9........

.....this pretty tin is where i keep the farmer's wife quilt templates.......last week i made one of the blocks for a second time....the one called Bouquet (you can't have too many bouquets though can you?)......

....and the one in the front here is called Flock.......(also in this picture is the LOL bracelet i picked up while shopping with Sarah and Daisy last week).....i liked the colours of the beads here with the fabrics and i always love things with letters on.....(the other bracelet's word choice was totes amaze)
It's like the first day of spring here today...warm, sunny, blue sky, birds singing, flower petals opening, trees blossoming....a day for a stripy tee shirt and no woolly cardi....a day to drive with the window down and listen to old songs....wonderful springtime....
Thank you for visiting me here in my little space on this beautiful day....i hope you have a wonderful weekend and that it is full of the joys of spring.....i think it's about time i organised a spring giveaway don't you?....i'll be back with one very soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Stitching All Day

2012-02-24T10:05:00.000Z

In the mid ninties i began working as a cross stitch designer....almost by chance...i had been designing surface patterns to go on all sorts of products, for years, from cards and gift wrap to chopping boards and china...i called it painting flowers all day and loved being able to work freelance this way (it also fitted in well when my children were growing up).......at the same time i designed and stitched cross stitch samplers for my home in my spare time........as well as making quilts and knitting jumpers...i was always a busy crafty bee....

...one day a friend of mine from the US who was living over here at the time and loved stitching and crafts as much as me, gave me a stitching magazine which had a little piece in it asking for designers to submit stitching designs to them......so i did.......

....and the next thing i knew i was stitching all day....i would wave my husband off to work, take my girls to school and then stitch the day away creating new designs as i went along...sometimes adding buttons, charms or beads to the samplers and having such an inspiring time......

....eventually, as well as working for magazines, i also wrote my own cross stitch books, and contributed to lots of others..................one of the first magazines i ever worked for was Cross Stitcher.....

....and out right now is the 250th issue, as Cross Stitcher celebrates its 20th birthday this year...so Happy Birthday Cross Stitcher....it's been a pleasure to work with the team all these years....and the magazine is looking fresh, new and inspiring....you can find out all about it here.... and join in with the celebrations and amazing competitions .............

.....some of the recent charts i've created for Cross Stitcher, and some of the little cross stitch tags and charms i love to make and add to things.....i don't always stitch using a hoop but sometimes it's a good idea....

.......as well as making samplers for framing i love to make a sampler style design and use it for objects like needle rolls...love the words amongst the patterns and motifs, i think that is what drew me to samplers in the first place...

....at the moment i am interested in exploring vintage cross stitch motifs like silhouettes and monograms, and combining them with other crafts such as papercrafts, sewing, patchwork and collage........

......and i still love how just a few stitches in various shades can bring a small motif to life as you sew....

Thnak you for popping in to see me today...as you know i love your visits :-) Wishing you a wonderful weekend with sunny happy times and maybe a little crafting too.....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patchwork and Pottering

2012-02-20T19:52:00.000Z

Two of my favourite things...patchwork and pottering in the garden....and i did some of both last weekend.....

...we were able to garden properly for the first time this season....i weeded and mulched one of the borders (mulching sounds quite professional don't you think?) and Mr P did lots of his favourite kind of gardening... that is, pruning things ;-).....we were both very contented and it was lovely to sit outside and have a cup of tea again in a sheltered bit of the garden, with the sun shining and the birds singing (and some homemade tea bread from the Mary Berry Baking Book).........

....and then a bit of pottering in the potting shed for me....with some new spring plants to either pot on and enjoy indoors or to decide where to plant outside......

....weekend breakfasts.... i just love that leisurely feel to a weekend morning....are you noticing lot of CK things appearing here?......there is a reason for it which i will show you in a moment.....

...........a quilt i made a while ago, inspired by CK fabrics, especially the gorgeous blue strawberry one, my regular breakfast cereal bowl...... and a cute little CK badge on a gift that arrived this week.......

....lady luck has smiled on me again this week and i won the Cath Kidston Patch book in the giveaway at the gorgeous Mary Jane's Tearoom....so exciting...(here it is being pictured with my Strawberry Hearts quilt..)

...a big huge thank you to Susan for this wonderful giveaway ...Mary Jane's Tearoom is one of my favourite blogs....not only do i love all the delicious colours and pictures, but i love to see Susan's original designs for her knitted mice and bunnies, they are so delightful....if you don't already know this blog do go and visit, you're in for a real treat.....

....it was lovely to be back in the potting shed again, i have swept it all out, tidied it up and found my gardening things again....it really feels like spring is here once i start to garden once more.....

.....a bit more patchwork....this is a peek at a new quilt i've been slowly working on over the last few months...it will have more applique and some colourful quilting....i will be back with another update on it soon i hope, as well as another farmer's wife block......yesterday i taught my elder daughter how to begin to crochet a granny stripe blanket...i think she's hooked.... she rang up today to say she's now on to the third stripe :-).....

......i love my crafty things, they make me sooo happy....and it's always wonderful to hear that it makes others happy too.....thanks for popping in to visit me here today, it's a pleasure to see you.....enjoy your week, i hope you find lots of happy crafty moments, and the sun shines for you too......back soon xxxxx

In the Mail

2012-02-15T11:10:00.000Z

There have been some treats in the mail over the last few days..... making a very nice change from bills and unwanted catalogues and suchlike ;-).....i was the very lucky winner in the lovely Katie's giveaway over at her crafty blog Booty-licious.....

.....there were lots of lovely gifts all sweetly wrapped in this lovely union jack paper....the toadstool and the keep calm card holder in the top picture were amongst the lovely surprises, and there were chocolates (now gone) and ribbons which i will show in another post....and a set of miniature postcards......

.....i picked out some romantic couples today as it's valentine's week, but there are lots of others too........so a big ThAnK YoU to Katie for your gorgeous giveaway ................i will enjoy using these treats vey much.....

........ i love the postmark stamps on these sweet Greengate egg cups.......

....another delightful parcel arrived too this week ....my valentine/anniversary present is this sweet teapot..........i can just imagine using it for afternoon tea in the summer garden, surrounded by real flowers............

.....not too long to wait.......the weather is definitely more spring like today, with sun peeking through, and spring flowers popping their heads up by the day........i even went into the potting shed yesterday for a little potter about......and it felt almost warm with the sun shining in there too......

....my latest farmer's wife quilt block is sooo appropriately named for this post.......because it's called postage stamp :-) i loved making this one even though the squares are exceedingly tiny.....it would mke a nice little mouse quilt.....
thank you so much for dropping in to see me here today.....i love your visits......i hope you are having a happy week, with sunshine and things you love...and maybe some treats in the mail......back soon xxxxxx

Sweet Valentine

2012-02-10T19:27:00.000Z

We will be having some sweet treats here this weekend.......celebrating a little, partly because it's so close to Valentine's Day..... and partly because tomorrow is the anniversary of the day that Mr P and i first met ( a gazzillion years ago) at a schoolfriend's party.................

...........so reason enough to bake and decorate some pretty cakes to share with my dearies...........

.......and time to use this sweet cake bunting which was made by the lovely Jooles at Sew Sweet Violet here....

....i love all the things that Jooles makes, they are so perfect and pretty....romantic, stylish and contemporary...

......love this little sign too.....i will be using this bunting for other special occasions besides Valentine's Day...

........a new romantic chopping board...too pretty to put to use in the kitchen just yet, so i am enjoying just looking at it in my sewing room for now........the sun has been shining in through the sewing room windows this week and making all the fabrics look so bright and cheery....even though the temperatures have been very low and my clothes layering is back in full force.......

......i had to show you this Farmer's Wife quilt block today because it's called Bouquet.....

.......and some little valentine tags, as part of my small tag set begun in the last post........i'm looking forward to making more post mark-y things very soon.......
....thank you for dropping into my little bit of blogland today, it's a real treat to see you....I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, with sunshine and sweet things coming your way......back soon xxxxxxxxxxx

Hearts and Flowers

2012-02-05T15:26:00.000Z

I expect lots of hearts will be being made and bought as valentine's day fast approaches ...of course i am making some too....but then i am always making hearts here for one reason or another ;-).....................

.....this blue flowery one is a sewing themed one for someone who *hearts* sewing just as much as me....

....and as well as hearts we have some flowers today .....this week i was given some beautiful tulips by my elder daughter which were chosen specially for me by my little grandson Charlie :-)) ..... they have really brightened up the house which was rather grey on one or two days and absolutely freezing cold....or sunny and still absolutely freezing cold....but while the rest of the uk is now out playing in the snow we haven't got any at all!! .....not a single flake...

....i eyed the sledges in the cellar today rather disappointedly :-( ......but never mind the good news is that here the temperatures have gone back up and i can remove at least one layer of rowan felted tweed cardigans and one woolly scarf........

.....do you remember this little yellow home sweet home heart i showed here last year? i am going on a stitched heart hunt around the house (and potting shed) to collect them all together and hang them up for valentine's day.......

....the baby bunny heart here is my project in this month's Crafts Beautiful magazine...read more about it here.......the name Ruby is one i really like, it is also the nickname of one of my younger sisters x.....

......naming things is something i always enjoy, and i love the names of the quilt blocks in the Farmer's Wife Quilt book....here are two new ones i've made called Spool and Old Windmill..........

....and here is a quick picture of my cosy Spring Flowers blanket, still striping merrily along and keeping me cosy at the same time....it's always a good idea to hand sew a quilt or crochet a blanket when the weather is chilly isn't it?
Thank you for dropping by today, it's so lovely to see you.....i hope you are keeping warm if you live in the colder parts of the world...(or just right if in the warmer ones).....and that you have a wonderful, happy flowery week....back soon xxxxxxx

Sewing Things

2012-01-31T17:33:00.000Z

Like most creative people, i love the tools of my trade, sometimes it's paints, brushes, thick creamy watercolour paper, fine nib rotring pens, tiny bottles of ink.....but at the moment mostly the tools of my trade are sewing things ....besides the computer of course ;-)......and i love all the little things i use each day.........

....the scissors, threads, needles and pins....and of course the pin cushions......and i had an idea to make some new ones as gifts shaped like...gifts!..... this idea was one i used for my crafts beautiful magazine xmas project which was a cushion that looked like an xmas gift tied up with ribbon with a stitched tag.....

.....i made three little pincushions from some of my favourite fabrics....and tied a bow round them, gift-style....

.....and then i made some little tags using rubber stamps and bits of cardstock, patterned papers and fabric scraps......i love to do these for fun, and then the ideas are useful for magazine commissions later.....

......the china blue card stock is a lovely shade, i think....reminds me a bit of my cornish blue blanket edging...

.......a little tag makes it look more present-like and it's always nice to write a special message to the recipient....

........so after lots of playing with these....well only a short while really as i have been working very hard on the top secret project most of the time and these were very quick to make......i had a play with the button factory set my daughter gave me.....now i've made covered buttons before, often with cross stitch on them, and had one featured as part of a corsage in Sew magazine last year.......but i have never had a whole set of button moulds to play around with at once.....so this was fun to do......and i made lots very quickly (some better than others as some were a bit wonky)....

....but i am very pleased with my new collection of covered buttons and will be adding them to my quilts and cushions....and anything else i can think of too......

....i have had to order a large amount of fabric lately for the secret project, and have turned into a bit more of a fabric aholic than i already was.....i've found some more ranges that i fell in love with which haven't yet arrived in my sewing room but will be here soon and i can't wait......

.......but this sweet jellyroll from tanya whelan has appeared already, and before i open it and work with it i decided to have a nice photo or two to put on my blog and enjoy it all rolled up like this.....sew pretty....
Thank you for dropping in today, it's lovely to see you........... I hope you are having a cheery week and if you live in the uk or anywhere else where the temperatures have dropped..............keep cosy!......wishing you a happy new month ...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Buttons and Patches

2012-01-26T10:10:00.000Z

There has been rather a lot of rattling of the big button jar here this week, as some of the projects i'm working on include an array of buttons....and so did these little projects .....two nine patch pincushions.....

.... my elder daughter needed a pincushion so i stitched her one, embroidering on her initials and a few little flowers in her favourite colours too to make it special to her.....

....and then i made one for me too....with some tiny pieces of the gorgeous ruby fabric that i haven't decided what to use for yet, and some grey spotted fabric left over from one of my earlier book projects....i love the combination of grey with spots and florals.....

........lovely colourful buttons....so many to choose from.....the perfect one is lurking there somewhere....

.......ck buttons still on the card but not for long as i have a special project in mind for these......and a little covered button with an initial cross stitched on.... i have just been given a button making kit by my younger daughter when we visited her last weekend so i will be making more of these very soon.......i will also be making a pincushion for my younger daughter too of course :-)

.....here is the back of my pincushion with an extra stitched heart, tag and button, next to the big button jar.....

.....thank you for all the crochet love in my last post, i was so delighted to hear from so many of you and as a novice crocheter it was very heartwarming that you liked the projects.....the spotty red and white crochet hook that many of you asked about was made for me by my lovely blog friend Robin at my nest of yarn and buttons here...just pop over and visit her and choose a spotty hook too.....

...thank you for visiting me on this cool but bright morning.....it's lovely to see you......wishing you a happy week, with sweet spring flowers (or summer ones if you live on the other side of the world) to brighten your days...and plenty of sunshine too.......back soon xxxxx

Crochet Colour

2012-01-20T15:25:00.000Z

Today it is grey and rainy here so i decided it was the perfect day to show some colourful crochet projects....the bliss of crochet for me is the way you can use LoTs of colour in one project, often the more the better in fact....i showed you the project below a while ago when i'd just begun....i was learning to crochet the granny squares together instead of sewing them together, which i now much prefer......i loved the cornish blue wool and thought it worked well with the squares which had a red or pink flower in the centre and a row of white surrounding it....

....i finished it, apart from an edging, a while ago and then had to work out how to do a picot edge as that's what i really wanted it to have so that held it up for a bit longer, and then i made some cushions as presents which held it up even longer....but finally it was all finished and here it is......

.......if my first blanket was a BiG one then my second is a small one, but still very cosy and nice to snuggle under.....and i do like this edge too and will use it again on another one i think......

.....and then the next plan was to make a granny stripe after all those granny squares.....i had seen so many beautiful ones made by so many of you that i was really looking forward to beginning this.....except i didn't actually know how to begin.....but i found an excellent tutorial by Lucy at Attic 24 and soon i could crochet a granny stripe too :-).......

......the colours make me think of spring......

.......lots of fresh floral shades........

....i used some of the yarn i already had and ordered a few more shades that took my fancy.......the colours remind me of spring bulbs and pots of primroses, a real colour fix on a grey day like today.......

....i shall be doing a bit of my granny stripe this evening and maybe making a block for my quilt too....

......but now it's back to working on sewing top secret projects....with a nice cup of tea i think too....
Thank you for popping in here, it's always lovely to see you ......wishing you a wonderful, happy, colourful and cosy weekend....back soon xxxxxxx

Sew Sunny

2012-01-16T11:26:00.000Z

The last few days have been amazingly sunny and bright, and we have had beautiful blue skies and white frost...

....besides getting out and about for lovely walks beside the sea and to our favourite gardens, i have been reading and sewing....one inspired by the other......the two books above arrived here last week....one of those reading trails where one thing leads to another....i had read The Diary of a Farmer's Wife years ago and loved it but didn't have my own copy till now and am so enjoying re reading it......

....below is a detail from a quilt i made when i was in my folk art craze...it shows the farmer's wife feeding her hens, beneath a very sunny blue sky......

....the second book is also wonderful ....The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book contains letters from 1920's farm wives and the 111 blocks they inspired....it is just the book i have been wanting as it has a delightful range of quite small blocks, with templates, that you can paper piece or machine sew.....and i do love paper piecing and small projects that add up to a bigger one...slowly and enjoyably.....

text from diary of a farmer's wife 1796-1797

.....so far i have made three blocks.... called Homeward Bound, Practical Orchard and Bow Tie...I love the names of the blocks and the homely associations and choosing which one to do next.......

.....they are fun to do and very varied.....they have captured many people's imaginations and i know there are lots of lovely quilt alongs going on across the pond where people make a set number of blocks per week or month....

.......a lovely project to be involved in and i know i will enjoy quietly working on a block for this quilt whenever i get a moment away from all the top secret projects i'm busily producing at the moment in my studio and sewing room......i will leave you with a picture of the incredibly blue sky taken yesterday when we had our seaside walk....i added this picture to the lovely Annie's delightful new Sky 365 project on flickr...pop over to knitsofacto to find out all about it and how to join in.....

...thank you for dropping in to see me and for the lovely comments and emails which i sooo enjoy, it's so good to hear from you.....wishing you a happy week with lots of sunny crafty times...back soon xxxxxxx

Big Bunny

2012-01-11T12:23:00.000Z

As usual there has been some sewing going on here.....and today i would like to show you a new BiG bunny....meet ruby! Lots of lovely readers have been in touch since my last book was published in 2010 to say how they have enjoyed making things from it, and many of you have made the bunny...i have seen lots of sweet and colourful versions.... everyone makes their own slightly differently which is fun to see.......

.....i recently had another look at the book and the bunny and decided to enlarge the pattern page by 150% on a photocopier......i adhered the pattern to thin card using spray mount, and then cut out the rather large shapes......and then i began sewing ruby........i love making toys and am collecting old books filled with patterns and information for crafting them which are proving very useful.......

....just to show how much bigger ruby is, here she is with her little brother from the book below.....

.... besides sewing and other crafting, i have been painting something white.....it doesn't feel right for me if too much time goes by without me painting something white.....and this time it was an old ikea cupboard which was rejuvenated with a pot of farrow and ball (shade: pointing) and is now in my studio, being filled up with bright crafty bits and bobs.......

....the studio hyacinths have finally opened their pretty blooms and are filling the air with a wonderful fragrance......

....i hope you have a happy week filled with the things you enjoy....thank you for popping in to see me here, i do enjoy your visits and your sweet comments make my day.......sending you sunny wishes...back soon xxxx

Warm for Winter

2012-01-07T20:02:00.000Z

Today's theme is a woolly one....a few years ago when i fell in love with knitting all over again, i stitched a little cross stitch sampler to celebrate my re discovered knitting joy, inspired by the pleasure of both making something with lovely wool and having a warm and cosy garment to wear at the end of the process.....

....the little sampler found its way to Cross Stitch Collection, where it was made into a knitting needle roll by the clever creative design team there, and it was then featured as a project in the magazine.......

.....the Knit and Stitch design has recently become available again to download at the making spot here.....

.....and i am still happily knitting, this time a fair isle scarf inspired by a pattern by Martin Storey, using some of my most favourite wool in soft warm colours.....as i'm only doing the fair isle pattern at the ends of the scarf there is a big relaxing stretch of simple stripy knitting in the middle.....

....i began this project a few weeks ago and i am taking my time over this scarf as i have so many other things going on too, but there is a little bit of calm each time i pick it up and knit a few rows......

........i really think there is nothing so cosy as something hand knitted for winter.......

....these are my weekend flowers , they looked so fresh and pretty i just had to put this picture in too....
I hope you are having a lovely weekend...thanks for popping in here it's lovely to see you....wishing you cosy, cheerful and crafty times this week.... i'll be back soon xxxxx

Fresh and New

2012-01-04T11:11:00.000Z

A fresh new year, and a fresh new start....i love the sense of new beginnings that this time brings.... and the tidying away of the xmas decorations and arranging of new things that i received from my dearies is always a new year pleasure......the blossom in the sweet new greengate jug above is from a tree in our front garden that blooms almost all year round...

....some new sewing pretties came my way and will be put to good use ......

.....and some delightful new pip china ......there is a jolly little robin in the garden today too, just like this one...i love the vivid colours and the textures of this design, and the stripes and the clever mix of new and vintage style...

........soon there will be more baking.... once the recent feasting has been recovered from.... and this sweet book will be inspiring me.......

..........i've been working hard since yesterday when Mr P went back to work and so did i.....my studio has been de-christmassed and some new bulbs have been brought in (yet to open, but almost there).....

....the light changes all the time, from a bright sunny spell first thing to grey and silvery and then to deep dark cloud......

....i have lots of illustrations to do, and my new book projects to make and write about, and my new stripy crochet blanket is growing amazingly fast, as many of you predicted, i love doing the stripes too :-))....will take a picture of it very soon.....

......wishing you all a happy first week of January...thanks so much for dropping in to see me and for everyone who follows and comments a big ThAnK YoU.....keep cosy and have a wonderful week....i'll be back soon xxxxxxxx

Crafty New Year

2011-12-31T11:42:00.000Z

The winter hearts here are some i made to add to gifts this christmas....scented with pot pourri or dotted with a fragrant winter scented oil, they are a sweet little extra to put inside a package, or hide in the pocket of a bag or other gift.....

......or to hang on the outside of a gift bag......

One of the best crafty things in 2011 for me was finally learning to crochet......and i have been making granny squares in my spare moments ever since that hot sunny day when i first began.......

........i made this cushion as a present for one of my dearies who just loves pastel shades......

......and a bright one, below being wrapped up on my desk......having enjoyed the granny square for quite a few projects, i have now decided to move on to a granny stripe so will be back to show you that in the new year.........

......there is a big pile of fabric waiting in my studio for a whole host of exciting new projects....this year i will be working on my next book, well i already am, but it takes a while ;-) .......i love the thought of so much crafty creativity stretching ahead over the coming months....the feeling is one of real happiness......

....i wish you the same feeling of joy and happiness in your creative world this year too.......

Thank you for reading my blog during 2011 and for your very sweet comments and emails.....blogging is so much more than i realised when i began and i love to visit all of you around the world and share a little of your creative lives too....wishing you all a very Happy New Year and a wonderful, inspired and creative year ahead....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christmas Week

2011-12-28T14:36:00.000Z

We have had a wonderful christmas this year, and i hope you have too.....we are still enjoying our christmas week so i thought i'd just post a few pictures today taken around the house........

....i love scented candles and the wintry ones made with cloves, cinnamon and oranges are amongst my favourites.......

.....we have spent most of christmas week with family and friends, with a lot of laughter and good times...

....plenty of festive food.....and willing helpers to cook and serve it......(new xmas oven gloves from this year and some from last year too ).....

.....the christmas cake with simple decorations......

.....and a little time for crafting here and there too....here is a peek at one of the crochet cushions......

.....i hope all is well where you are and you are enjoying your christmas week too....thank you for dropping in here to see me here today........wishing you a wonderful time in 'the bit inbetween'....back soon xxxxxx

Merry and Bright

2011-12-23T10:33:00.000Z

Not long now till the festivites start.....i am enjoying the last 'quiet' day before the holidays begin, and trying to finish off the things that are left to do.....i took the photos of the potting shed last week when i potted up some bulbs, some for our house and some as presents......i decided to put my chipped but still loved CK mugs to a new use...

...seeing the new bright green shoots is something i love in the middle of winter....makes me look forward even more to those garden days to come again in a few months....

....the potting shed is looking a little festive with children's stars to decorate the windows and a berried wreath on the door.....the tiny tree is now covered in tiny red and white baubles and stands in the kitchen....

......wrapping presents by candle light on a grey winter's afternoon, with a cup of tea and a candy cane.....

......i think all the presents are wrapped now, so that's one list ticked off.....and most of the other lists are done too, including my last magazine commission for the year, due for it's deadline in January.....

.....here is this year's christmas cushion for Crafts Beautiful magazine, a christmas present shaped cushion with a hand stitched tag and matching cross stitched card.......

.......thank you for your very kind comments about Merry Mouse, and for all your visits and comments during this busy time and over the year too, i love reading them so much ....i hope to be back very soon to show you my crafty christmas makes... and in the meantime i wish you all a very ......

***Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays***

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Merry Mouse

2011-12-19T09:57:00.000Z

A little mouse crept into our house on this last weekend before christmas.......her name is Merry.....and although she is quiet and rather timid she is a very merry and smiley mouse too.......

.....as mice tend to do, she has been popping up here and there around the house, watching as we get on with our christmassy preparations, and as we come and go on errands and trips, she is always waiting when we return......

....she is a little white mouse with red skandi print ear linings and she has an embroidered felt top and a dala horse printed skirt......

......and a red bead for her nose (i looked in my bead box and there was exactly the one i wanted)....

......Merry Mouse is waiting beside the new musical biscuit tin, hoping it will soon be opened and there will be some treats for her to nibble......

.......and just after the little mouse crept in this weekend, a wonderful parcel arrived........

...i was one of the lucky winners in the wonderful Bee Happy blog giveaway last week and the parcel contained this beautiful scarf......so soft, in subtle pretty colours, and so warm too...perfect to wear right now....thank you to Deb at Bee Happy for such a generous giveaway gift, I am really delighted.....do go and visit Bee Happy, and see her etsy shop, and folksy shop too....

......thank you to Bee Happy for knitting this lovely warm cosy scarf........

....now i think it's almost time for a mid morning cup of tea, and a little look at my list or i should say lists as i have quite a few of them now...the work/commission list, the christmas present list, the crafts i want to make list, the food list, the christmas to do list, and the every day to do list......yes, lots of them to keep track of...i might need a mince pie as well......
Thank you for dropping in to visit me today....i hope your lists are getting ticked off and all is peaceful where you are....enjoy the countdown and keep cosy....i'll be back soon xxxxxx

All Through the House

2011-12-14T20:50:00.000Z

It is a busy week here...as it is in most homes at the moment....and there is sooo much to think about and so many lists to make and keep checking.......i ran around the house with my camera, taking pictures here and there of the decorations ......the mantel above is in the lounge, which is painted in pale colours......

.....the year it was painted i bought lots of pastel coloured tree decorations and we add a new one now and then....the look is frosty and icy and the tree has white lights...it looks pretty at night when the old glass ware i keep in that room reflects the lights and the candles, and when the log fire is lit in there.....

....as i have mentioned (many times) before, i love red and white decorations, and red and white textiles too...the whole Scandinavian look has been my favourite for a long time and this year the dining room dresser has a lot of red and white along with the usual simple white china that i keep there.......

.....and the sitting room is where we have the red and white decorated tree, ( the merry hearts red and white felt decorations always hang on this tree too)....last year i made a new mushroom merry heart but so far this year i haven't had a moment to make another but i might yet....

....lots of baking plans going on in the kitchen..... and i have been enjoying this wonderful book.... Bake & Decorate.... which was suggested to me by the lovely Madelief who kindly thought i would enjoy it, and indeed i do...it has so many lovely decorating ideas for all the seasons, including some charming xmas ones.....

.....and here are some sweet new tiny red and white baubles ready to go on a very small tree.....i hope to show you some more Christmas pictures very soon....
Thank you for popping in to see my Christmas house.....and thank you for taking time to read and comment when things are so very busy.......i hope you are enjoying the countdown to Christmas and finding time to relax and enjoy it all too......have a cheery cosy week....back soon xxxxxx

Sew Festive....and a Winner!

2011-12-11T12:25:00.000Z

This weekend I have been shopping and sewing....lots of Christmas presents have been gathered ready to wrap, and there is some secret sewing under way....... but first i must make an announcement.......

                                         ....the winner of the Woodland Winter Giveaway is.........
                                                               Apple Blossom Barn

....congratulations to Denise, and if you would like to email me your address (my email is on the sidebar there) your parcel will soon be winging it's way to your pretty home........
i would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, i loved reading your sweet comments and finding lots of different blogs to enjoy, and hearing from old blog friends too of course....i wish i could send a gift to you all....but i will be holding regular giveaways in 2012...so good luck in the next one!

.....And now for a little festive sewing......a while ago i showed you some lovely Liberty fabrics....

....i like to use Liberty tana lawn in small amounts and this little gift bag was a perfect project for that...

........i used it to bind the top edges of the thick pure wool felt bag.....and made some yo yo's too.....

.....and here it is in this month's Sew magazine, with a redwork cross stitch bird design appliqued on the front as well.......

.....and here is a matching Christmas tag i made too, using bright beads for an extra festive feel.....you can find more ideas at Sew magazine here.......

.....this Scandinavian style applique Christmas stocking was made for my book Simple Sewn Gifts, and i loved sewing it....the fabrics were from a delightful little bundle that one of my daughters brought me back from a college trip to Amsterdam,...so it was lovely to use them in this special project.....here it is hanging on my mantlepiece at the moment, with the candles lit and everything cosy.....
Thank you for visiting me here today...wishing you a wonderful week and warm and happy times...back soon with lots of Christmassy pictures xxxxxx

Merry Wishes Quilt

2011-12-07T20:12:00.000Z

Since my last post it has been real quilt weather here....with icy cold winds blowing every day....so lucky that i finished my merry wishes quilt in time for the wintry weather and festive season i think....

.....it was just a quick and easy little quilt, made of simple squares of fabrics in mostly reds and greens, using up lots of my stash that had been around for a while and needed to make room for new fabrics.....

.......i added labels here and there with xmas themes and cheery wishes....and then i remembered a baby quilt i made a few years ago that i added a pocket to, with a little stuffed teddy in it.....so i decided that the merry wishes quilt should have a pocket on the back too.......

....with a little stuffed heart in it, scented with delicious winter pot pourri, and with a little festive message stamped on the selvedge ribbon at the top.....i love making little fiddly things like this, especially when i should be doing something else really......

....i'm hoping that this quilt will be part of many merry memories this christmas and in the future .....

....a few more red and green things from this week.....a present for a friend who has a birthday next week and some delicious red currant jelly she made for us, my new red and green jingle bell wreath which jingled merrily in the back of the car all the way home when we bought it last week.....and bright and christmassy flowers my lovely daughter and son in law gave me at the weekend....
It is still very cold here at the moment, and still very windy....lots of woolly layers are needed and i have begun knitting a new woolly scarf which i hope to show you soon.....hope you are keeping cosy (or pleasantly warm if you are over on the other side of the world).....

Thank you for visiting me and for the lovely comments.....tomorrow is the closing day for my giveaway and we will do the draw ready for me to reveal the winner next time......i hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week...back soon xxxxxxxxxx

Candy Canes and Winter Wishes

2011-12-04T15:46:00.000Z

It's a cold and wintry day here, with winds howling around the house and occasional showers of sleety rain rattling on the windows...definitely a day to be indoors and enjoy the cosy warmth of home.......

....we have had a lovely weekend filled with happy family times celebrating both Mr P's birthday, and the xmas season generally....(if we had Thanksgiving over here in the uk i think that's how i'd like to celebrate it)...being thankful for having a lovely family (ages ranging from eighty eight down to eighteen months) and a cosy home for everyone to spend time in together...

.....we decorated the house with lots of traditional decorations from years gone by, and lots of candy canes this year...more than ever.... of course some of us like eating them so we do need a lot ;-)....

The food and cakes were all eaten up and all the help i had from my mother and daughters made it very easy...little Daisy Dot spent all the time trotting about, or dancing on tip toe, in her tiny pink sparkly party shoes (when she wasn't being cuddled by everyone that is)... and Charlie is soooo excited about the whole coming Christmas experience it's so lovely to recapture a little of that magic through their eyes.....

We have cleared up today and now i have a moment to pop in to blogland to write this post and to visit some of you too....and don't forget that the giveaway is still open until next thursday.....
Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my last post and all the happy birthday wishes for Mr P, he was thrilled........
.........I wish you a wonderful week, filled with good times, cosy days, and a few sweet treats as well....this week i'll be taking pictures of my merry wishes quilt and some other projects too....so i'll be back with them very soon....keep cosy xxxxxxxxxx

Making Time

2011-11-29T19:42:00.000Z

First of all today I want to say thank you so much to everyone who has entered my woodland winter giveaway in my last post, and all your kind and delightful comments....the giveaway will be open until december 8, so there is still time to enter if you've missed it.....and one of the nice things about it is i've discovered lots more blogs to visit, read and enjoy!......

Today's pctures are from the rather festive looking potting shed, where i've been spending a little time making some xmas decorations with a woodlandy, greenery kind of feel.....

.....this week is the lovely Mr P's birthday week and we have already been celebrating rather a lot....and at the weekend we'll be having a family party, so i wanted to put up the decorations a bit earlier than usual this year...............

......as well as making decorations i've been cooking....and my mother is also baking....and both my daughters are cooking and baking too.... so we will have lots of delicous food and of course plenty of cake...

......there are still flowers in the garden but now i'm going more for the foliage and some berries both real and not so real......the picture below shows the geraniums bright blooms which greeted me when i opened the potting shed door......such a vivid fanfare of colour that i really wasn't expecting!

........next week i'll be planting up some pots of bulbs as presents, when i've finished the decorations..

......here is one of the toadstool tealights, the same as the one in the giveaway....it's fun finding suitable containers for them and this one seemed ideal.....the glass lantern hangs up and looks very pretty.....

........a sweet little holly topped cake or two to help the work along.....

......and now i'm going to make some more top secret things, and hopefully put the finishing stitches into my new quilt....and clean my house, decorate the trees ready for the birthday/christmassy party....cook a little more....bake a little more.....and enjoy the week a lot.. I hope you are having a wonderful week too with lots of making time and happy cosy days and evenings.....back soon xxxxxx

Woodland Winter Giveaway!

2011-11-24T13:05:00.000Z

Welcome to the wonderful woodland winter giveaway! There are four things in today's festive giveaway......a little deer ornament made specially for you by me, a fabulous Enchanted Forest Tea Towel (thanks to the very generous Al of All Tea Towels), a cute little toadstool tealight and a little chocolatey surprise too........

....a while ago i planned to make a little felt ornament for my winter giveaway and decided on a little deer...

....and then when i featured this gorgeous festive tea towel in an earlier post so many of you liked it so i decided to add this to my giveaway too.......the design is by the talented artist Linda Edwards and you can see more of her delightful, colourful work on her website here.....
To enter the giveaway all you have to do is to leave me a comment on this post (and if you become a follower or are one already, just mention that in your comment and you can have two entries!)......the giveaway is open to everyone worldwide and will run until December 8 .........

...you could hang the little deer on a door or on the christmas tree.......

....the buttons i used are some vintage pearly ones i bought at the famous Duttons for Buttons shop in York this time last year....the shop had them packed in little bags looking like sweets........i embroidered some tiny stars here and there too.....

....and of course there will be a chocolate novelty in the package..... this little robin and yule log......

Good luck in the giveaway!

Have a happy week and thanks for visiting me and all your sweet comments xxxxx

Flowers and Fabrics

2011-11-19T20:33:00.000Z

All the flowers in this little jug were picked from the garden today.... unusual November flowers for our garden which is normally rather flowerless by now, but today i found some cornflowers... some cosmos....some lavender.......white geranium....cranesbill.....fuschia.........

some nasturtiums... scabious.... daisies....and some purple flowers that i can't remember the name of....
i went out to put some vegetable peelings in the beehive composter this morning and saw a hyacinth flowering in one of the borders, which made me then go and investigate the rest of the garden to see what the flowers were up to, and that's how i found all these....most unusual but a pretty surprise.....

This week has been a bit of a fabric fest here as i've been working on some big fabric-y projects......

....more about these lovely Liberty fabrics in a future post....how delicious they are......

and so is this lovely tilda fabric which i've used to back my christmas quilt, and then made a quick pincushion with some of the left over fabric....i can never have too many pincushions and love lots of them around the house....

... as you can see this little bundle of squares has the cute name of flurry and though we haven't had any snow flurries here yet, it's been a flurry of fabric and projects in my studio this week.....these squares might become a cushion but i haven't quite decided yet.......

....and yes, there has been a bit of christmas crafting going on too....a few teeny things hidden away as surprises for family and friends....and i am making some little labels to add to my christmas quilt using rubber stamped words...i've been washing them to test for colourfastness and they seem fine, and i thought i might add some of these red and green dotty buttons too....
Thank you very much for dropping by to see me and for your very kind comments....i hope you are all having a wonderful weekend......i'll be back soon with a giveaway!! xxxxx

November Studio

2011-11-14T12:00:00.000Z

Today i thought you might like a little look at my studio, now in a slightly less tidy state than when i showed you last time after the big sort out, but not too bad (yet).....i brought the lovely little rose hips in from the garden yesterday after Mr P pruned one of the rambling roses and i was finally able to reach them......and here are some more berries in the form of one of Vanessa's sweet holly brooches, such a treat.....

....i love Vanessa's blog and work and these little brooches are like tiny sculptures, made from a mix of paper mache, crochet, fabric and embroidery and so cleverly constructed that you can move each berry and leaf as they are wired individually...i tried the brooch on my conrflower cardi...lovely....and the colours reminded me rather of the mille colori yarn i bought this time last year at the knitting and stitching show.....i used the yarn for this corkscrew scarf......

......the pattern and yarn can be found here.....the holly brooch looks lovely decorating my studio this week, but i know it will also be perfect on my winter coats......

....and here is a card featuring one of Vanessa's delightful sculptures...Sir Henry Brambles is on my mantlepiece this week... you can find Vanessa's sculptures, cards, paintings and prints here.....

......and now it's nearly time for me to go back to my crafty work, helped of course by a nice cup of tea...this week i am making some top secret projects....i am also making something for a giveaway which i'll tell you about very soon.......

.....i bought some new felt supplies at a big craft store at the weekend, you can always tell it's November in my studio when i start cutting things out of festive felt......

........and here is a sneak peek of what i'm stitching in the evenings, cosy by the fire, making a new quilt to brighten up the xmas sofa....i'm so enjoying quilting this simple design, and loving all the fabrics in it, some of which i've had a long time......thanks for popping in to my bit of blogland and for all your lovely comments.....hope you have a wonderful, cosy, crafty week.....back soon. xxx

Cosy Kitchen

2011-11-09T10:09:00.000Z

As the days are drawing in and becoming darker, I find I'm spending more time in my cosy kitchen, making warming wintry meals like soups and casseroles, and baking things to put in the freezer, just because it's so cosy in there...........this week I had a nice surprise when the lovely Al McCavery contacted me and asked if I'd like to choose two tea towels to review from his website All Tea Towels....(yes, please)......

.....the website is a cornucopia of designer tea towels made from the finest quality linen, cotton or linen union and I was really spoilt for choice....I eventually decided to choose the Enchanted Forest Tea Towel because its red and white design chimes in perfectly with my Christmas themes and I love all the woodland creatures and sweet folk art style decoration......

....and the Union Jack Tea Towel because I also love the Brit chic look (and am currently working on a magazine commission for next year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations) so this design is perfect to be drying my dishes with right now........

The All Tea Towels site is a lovely one to browse for gift ideas (shipping is fast and worldwide), and there is a charming page on the History of Tea Towels (and Dish Towels too)!

One more thing to show you for my cosy kitchen this week.......at last I have made a granny cushion for my cane chair (where I sit and stitch, knit or crochet sometimes while waiting for a cake to bake or dinner to cook)......yes, the Bright and Flowery granny cushion has had it's final flower sewn on, and a border crocheted round it ............

..........and now it is in place my cosy kitchen ..........

I hope you like it..... it was inspired by many of you and the wonderful crochet you create!

Thank you for dropping in to see me today, and for those who leave such sweet comments a big thank you ....I read each and every one and enjoy them all. Wishing you all a happy cosy week. Back soon xxxx

Trudie

2011-11-03T14:26:00.000Z

Here is Trudie....a new bunny coming to join us as winter is creeping in....her outfit has rather an alpine influence............

.....i was longing to applique some toadstools on her little dress when i made her a while ago and i love using felt with a little embroidery on it, especially for wintry projects.....

.........the fabrics i had chosen were what really inspired this look..........

...........and a nice big button order arrived this week to be used for lots of commissions, so i picked out the red, white and aqua ones for a quick picture......buttons are so inspiring too don't you think???

....the little alpine sampler is my project in this year's Crafts Beautiful Christmas Special....i enjoyed designing this sampler and it will be nice having it in our house for the coming festive season.........

.............Trudie and the mushrooms......still making them, with plans for xmas decorating too.....

......i found these cute toadstool cupcake cases the other day, just what i needed......i will be making some hummingbird bakery cupcakes in them for a family birthday at the end of the month.........

.........and yummy new fabrics with that fresh look i so enjoy.....i can hardly bring myself to chop them up though when they are arranged in such neat little bundles........

........Trudie sitting on a special little bunny chair, brought back by a friend from Spain especially for the bunnies, how very kind and thoughtful, and how useful this little chair is already......

Before i go i must just say that Jenny Arnott is having a wonderful giveaway over at her blog here, so do pop over and visit her and put your name in the draw to win some gorgeous treats.......

....it's almost the weekend again, and we will be helping at Charlie's birthday party to be held at a nearby farm so we are all looking forward to that very much.....i hope you have a wonderful weekend and are enjoying the beginning of November...thanks for dropping in to see me and your sweet comments....back soon xxxxx

October

2011-10-31T09:57:00.000Z

October is the one time in the year that you find a pumpkin on our step.....and the one time I have lots of orange things around the house....i love the warm and earthy colours of this mellow month and am sorry it has gone by so fast so that here we are already on its very last day....

.......i found some lovely decorations this year......sweet little pumpkins on sticks, golden yellow gourds...

.............which i kept in the potting shed until it was time to decorate the house.........

.........and my favourite florist in our little town had made adorable little garlands of chinese lanterns ....

......perfect to festoon the potting shed, or the kitchen windows, where they look beautiful when the sun sets behind them and they form a delicate silhouette.....

......the Halloween bunting i made last year is making a spooky reappearance on the mantlepiece, and there are lots of sweeties waiting in a bowl near the front door ready for this year's little trick or treaters to call......

......before i go, i'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who is taking part in the Battersea Doggie Bag campaign mentioned in my last post...and thank you to The Making Spot for featuring it on both the Mollie Makes blog and the Cross Stitcher blog....the campaign is set to run for quite a while so i am leaving a link in my sidebar.....

.....and i couldn't go without showing you this little doggie too....it was my dear grandson Charlie's fourth birthday last week and he is a born dog lover.....so besides all the classic boy's toys he wanted for his birthday i made him this special little felt doggie too......
Thank you for visiting me today, and for all your sweet comments on my last post...and the lovely emails too....wishing you a happy Halloween and a wonderful week ahead.....back soon. xxxxxx

Stitching Scented Doggie Bags

2011-10-26T11:59:00.000+01:00

Last week I mentioned that an unexpected and very cute design project had arrived in my inbox, one which I was delighted to make and began on straight away......it was from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, that wonderful charity which has been caring for dogs and cats ever since it was established in 1860. Their aim was never to turn away a dog or cat in need, and they also reunite lost dogs and cats with their owners.

As part of Battersea's kennel enrichment plan, the project i was asked to create was a scented doggie bag that pet lovers could make easily, and that could be filled with scented herbs such as lavender to help keep the dogs calm while they wait for new loving homes........

...........i was asked to use a motif of a staffordshire terrier as part of the home's campaign to show the softer side of this breed..........so here are my scented doggie bags........

......it was hard to stop at one so i stitched three.........there are so many combinations of colours and fabric that you could use.....

........here they are packed up and ready to be sent off to Battersea...........

.....and now the important bit....if you would like to help Battersea Dogs and Cats Home by making a scented doggie bag too you can download a doggie bag pattern and instructions from www.battersea.org.uk/doggiebags today..........

Even if you have never sewn before these little bags are very easy to make.......it's a sweet and easy way to help such a good cause.......
Thank you so much for visiting me here today, and for your lovely comments and emails too.....i hope you are having a wonderful autumn week and the sun is shining where you are.....i'll be back soon xxxxx

Happy Weekend

2011-10-21T20:47:00.000+01:00

This week seems to have gone by exceptionally quickly, with lots to do....but still time to make this little doily cone and fill it with snippets of flowers, leaves and berries......

....some little bits from the garden and some tiny heads of cut flowers......you can put a tiny jar with water inside the doily cone and the flowers last quite a few days........
I think the week went by so fast for me because a rather cute and interesting little design project came my way (which i look forward to sharing with you soon) so i was quite engrossed doing that as well as my planned commissions... ...you know how time flies when you are busy making things .....and now i am looking forward to the weekend and spending time with the family......

.......as well as looking for some buttons to finish off my cornflower cardi........

..........and looking for a nice one of these ready to make our pumpkin lantern next week......

..........and maybe sorting out these lovely old mending thread cards someone gave me....not sure if i'll sew with them, but i love the cards themselves, speaking of bygone days when everything was neatly darned and mended .......

........and i'll also be sewing just a little too as i finally finish off the great autumn mushroom craze i've been having........what will you be doing this weekend, i wonder?........thanks for popping in to see me here....i wish you all a sunny and happy weekend....Back soon xxxxxx

Time for Tea

2011-10-17T12:05:00.000+01:00

Weekend walks followed by afternoon tea are a favourite of mine, and this weekend the weather was so beautiful it was wonderful to be out walking in the fresh autumn air and bright sunshine.....

....and then home to tea with scones, rock buns and cupcakes.....and my new tea cosy which was commissioned a while ago and is my project in this month's Crafts Beautiful magazine, in the shops now ;-)...

......i am not an adventurous cook though sometimes i try something new, like this delicious vanilla frosting from the Humming Bird Bakery....

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Henry James

......i have collected a lot of quotations about homely things over the years to use in my stitching, and there are quite a number about tea and the taking of it......

....a little close up of the CB teacosy, with its ribbon and button on top.......

............and its decorative ribbon bow at the side......i enjoyed making this commission, and in the magazine there is a cupcake card to accompany it, if it's to be made as a gift.........

....some pictures of the colourful flowers and berries we saw on our walk yesterday afternoon at our favourite nearby gardens....it was stunning to see how just many things were still in flower there and to enjoy the sight of so many beautiful shrubs full of berries or rosehips......

The mere chink of cups and saucers turns the mind to happy repose. George Gissing

There are still some mushrooms being made here, and i found some to photograph on our walks too, but they will have to wait for another post.....Thank you for dropping in to tea today in my little bit of blogland it was lovely to see you, thanks for your sweet comments and emails...and a big hellooo to my new followers. Wishing you a wonderful week with plenty of moments of happy repose....back soon xxxxxx

Autumn Days

2011-10-12T15:23:00.000+01:00

Sewing and making is the theme today.....more toadstools - or mushrooms - are appearing around our house, some decorated, some not.....all dotty whether they are large or small....

...i am really enjoying exploring this idea and have lots more mushrooms that i want to make yet......

.....i made some simple card templates to create the top of the toadstool and the stalk which can then be used to draw round and make lots of others quite quickly.......

.......so far for decoration i have made some felt flowers, but have some other ideas percolating too....

.....as i'm working on spring themes in my studio this week, it's fun to also make something with an autumn feel in my spare moments.....it feels just right to be making these just as they might be appearing in the woods nearby or even in the garden almost hidden amongst the leaves.....

......i had a wonderful surprise this week when a parcel arrived for me...the next picture shown below is of the gorgeous bag that i won in Karen's wonderful giveaway over on her blog Karen's Crafts here....i was thrilled to receive this lovely gift as you may imagine, and even more so when i discovered.....

......lots of other treats and surprises hiding in the pockets....

....an adorable pincushion, a pretty tissue cover, and lovely crochet jam jar cover so beautifully made by Karen, and a sweet little strawberry pink candle, too. Thank you so much Karen for these generous gifts....do go and visit her lovely blog it's lively and inspired and full of crafty things....

.....my autumn days wouldn't be complete without a quilt or two on the sofa, and that thought this week inspired me to tidy up my quilt cupboard, which i have mentioned and shown before and is in the sitting room, handily next to my sofa where i spend many happy hours stitching away. Sometimes i keep fabrics in the cupboard too but at the moment i have taken them all out for a grand fabric sort out...so there are just quilts in there which seemed like a good time to take a photo....

.....while they are tidy and folded neatly.....the fabrics are now in the dining room also known as the sewing room in a huge pile and i am going to organise them ready for a big project that is about to begin....

.....so much sewing and quilting and mushroom making this week.....i love it! Other things i'm loving are: berries, crunchy leaves, cosy evenings by the fire, candle light, apple and blackberry crumble and custard, home made bread {in a breadmaker so didn't take me long ;-)}, reading a Persephone book, piecing a quilt, watching the grandbabies laughing and playing together, hearing the front door when Mr P arrives home from work...so many simple things to enjoy and make the most of......i hope you are having happy times this week too. Thanks so much for dropping in to see me and for the lovely comments. I'm off to do some crafting again now....but i'll be back soon. xxxxx

Sew Autumnal

2011-10-08T13:59:00.000+01:00

It's been a wonderful autumn week here, with all kinds of autumn weather and so many of the things that mean autumn to me....plus a little autumn sewing too.... like this stuffed toadstool i made....

....i've spent a bit of time in the potting shed too this week, here is the outside of it with the lovely hanging toadstool garland that Mr P bought me last year, such a nice surprise....

....the potting shed is a great place to arrange flowers and berries, as well as potting plants and bulbs....

....i bought some new ones to plant this autumn, narcissi and hyacinths as last year i was mad on tulips and planted a whole lot which hopefully will appear again next spring....

...the toadstool above was easy to make and there will be more of them in a future post, as like many crafty things, once you make one you just have to make another....and another....and then try out different fabrics and decoration....so look out for more to pop up here (as real toadstools do) .....

...i treated myself to an adorable set of garden buttons from Jenny, and here is the toadstool one fitting in so well with my autumn week....these are so beautifully made and designed...you can find Jenny Arnott's gorgeous shop here.......

......this glass jar is filled with a bunch of small rosehips from my favourite florist in our little town, she always has something special for the season....

....autumn supper table ready for friends visiting..... it will be cosy with candlelight when the evening draws in

....loving this autumn time, even with a night of gale force winds that knocked the runner bean canes flat to the ground, and even with the chill and damp...there are also sunny days and that wonderful low light you get at this time of year, as well as all the autumnal nature finds for my nature table....hope you are enjoying a very happy weekend. Thank you so much for popping in to see me here, and for your lovely comments too, enjoy your autumnal times.....Back soon xxxx

Making Little Maisie

2011-10-04T17:11:00.000+01:00

This is Little Maisie....i didn't intend to make another little bunny just yet, but sometimes these crafty things just seem to happen don't they?.........i looked in the blue basket in the picture below during my grand sort out...

.......and i found some arms, some legs, some ears, and a head and body for a little bunny....

...it seemed such a pity not to finish off this project which was almost done, even though I'd planned to do some other crafty things, so the making of Little Maisie took over as my first crafty priority.....i sewed her together and stitched a little face.....here she is resting cosily among the crochet yarn, while she waits for me to make her some clothes to wear.....

....i decided to make a little skirt using this delicious old new flowery fabric (that's it's name, 'old new') ...by Lecien, in 30's vintage style prints......

....and to go with it a little cropped garter stich jumper......i knitted this very simply with a bit of shaping to fit the body and two square pieces for the sleeves....... it was very quick to do and i found some teeny tiny blue dotty buttons to match the little skirt.....

....and soon Little Maisie was dressed and ready to be photographed (this is her best side).....

....not sure if she is helping herself to the popcorn here.....

......she seems very happy here among the sewing materials, and i'm happy to have her company this week as i work on my latest projects for spring magazines....i have lots of xmas things to show you but have been trying to delay them a bit as it just seemed TOO early, especially with all that tropical heat we had last week...the temperature here has now dropped to normal autumn ones and the acorns and fir cones and apples and crispy fallen leaves are somehow right again...hope you are having a lovely week, and thanks so much for dropping in to see me (and Little Maisie).....back soon xxxxx

Crafty Things

2011-09-29T13:31:00.000+01:00

Now i'm feeling settled in to the newly organised studio because i've actually done some work in it...until i produce something creative in my new room (or new house if we move) it always feels a bit unfamiliar...

....new crafty projects this week included some delicious ribbons and some shiny alpha beads....

and a very exciting new crafty aquisition has come my way from across the pond....when i saw the gorgeous dotty crochet hook made by the lovely Robin at my nest of yarn and buttons i just had to order one...

...and it arrived with an extra treat...this lovely little drawstring project bag and sewing up needle...what a lovely surprise and such a great idea to include with the crochet hook...you can order them from Robin's new etsy shop called Robin's Nest here.....

....i'm doing lots of my crochet blanket at the moment during the evenings....in the day i'm in my studio most of the time despite the glorious weather as i have some projects to finish for a deadline...

...these little bears are keeping me company as they appeared from the bottom of a cardboard box after the grand sort out...they were book and magazine project bears from a few years ago....

...some autumn flowers to draw, picked from my very summery autumn garden this week...i love to paint a few fresh flowers and berries when the seasons change each year...this is the best Indian summer i can remember, and how wonderful to go for walks and see the trees changing colour and the berries glowing in such warm and sunny blue sky conditions....marvellous!
Hope you're having a great week wherever you are. Thank you so much for dropping in to see me and for the very sweet comments on my last post about my studio. I've got lots more crafty things coming up to show you....back soon. xxxxx

In My Studio

2011-09-24T16:28:00.000+01:00

Finally there is an air of calm here after the muddle of the last couple of weeks...taking everything out of my studio for the new floor to be put down was the only way i would have got round to moving out so much paperwork, magazines and boxes and baskets stuffed with art and crafts materials...now it has all been sorted, lots disposed of or stored up in the attic ...

...the things i use regularly are to hand on the shelves, or in the big white basket...

...and the bits and bobs i'm so fond of are stored perfectly in these faux french spice drawers....

...here is the studio clock (brought back once from a seaside trip), a rosy pincushion, the contents of one of those little spice drawers, and coloured chalks for message writing.....

...a few glimpses around the room.....the little keep calm picture my daughter made me, two of the pictures I enjoy having around me (there are other prints too, and a pinboard with commissions listed on, and another with postcards and cards pinned on but i haven't found places for those yet)....the little fireplace is filled with hydrangeas at the moment as you can see...

...one of the two work tables i use, this is the one where i draw, paint and make stitchy projects, the other is where i make cards and papercraft projects....i used to have an actual drawing board but now i prefer working on a flat surface so i removed it to give me more space....

...bunnies and books, garden snippets and sketch pads, the big cupboard which is now TiDy and all the toppling piles of old magazines have gone to other homes so i can store lots of materials in there again....the wooden chair is my computer chair (it belonged to Mr P's granny and i've painted it several times already)..so there it is, a quick view of my workplace, where i do all my writing and designing, creating and blogging...hope you enjoyed a peek at it!
The next magazine craft project has already begun in my new tidy studio, and it's not looking quite so neat as it was... more normal again...but after that bit of life laundry it all feels much nicer now. Thank you so much for dropping by and for your sweet comments and emails. Have a happy weekend, everyone. Back soon xxxx

Sorting Things Out

2011-09-21T17:36:00.000+01:00

That's what I've been doing every spare moment over the last few days...sorting out the contents of the studio....the new grey floor was put down on Monday surprisingly quickly, and we were able to put the work tables and the computer back in so Mr P could get it re connected for me to work again....

....I found so many things buried in boxes and baskets...like the little sketchpads above that I began keeping as a page-a-day visual journal a few years ago, the idea being that you work on one page a day until you are happy with it...

...they were fun to do and did encourage me to think creatively and in a different way from the design work I was engaged in at the time....

...a treasure trove of old fashioned stationery supplies, lovely to use for scrapbooking (now that was a hobby which led to the most tremendous amount of hoarding of small objects and ephemera that could one day be extremely useful)...

... ..little wooden pegs, essential in my studio for pegging things up on display, and pegging things together....

...lots of black and white scrapbooking supplies...the badge was from the Tate Gallery a few years ago...

...and so the sorting goes on and only certain things are allowed back in to the new TiDy space....I will have finished soon and then I will show you some pictures of how it looks (while it is still tidy)....

...tonight, after the last two evenings of intense sorting (oh those 'keep or throw' decisions are soo taxing) I am going to watch a movie and do some relaxing crochet!!!
Thank you for visiting me here and for your encouraging comments on my last post about the upheaval of this huge sort out...I'm so glad it's almost at an end now. In a day or so it will be time to bring in the pretty things and arrange a few flowers...have a great week everyone...back soon. xxxxx

Here, There and Everywhere...

2011-09-17T20:39:00.000+01:00

The title of my post today refers to the contents of my studio, which are now spread here, there and everywhere round the middle floor of our house as the new flooring will be put down on Monday....

...so I decided, when the afternoon brightened up and the sun began to shine with that special autumn brightness that it would be a good idea to pop down to the potting shed....

....gathering a few windfall apples on the way as I don't like to see them being wasted, however marked and misshapen they may be....

....some of the tiny geraniums I bought in Ambleside in the spring, and a little slate sign for messages given to me by a dear friend (the fact she bought it from the shop at Kew Gardens for me makes it even more special)...do you find your writing goes funny when you use chalk on a blackboard or is it just me?....

...sunshiney apples...these are lovely cookers maybe I'll use them for an apple cake this time.....

...red berries against the blue sky, something I always love to see, the same way I love blossom in spring....

...a little peek at some studio odds and ends scattered about, some recently discovered....jars and boxes of buttons, (open up a little drawer in a little box and what do you find....some thread, some lace, a starfish and a shell)...a LoT of sorting is required before things go back into the studio again...some old artwork from a folio, shells and feathers was the theme in those days....and containers stuffed with threads, adhesives, and a whole host of bits and bobs.....oh well, after Monday we can begin to make everything orderly again...not long now....

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend and enjoying whatever you are up to....thanks so much for dropping by to my little space, hello to my lovely new followers and to everyone who comments or visits...back soon xxxxxx

Sew Busy

2011-09-13T21:02:00.000+01:00

Autumn flower snippets picked today in the blustery sunshine, between the showers.....between being very busy.....

....and the flower sugar nine patch quilt, finally finished over the weekend....I sewed on the binding partly by machine (between a shopping trip and our evening meal) and then slipstitched it down while watching a movie that evening....that's how I work, fitting my crafty projects in with my domestic life like jigsaw pieces...just like most women do.....

...here's the new quilt hanging up.....

and here it is spread out on the table in my almost cleared out studio....that's the main reason why I'm so busy this week.......

....clearing out years of papers, art materials, boxes of ephemera, stacks of magazines, folders of artwork, books and more books....everything has to be taken out and the furniture then removed so the new flooring can go in....

...I knew it would be a lot of work...but I knew I'd just have to do it and it will be worth it....

...in the picture below you can see the empty bookshelves behind the folded quilt...it took a long time to move everything off those shelves....but now everything is out...and the rest of the rooms on that floor are now messed up with the contents of the studio, but gradually I'm sorting out the stuff to keep and the stuff to go....and in a week or two I'm hoping all will be orderly again and much nicer than before....

....my crafts materials will be sorted and only the books I really want will be on the shelves (the rest will be in the little book room up on the top floor where I keep masses of reference books).......

....and all will be calm and tidy just as I like it.....but in the meantime I have to be sooo busy sorting and making decisions about keeping or not keeping old letters, scraps of paper, old sketchbooks of ideas....old cards from loved ones, old work documents, and things that might come in handy some day....sooo much stuff.....I hope to get it done quite soon though and look forward to getting all the rooms back to normal...

Wishing you all a happy week with lots of sunshine and sweet flowers wherever you are...thank you for dropping in to see me here and for the lovely comments...back to the tidying now...and back here again soon too xxxxxxx

Sweet September

2011-09-08T20:24:00.000+01:00

September is a special month for me for lots of reasons...it's the month when my twin baby sisters were born, and it's the month when my own first daughter was born too ...on the day after my sisters' birthday though many years apart ;) ...and although it means the end of summer there are often still warm and sunny days to be had in September...lots of plans to make as schools and colleges go back and we look to settling down to new projects again after the summer holidays...I feel the most nostalgia in September for schooldays and starting college terms...I picked the sweetpeas above this week, we still have plenty flowering but I know they won't be around much longer, especially as the wigwam of canes almost blew over in the blustery rainstorm one day this week....

...this is a sweetpea scented candle in a vintage cup, bought from a lovely lady at a craft fair in Devon...I put the candle in my studio but at first the scent was so overpowering it made me sneeze and I had to move it out until it diminished a bit...it's fine now, and I'll look forward to lighting it a little later in the season when the real sweetpeas are over....

...sweet treats...the chocolate vintage buttons from Hotel Chocolat I got for my birthday, shared with special friends and made to last...almost too pretty to be eaten really which is why they've lasted so long...

...a little last taste of summer...lavender cakes...I just make my usual simple all in one sponge recipe by Delia, but add some lavender flowers to the icing...put them in a tin overnight and the cakes are infused with the lavender oil next day...they smell and taste delicious....

...still flowering and bright....the pots outside the back door....this year I mean to bring the geraniums inside to protect them for next year...sometimes I forget to do this until the first frost and then it's too late....

...we have been picking loads of beans which we luckily love to eat...I like finding them amongst the leaves...simple pleasures...and picking some of the mass of herbs to dry or freeze for winter use....

...crafty wise I found some sweet fabric to use for the binding of my quilt...this green flower sugar is a new one...yes, another flower sugar fabric I've just discovered...here it is on the ironing board about to be ironed and cut into binding strips...the quilt is almost finished and I hope to bind it over the weekend...

...and although I haven't mentioned my new crochet love for a post or two I have still been doing some hooky playing around and when my quilt is finished it will be a big hooky project next...

Thank you for dropping by, I love your visits...wishing you a wonderful weekend of peaceful, happy, sunny, cosy, crafty times....back soon xxxxx

A is for Alphabet

2011-09-05T19:24:00.000+01:00

When I first fell in love with antique samplers and began to study them closely, and then to stitch my own samplers, I enjoyed exploring all the different stitched alphabets that I discovered. I also took the letters and made them bigger for more modern cross stitch designs, like the children's cushion shown here.

ABC cushion for Sew magazine

This sampler is in September's Cross Stitcher magazine, fresh new shades, inspired by lovely old samplers with their rows of alphabets and numbers, swirly borders, checks and decorative motifs. This one has apples and pears to reflect the season, and a little dream cottage surrounded by apple trees....perhaps I'll live in one like this one day....

...a few alphabet things in my studio...the tiny sampler baby's cushion, some of my favourite alphabet rubber stamps, lovely little notebook decorated with letters, and a beautiful antique red and white sampler from France which I was lucky enough to find at a vintage textile market....

.........children's blocks are often played with here again now that we have grandbabies nearby...they love these bright decorative ones......... and so do I....

.....This little sampler was designed for a child to learn to cross stitch, or it could be stitched for a child as a birthday present....it is featured in the bookzine Irresistable Gifts to Cross Stitch, recently published and available now.......

Thank you to everyone who liked my blue things in the last post, and as so many of you kindly enquired about my new blue china I thought I should mention that it is from the Fay range by Greengate...I have more pieces already written down on my Christmas list too....

Before I go I must also mention that Stephanie at the lovely blog Millefeuilles is having a wonderful giveaway, open until September 11, so if you haven't already entered it do pop over there and do so now!!

Wishing you all a wonderful week of autumn sunshine, bright flowers and crafty treats...back soon xxxxx

Something Blue

2011-09-02T10:20:00.000+01:00

There are lots of blue things to look at here today, I am very fond of this colour and not only am I knitting with blue wool at the moment but I'm also sewing with blue fabrics like the ones above....

...this is some of the blue and white pottery I bought with my birthday money...I love the postmark motif (as I have mentioned before many times)...the above picture shows some scrap paper that I'd used to print rubber stamps on for a project before applying them to fabric so they wouldn't be too inky...I noticed the paper would match the china rather well....

...the blue knitting is coming along quite quickly...

...lots of blue things in my kitchen...the little hen egg cup is a vintage one found on a stall at a charity garden party a few years ago.....

...blue hydrangeas from our garden...the flower heads grow so huge sometimes, and I love to have them in big bunches in the house for their gorgeous colour....

....the postcard box that I got for xmas with hyacinths in is now looking pretty displaying some white cyclamen...these are destined for the garden as they are outdoor ones, but I thought I'd just enjoy them indoors for a few days first...

...the sweet peas are still flowering here I'm glad to say....I water them a lot, and pick the new flowers daily, and am so enjoying them still...I'll never tire of their sweet perfume and bright colour..

...besides working, knitting, and sewing this week I've also been sorting out my studio because it will be having new flooring soon and everything will have to be moved out....this means I'm clearing it bit by bit, so I can keep working in there till the last moment....tidying up a week or so ago made me realise that it was time for a huge sort out anyway, including the bookshelves and cupboards and mysterious boxes filled with who knows what crafty things....

...this is a new cushion for my studio (when it's been re-floored and generally spruced up)... I thought it would be a good experiment to combine rubber stamping and postcard images with applique and patchwork ..I really enjoyed making this it gave me lots of new ideas too....

We have had such lovely weather this week, with warm sunshine and blue sky, making the fruits and berries glow in contrast...such a nice surprise, I even left my cardigan off....looking forward to the weekend now, with family time and gardening, some quilting and of course some blue knitting.... thank you for visiting me here and for your lovely comments...wishing you a wonderful weekend of beautiful autumn days (or spring ones if you live on the other side of the world)...back soon xxxxx

Casting On

2011-08-29T10:08:00.000+01:00

We are wearing our cardigans again here, and searching in the cupboards for our autumn knits....and last week I ordered some wool ready to cast on a new woolly garment....

...the last cosy wool knitting I did was earlier this year when I made this for my younger daughter's birthday. It's the Beth jacket by Kim Hargreaves from her book Amber....

....it's made with Rowan Big wool and it certainly is BiG and so are the needles...rather HuGe actually and when I first began knitting it was more like grappling and quite a different experience from the usual knitting one...but it did make a lovely garment with a lovely textured look....

...so now the season is on the turn and autumn is bringing us it's treats and treasures as well as damp chills and nights closing in, and I needed to have some new wool and some knitting on my needles again.....

....I bought this wool/cotton blend...I love all the Amy Butler colours but the blue is the one I liked best this time....

....the pattern is a Sirdar cardigan I've knitted before and I hope when it is finished that Dolly will model it for me....as well as a parcel of lovely wool arriving this week another surprise parcel came for me...I won a giveaway at Fin and Gabs and Andrea sent me a gorgeous collection of treats...

...the parcel was beautifully wrapped with a gorgeous little black and white heart charm...Andrea is a talented designer who creates all kinds of lovely stationery designs, including bespoke ones, for her shop Andrea Willis Designs, and for Crafts Beautiful magazine too....I was thrilled to find one of her pretty covered notebooks in the parcel specially personalised for me!!

...here are all the treats in the giveaway parcel...I love everything...thank you so much, Andrea! Do go and visit her bright and colourful blog and shop...she has some gorgeous designs .....

I love this little birdie ....when I'm knitting I often make plans and think things through, dream of things I'm going to make and things I want to do...I'm planning to do a bit of knitting and dreaming this bank holiday afternoon, after a busy weekend......click click knit knit...

I hope you have a happy week ahead with time to follow your dreams whatever they may be....thanks for dropping by to my little space today, I love your visits.....back soon xxxxxx

Green and Pink

2011-08-26T10:43:00.000+01:00

As late summer settles down on the garden the potting shed is almost smothered in green and pink as the mallow and cranesbill grow taller and taller. The day lilies and cosmos are flowering happily too, I must take some pictures of them before it's too late and the show is over....

....pink flowers are blooming indoors too....I spent a little time when we were away learning how to make simple crochet flowers and then I decided to use just the vivid pink ones for a cushion....

...this was also a learning experience...finding out how to crochet the granny squares together...there are so many brilliant video tutorials on the internet for these techniques that I managed to pick it up and I love how neat the look is....

...here it is, the green and pink flower cushion...now I've found out about crochet flowers I am thinking of lots of other projects to use them for....it's wonderful to find a new inspiring craft to explore isn't it?

...this is my project for this month's Crafts Beautiful magazine...I made the breakfast set as a commission, but now I have it back I think I'll use it...we love leisurely weekend breakfasts with fresh coffee and toast and eggs (and a chipped CK mug too!)....

...and what or who is this?...it's Dolly, my new tailor's dummy who I'm rather pleased with...I'm thinking she will help me display some of my knitting projects soon....

...lovely cream twisty wire, lots of places to hang up decorative things on and just the right size to model my cardi's...Dolly is definately here to stay and soon there will be knitting to show....

Thank you for your lovely comments on Daisy's quilt in my last post, I did so appreciate them. And thank you for popping in today to see me...wishing you all a wonderful late summer weekend (we are going to a neighbourhood party in a garden along the road...am hoping the rain keeps away)...hope it's sunny where you are...back soon xxxxxx

A Quilt for Daisy

2011-08-23T10:28:00.000+01:00

This is the quilt I made for my grandbaby Daisy's first birthday.....I used lots of pretty colours for her as you can see, with large daisy like flowers appliqued in the centre...and a few butterflies here and there too....

....here it is being sewn...after using bondaweb to fix the flower petals in place I sewed round them with blanket stitch in matching thread...I love this method of applique and it means it is quite robust when being used....and I do love the quilts I make to be used a lot....

.....hanging up with the flowery nine patch quilt top on my small quilt hanger (it's actually a shabby chic victorian towel rail someone gave us)...I like to look at the finished quilt tops for a while and it reminds me to actually get on and quilt them ....if i put them away somewhere it's easy to forget about them....

....folded up and tied with ribbon ready to give to the little chickadee herself.....

......we showed it to her and unrolled it...

...and she snuggled right in to it :)....

...now it's at my daughter's house and soon it will be on Daisy's little bed when she moves from her cot...

Thanks for popping in to see me today and for keeping in touch with your lovely comments and emails...it's a strange mix of summer and autumn here...with ripening fruits, warm sunny days, then chilly grey and cloudy ones and that autumn nip in the air...

.....this week I am stitching the flowery nine patch, and making a patchwork cushion, as well as sewing work projects...I have lots of new things to show you too so will be back very soon.... enjoy your week till next time xxxxxxxx

Making Notes

2011-08-19T13:33:00.000+01:00

My tidying up this week has meant discovering all kinds of things...like these crafty notebooks...I have always loved stationery of all kinds, as a child getting a new supply was the thing that cheered me up when the school holidays came to an end....as a student I loved all the art materials, especially the sketch pads and notebooks just waiting to be filled....

....I made this set of handmade notebooks as a Crafts Beautiful project a while ago.....the recipe one has a concertina arrangement of pages with folded down pockets to contain clippings of favourite recipes from magazines as well as hand written ones.....

...I especially love garden notebooks, there are always things to try to remember for next year...garden lessons learned about planting (or not planting) and what do well, what to avoid in certain parts of the garden...easily forgotten over the winter months (by me anyway)....I also love collecting garden ephemera in little handmade garden scrapbooks, some of which I'll show another time....

....a handy noteblock is always to be found for quick jottings and messages...one of my nieces sometimes leaves me a cute little note on here, or on the kitchen chalk board after a family gathering.....

....here is my sewing notebook, also a CB project which I loved making...the plastic tape measure was a free one, but actually plastic tape measures often cost less that ribbon so it's really ok to chop it up for creative projects :).....

....another sewing project came winging its way home to me this week....this is my selvedge heart and corsage set featured in this month's Sew magazine.....the heart uses strips from the beloved flower sugar range with little cross stitched flower and heart borders too....

...the summery flowery corsage has a cross stitched posy covered button for its centre...I just love covered buttons at the moment and can't wait to make some more....

Thank you so much for dropping into my little crafty world today....I wish you all a wonderful weekend with lots of happy, sunny times whatever you are doing...now I'm off to make a list of things to do in my little notebook..........back very soon xxxxxxxx

Happy Wednesday

2011-08-17T10:24:00.000+01:00

Here I am, in the middle of a big tidy up of my crafts materials, and I thought today I'd show some pictures I've taken around the house ....not the untidiest bits of course, this is supposed to be nice to look at :)

I love my summer candles, glassware and flowers, with some shells I've collected too...as soon as dusk falls the candle light looks so pretty reflected from the glass containers...the sweetpeas are still blooming too...

....a little jar from the lavender farm we visited filled with some garden snippets...I like it when the jar labels stay on after being wahsed...

...when we arrived back at the weekend we received some plums from friends...I can't believe it's already plum time here again....after I'd arranged them....eaten a few mmm delicious....

...and taken photos of them in pretty bowls.....I made some crumbles with them.....some to put in the freezer for weekend treats in the future, and one to have immediately warm from the oven with creme fraiche....

...our first crumble for ages....feels like autumn is almost here....

....pictures of yarn are becoming more usual for me now as it keeps appearing all round the house in various bags, baskets and any container that happens to be there when some more woolly goodness arrives.. I am so enjoying acquiring lots of colours which I never bought when I only knitted because they weren't suitable for wearing...crochet is a real liberation for the use of colour isn't it??

....here is a quick picture of some of the simple crochet flowers I've been making, using some of the bright shades of yarn...they are going to be part of my new project which I hope to tell you more about very soon..

I have some design work to do today, a lovely project for an inspiring magazine editor which I wish I could tell you about now...but all in good time....and then I hope to have a bit of hooky time this evening, and I have a list of other crafty things I want to make ....but first I must just finish off the tidying in here....

Thank you for visiting me here and for your sweet comments and emails I love to hear from you....wishing you a very Happy Wednesday....Back soon xxxxx

Sailing By

2011-08-14T13:30:00.000+01:00

Hello!! I'm quickly sailing by today with a short post from our regatta week away...I feel as if I've been away ages this time and have so many blogs to catch up with...the pictures above were taken at Red Wharf Bay , Beaumaris and Caernarvon when we did a bit of exploring before the sailing began...

...here is the start of one race, with Mr P's boat in there too...I love watching them sail, and the Menai Straits is a great place to see the racing going on...

...some pictures of Beaumaris and the pretty pastel buildings...it is a very old town with a medieval castle, steeped in history and has a wonderful unspoilt atmosphere...each time I stay here I especially love to visit the Janet Bell Gallery where the mix of Janet's paintings and a variety of other artists work is always vibrant and exciting...you can visit them online here too...

We bought a gorgeous new print to add to our collection ...this is Penmon Pebbles by Janet Bell...

...and did I do lots of crafting while I was away you may be wondering? well, not nearly as much as I expected, what with the meeting up with friends and the sight seeing and the popping into the shops and watching the boats...I did some of my nine patch quilt, stitching in the ditch and in diagonal lines across the squares, and a teeny bit of crochet, learning to make flowers which I will show you in another post...and I did some work but not enough...so have lots to catch up with..

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post (seems like ages ago doesn't it?) about my first crochet blanket, it was so nice to read them all! Thanks for dropping by today too, I love your visits..I am going now to do all the chores that a week away seems to provide...Hope you are all having a great weekend! Back very soon xxxxx

Crafty Summer

2011-08-04T10:42:00.000+01:00

It's a very crafty summer here at my house, with an extra injection of bright colour from all the new crochet that has been going on.....and almost to my surprise, the very first blanket I began is finished!!!!! I realised last week that I had now accumulated rather a lot of grannie squares, making them whenever I had a spare moment, when we were away, in a traffic jam on the motorway, watching movies and old (not yet watched by us) seasons of Mad Men, chatting to friends and family....and when I put them all together I had enough for my blanket....

...so I sewed them together, and then began to crochet a border using a few colours from the collection...round and round, I really loved that bit....wasn't quite sure when to stop.....

...some crafty colours with the grandbabies...they love my art and craft materials and I have to race around moving dangerous things like paint, scissors, pins, needles and so on when they come over to my house...Daisy really loves the wool, like a little kitten she gets all tangled up in it... and they both loved the tactile feel of the grannie squares both before and after they were sewn together....

...a close up of some of the squares, randomly made and randomly sewn together - apart from not actually placing two the same colour together that's about as intentional as this creation was...

....the partly completed border....I added some stronger green and blue to finish off the edge after this round of rose pink....

.....everyone loves the blankie! Everyone wants one too....and some want to learn to crochet one themselves......and I want to keep crocheting now I've discovered it so another project is about to begin....

I am making this post a bit longer than usual to make up for the fact that I'll be away again next week...Each year Mr P sails in the Menai Straits Regatta and we go to stay in the pretty seaside town of Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey. We meet up with friends there, some who sail, some who don't, and all have a good time...I'm happy being at the seaside and pottering about while Mr P is sailing...I'm also taking some of my design work to do and this year I will be taking some crochet too...Above is a detail of my Regatta Quilt, made a few years ago and inspired by watching the fleet of boats against the blue sea, sailing round Puffin Island....

...I made two little collages of some of this season's crafty makes, just a random selection...the pinwheel patchwork cushion, Daisy's sampler, a bit of Daisy's quilt, the flower pot embroidery....

...the sailor bunny, the home sweet home heart, the with love heart (I gave this one to my lovely mum for mother's day), and the finished little doll quilt with matching pillow...I do love this crafty life very much as you can see...

And a big thank you to all of you who crochet and show pictures of your beautiful makes on your blogs to inspire crochet beginners to give it a go...I'm so glad I did!!

Thank you for popping in to visit me here and for your sweet comments, always sooo appreciated and enjoyed. I hope the sun shines, the flowers bloom and you enjoy a crafty summer week while I'm away. Back soon xxxxx

Floral

2011-07-31T18:31:00.000+01:00

One way or another my life has been constantly influenced by flowers ever since I first began to notice them as a child, and especially when I went to art college and began to draw them as part of our design training. I have loved them in my garden ever since I had my own garden, and tried very hard to grow all different kinds ....with varying success...

I always enjoy floral commissions...for embroidery, illustration, applique, patchwork or anything I'm always happy to create something new whenever the word floral is mentioned ...this is a quick mood board for a future commission that I'm slowly and happily going to work on, around my other work and commissions....

...I love making these scrapbooky boards, sitting on the floor with a big pile of clippings and magazines and my trusty scissors, snipping away and seeing how it looks .... does it capture what I have in my head for someone else to get what I mean?? .....usually the answer is yes...

...in my actual garden things are not looking quite so rosy this summer, it has to be said...the pots are fine...

...the sweet peas growing up their wigwam are fine (thnaks to Mr P remembering to water both them and the beans each night)....but the rest of the garden is looking more green than flowery and very parched...I think we are paying the price for our hot and sunny weeks now...but at least the pots look pretty and colourful and provide lots of snippets to make posies with, and further down the garden things like mallow, cosmos and daisies give us some colour....

...these are a set of thrifted coffee cups...sooo cheap and how I love the rosebuds....

...So, I'm going to have a little look through these garden books tonight, and get some more floral inspiration...and also get on with my grannie blanket which is GrOwInG quite fast, as some of you so kindly predicted!! I hope your flowers are growing happily and they and you have just enough rain but not too much, and you have a lovely week....thanks for dropping in to see me here....back soon xxxxx

Lots of Dots

2011-07-27T09:38:00.000+01:00

It's a sunny, dotty week here so far.....dotty fabrics are being sewn for exciting new projects to be published in the future, and I thought I would show you this dotty pinwheel patchwork cushion today. I found the pinwheel blocks in one of my patchwork storage baskets and as I'm trying to use up everything and waste nothing this year I decided to make the blocks into a summery cushion....

...looking around me I spied lots of dots on different things, many of which I've had for years as I've always collected dotty china and have some very old pieces as well as recent finds...

....a friend gave me the dotty retro doileys which I think is what really made me think about dots this week...I made the cakes in dotty cases and added dots to the icing with my Tala icing pen, then put them on a red dotty doiley...

.... summer has returned here and it's been sunny and warm enough to take a tea tray out to the garden...

...to sew some work projects sitting in the dappled shade and enjoying the flowers and the buzzing of the bees...

I hope you are having a lovely sunny week too wherever you are. Thanks for popping in to see me here, I do enjoy your visits and comments very much. Back soon xxxxx

Sew Pretty

2011-07-21T19:45:00.000+01:00

I have loved these flower sugar print fabrics ever since I first set eyes on them and I know lots of other crafters and stitchers love them too. I made a hexagon pincushion with my paper pieced hexies which I showed you on my blog around easter time....but I had to wait until the magazine came out to show the finished object....and now here it is...

I often fall in love with fabrics and they inspire my crafting in many ways, but it's rare to fall in love with a whole range..usually I pick and choose from lots of different ranges and mix them together....

....but I loved all of these and I loved all of these together...so I bought lots and made them into a nine patch quilt!!! Only the top is done so far, and I've just sandwiched it together ready for some nice peaceful hand quilting during those movie watching times....

...I discovered the use of basting pins instead of basting stitches a few years ago (from my two sisters who went to a Canadian lady's quilt class!) and I much prefer the pinning method now...

....and on the back of the quilt I have used more flower sugar fabric in this delicious shade of yellow with rosy sprays scattered all over it...this is a very bright and cheerful quilt and a bit of a new style for me by being so bold, but the fabrics inspired it really....

...just a few more sweet things...

The weekend is almost here again and I hope it brings the sunshine with it as there are lots of things to do in the garden, flowers to tend and grass to cut, weeds to pull and things to plant... Thank you for popping in to see me here and for your sweet comments which I so enjoy! I hope you have a happy weekend...see you next week xxxxxx

Lovely Lavender

2011-07-19T20:09:00.000+01:00

When we were away last week we made a special trip one day to see the lavender here, which someone had told us about - even though it was tucked away in the countryside miles away from where we were staying....It was a gorgeous day and well worth the driving to see soooo much delicious lavender.....

Lots of different shades and types, surrounded by white gravel to really show off the pretty colours, and there were David Austin roses planted there too - a gorgeous combination....the tea room served delicious lavender scones with lavender and strawberry conserve, the shop sold all kinds of lavender aromatherapy products and the nursery sold lavender and roses ....it was bliss!

The sky looks washed out for some reason in my photo - it was blue really.....

....there were also hens at the farm, and their newly laid big brown eggs were for sale...they came in a lavender coloured egg box....

I bought some dried lavender and some lavender oil...this picture shows some of the lavender bags I've made in the past for book and magazine projects...I like to keep lavender sachets in among the linen shelves...(the linen cupboard in this house was one of the things I really wanted it for when I first saw it)..

I also bought a couple of lavender plants to add to our collection...it would be nice to sit in this seat looking out over the field of lavender to the rolling Devon countryside beyond...very relaxing....

Since we came back it has mostly been raining here and also blowing a gale and feeling autumnal....what strange unsettled weather we have here, no wonder we're always talking about it! It's perfect weather to stay in and sew anyway which is what I'm doing...thank you for visiting me here...I hope you are having a very happy week. I'll be back soon with some sewing pictures xxxxx

Seaside Postcards

2011-07-16T19:19:00.000+01:00

Hello!...I'm back again...after a few lovely days of sea air and sunshine, I have tipped the seashells out of my bag and shaken the sand from my shoes ready to begin normal life again....hello to all my regular blog readers and hello to the new followers who joined me here just as I was about to go away for a few days, I look forward to visiting you all very soon.....

We went to some of our very favourite coves, cliffs, beaches and villages on the south west coast......

....places we've enjoyed visiting all our lives and this time we had the added pleasure of lots and lots of sunshine and blue sky....

...I had quite a lazy few days, did a bit of sketching for some new illustration work and thinking about a new book plan...but lazy hooky time on the shingly or sandy beaches was my main crafty activity and the pile of grannie squares has grown a lot more.....we walked miles, visited gardens and craft fairs and had more than one Devon cream tea...

....we also sampled a few of these...as a small child I was surprised at the relative size of the cornets I received compared to the ones on display outside the shop and I have a fondness for the oversized retro advertising icecreams to this day...

Some seaside crochet...inspired by the colours of bright stripy seaside rock.....

I hope you have been enjoying sunny summer days too, and I can't wait to catch up with all your blogs now. Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post and for your good wishes for my little break. It's good to be back in blogland again!! I hope you all have a happy weekend and see you again soon xxxxx

Sew Stripy

2011-07-07T11:19:00.000+01:00

I love all the summer stripes around at the moment - from bright deck chairs and striped bunting, to my own favourite stripy tops, I love the summery brightness and freshness of StRiPeS sooo much! I took pictures this week of some of the stripy sewing I've done, both a while ago and more recently. I've been working on a commission which involves stripes too which is why I've been loving them more than ever......

...I love the red and white patch in this little quilt - it makes me think of punch and judy shows on the sands..

....a stripy summer heart for a rose lover, on a piece of birthday wrapping paper combining florals and stripes

....and some more little summery hearts - another winning combination for me has always been this chalky blue and white stripe it always makes me think of beach huts and the seaside.....

...I have been finishing up some summer projects this week, which involves lots of paperwork as in writing instructions, checking charts and templates, making out invoices and so on at my computer, rather than sewing in the garden which is the bit I like best....lots of cups of tea helps, especially in a stripy mug...

...I am packing my bags today (with plenty of stripy tee shirts) as we are heading off on a short trip - partly business (a design meeting) and then for a relaxing few days away...so I will be taking a blog break...

I have already packed my camera and my wool....In the meantime, thank you for dropping by to see me here in my little bit of blogland, and I hope you enjoy lots of happy, lazy hazy days of summer until I return. Back in a little while xxxxx

A Lovely Day

2011-07-05T10:59:00.000+01:00

First I want to say a big thank you for all your wonderful birthday wishes on my last post, I was so happy to receive them all! I did have a lovely day, spending much of it in some beautiful gardens with my elder daughter Sarah and her two chickadees.....

...this was the potager, filled with wonderful vegetables and scented with masses of lavender and sweetpeas.

And there were ponds filled with water lilies and tadpoles (Charlie's favourite bit) and lots of sparkly blue dragonflies skimming the surface and landing among the leaves....

The wildflower meadow was just beautiful, I've never seen one looking so perfect and took rather a lot of photos....Daisy was magnetised to the daisies....

After a lovely long afternoon among the flowers we had delicious afternoon tea.... and in the evening, when Mr P and my son in law got home from work they cooked a barbecue for us all and the children stayed up late..

I am very lucky and had some lovely presents, many of the decorative kind which will be popping up in my blog post photos....and I also received a beautiful hand knitted gift from one of my friends which I will write about in a special knitting post soon....

Back to work today, and lots designing to get on with...Thank you for dropping in to see me and for your delightful comments...Also thank you to those who have emailed me, I will try and reply to you all very soon. I hope you are having a wonderful week whatever you are doing and that the sun keeps shining (despite the weather forecast) Back soon xxxxx

Summer Crafting

2011-06-30T20:27:00.000+01:00

Time for some summer crafting, outdoors and indoors, beside the newly spruced up potting shed amongst the flowers and at other peoples' houses too....my wool has been coming with me everywhere this week...

....and i have a little pile of granny squares growing....

....and growing.....

...and growing....i just love making them, and choosing which colour to crochet with next reminds me of picking out a delicious chocolate from a beautiful box...you know you like them all but which one first??

....one day i will have created enough for a blanket, though i expect that day is far in the future and in some ways i don't really mind because i'm so enjoying the making.....

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last few posts, and for those of you who kindly enquired about what was in the tiny saucer crackers...well, the box says they contain 'an entertaining scroll to raise a smile or create a friendly debate. Each entertaining scroll contains a joke, trivia and talk topic'...i must try them out this weekend .....when i mentioned the early birthday lunch with my daughter last weekend, i didn't tell you that actually it was to celebrate both our birthdays, as Rosie's is the day before mine! Mine is on Monday, but i'll be celebrating all weekend i expect.....

Thank you so much for dropping in to see me here. Wishing you a happy weekend ...enjoy your crafty times, family times, garden days and summer sunshine. Back soon with some cake! xxxxx

Sweet Garden Flowers

2011-06-28T10:49:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we had the most perfect summer morning here, and I drank my coffee outside enjoying the blue sky, sunshine, flowers and birdsong in the fresh but warm air...I decided I should write a flowery post to celebrate....The flowers above were already planted in the white container by a clever lady at a local nursery who puts together really sweet little plantings each summer and I always love to go and see what she has created.

I picked lots of mixed garden flowers..I love them in a big colourful bunch together like this..

Placed in a wide necked glass vase they look so simple and colourful, my favourite kind of flower arranging

At the weekend we went to Manchester for an early birthday celebration lunch with my younger daughter and her boyfriend...we had a really lovely time, and gave some gifts (kept some for the day) and after a delicious lunch Rosie and had a peek in some of the quirky little shops in West Didsbury...Rosie lives a few streets away from where I lived as a student at MMU years ago and I love to go back and visit the place....in one shop we found these tiny rosy flowered saucer crackers...I think they are super cute....

Just have to decide which cups they look best with.....flowery ones....

...or plain ones....which do you think?....

After a happy time walking the city streets and enjoying the cafe culture, it was back home to some serious gardening on Sunday...too many weeds have been popping up in our garden and a lot of hard work is needed, plus cutting back and dead heading....I love the actual gardening but don't have enough time, what with the designing and the sewing and now the crochet....and playing with the tiny grandchildren too....

Thank you for visiting me here on this summery day and for your lovely comments...I enjoy reading them so much. Sending you flowery sunshiny days and a happy week. I'll be stitching and crocheting and tidying up the potting shed...and pulling out a few more weeds too. Back soon. xxxxx

Colour Me Happy

2011-06-23T15:14:00.000+01:00

Come rain or shine it's been a colourful week here at my house as you can see....I found the cheapie little brightly coloured plastic baskets in the local hardware store, always worth a look around as they often have things I didn't know I wanted till I saw them...and the wool stash is growing daily ready for the start of...

....my very own granny blanket....I can't believe that I can (hopefully) actually make one myself now after admiring them on so many blogs for so long and wishing I could crochet too...I'm looking forward to beginning this project and taking as long as it needs, enjoying the new making experience....

I spent quite a while just admiring the wool I have so far accumulated, some from the baskets and drawers where my left over knitting wool is stashed, and some freshly purchased...new and beautiful and so far untouched...and then I spent a while playing with the colour combinations and just marvelling at the joy that colour can bring to the creative soul....

This picture shows my sewing box, featured in this month's Sew Magazine which is in the shops right now, packed with ideas and projects ... .and I finished the little applique flower pot I showed you on the previous post by adding butterflies and a little more stitching....I liked it with the red hoop surrounding it so decided to applique it like a badge onto this little red flowery bag....

...a little blanket stitch round the edge, sitting in the sunny sewing room...we still seem to be having more sunshine than anywhere else in the country and I'm not complaining...and I expect we'll pay for it soon...

...a little closer...I love butterflies at the moment and find I am adding them to all sorts of projects...

a last shot of colour and yarn-y loveliness before I pop off and do some work...or maybe just play with some wool...or maybe even start my granny blanket?? Thank you so much for dropping in to visit me and my little blog world, and for your sweet comments ...I hope you have enjoyed the colours today especially if it's grey or rainy where you are...wishing you a happy (nearly) weekend and sending blue skies and sunshine your way. Back soon. xxxxx

Handmade

2011-06-20T09:57:00.000+01:00

Handmade - I love that word so much, and I love making things by hand and always have...the tactile feel of fabrics and threads, the pleasure of combining textures and colours, the sewing of stitches and beads and buttons, smoothing down and stitching ribbons in place...something that has always given me such enjoyment and made me forever grateful that I chose to go to art college and become a designer and maker all those years ago...I would have made things anyhow but I know I'm extremely lucky to be able to call it work too..

Whilst looking for something in my studio the other day I found these applique projects that I made quite a while ago. I'm about to work on some applique pictures for a commission so it was useful to have these to hand again rather then nestling at the bottom of a big basket with lots of other projects....

I love the immediacy of hand embroidery, how everyone does it slightly differently, and the special individual pieces are often quirky...hand stitched pieces by children are very sweet and it's a good way for them to begin sewing....I always use fusible web to iron on my shapes and then stitch round them with different coloured embroidery threads, sometimes in blanket stitch, sometimes running stitch....

If I make a little picture I back it with wadding and cotton fabric and bind it with colourful binding, then add a few quilt stitches or French knots here and there....it's such a free and easy way to work...

I also found this little unfinished embroidery which I'd forgotten about, probably abandoned when more pressing projects took over, and this week I'm hoping to find time to finish it off and make it into something..

The red plastic embroidery hoop came free with a magazine ....I don't always use them and never do for cross stitch, but sometimes embroidery is easier with the fabric stretched tight...

Flowers in pots are on my mind at the moment, nurturing the ones in my garden each day...we haven't had nearly as much rain here as everyone else in the country seems to have had...though we did get caught in a huge downpour visiting a garden on Saturday...such heavy rain everything was soaked in a moment. Thank you for popping in here to see me, I love your visits and your sweet comments. Have a happy sunny week and enjoy your handmade moments. Back soon. xxxxx

Being Creative

2011-06-17T12:19:00.000+01:00

Today I want to share some things from my crafty week....the kind of week I love so much, when I have time for lots of creative things...and to my delight yesterday I received the Kreativ Blogger award from Bluebell of At Home in the Country....do go and visit her lovely blog if you don't already know it as you will love it...I know the award means I should tell you ten things about me...so I thought how about ten crafty things I did this week?

one...I planted some flowers including this pot of bright, papery poppies...and two I took photos of them...

three...yes, you've guessed it...I did lots of crochet, even managed some sunny hooky time in the garden once or twice which was blissful... crochet is my new favourite hobby....

four...I planted up this old metal bucket with some culinary herbs.....and five I cooked a meal with some of them in....

six...I designed a cross stitch chart for a magazine for the festive season ...seven ...and I sewed a project for another magazine...but as I can't yet reveal those here is my project in this month's bright and summery Crafts Beautiful...on a theme dear to my heart...the seaside, and lots of red, white and blue, one of my favourite summertime colourways...

eight...I picked some flowers from the garden and arranged them...here is one of the little jars, I did several and put them arround the house to scent the air and look pretty. I love the mock orange blossom which is out now, its scent always reminds me of the time my younger daughter was born....and nine...I made some cakes (but have no pictures of those as they soon disappeared)...

and ten...I did some of my quilt, which is progressing a little more slowly than usual because the hooky has got it's hook into me and is taking over a little at the moment....the quilt will have it's own post soon though..

so that's my list and I would like to say a big thank you to Bluebell for giving me the award, it is much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who visits me here in my little crafty space. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with lots of creative happy times. Back soon. xxxxxx

A Little Crochet....and a Winner!

2011-06-14T09:54:00.000+01:00

There has been a little bit of crochet going on around here, which is a new thing for me....I'll tell you all about it in a moment as first I need to tell you who won the Crafty Giveaway from last week.........the winner is...
Sarah, at Homemade Gorgeous! Congratulations Sarah and if you'd like to email me your address I'll send you the lucky dip crafty bag asap.
Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway - it was fun to meet so many crafty bloggers, and I'll do another giveaway soon.

Since I became involved in the blogging community a year ago I realised something was missing from my crafty life..I had knitting, sewing, quilting, patchwork, cross stitch, embroidery, drawing, painting, scrapbooking, papercrafts and cardmaking ....but no crochet!! and seeing the pleasure and enjoyment so many people derive from crochet I just had to have a try. So I ordered the Happy Hooker to read and inform me...and I asked a friend who I knew could crochet to help me start off....

...she kindly invited me round to her house for a crochet lesson in her studio, followed by a wander in her flowery and exuberant garden....

...and tea and delicious cakes with gorgeous rosy cups and saucers and a vintage embroidered tea cosy....what a delightful afternoon....

...I made my first granny square, with a lot of help... like learning which hand to actually hold the yarn in... and by the end of it I knew how to crochet at last! Over the weekend I practised some more using yarn from my knitting stash...

...now I can do a square fairly neatly so with a bit more practice I'll be ready to start my first granny blanket!! I need to order the wool and am not sure what to get or which yarn has the best colour range - feel free to advise me if you'd like to, I know many of you produce wonderful crochet and lots of your blogs have inspired me to try it..thank you all so much!

So, I'd better get a little bit of work done now and then I can hook another square in my coffee break! Thank you for visiting me here, I love reading your comments and I hope you are all having a happy week. Back soon. xxxxx

Busy Bees

2011-06-09T16:02:00.000+01:00

First of all today I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who left me such heartwarming blog birthday wishes on my last post! THANK YOU soooo much, and the giveaway is still open if anyone still wishes to put their name in the hat....

Today's post is a small celebration of beehive images....I just love them...they make me think of old kitchen gardens, of cottage gardens filled with flowers and fruit...I think both the wooden hives and the wicker bee skeps are beautiful images to include in embroidery....like my little beehive here which was a cross stitch design I produced years ago and found in a box recently...I thought I'd turn it into a cushion surrounded by a flower garden patchwork....

I have shown our garden beehive shaped composters on my blog before...they have both recently been repainted as they were looking very shabby - not in a chic way - so this one was painted using the blue green f and b paint left over from the bench in the potting shed....

.... and this one was painted with the white f and b paint left over from the potting shed itself...I love both the shades, and they look best surrounded by flowers I think...

...one more stitched beehive...this time a fabric applique design on a quilt filled with storybook houses and gardens....

The adorable little silver beehive below is my new treasure...I saw it on Emma's blog at silverpebble a little while ago and loved it so much I commissioned one as an early birthday present... Many of you will already know Emma and her lovely work - she is a jeweller and a participating member of the Cambridge Open Studios...her website is here and her etsy shop is here....do go and have a look at Emma's beautiful designs.

Besides enjoying my new little beehive,necklace, my stitched beehives and my painted garden ones...I'm also enjoying lots of real bees buzzing happily around our flowers, especially the roses and foxgloves....

I hope you are enjoying your week too. Don't forget the crafty giveaway is still open on my last post until Monday, so if you haven't yet left a comment there is still time...Wishing you happy sunny days till next time. Back soon xxxxxxx

Crafty Giveaway

2011-06-06T09:36:00.000+01:00

Today is a very special day here...it's my blog birthday!! For one year I've been occupying this little space and what a wonderful year it's been...I didn't realise just how much blogging would enrich my creative life and that I would meet so many wonderful bloggers out there who like the same things and share a real creative connection...
So it's time for a giveaway, and it just had to be a crafty one...when I tidied up my work things a few weeks ago I realised I have LOT of things in my stash, some that have been given to me by companies I work for ......so I decided to give some away. First I chose a little bag to put them all in...a bit like a lucky bag filled with surprises...

This little drawstring bag is handmade, though not by me..I bought it from a lovely lady at a local craft fair.....

And in the bag are lots of beautiful beads and buttons (and some sequins too, not shown in the pix)....

A whole rainbow of gorgeous specialist threads - perfect not just for sewing with but for embellishing cards, threading through tags, sewing on beads for added sparkle.....

Some card charms shaped like flowers...

...a bundle of printed cotton fabric with cupcakes and a party theme...plus other small crafty surprises so you can dip in and find crafty inspiration to play around with...

If you'd like to enter the giveaway all you have to do is to leave me a comment on this post and I'll put your name in the hat. The giveaway will last for one week, till Monday June 13.

Off to do some more work now - I'm busily crafting at the moment working on various commisions including cross stitch sampler charts, patchwork, applique, sewing, drawing and writing up instructions...so if I have seemed a little quieter than usual that is why! Thank you so much for visiting me here. Wishing you a wonderful sunny, happy, crafty week and ..good luck in the giveaway! Back soon xxxxxxx

Rosy Days

2011-06-01T11:30:00.000+01:00

It's that rosy time of year again here...and in many other gardens too, I know....each day there are more and more sweet scented blooms opening, and rose petal confetti strews the grass..

The top picture shows the rose which climbs over the trellis at the side of the terrace, deliciously scented and lovely to sit near..... the picture above shows one of my favourites, it's very sweet and good for picking as the flowers last a few days and the petals don't immediately fall off, they just gradually subside....

I put these in an old sky blue enamel kitchen utensil holder

One of the deep cerise multi petalled roses next to Auntie Winnie's cups...not our Auntie Winnie, as we didn't have one, but a couple of friends were clearing out their Auntie Winnie's house and asked if we'd like a lot of old unwanted china (yes please!!) and we received these cups and saucers (a part set of five) plus lots of other interesting things..so their Auntie Winnie is often remembered here...

Gathering roses for Daisy's party - Sarah put them in jam jars with ribbon round the top, so simple and pretty...I will have some photos soon but haven't had time to sort through them yet...

Daisy had a lovely birthday and on her behalf I'd like to thank everyone for their kind birthday wishes ..(she has been very busy eating cake, wheeling her doll's pram and playing with her new cooker)....here is a stylish picture for her wall made specially by Rosie...now Auntie Rosie, of course....It was a lovely treat for us to have Rosie home for a few days over the weekend...

Thank you so much for dropping by to my bit of blogland, and for all the lovely comments. I hope you are having a rosy week, with blue skies, sunshine and time to enjoy the roses...Back soon xxxxx

Little Foxglove Tin

2011-05-26T16:38:00.000+01:00

A long time ago, when I used to paint flowers all day, I produced a repeating foxglove design. I drew the flowers in ink, then painted them in watercolour, and then painted a flat black gouache background around it. The design was sold by my agent to a company who printed designs on to sheets of metal and then made decorative tins with it...you can see the little tin in the picture above...I've had it with me for many years now ...the way the tin was constructed meant the foxgloves are actually growing upside down on it but not everyone would notice :) and I am fond of it after all this time....

So you can imagine what a surprise I got when looking through the May issue of Country Homes and Interiors (one of my favourite magazines) when there was my little foxglove tin in a beautiful styled shot against some gorgeous wallpaper....it is now a vintage find (like me perhaps)...

And can you guess what I keep in my little vintage foxglove tin?...vintage buttons....

Here are some photos of the real foxgloves which I told you about a few posts ago, the self seeded free gifts to my garden, which I moved from the front to the back.....

they are just beginning to flower and are looking lovely....

...fortunately they are in a sheltered part of the garden, so are safe from the blustery sea breezes and gales we've had lately...and are still having today...I hope it improves for the weekend...

Thank you for dropping by to visit here, and for the lovely comments which I so enjoy - lots of new blogs to discover too as new bloggers visit me and the regular ones who after my almost year of blogging are like old friends...wishing you a wonderful (nearly) weekend with garden days, perfect weather and whatever you enjoy the most....back soon xxxxx