Crafty New Year

 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 

November Studio

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  

Making Little Maisie

 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

 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

Crafty Summer

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

Summer Crafting

 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

Being Creative

 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