Merry Mouse

 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

Jingle Bells Bunny

Hello! I thought you might like to see this little festive creature today, and to have a glimpse of her being created. I actually began making this bunny a while ago. The pattern is a scaled down version of the Bunny Cuddles one in my book Simple Sewn Gifts which I showed you in an earlier post.

I wanted to make this one a girl bunny and as it got nearer to Christmas I decided a festive theme would be good....which meant a red dress, for sure...and maybe some jingle bells, and perhaps a little holly too?

               First she had to have pink spotty ear linings....and then she had to have pink starry pantaloons.

               And on her dress a corsage made from a green yo yo with a jingle bell in the centre.

She has bells on her cuffs and bells on her toes (is this reminding you of a nursery rhyme?) and I finally knitted her a little white woolly hat with a red and white spotty felt ball on the top, because it's so cold at the moment. I get very fond of the little toys I make and like to have them around the studio or on the mantlepiece, or on the dresser amongst the dishes. It's surprising how sweet they can look popping up here and there....This bunny may be given away though, to a special little girl when she's a little older and less likely to chew on the jingle bells!

It's really freezing here - not too pleasant temperature-wise. I hope you are keeping warm and cosy, or for those of you who live in warmer climes I hope you are just pleasantly warm! I send you lots of festive cheer, glowing candle light, warmed mince pies, mulled wine, sweets and treats - whatever your festive heart desires in fact! Hope all your lists are being ticked off and you can relax and enjoy the countdown...Back soon. xx

A Little Stitching

 This is the little creature I mentioned I was sewing the other day - Liberty Bear is her name. She is made from soft pink fleece as you can see - I couldn't think where I got the fabric from at first and then I suddenly remembered that it was in a bag of fabric one of my sisters gave me after sorting out her stash. I loved the look of the Liberty fabric heart, and added a little bow too.

 This little bear is part of a gift for a certain baby who I know will love the feel of the fabric and will also enjoy biting it, chewing it and dribbling on it too! It's easy to wash in the machine so that won't matter at all.

 Here is a virtual cookie for you - it's a gingerbread one and it was iced (like the ones in my last post) with the fabulous icing pen (made by Tala, bought from Lakeland, for those who kindly enquired!)...

                                                          And now it's time to relax ....

To do a bit of knitting and cosy up for a peaceful evening. I hope you are warm and cosy too, and all your candles are lit and your fairy lights are twinkling! xxx

In the Doll's House

One Christmas, a long time ago when my daughters were small, Father Christmas brought them a doll's house. They loved it and played with it for years, so when they grew up I kept it in the attic instead of giving it away like lots of other out grown toys.

 When we finished decorating the New Bedroom I brought the doll's house down and had a good look at it. Not too bad - it had lost a chimney and was a bit dusty, the old Laura Ashley curtains looked shabby (not in a good way) and the front door had fallen off. But with a lick of  paint, a new chimney made by Mr P, a new door ordered from The Doll's House Emporium ( where Santa got it from originally...) and some pretty  curtains- it looked fresh and as good as new so we put it in the New Bedroom ready for the grand babies to play with.

When my girls saw their old doll's house again they were thrilled and sooo nostalgic. The little pieces of toy furniture inside strongly evoked  their childhood memories. They especially remembered putting Thomasina, their pet hamster in the house and gleefully watching her run up the stairs, like the Two Bad Mice in Beatrix Potter's tale!

             Here's a little peek in the nursery window at night - all seems peaceful in there...

                                My favourite thing in the doll's house, both then and now is this:

 The teeny tiny Christmas cake which lasts indefinately! Speaking of which, how are your Christmas preparations getting on? I've been a bit side tracked this weekend with a magazine project for spring to finish, but now it's done and we are going out for a refreshing walk - we have sunshine, blue sky and a thaw here now.

When we get back I'll be having a nice cup of tea and sorting out the decorations...Thank you for visiting me, and for all your kind and interesting comments which I so love reading! I send you  warm wishes for a happy week ahead, filled with the all the cosy pleasures of the countdown to Christmas! xx

On A Little Trip

 Rather like these little festive folks, we are also looking happy and smiley and going on a little trip. It's Mr P's birthday at the weekend and in recent years we've gone on a short break, usually to a city, around this time. Tomorrow we're off to York for a few days.

I'll also be popping over to Harrogate to the Knitting and Stitching Show (it will be well worth a visit if you are near enough too).

Travel-wise we are rather hoping it doesn't snow although I'm sure it will look magical if it does! I'm packing my warmest clothes, my camera and some stars - or the pieces of fabric and so on to make them with. Yes, I'm still stitching stars and when I've got enough I'll be showing you what they were for...

Here is my Little Snowman, who I think looks a little anxious. I made him last year for a Crafts Beautiful Christmas project and he has been hanging around with the Gingerbread Boys recently.

Before I go off on my little break I must say a big thank you to everyone who has commented, emailed and visited my blog over the last few days. Thank you, thank you lovely readers! Have a wonderful week, keep warm and snug, and I will soon be back with lots of festive treats to share. xx

Making Gingerbread

 Hello again! Where is the time going this week? It seems to be whisking by! Today I'm introducing the Gingerbread Boys. First I made Mr and Mrs Gingerbread as a project for my book, and then I just had to make these boys as well. they are a lighter mixture and not so well-baked - that's generally how I prefer my real biscuits!

 We had a little photo shoot and once they started it was hard to stop them leaping into different containers and posing and beaming for the camera.

                  I love making toys, it's something I plan to explore a lot more in the coming months.

These are the simplest kind, made from two identical pieces of linen, a back and a front, sewn all the way round and stuffed with polyester filling, then their little smiling faces are embroidered on with black thread, and their cheeks are painted to look pink and chubby. Choosing buttons - I love that bit -  and finally a bow tie - this time I used bright selvedge scraps for a rustic look - it doesn't matter if they fray a bit, it's all part of their style.

I'd like to wish a warm welcome to all the sweet readers who visit my blog, both the brand new and the more regular ones. THanK YoU all so much, I really appreciate your visits and LoVe hearing from you! I hope you all have a wonderful week, full of things you enjoy. x

Pirates and Pumpkins

The BIG pumpkin has been made into soup, now in the freezer, and this smiley lantern is all ready to beam out cheerfully to the children who call on us for sweets on Halloween night. I like the old traditions of carving lanterns, ducking for apples, and more recently giving out sweets to local children who dress up for trick or  treat - but nothing threatening or scary, not me, who can't bear scary movies of even the mildest kind!

Yesterday it was Charlie's 3rd birthday and Mr P took the morning off work (so did I but it's not quite the same thing!) and we went to wish him Happy Birthday and to give him his present - a wooden Pirate Ship complete with little pirates, treasure chest,a working anchor,cannon, sails with skull and crossbones....

It was sweet to see the little hands and the big hands assembling this wooden ship...my favourite bit was the stripy sails! I do love children's toys, especially wooden ones, or handmade sewn and knitted toys, though I also think some contemporary brightly coloured plastic toys can be gorgeous and well designed too, and children love to play imaginatively with them.

Thank you to those who kindly asked me about my choice of recipe after all my cook book browsing the other day.I decided to make Jools's Favourite Beef Stew from Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Dinners. I know the family all love this dish as we had it last winter, and it will cook for ages in the aga so I don't have to worry about it all the time.

And finally here is my little blackboard planter filled up for Halloween weekend with some autumn garden snippets - berries, ivy, rosehips, some pretty leaves and the wonderful pink sedum flowers. I wish you all a wonderful weekend and a Happy Halloween!

Little Bears

I always think little toys look even more cute when there are several pictured together. I made these small bears from cotton fabrics using the pattern in my Cross Stitch Keepsakes book. I made them originally from pale coloured linen with cross stitch decoration - or you could add a child's name or birthdate. (The template is so simple that they are made quickly and have lots of possibilities for decorating.) I then made a few little bears from printed cotton fabrics - they are nice to match to a quilt as a special gift.

Now I'm working on a different creature - can you guess what it is?