Candy Flowers

 All this week we've been enjoying the delicious scent and colour of the candy pink roses in the house, along with other sweet flowers rescued from the rain...and it has made me think of other candy colours that i enjoy..... this little bunny is the one i made for daisy's second birthday at the end of may.............i named this bunny candy because of her sweet pink dotty ears and pink print dress.... but daisy calls her bun-bun which is just as nice i think......

 ...........i put some pink tissue paper over the top of this little gift bag for a quick reveal for the tiny birthday girl.........

 ............here is candy with the daisy, daisy print my younger daughter made her last year.....i have a copy too....now she is two daisy can sing the song herself...or at least parts of it.........

 .........i managed to get some pictures of daisy and the birthday bun while they did some crayoning....

 ...........and below are some of my own crayons in candy colours too, being gathered up with other art supplies for my week in the country......the 2 card is one of daisy's birthday cards....she received some enviable ones, this is my favourite closely followed by a wonderful toadstool one which i hope to show another time......

 ............the colourful wool i showed you in my last post is being crocheted up into small granny squares ready for a new blanket.....one i've been wanting to make since before i even began to crochet....i saw cushions like this on various gorgeous blogs looking so stylish and i knew i wanted to make a blanket with........

 .........white borders round each colourful square.....like a child's paintbox.... i love to combine candy colours and white in my quilts too so i think this blanket will go well with them.............

 ............i have packed all the yarn in a big bag, along with my spotty pink and blue crochet hook, and i hope to have made lots more of my blanket when i get back next week from my little country trip.....using the join as you go method means a more instant blanket and i rather like that :)........

 ......i hope to be sending you a virtual postcard soon from our little tarn cottage in the lovely lake district...one of our favourite places to go for a rest and a break, peace and quiet, walks, tea rooms, gardens and galleries, beautiful views, sheep on the hills and bunnies hopping down the lane outside the cottage....and i love to wake up on a lake district morning and peek out of the mullioned bedroom window to see the wonderful view.............yes, even the rain clouds rolling in look beautiful there...........

..........thank you for visiting me here today in my little bit of blogland, i love to see you.......thank you for the sweet comments you leave, and hello to my new followers, thank you for joining us :)......wishing you a wonderful weekend and i hope you enjoy happy times in the week ahead........back soon xxxxxxxxxx

Raindrops on Roses

 Here is my little potting shed spied through the sweet pink roses just coming into bloom now and all the lush growth is due to rain rain and more rain......as well as some rays of sun now and then.......

......it is certainly true to say that for a lot of this week it was better to be IN the potting shed  rather than in the garden outside it.........

 ........i kept these pretty petunias inside to protect the delicate papery petals from the blustery showers......

.........but when the sunshine did beam down on the roses they looked so beautiful and unfurled even more petals to the warmth and brightness........this is one of my favourites (i don't know the name of it)...........

.........this is another favourite too, it had a good pruning in the autumn so is less wild and vast than it used to be but still has such beautiful blooms with a delicious scent.............

 ..........among my favourite things this week was the arrival of a fabulous giveaway prize from sweet Koralee of Bluebird Notes.......it was the spring issue of Where Women Cook  and  Koralee's beautiful project below is featured in it ........i love the delicious colours and the delightful styling, just like all the gorgeous pictures Korlee uses on her wonderful blog.........i had heard of the magazine but had not had the pleasure of actually seeing it before.........

 .........it is absolutely gorgeous, so filled with wonderful pictures which take your breath away, fascinating people and features, stunning homes and decor and just so much inspiring creativity....thank you so much Koralee for sharing this magazine with me, and for the lovely little bluebird card which i will treasure......and the sweet strawberry notecards which will be appearing on here soon too :).......i do love magazines, but this one is really special and i'm looking forward to reading it from cover to cover this weekend.......

 .....and i might be inspired to do a little cooking too.......i was actually hoping for some garden days this weekend, what with a million weeds appearing and the box hedging needing a good trim, and lots of deadheading of the early roses required...........(my lovely garden days block is from chipper nelly here).......

 .................but if it's too rainy and blustery as it is right now, then i will be happy with this............

........the rosy bag filled with colourful new yarn for new crochet projects....so exciting to be choosing lots of colours again and planning new combinations..........i can hardly wait ........the red, white and blue striped jubilee blanket is finished now and i love it and so do the family....i will photograph it very soon and it will be coming to the countryside with us on a little trip in a week or so.............

.........i will leave you with some  roses with actual raindrops on them, though am not sure if you can see them, they are there....i ran out to the rainy blowy garden today to pick these and rescue them from the elements.... i always love to have roses around the house....just one bloom can scent a whole room, so lovely.......
.....wishing you all a wonderful weekend, enjoy your days whatever the weather and thank you so much for visiting me here, i always love to see you..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sew British

If ever there was a time to be sewing with patriotic british fabrics then it would be now as we begin the Queens's Diamond Jubilee celebrations ..............my little town is festooned with bunting and so is my house and even the potting shed......i made these little pincushions as special jubilee souvenirs............

.                                ..........the fabric is from the cool britannia range by benartex.............

...........they work really well together or alone, or mixed in with other reds, whites and blues........

                           .........i love the turquoise blue which gives a fresh feel to the colourway...........

 ....and i love the printed map fabric, which shows some of the places i know and have stayed in when visiting london............a cute little piece of ribbon makes a tag......

 ....here are some more guardsmen, on my jubilee cakes this time,  in the pound note cupcake cases, baked ready for tomorrow's street party....we have bunting and brollies at the ready as the weather is grey and rainy and oh so british today and worse is forecast for tomorrow but it will not put us off..............

 ..........the guardsman cake topper is my favourite from the set below, though the golden carriages look rather good too, and all together they make a quirky little collection on the plate...more pictures soon......

.....the little corgis here came from granny's attic (perfect timing).....they are probably fairground ornaments and the paint is chipping off but they have a real corgi character ....my mother in law kept corgis too, like the Queen but only one at a time :)........the red tulips wrapped in red white and blue were a  nice surprise from mr p......

......one more thing i sewed with the cool britannia fabric was this little corsage.....i am planning to wear it to the jubilee party tomorrow....probably on my raincoat :).........thank you for dropping in to see me here in my little bit of blogland......i wish you all a happy weekend and if you are in the uk and joining in with the jubilee celebrations  have a wonderful time................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pretty Things

Summer is here and it's time to take it easy and do a little bit of pretty hand sewing.....using some wonderful (but in parts damaged) old embroidered linens and making sweet lavender hearts.....with added vintage buttons...

 .....i love to see what there is in my button box that i can add to a new project.....sometimes i find just the kind i want, like this ivory coloured flower button.......

....my love of buttons is well known in cross stitch circles :) I have been adding them to my work for many years and  love to collect them, both vintage and new, including handmade decorative ones and bright colourful ones...

.....i bought this beautiful necklace from emma at silverpebble recently...i couldn't resist the sweet vintage mother of pearl buttons interspersed with tiny found objects like glass flower beads, a carved bone bead, and pressed glass button....such tiny treasures ...... emma is having a giveaway at the moment so you could win one of her delightful necklaces too if you pop over here...........

 ....when i received my parcel i was so thrilled to find that emma had also included this delightful little piece of vintage petit point embroidery and some beautiful cream cotton lace...how kind and thoughtful, thankyou so much emma......

 .....pretty flowers picked this weekend from my newly planted cutting patch....everything is growing happily now that the sun is shining again and the first roses are beginning to open on the climbers so i'll be snipping some of those later to enjoy indoors too................

 ......if you have been a reader of this blog for a while you will have heard me mention janet bell before.....i love her paintings and visit her gallery in beaumaris on the isle of anglesey every summer when my hb sails in the regatta there.....janet is one of the few bloggers i have actually met.... i have so much of her work in my house i could almost open my own shop :)..... this picture of beaumaris hangs in the bedroom usually but i moved it to a brighter place for a photo.....on the right you can see the new tea towels janet sent me featuring her sweet seaside print....i will show you more of these later as i am going to make something patchworky with them....
....the reason i am mentioning this today is that janet has just come back to blogging again after a long break....she had a new baby and painting break and we missed her very much....janet's was one of the first blogs i read regularly and she is a lovely lady and very talented ...i know she would love it if you visited her here............

 

...........this weekend has been amazingly hot here...we go from one extreme to the other......so i am going to spend the rest of the day outdoors, reading old letters in the shade and sipping tea..........

.........and sewing some more buttons onto my little handmade heart.........i hope you are having a lovely weekend too....and that you have a happy week ahead.....(i will be busy baking the jubilee cakes this week and hanging up the red white and blue bunting)........thank you so much for visiting me here............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kitty Cushions and Crochet

A while ago i was delighted to be contacted by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to design a kitty cushion for crafty cat lovers to make for the homeless cats and kittens regularly brought in to Battersea, especially at this time of year........the cushion can be made from any scraps of fabric, there is a cute kitty template and full instructions are available to download from the Battersea website here.........

 .......my  current red white and blue theme influenced me here as you can see......but the kitty cushion can be made  in any choice of fabrics or colours that you like..........

 ..........i like the idea of a pink floral background, a pretty blue ditsy applique kitty, a simple patchwork background or  bold stripes.....all work equally well, and with the added padding and tiny bit of quilting the little cushions will provide a comfy place for the kittens to sleep while they wait for new loving owners....and then the cushion can go with them to their new home in the base of  their kitty carrier too.....

....so if you feel like doing a bit of sewing and would like to help in the kitty campaign do pop over to the Battersea website and read all about it there........Battersea do such wonderful work and never turn away a homeless dog or cat.........

 .....i just had to include this adorable kitty peg here which i love....it came from clever fee at chipper nelly.......

 ........i found this kitty card in amongst the vintage cards from granny's attic.....love the 3d effect .....

 ..............and some crochet at last....i finished the jubilee cushion.....it was fun seeing it completed in time for the jubilee....though i'm not sure the blanket will be......

 ..........i've made this blanket a wide one so the progress is slower, but i'm loving making it and even had the chance to do some of it in the sunny garden at the weekend :) ......granny stripes are my favourite crochet thing just now....but i have some new granny square ideas simmering too........

............and as i knew i would be doing a kitty post i had a little look in the farmer's wife quilt book a week or two ago to see if there was anything suitable...oh yes....two sweet blocks in fact...the one on the left is called cats and mice and the one on the right is called puss in the corner.....and would you believe the fabrics i used for them and for the kitty cushions are from the delightful collection called...Pam Kitty Morning :) (i only realised that afterwards).........so now i am off to water my flowers as it has been warm and sunny here today......thank you for dropping into my little bit of blogland, it's lovely to see you....have  a wonderful week....back soon xxxxxxxxx

Spring Potting Shed

How lovely it has been to spend some time in and out of the potting shed and the garden this weekend, after such a chilly spring so far, and after days and days of rain drenching the garden.......everything looks very green and fresh now when the sun shines.........

........i found a wonderful old plant and seed catalogue in granny's attic last weekend, complete with hand written planting lists in spidery old hand writing.......and i  also found this set of flower cards which i just had to photograph too......

        ..............we found lots of sets of cards with different themes which are games of various kinds...........

 .........i have planted up the spring and summer pots for the garden now, and they've had a nice soaking with rain so no need to bother about the watering can or hose here ;) the bottom right picture shows some of the zinnias i potted on and put outside to harden off in the daytime, only i forgot to take them in one night and a sneaky snail had a good time eating the lower leaves....i've been nursing them ever since and now they look much better....

 ...........no need to fill up the bird baths either......they are brimful with rain water....the bluebells seem to love the damp though the blossom often looks very bedraggled.........my little grandbaby daisy wishes so much she could just pick up those little birdies off the side of the bird bath but they are stuck fast ...........

 ........lovely lilac, so sweet and such a delicious colour, i always love seeing it with the fresh green leaves too.....

 .........and yes, we have a flowery farmer's wife quilt block for today's post...this is called wild rose and square and i liked making it and the effect of the pointed petals...the little vintage bears just had to be in this picture...there were only two of them, pink and green, and i think and they must have been waiting there for me....i found them in a small child's desk which had belonged to mr p once upon a time when he was a small boy :) i have brought the little desk home with me and am going to paint it soon.........

 

........one more picture of these beautiful peonies........they are my new flower craze for this summer.....i think they look stunning in all the different shades......i hope we have a little more sun and a little less rain in the coming week so the garden flowers have a chance to really bloom...............
.....thank you for popping in here today, it's so lovely to see you.....thank you to everyone who reads my blog, follows me or leaves me sweet comments, i do love them and read them all and always try to visit you in return .......wishing you all a wonderful week with sunny days, sweet flowers and happy times.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxx