I can show you now they've received them..

I made a little something for my best friend. She lives in a rural area in Wales and loves getting post so I thought it would be nice for her to get a little present in the postbox. 

She has to walk quite a distance to get her post from their postbox so it's nice if there's something waiting for her in there! :-) It's not 100% perfect as I'm still quite new to sewing but I think I'm definitely improving the more I practise on the sewing machine. 

I would definitely miss my sewing machine a Lot if it was taken away from me now.. Crochet used to be my favourite craft, now knitting and sewing have both taken over and I love them just as much as one another. I still love crochet though,

It's mums birthday today and as well as giving her a lovely knitting pattern book and a ball of  Noro yarn, I made her this embroidery hoop art. 

I haven't done a lot of embroidery before so it was all very 'make it up as you go along...'.

The stitches Definitely aren't perfect but I think it turned out quite nicely... and anyway, she's my Mum so she has to like everything I make her! :-)

Happy Birthday Mum xXx

I'm busy knitting at the moment... A lovely lady has asked me to knit her two tea cosies similar to my one. I can't believe it, I've almost sold my first items! haha.. So easily pleased...

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It arrived yesterday and I haven't been able to put it down since!

I had seen quite a bit of Chloe Owen's work around recently and I love it.

She uses her sewing machine to create some beautiful pieces of artwork using vintage fabric's to 'colour in' her drawing's. She also sews some gorgeous accessories and makes beautiful things to have around the home...

So when I saw in a craft mag that she had a book coming out, I just Had to pre-order it here and I am Sooo glad I did. The book is completely gorgeous just to look at, let alone all of the brilliant projects she has within the book.

The photo's are really lovely and I can't wait to try out some of the projects myself. I definitely want to make this owl cushion and try out the freehand embroidered tea cosy.

There's also a really sweet pom-pom skirt that would look incredibly cute on Rose.. sooo much to do, but so little time though!

It was discounted on Amazon and I think it was a complete bargain as theres just so much to look at in the book and unlike some craft books, as soon as I got to the last page... I just wanted to start from the beginning all over again!

I'm going to go now and catch a few minutes of reading time before Rose needs her dinner.. See you later!

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Recovering under a huggge mound of laundry!

We went to visit my Mum in Cornwall on Thursday and stayed for a few nights, it was only 3 nights but by the amount of laundry that is needing to be done, it looks like we were away for at least a fortnight! How can one little person produce sooo many dirty clothes!? I only have one at the moment, goodness knows how you mum's of large families cope!

We had a really brilliant time, I just wish car journey's were a little easier these day's... If we're lucky we get a couple hours of sleep/ quieting playing time and then after that, all hell breaks loose and we have to contend with an extremely loud screaming baby in the back of the car! I ended up dangerously unstrapped hanging over the back of the front seat, trying  failing to calm her down. Nothing would work. Since we got home, I realised Rose has 3 big molar teeth poking through her back gums.. so this could have been part of the trouble..?!

I have loads of photo's to show you but I will leave that to the next post.

Anywayyy... this is my progress on Rose's dress. I managed to fit in quite a lot of knitting time on the journey's, the parts when she was happy anyway! I'm just working on the back straps now and then will begin on the picot edging to the bottom of the dress.

I was reading Messe Jesse's blog the other day and really loved the look of her new book in this post. I managed to get it for a really bargain price from the Book People and it was waiting for me when we returned from Cornwall.

There are so many pretty photo's inside but I really want to give this cupcake design a try as it's Ray's mum's 60th birthday coming up soon and I would like to make her a tea cosy as she is a Big tea drinker. I wont have the whole thing white but I would like to use that design.

When we were in Truro, we had a browse around the charity shops and I came across a pair of rose printed curtains for the bargain price of £3.50. The fabric is lovely and will be cut up to make something pretty.

I got some gorgeous fabrics in an amazing fabric shop there. There was sooo much choice and I really had to stop myself from getting too carried away!

Mum treated me to a few things which was really nice of her, it's always nice to be treated! :-) Thanks Mum xXx

As you can see... taking photo's with a small person nearby isn't always very easy!

I got some 1/2 metre's of the patterned fabrics and then a few fat quarter's in plain colours.

Dreading Slimming World tonight, it's impossible to stick to a diet when your away. Well I find it impossible anyway!

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Edited to add: I almost forgot to say, I've gone and joined in with the fun on Twitter and you can find me here! 

Colds, cakes and my 100th post!

Rose has got one stinker of a cold at the moment and is feeling rather sorry for herself. So instead of going out anywhere this morning, we I had a lazy morning in our pyjama's and did some baking! I did have to go to the dentist at 11:45, so the laziness didn't last long I'm afraid...!

I got this book for the bargain price of £4.99 the other day in W.H.Smith, I really don't need another recipe book but there were sooo many beautiful photo's of yummy treats inside, it was just too tempting! 

So anyway, I had all of the ingredients to bake the sticky gingerbread cupcakes in the book, so we were busy in the kitchen even before Rose and I had got dressed! She's got to the stage now where she's not happy just playing on the kitchen floor while I get on with whatever I'm doing, she wants to oversee Everything that is going on! So, in the high-chair she went with a little bread and jam to keep her happy! :-)

 

Ray came home to watch Rose whilst I went for my check-up at the dentist (everything was fine - phew!) and then I iced the cupcakes when Rose was having her afternoon nap. I was really happy with them because I've never piped icing before today, I thought I'd better get in some practise before I have to Rose's cake next week. They were delicious... far too delicious in fact, I've eaten 3 today!

I'm trying to lose my post-Christmas weight at the moment and I just know I won't be able to resist scoffing more of them tomorrow...

So, I'm sending the rest of them in to work with Ray tomorrow. He seems very happy to do so... I think he thinks it's going to make him the popular guy at work for the day! haha

This is my 100th post! Woohoo!

I plan to get a giveaway sorted fairly soon-ish, I just need more hours in the day please!

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2011 Photo memories and a lot of chatter!

I know everyone's probably bored with seeing all of these 2011 photo mosaics by now but I wanted to put one together as it was an excuse to look back on the huge amount of photo's taken this year. I only started blogging in March so I've only included photo's from then onwards. I've used most of them here on my blog but there are a few extras that I added in... just because I liked them.

March

I crocheted a cushion cover for my mum's birthday, it was my second cushion cover and I was really happy with it.

We went on a little holiday to the Isle of Wight and stayed in a lovely little cottage, we were really lucky as there was a heat wave and we ended up relaxing on the beach!

Ray and I went on plenty of walks with Rose when she was tiny enough to be snuggled in the Wilkinet carrier.

April 

I completed Rose's ripple blanket, it still my favourite of her baby blankets and I got sooo many compliments on it. I still have loads of the Stylecraft left from making both her blankets, probably enough for another one!?

I began my Japanese flower scarf in King Cole yarn.

Rose and I enjoyed many days in the park enjoying the sunshine, the park behind the Cathedral here is so so lovely and peaceful.

I completely my granny bunting for our kitchen and it's still hanging up in there now. :-)

May

I began and completed Rose's knitted bolero, stupidly I knitted it really really tiny though so she only got to wear it for a day! (Lesson learned here...)

Rose came with us to her first wedding, it was one of Ray's colleagues that was getting married.

Plenty more walks were had in West Sussex And Dorset.

Fruit and vegetables that I was attempting to grow in my little garden actually Grew!

June

I crocheted a little purse for my Nan's birthday, she's now gone and sewn it onto the Outside of her handbag which looks shall we say... interesting!

My Nan and I drove half way to Cornwall to meet my Mum and spend the day with her. We had a picnic and it was lovely to let Mum spend some time with Rose.

I finished my Japanese flower scarf. I haven't actually worn it yet... it's just not that warm!

July

I finished Rose's baby shrug, I love it but it's still too big for her to wear. I think it'll fit her about half way through this year...

Ray and I visited some gorgeous gardens, before starting this blog I never really took in how stunning some plants can be. Now I really enjoy taking photo's of flowers as I can look back on their beauty anytime I want. Just another positive about blogging...

August

I crocheted a baby blanket for Rose using the granny square pattern from Attic24. I remembered exactly when I started it, it was about 4am in the morning and I was awake downstairs with a poorly Rose. I started crocheting granny squares to keep me sane!

I sewed an oven cloth for my best friends birthday, I also made a few other things to go along with it.

I borrowed my cousins SLR camera for a day and had so much fun taking photo's of the views from my Nan's garden and the flowers in it.

September

We went on holiday to Spain, Rose's first holiday abroad. This photo was taken on our one and Only trip to the beach... she got sand everywhere! (I was finding sand in her chubby creases for day's after!) Rose was terrified of the waves and didn't understand that your not supposed to eat sand, just a bit too young... The rest of the holiday was spent relaxing by the quiet pool by the villa.

I finished my first mini quilt for my auntie's birthday present, I wasn't sure about it as it was my first attempt but she said she loved it and has it hanging on her kitchen door.

October

I baked and decorated my first 'proper' birthday cake. It was for Ray's 27th birthday, it took me forever and I wasn't completely happy with the result but it's the love that went into making it that really matters! haha. Ray was chuffed with it anyway. :-)

I did a bit of a chair make-over, it's a little scratched on the top where Rose pulled it over but it still looks much better than it did before!

I completed a couple of knitting projects, Rose's cropped cardigan and my hand warmers. She's still too little to be able to wear the cardigan and I decided to save the hand warmers and gave them to my Mum for Christmas as I knew she really liked them.

November

We tested out the baby rucksack for the first time, Rose seemed comfortable enough and even fell asleep... her face did get a little squished though.

I began knitting some more hand warmers from the yarn I had bought with a birthday voucher, I've now finished them and wear them everyday.

I hand quilted a hot water bottle cover to go in the Advent swap package I was sending off to Jo at Cupcake Jojo, I hope she liked it.

I showed you a couple of my other WIP's, Rose's quilt that I kind of plan to finish by her 1st birthday.. Eeekk! Also, another baby blanket... I'm not entirely sure if I like it that much anymore though and can't decide whether or not it's worth carrying on with.

December

I decorated my very first Christmas cake! (I had baked it a couple of months before hand...)

I was busy making and finishing off Christmas presents for people, including Mum's mug hug (I Had made a few other things for Mum as well), Nan's dresden plate cushion and Lettie's hexagon blanket.

I finished my cabled headband with the most gorgeous wool, Lettie bought me another skein of it for Christmas so I will have to knit something to match.

Well, that's it! Sorry if I completely bored you all with my knattering... but I hope you've enjoyed a round up of some of the photo's that have been here on my blog since March.

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PS- Before I go, I just have to tell you.

I am Incredibly excited at the moment... I am waiting for the anticipated arrival of my new camera!! Here it is if you'd like to take a peek.

It should be arriving anytime from tomorrow onwards... Every time I start thinking about the things and events I'll be able to take photo's of, I just want to jump up and down on the spot with a huge grin on my face. I know this probably sounds really over the top but to be honest I'm just really looking forward to taking some lovely shots of Rose, I was so disappointed with my last camera as it just wasn't quick enough and she was constantly blurry!

Macaroon mayhem!

This is my first attempt at making macaroons, they are mint chocolate flavour... I think I added a little too much green food colouring though as it just looks like they're filled with green slime! They're pretty wonky and the swirls aren't very neat as I had to make do with sandwich bags instead of a piping bag... all a bit messy I have to say!!

I loved watching The Great British Bake Off when it was on the TV and as a surprise Ray came home with this book the other day. I was completely over the moon with it as it's layed out so brilliantly inside and the photo's are gorgeous.

I decided to give macaroons a try as I've never eaten them before and wanted to see what the fuss was all about. To be honest... I'm not that impressed. I didn't have a clue what to expect but their just too sweet... I thought they'd be a bit crunchier like a cookie but the texture of them is completely different to that. Plus they were just so fiddly to make and I had to manage doing all of the different stages in between dealing with Rose, cooking us dinner and putting Rose to bed. I'm much more of a fan of simple cakes and things!

I finished wrapping all of my Advent swap gifts today, all a bit last minute... as usual for me!

I completely forgot to take pictures of everything before I wrapped it up and so I'll have to rely on my swap partner to take a picture once she's unwrapped everything.

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Chilly cycle ride!

The other evening I was reading a lovely blog (I cannot for the life of me remember who's blog this was but I left a comment so if you realise it's you I'm talking about Please remind me - I obviously still have a case of baby brain!)

But anywayy.. she was talking about a lovely walk she has been on with her son and dog by the canal and that got me thinking that we have our own canal really close by and we don't go down to enjoy it nearly often enough!

So the the next day (Sunday) we got all wrapped up and headed out on our bikes to go for a canal-side ride. It was pretty nippy but I made sure Rose was all toasty and we had the most wonderful time...

During the summer Rose was just a bit too small to go on the seat we got for my bike and so I haven't ridden with her many time but it's just so lovely to be poodling along with her in front of me, Ray was getting plenty of smiles (he was in front of me) so I know she was enjoying herself.

The only problem was that as soon as we got off our bikes to sit on a bench to enjoy the view and a cup of tea out of our flask, she fell fast asleep! She's sleeping in the photo, not feeding by the way..! This was a bit of a problem since I didn't want to wake her and risk her crying the whole way home and she obviously couldn't go in the bike seat asleep, so we ended up walk for 10 minutes with Rose sleeping on my shoulder and Ray walking with both bikes.

Thankfully (as she's SO heavy now!) she woke soon after and was quite happy so we got back on our bikes to head home.

(I admit...there was a pit-stop at Waitrose to get some mince-pies though!)

Right, I'm off to go have a Another flick through my beautiful birthday quilting books I got given by Ray today, suchhh gorgeous photo's inside! :-)

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Giveaway win and a gift of cake-bunting!

I was really lucky to be the winner of the giveaway over at Hookin with laalaa,

it was the book 'Make!' by Cath Kidston and I love it!

Thank you Lynda! x

There are so many lovely things to make in it, including some gorgeous greetings cards (there are a few birthday's coming up soon..!) which are so cute.

I love this embroidery on this cardigan, it's so pretty and would be a lovely project to do...when I finish my other WIP's!

Aren't these egg cosies so lovely and pretty..!?

A couple of weeks ago I received a lovely gift in the post, from Jooles at Sew sweet violet.

Isn't this cake bunting just gorgeous, it's so sweet and will look perfect on Rose's 1st Birthday cake... okay, I know Jauary is a little way off yet..! But it is beautiful :-)

Thank you Jooles! x

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Jammy tarts!

Well I gave the jam tarts from The book a try..!

They are most definitely not allowed on the diet...

But are ever so yummy!

A couple won't do any harm... surely...

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A verrry exciting parcel!

 Hello again!

Well, we're back from Dorset... after a journey that took nearly 3 hours when it should have been 2. Although it really could have been a lot worse, Rose slept for pretty much the whole journey and I didn't hear a peep out of her even when she was awake. I was so worried that she'd get grumpy and seeing as I was on my own, I wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop her crying... but she was brilliantly behaved. Phew!

I had such a lovely time, it felt like it really had been far too long since I'd been back. So it was really nice to see friends and family and have a catch-up, Rose and I definitely did a lot of socialising! It's always lovely to go back home, but it never feels like a holiday because you end up trying to fit in seeing everyone in such a short amount of time. It does feel lovely to be back in my own home though and be able to relax a bit..!

My cousin lent me her SLR camera whilst I was down and I had great fun taking photo's with it, but I have something else to tell you about first so I will have to do another post with some of the photo's from our trip back to Dorset.

I had a VERY exciting visit from the postman today :-)

So whilst Rose has been doing some of this...

I've been doing a little of this..!

My newest and definitely most favourite craft book arrived today, I had pre-ordered it from Amazon after reading about it in a magazine and am so thrilled with it. It's called 'Queen of Crafts' and is written by the same girl that started the Shoreditch Sisters WI group and it's packed full of gorgeous idea's to make and do.

                                                               Everything from baking...

To patchwork...

To kitchen gardening..!

Today I plan to make these...



I'll let you know how it goes!

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