Gorgeous Gifts

Last week was MEANT to be my last week at school (had I not been signed off 4 weeks early).  And, to my surprise, Simon came home with this amazing basket of gifts for me (from my lovely class and their parents).....

The whole thing looked so pretty, I was reluctant to start opening any of the goodies to begin with.  Look at the toadstool paper!!!  

I'm not normally an overly-emotional person (and I COULD always blame my pesky pregnancy hormones), but I was really overwhelmed by the gifts as I opened them up.  Clearly, those little kids and their parents know me SO well, and put SUCH a lot of effort into selecting things that I'd love.  There MAY even have been a few tears.  

Here, have a little look at my gorgeous gifts.....

[a knit-your-own-teddy-bear kit]

[a red and white spotty Cath Kidston mug]

[pearly, heart-shaped buttons]

[pretty ribbons]

[a 'thank you teacher' bookmark]

[a cute toadstool ornament, now on display in my crafting room]

[a box full of multi-coloured buttons]

[and a precious book made up of pictures drawn by each of the children]

What a wonderful leaving present!!!  And what a lucky teacher!!!

Just in case any of the Owls' parents happen to be visiting, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  

Now I'm off to start on my knit-your-own-teddy-bear (I think I might well be able to do it laying down).....  :-)

Carly

x

   

Loop Scarves

Hello there,

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post - and for your ideas of crafty-things-to-do-whilst-laying-on-your-back.  I did get some inspiration (and giggles) from your suggestions! 

As I've been such a rubbish blogger lately, I do have quite a few makes from way-back-when that I haven's shared with you yet.  Including these.....

  

They are loop scarves that I made for Christmas - one for my mom, one for my sister, and one for my best friend.  

I was a bit baffled by the puzzle of how to sew them up to begin with, but got the hang of it in the end.  Once the idea of how it should work clicked, they became a reasonably quick and easy project.  

I'll definitely be making more of them (I want one for myself, actually).  

Maybe, when I have the time (and ability), I'll do a little loop scarf tutorial and share it on here.

Until next time.....

Carly

x 

Christening Papercut

Oh dear!  I've done it again - almost a whole month with no blog post.  I just can't get it together at the moment!

Today, I wanted to do a little show-and-tell about a special christening present I made.

A few weekends ago, we flew back to England for a couple of days.  We had a VERY important (and VERY lovely) job to do..... Our best friends had asked us to be Godparents to their beautiful baby daughter. 

So we had to come up with an idea for a christening gift idea and - of course - it was going to have to be something 'Crafted by Carly'.

I'd already made little Amelia a quilt (which you can see here), a couple of dresses (here and here), a hat (here), and a soft toy (which I forgot to post about).  So what to make for this occasion???

In the end, I decided to make a papercut.  And here it is.....

It took a long time to draw and cut, but I was really pleased with how it turned out.  

Well, that's it for today.  

I've finished off (and photographed) a few baby bits and bobs for our own little one lately.  So, hopefully, it won't be too long before I post again.  Well, that's my intention anyway!  We'll see.....

Carly

x

Merry Christmas!!!

Oh dear!!!  I think I've let myself down a bit here.  My last post was from the 5th - that was a LOOOOONG time ago.  I think this is the first time since I started this blog that I've left posting for more than a week - and it's certainly the longest I've gone without visiting anyone else's blog!  And I genuinely am quite cross with myself about this.  The bad thing is that I don't even have a good excuse.  I've neglected emails and Facebook and EVEN Pinterest too!  We've just been lazing around really - and visiting family and friends.  

But I have to say that the resting and relaxing HAS been lovely!!!

I had to venture online today, though, to wish you all, my dear blogging friends, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.....

..... and to show you this tiny elf hat that I crocheted for a tiny friend.....

I'm wondering whether I could get away with one myself.....

Have a great day tomorrow, dears!!!!!

Cary

xxx

   

Another 'Little Geranium' Dress

Well, there are so many show-and-tells I want to do on here at the moment (and so many of your wonderful blogs that I need to catch up with).  But there just doesn't seem to be any time for anything at the moment.  Where is time disappearing to???  I think it might be that, when we get home from school at 5:00 in the evening, it's already properly dark - and so feels like bed time!?!

Not that I'm complaining about the dark nights.  They mean, after all, that Christmas is coming.  And they mean long, cosy evenings watching festive movies in the glow of the candles and Christmas tree lights.

Today's post isn't a christmassy one, though.  I just wanted to show you another 'Little Geranium' dress I made for our friend's beautiful little girl.  You can see my first attempt here.  And here's attempt number two.....

I was pleased with it.  The only problem was that I now want a dress for MYSELF in these exact fabrics and colours!  :-)

See you all again soon.....

Carly

x

Baby Quilt Christening Gift

I have another crafty show-and-tell for you today.  It's another quilt!  

A friend wanted a special christening present for her soon-to-be Godson, and commissioned me to make a fleece-lined quilt with the baby's name on it.  She didn't want it to bee 'too babyish', as she wants him to be able to carry on using it for some years to come.  And she wanted it to include some dark blue fabrics and star motifs, to tie in with other things he already has in his bedroom.  

With such a special gift to make, and such a specific brief, I was pretty nervous about how it would turn out.  But, in the end, I was really, really happy with it.  So was my friend.  And so were the parents of her new Godson.  Phew, phew and phew!!!

Here it is:

  

To begin with, I wasn't sure about appliqueing the name on. I was worried that it would spoil the 'overall look' of the quilt.  What do you think?  Does the name add or detract???  I'd be grateful for any comments on this.....

Carly

x   

Sewing for Mom

In my last post, I showed you the birthday cards I made for my mom and my sister.  

I also made my mom some pressies.  Before the summer holidays, I made myself a passport and travel document wallet (you can see it here), and my mom really liked it.  So I decided to make her one for her birthday.  

She likes blue, and she likes stripes.  So here's what I came up with.....

I decided to make a matching rosette pin for her too (you know how awful it is when your passport holder doesn't match your brooch).....

You can find the passport wallet tutorial I used here, and my super-easy rosette pin tutorial here.

Now I guess I'd better set my mind to 'Christmas Crafting' mode!  Have you started yours yet????   

Carly

x