Time Out!

This weekend we took a moment for some time out!  Time away from everything.  To re-group and take stock. Time to relax and catch up.  It has been so hectic here for such a long time that we had forgotten what it is to have a weekend to rattle around in!  So after bacon butties – our standard Saturday lunch! – we went shopping.  Some light retail therapy!  Mr A’s retail therapy is not quite the same as mine.  It isn’t the sort to linger over windows.  To spy the little bargains.  To drool over a beautiful corded coat – although I did do this on Saturday, but  they didn’t have my size! Drat! And double drat!!!!”!  His sort is…. know what I want, where I want to go for it and whizz…….. it is bought!!  It wasn’t quite this quick on Saturday, but it was a very focused shop.  So I shall save my browsing and drooling for a day on my own!  Then it was home for a saladey tea and some light crafting.

In  fact I did quite a lot of crafting this weekend.  Things for the Sun Shine School.  Sorting out and mentally pricing things ready for the next sale. Hooking and knitting while I watched the cars varrrooooming around the race track.  Stuffing and sewing while Nottingham Forest were wrestling with Cardiff.  Want to see?  Well here is just a peek….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two little buzzing bees.  One for each hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three golden glows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four Rainbow babies all snuggled up warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hair bobbles and brooches and matching pins…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So things are moving along just fine…….

And the weather today is glorious so I have had a long walk to town and back.  Snapping away for some artistic shots! …… Ha ha!!  But that is for another day.  A day to play about and mosaic in!    Just a tease….

PS the give away is still there… so just say hello!

 

Chick, Chick, Chicken..

Well I have had a go.  I didn’t have the pattern with me as Mr A was on the computer(!), so all I had to go on were the pictures in my memory.  And it isn’t bad.  Not bad at all!  What am I talking about?  Oh sorry, I have made a birdie.  A birdie to hang around.  Lucy at attic24 has been making them and given everyone the pattern – thank you Lucy – but as I said I didn’t have the pattern, so this is my take on a birdie.  I chose to make a clucking chicken…..

two little dangly legs….

a fanned out tail….

the cocks comb head….

with a little flower – all complete…

to hang around on my kitchen door.  She should be scratching really!!!

 

PS Don’t forget the give away.  Just say hello!

Flowers and a rainbow.

Flowers can bring lots of messages.  They can say ‘I love you’

and show how much you care.  They can say ‘I’m sorry’

and be a peace offering.  But for whatever message they bring they will always make you smile, especially next to a cheeky duck!!  Can you see his grin?  This little fellow sits in my hall and grins at me when I leave the house, or come in, when I tread wearily up the stairs at bedtime, or skip (ha ha!) down them first thing in the morning!  No matter what, he is always there…grinning!  I bought the flowers a week ago and they are still shining.  I chose them because of this….

Dad painted this picture for Mum and it hung in  their bedroom.  Now it is waiting to go up in mine.  A bouquet of happiness!!  Other flowers have been squeezing into my cupboards too.  Like this…

and this…

Delicate patterns that are pretty, but hopeless for keeping a hot cup of tea hot!!!   Still, little treasures.

I have been continuing the green and white theme with my little Granny flowers.

It is growing, but very slowly because of these other little goodies…

Hair bobbles adapted from Lucy of Attic24’s flower pattern.

Birthday cards for adults and children…

All neatly packaged in their cellophane bags ready for the Sun Shine School fund raise.

The needles have been clinking too…

Rainbow Babies, pattern courtesy of Jean Greenhowe.  I love their little bobble hats…

(sorry about the hand shake!!!)  Then finally my first Christmas card design for this year.  One with a message…

‘Light and life to all he brings.’

Happy crafting!

Little things!

I have been surfing!  My husband says I have been silver surfing!!  Spending a little time looking at what everyone has been up to.  Being inspired.  Oooooooing and ahhhhhhhing!  Such beautiful things!!! Quilts. Blankets.  Cushions.  Scarves.  The list is  endless, but because the craft of the moment for me is crocheting, I have lingered over the crochet projects.  I have marvelled at the little squares of Lucy’s Attic24 cushion.  I have been intrigued by Vanessa’s doyoumindifiknit scarf made of 248 teeny squares. So I thought  I would have a go. A go at crocheting some small things.  Lots of small things that could be sewn together to make something a bit bigger, which in turn could be joined to make something a lot bigger.  This got me thinking of patchwork and what does everyone start with when embarking on their first patchwork?  Hexagons.  So that’s what I made….

Tiny little hexagons.  First one…

Then another…

Until a pattern started to emerge…

A granny pattern…

A granny flower pattern…

One that is carefully sewn together and waiting for its fellow flowers….

To what end?  A cushion cover for the guest room. One to compliment the blanket at the foot of the bed. There, the project is decided upon. So you will have to wait for a ta-dah photograph to see if it works!!

Beckoning!

It has been sitting in the corner of the lounge for the past four weeks amidst a jumble of wools, needles, hooks and patterns, but I turned my back on them all.  No, I couldn’t pick them up.  Not yet. For there was no comfort in their bright colours.  I knew there would be soon, but not yet.

Well the soon came yesterday.  I had a sorting out day.  An integrating day.  A day to stroke and hug and say thank you.  Thank you for all the gems.  The patterns, the kits, the completed pictures and cards.  A day to combine my craft stuff with Mum’s craft stuff.  So I cleared the shelves and threw out the rubbish and carefully stacked the boxes, the tins, and the baskets.  Boy did it feel good!  I sat and looked at it and smiled.  And then the moment came.  I needed something to hug.  Something to feel warm in.  Something to connect with, to sit and hold.  So I sorted the wools.  I folded the materials, and there at the bottom it beckoned.  My attic24 bag.

The smilie flower on the side.  The handles criss crossed on top.

The balls of wool saying gently “Pick me. pick me”.

So I did.  I pulled it out and hugged it.  Crumpled it.  Made it cosy.

And then I began.  In, out, round a bout and through.  Oh was it therapeutic!  I lingered and counted and hugged and completed my first row of gentle ripples.

This morning I laid it out, smiled and remembered.  Mum loved this creation, my ripple blanket. So I will finish it and then curl up with it to remember all those happy times. Wrapped in my ripple!

Once a week.

At the moment I am only managing to blog once a week.  It isn’t that I only want to do it once a week.  No, no, no, no!!!!  I love saying hello and showing you what I have been up to!  No, needs must at the present I’m afraid, but in between time I am trying to craft and crochet is still craft of the moment!!

So, what have I been up to!  Mum decided to have a go at an amigurumi character.  She managed to make the shell of her little friend before being too tired to finish him.  So I came to the rescue and he now sits on her bedside table with his happy grin!  So as Lucy from attic24 would say ‘ta-daaaaaa’!!!

He has been in the undergrowth!

Attaching flowers to his shell!

Peeping over his shoulder….

with a big cheesy grin!!   Well he makes my Mum smile which is all that matters.

And Squiddley Duddley will make some one else guffaw!!!!

But more from him next week!

BOBBLES!!!!!

The Sunshine School Craft Shop is now officially open and I had my first sale last weekend.  It was CMJ’s annual conference and I had a little corner of their bookstall to say ‘hello’! Just a  peek!  Just a small wave!  Want to see?

The bright colourful logo – thank you electric weekend!- caught people’s eye and they did stop to look!

They liked the cards. I took 10 packs and sold 8.

3 out of the 4 individual cards said farewell!

and a Billy Blankey and a mouse went off to new homes. 6 little hair grips also slipped into handbags to be given away as treats later,  but my little posies…..

they cried out, “choose me, choose me”, but sadly only one was heard!  The others had to come home with me!  Was it the price?  Was it the colours?  I suspect it was the age of the people.  Lots of Grannies came. Picked them up. Smiled at them.

” Are they hair bobbles?”

“No, brooches like mine”

“Oh, what a pity.  If it had been a hair bobble I would have bought one for my grand daughter.  I don’t think she would wear a brooch.”

So guess what I am making for next time to go a long side my brooches – yes, that’s right. HAIR BOBBLES!!!!!

How much did I make?  £40.50!  Not bad for a first attempt.  What do you think?

I’m back!

Wow! Hasn’t it been hot!  Particularly while driving!  My trusty little car doesn’t possess air conditioning so the cold blower has been working over time and the window has been down some of the time.  That is OK except you can’t hear the music, so you turn the radio  up, and then when you stop that is too loud!!!!  You just can’t win!!  My little car has been tootling backwards and forwards, transporting me for some quality time with Mum.  Now I am in a routine I can come and say ‘Hellooooooo!’  So ‘Helloooooo!’  My hooks and needles have been taking a rest.  Just a short rest.  I am sure they will be weaving their magic soon, but at the moment I have needed to concentrate.  To focus.  To snip.  To sew.  To stick.  And pack.  What have I been doing?  I’ll show you….

Something soft and cuddly, something to make you smile…..

Yes you can count two, but if you look closer there are three….

Three little men to hang in the nursery, or sit on the side.  Squishy beans adding to the feel and the weight.  Only a few mind you!

Then…

notelets!  You know how much I enjoy making these little packs.  Measuring, sticking, folding…

before packing four individual cards into crisp cellophane bags.

And lastly – at the moment – my flower power posies…

I have a few more goodies to unveil, but I am waiting, waiting for some special packet tops for my Sun Shine Products.  Carefully designed by a brilliant graphic designer – er – my son!  My aim for all these little wonders is to sell them for the Sun Shine School in Jerusalem, with all monies going to help.  I will let you know how my first sale goes, but for now byee!

I have been busy – honestly!!

Well, here we are again!  Time to show you  some shots of our garden.  I have been spending quite a bit of time pottering around it and the flowers are now coming out a treat!

The strawberry pots are blooming and producing our first crop of strawberries.

The irises are very majestic and magnificent.

The foxgloves are home to the bumble bees.

The peony flowers are so big and blousey.

And the canterbury bells are the tallest I have ever seen them!

So  from pots…

to paths…

to rocky areas…

and golden birds…

to hooking!

The backs have been carefully sewn.

The flowers positioned and embellished.

But why so many brooches?

I am making them to raise some money for the Sun Shine School in Israel.  This is a small Christian school in the Arab area just outside Jerusalem.  The teachers have 59 children from 14 different nationalities all aged between 2 and 6 years.  The children are taught in English and are very bright and cheery, despite the physical size of the school.  It is in the ground floor flat of a small building.  The newest teacher has just graduated from Cambridge and she looks after 6 little 3 year olds in what was the stock cupboard!  If I had been living out there I would have helped in the school, but I am not, so all I can do to help is fund raise and that is what I am doing!  I am very grateful to Lucy of Attic 24, who has let me use her posy pattern.  Sun Shine goodies will soon be packaged and ready to go to their first venue.  Brooches, cards, note-lets, sewing kits and eventually a series of little books where a bear visits the sites of Israel!  Now where did that idea come from………??

Just one more!!

Don’t you just love colour!  Bright blues, sea greens, shocking pinks, zesty lemons.  At the end of last week I sorted out my double knitting wool so that I could continue making my brooches, and over the weekend I got carried away – as you do!  I have been looking at Sarah London’s blog and at her granny squares/hexagons.  It is such a riot of colour. So I started.  Just a little hexagon.  Well one more round!  You know how it starts!!!

A bit more.  Oooo I like that colour.  What next?  Well one more round, of course!

Until yesterday, it looked like this.

Yes,…. errr,…. well,…. it is wavy!  I like the colours, but I am disappointed.  Perhaps the cushion pad will make it right – let’s hope!  Anyway it will make a splash of colour on the seats outside.  A plumped up treat for an aching back!

Then while I was finding the right photo to show you, I spied the photo of the carousel from York.

Look all the colours are there!  I took this photo because it reminds me of Dad.  He loved carousels and fairground organs.  He always cried when they played.  He would have been 90 last Thursday.  So this cushion will remind me of you, Dad.  And somehow I’m not so disappointed!