Cushions

A couple of weeks ago, in this post, I mentioned a few new sewing bits and pieces which I was using to make some cushions for a friend's sister.

Well here they are...

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Circles...

 

And little houses...

I appliquéd the circles and houses onto cushion covers which I bought here. I loved making these especially the little housey ones and spent and spent an enjoyable couple of evenings stitching away whilst watching Once Upon A Time on DVD (G and I are just loving this).

Tonight I plan to work on my crochet granny blanket whilst enjoying numerous cups of tea and a Malteser bunny!

Thanks for the lovely comments on my last post and welcome to my new readers and followers - blogging is the best :)

Xxxx

 

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Stacks

This weekend I have been enjoying making stacks of granny squares in pretty colours. Granny squares are very addictive to make! I plan to make a cushion cover with these ones. I have also started a simple granny blanket in the same colours and it's coming along nicely mainly because when I pick it up, I can't seem to put it down again, i just want to keep doing round after round! I have never made a blanket bigger than a baby blanket as I always imagined it to take too long (I tend to like fairly quick projects that I can complete in a week or less) so this is a first for me - I can't believe how much quicker than knitting crochet is!

 

A stack of pancakes made and enjoyed for Saturday's breakfast...

A stack of crafty themed library books which I am looking forward to having a good browse through over the next week or two.

Hello and welcome to my new readers and followers and thank you for the lovely comments on my last post, I do so appreciate them :)

Xxxx

 

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A few makes

I have been on annual leave from work this week so in between catching up with friends, organising play dates for Miss M and housework, I have had quite a bit of time to do some sewing, which I have enjoyed thoroughly!

A little apron which I decorated with some appliqué as part of a birthday present for my little niece who will be 3 years old this weekend.

Appliqué again, this time an initialed tote bag for another niece who will be having her ninth birthday this weekend.

Miss M is off to another birthday party on Sunday (honestly that girl has such a better social life than I do!) and I appliquéd a cupcake onto a little pink tote bag as part of the birthday girl's gift.

Finally, two little lavender hearts which I made for my sister in law for her birthday next week. All these birthdays! I also finished some cushions I was making for a friend and will show these soon. I am now having a little break from sewing and have turned my attention to some crochet in some lovely spring colours... Oh and I found this little Rob Ryan card in a drawer and decided it just had to be put in a frame, and I now have it hanging in the hall. I just love Rob Ryan's work, it's so beautiful.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I am very much looking forward to a girls night out on Saturday and probably a lazy day on Sunday...!

Xxxx

 

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A spring in my step

Although it's still only February, the weather has picked up here and there has been some much needed sunshine as well as a few glimpses of spring. It was lovely walking to school with Miss M this morning, the sun was shining, we could see spring flowers appearing in the gardens we passed and people do seem that bit cheerier.

 

 

Some pretty spring flowers - snowdrops in the park, a bunch of cheap but very cheerful daffodils on my kitchen table and a little primrose purchased this morning for the grand sum of 80p is brightening up my bedside table. I have also been thinking about some spring crafty projects and have been looking at the book you can see in the photo above - Crafting Springtime Gifts by Tone Finnanger. I have had this book for a few years now and must admit that I haven't made anything from it (yet!), but it's a lovely book to look at with lots of ideas for Easter and spring.

I have been enjoying working on this cross stitch kit, I just love all the pretty spring like colours...

Finally, a toasted hot cross bun and a cup of tea enjoyed in the kitchen this morning with the sun streaming in through the window - a simple pleasure. I always feel that spring is almost here when I see lots of hot cross buns appearing in the shops. I have never baked hot cross buns before, but would like to have a go someday...

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post - it's good to know that others share the "button love"! Also, hello and welcome to my new readers and followers, I am so happy you've stopped by.

Xxxx

 

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Button love

 

I absolutely adore buttons! Above is my current collection which I keep in my Cath Kidston button tin received for my birthday last year from my mum and dad (truly one of best ever gifts!) As a child, I loved looking through my mums button tin, it was an old quality street tin and I enjoyed tipping the buttons out and sorting them into colours and shapes. Miss M loves playing with my button collection and she has her favourites that I am absolutely not allowed to use in any of my projects!

 

 

This is a little picture I made on Friday night for Miss M's bedroom. I enjoyed spending time choosing my prettiest pink buttons. To make it, I simply drew a heart shape, lightly in pencil, onto a piece of card stock and then stuck the buttons inside the heart using strong all purpose glue. I left it to dry for an hour and then popped the picture into a frame with the glass removed.

More button fun yesterday when I made this little stuffed felt heart. I love the spring colours of the buttons here and I think they look nice against the soft green of the felt. It is happily hanging on my bedside table.

The little button tea light holder above was also so simple to make. I used a small glass tea light holder (mine came from Ikea) and glued a selection of red buttons around it, again using strong all purpose glue. A simple but satisfying little project.

Finally, after all that crafting you can't beat a cup of tea and even better if it's in a button mug...! I have enjoyed my button projects so much, I'm now on the look out for more, does anyone have any ideas they would like to share? I would love to know!

Xxxx

 

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Drumlanrig

Yesterday, we went a drive to Dumfriesshire and stopped for a nice walk and look around at Drumlanrig Estate. The weather was pretty good when we left home but it didn't stay that way! Anyway, it didn't stop us and we still had a nice time. The castle looked lovely but was closed for the season.

There was a sweet little courtyard with a few little shops.

 

Apparently, Drumlanrig Estate is home to the biggest Sycamore tree in Britain...

I loved this little shed in the woods. It reminded me of the witch's house in Brave.

Not a great picture because we walked to the little loch and as we got there, a mist had settled over it. It was beautiful and very atmospheric, although a little spooky...

Finally, tea and delicious cake at a cafe in nearby Thornhill (only one slice was mine!).

Once again, thank you for the lovely comments on my last post. Back soon with a few crafty posts...

Xxxx

 

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That Friday feeling...

 

It's Friday! And I have the day off so I spent the morning doing a little cooking and baking. Chicken noodle soup - we all love this soup and I make it quite often as it's so quick and easy. Recipe can be found here. I also made some little St Clements fairy cakes as I had a real need to bake something citrusy. The recipe is here, it's for a loaf cake but I got 18 little fairy cakes from the mix. And for the topping I just mixed icing sugar with lemon and orange juice. I have already performed the taste test (2 munched for test purposes...) and can confirm that they are very tasty!

Remember the Wally hats I made? Well my lovely friend gave me a lovely bottle of wine and a sweet little candle so prettily wrapped to say thank you. I plan to open the wine tonight when Miss M in bed...

Above is a cushion which I finished last night for Miss M's bedroom. I simply appliquéd her initial onto a pretty cushion cover which I bought here. A very quick and satisfying little crafty project and the cushion looks right at home on top of Miss M's bed.

Lastly, a few crafty supplies (not my usual colours) which I plan to use over the weekend as I have been asked to make some cushions for a friend's sister. I am so looking forward to starting these as I just love sewing, it's probably my favourite thing to do.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend, whatever you happen to be doing and thanks for reading and visiting me here.

Xxxx

 

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Heart shaped

 

 

 

We don't really celebrate Valentine's day or do anything particularly special, but there have been a few heart themed activities going on that I thought I would share here. The top photo is of February's page in the kitchen calendar, then heart shaped toast which we made just for fun this morning - Miss M claimed it tasted so much better than ordinary toast and jam! Then, a Valentine's card which Miss M made.

 

 

I appliquéd a pretty fabric heart onto a plain cream top and I'm looking forward to wearing this when the weather finally gets a bit warmer! The little crochet heart brooch you can see pinned onto my cardigan, I made today. The pattern came from issue 1 of simply crochet magazine. It's not perfect, I'm still very much a beginner at crochet but I think it's quite sweet and will probably make a few more in different colours as I am still very keen on making brooches at the moment!

Miss M is away to her Valentine's disco at school this evening so I'm going to do a little of the sunflower cross stitch kit I'm working on for my gran's birthday. I also have a friend coming round later for a glass of wine and to collect this...

..a Wally hat! (I actually made her two as she needed one for herself and one for a friend, but I only have one globe to model for me - no humans in the house would agree to do it!) She is going on a Where's Wally themed hen party this weekend and needed a woolly hat to complete her outfit!

Thank you for the kind comments on my recent posts - I just love reading them - and hello and welcome to my new readers and followers. I am completely loving becoming a part of the blogging community :)

Xxxx

 

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The weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

It' s been a good weekend and I can't believe it's Sunday evening already!

. A lovely long walk on the beach, although my ongoing search for a heart shaped pebble still proved futile...

. Chicken nachos made by G for Saturday night's tea, ate whilst watching Mr Popper's Penguins on DVD (Miss M's choice and a nice change from Marley and Me, The Puppy Years!)

. More chocolate marshmallow fudge made for G and his mountain bike buddies to enjoy today.

. Fun with Hama beads, I just love all those colours...

. Making peg dollies with Miss M and reading her current favourite book together - Matilda by Roald Dhal. I'm just loving reading this with her as I adored this book as a child. This weekend, I also started teaching Miss M how to knit, so, so exciting (for me, I mean!). It's a slow process but we are getting there and she seems to be enjoying it which is the main thing. We are currently working on a scarf for teddy.

. A little card I made for a friend at work.

. Painting our toenails and letting them dry in front of the fire

An ordinary weekend really, but a nice one. I have a couple of crafty projects to just finish off tonight then I am free to start on some new ones next week! Thanks for the lovely comments on my last post and for stopping by and reading, it really does make me smile:)

M xxx

 

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