What to do on a Sunday night?

I always find that a Sunday is a good day for some sort of craft activity. This Sunday has been bright but cold, we went out for a family bike ride this morning and then popped into town. E had her first Starbucks red cup of the season, which was very welcome after the bike ride. 

So where is the craft? Well it is now, Sunday evening. We are sat by the fire & I am going to try & teach myself to knit. My lovely husband bought me a book, 

Wish me luck, as I think I am going to need it ;)

What's on Dolly

So my sewing journey is continuing.

So this week at home I have been trying to finish my Mathilde Blouse. The pattern can be found at www.tillyandthebuttons.com 

Tilly was on the Great British Sewing Bee and I now follow her blog. I love that we can now download patterns off the Internet and my Sunday afternoons are spent putting the patterns together like a glorious jigsaw puzzle while my lovely husband cooks our roast dinner.

I did a practice run of the blouse in very thin cheap material. I loved how it turned out but unfortunately I put large buttons on the back and the material can not handle the heaviness of them. So I found a lovely material that I am hoping can handle the weight of the gorgeous red buttons that I have found.

So here is Dolly wearing my Mathilde Blouse, I think she is looking rather good, just need to attach the buttons and it will be finished, hooray!

Every little helps

Long time no post, I know, I need to get back into the habit. My world seems full of planning and scheming at the moment, none of which I can really share at the moment. So onto the stuff I can share.

How often do you get to do something crafty that raises money for charity? For me, never. That was until I came across the Innocent Smoothie Big Knit 2013. For the last ten years Innocent have worked with Age UK to help keep older people across the UK warm and healthy during the winter months. How they do this is by asking people to knit/crochet hats to put on their smoothie bottles, each one sold raises 25p for Age UK.

So here are my hats, I managed to make thirty in time for the deadline which is the 31 October.

It is a great way of using up scraps of yarn. I can't wait to see the bottles with their hats in shops soon.

A new adventure

If you read my last post you will know that I like my holidays. I like to be spoilt and I like it to be hot. So two years ago when we bought a tent on a whim, there was some giggles from those who love us dearly (understandable really). Life got in the way and the tent stayed in the garage.

At some point earlier this year we must of had a crazy five minutes as we booked a campsite, not two nights as we first thought (just in case it really isn't us), but for five nights! As the departure date drew closer we got more nervous, more supplies were bought and DH mumbled something like it "we had better like this as it is costing me a small fortune". DH also became obsessed with watching the weather. For a couple of hairy days it looked like we were going to have rain and lots of it. There was no way that we were going to setup a tent in the rain, we struggled enough in the sunshine on our practice run.

So on a Thursday morning we pack the car

As you can see we barely had room for DD. Off we went fingers crossed that we would make it without any rain, looking at the huge clouds that seem to follow us all the way. But I guess the camp gods were watching us, as that rain stayed away and we managed to get our tent up in record time.

Here we are with our tent, this photo was taken during our practice run.

For our first camping adventure we stayed at a site called Kelling Heath in Norfolk and I would happily recommend it to any newbie campers. The site was huge and so well organised and importantly for us it had lovely clean toilets and showers and electricity hook up! There were plenty of playgrounds for the children, these proved to be a hit with DD, she revelled in the freedom.

So am I painting a rosy enough picture? Good for the only downside was the cold nights, but DH has been on the Internet researching better sleeping bags, as yes we are going to go camping again!

Who knew what a great adventure it would be, how DD loved being able to wander round on her own making new friends. How camping can show you what a great team you and your other half are. Spending time as a family, visting gorgeous National Trust houses, such as Blickling Estate below.

Reliving many happy childhood memories crabbing in Blakeney.

Just hanging out together was a joy. Yes I did get to do some crochet, let's be honest I don't go very far these days without some in my bag. So our first camping adventure was a success and yes we plan to repeat it. Who knows where our next adventure will lead us.

Inspiration

Recently I have been very inspired, unfortunately I have not got my act together to blog about it, but that is going to change now.

I was spoilt this year with our family holiday, my gorgeous husband decided that he was going to take us to Thailand, a place that I have wanted to visit for many years. The excitement in our house was on a very large scale and flicking through the guide book and holiday brochure made it bloom even further.

Our first stop was Bangkok and what a truly amazing place it is, nothing prepares you for how hot and busy it is, but that is nothing to how truly vibrant and colourful it is with a mad mix of old and new. We wanted to introduce our DD to the history of Bangkok so we took some tours around some of the many temples there. The temples are truly beautiful places which are boldly decorated with gold and mosaics, hand painted walls that reach for the sky. 

I have never seen so much gold, it is a rich golden colour that spreads it warmth around.

In between the gold were mosaics decorated in rich colours. Here's my tourist pose.

 

DD was in awe of all of the beauty, she also became almost a mini celeb as many asian women came up to touch her fair skin and ask if they could have their photo taken with her. 

The roof of this temple was made of thousands of pieces of pottery that had been brought to Thailand from China. They were beautiful to look at and have inspired us to have a go at making a mosaic during the summer holidays.

We had a truly amazing holiday, that has given us lots of fabulous memories and fired me up with inspiration, but it did not stop there. While looking for something to watch while suffering from jet lag I found something else to give me lots of inspiration, The Great British Sewing Bee. A program on BB2 that was made by the same people who have given us The Great British Bake Off. What a brilliant idea, I became quickly addicted and was truly gutted that it only lasted four episodes! I am so glad that they have decided to make another one. I loved the mini history lessons that they slotted in to each episode as well as getting to see what the talented contestants would make.

I am now eagerly follow two of the contestants blogs Tilly and the buttons and Lauren's blog, guthrie-ghani. Tilly has started selling her own patterns, one of which I have purchased and made (& completed!), Lauren has opened up a haberdashery with her husband, which I would love to go and visit but unfortunately is near Birmingham, so not a trip I could manage during school hours.

So my creative rush does not end there, last week was crop week, now I must admit I have not scrapped anything since my last visit to crop, I may use my holiday as an excuse but it is not a very good one. This month's crop had a class designed by Sandie, now I have not done the last few classes at crop, it is not because they are not lovely because they are, we have very talented ladies there, I have just not been feeling the scrapping vibe. I know that I need to get back into it, if nothing else to make my DH happy that the room full of scrapping stash will be used. I just need the right inspiration and Sandie truly provided that with her class. Sandie's class was a mini album (which you can find here), now I am normally a 12x12 girl, but Sandie's album really hit the spot for me, she had really thought about all us scrappers as individuals and her album catered for all of our different needs. If you like lots of photos then there was lots of opportunity to add as many photos as you liked with clever hidden flaps. If you like to journal then instead of photos you could journal. you could add pages, make it smaller, there was so many options. 

I have not quite finished my album, but it is in the WIP pile, I am hoping that next week will give me a couple of hours free to finish it. Then I can start my next one, as Sandie has inspired me to make more mini albums.

So there you have it, inspiration a plenty at the moment, let's hope it continues and maybe even spreads.

Frustrated

I am sat in my dining room/sewing room feeling very frustrated. Last month I made my Mother in Law a knitting bag for her birthday, she saw the pattern in my Sewing World magazine. It took me two days but I was very happy with the end result (I think/hope she was too).

I am now sat here trying to recreate the bag after DH's Aunt saw the bag and asked if she could have one for her knitting. I am just not understanding the instructions, I thought it would be quicker second time round. Hope I am not the only one who struggles to recreate projects. Think I might leave it for today and try again tomorrow before I really mess up.

A note to myself

Hello again, it has been a while, my last post was back at the beginning of February, we are now half way through March. Where has the time gone?

This post should be telling you how silly I was to be worried about going to crop and how I managed to complete three, yes three layouts. Admittedly I was not so productive in March's crop but nattering will always win over productivity.

This blog post is going to be something new for me, it will have no photos and I will not be showing you what I have been up to. This blog post is going to be a note to myself, to remind me that I enjoy blogging and reading other peoples blogs and that I do not always have to have something to show. I sometimes find myself struggling with my blog, the technical side of it and also wondering why I am doing it. Well I am doing it for me firstly as a way to document all my craftiness, but does it have to be solely about the craft side of my life? well no, so from now on if I feel like blogging about the fact that it is snowing in the middle of March I am going to. This might mean that from now on that might be a few more blog posts.

Hope there is somebody out there enjoying this wintery weather because I am glad I am tucked up inside and thinking about lighting the fire. Afernoon of crochet bliss I think.

Bye for now x

A little nervous

I can't  believe January is over, where did that month go? I know where it went in a blur of recovering from Christmas.

So what has been happening and why am I nervous? Well I have been busy sewing and doing crochet and I am nervous because I am going to crop tomorrow. I know what you are thinking, why nervous about going to crop? Well it has been a while, in fact I can't remember the last time I completed an actual layout. I have completely lost my scrapbooking mojo. So tomorrow is something to feel a little nervous about, while being excited to see the lovely ladies, who I have missed a lot.

So while I have no scrapping mojo I have actually managed to finish some projects (shock horror, I know). I made myself a very useful pin mug, I found the mug in TK Max for £1.99 (bargain).

I crocheted the cushion part, then got an old pair tights and cut the leg off. I filled this with fine sand and then wrapped the tights round a couple of times. This should hopefully stop the sand from coming out. So far it is working well.

The iPad cover that I made did not work out so feel, it is too big! So I need to rethink my design for this one and find a use for the too big one.

So I have been busy, wish me luck for tomorrow and I will let you know how it goes.
Have a good weekend x

Last post of 2012

So this is my last post of 2012 and what a year it has been both in crafty and non crafty ways. In non crafty events my lovely family has kept me busy, my DD is growing up fast and still fills me with wonder. We had an amazing summer spent in London sight seeing and watching the amazing events unfold at the Olympics and Paralympics. 

On the crafting side I am still enjoying my sewing classes and the crochet bug has definitely hit. Christmas was filled with sewing projects, I managed to make my DD two dresses that she can dance around the living room in and pretend that she is on Strictly Come Dancing. The new addition to our house Toby (DD's baby doll boy from Father Christmas) has a lovely wardrobe of a baby grow, two rompers, trousers and matching hat, all made by me.

My scrapbooking has suffered, it is much easier to carry around a hook and ball of wool in your handbag. I still plan to get to crop but my year is not starting off well as I will be missing the first one of the year as we still will be in London. I do plan to do the 365 photo project and I have already updated the app, this I hope will lead to more scrapbooking.

My crafty plans for 2013, to continue with my sewing I have already booked my next five classes. I was given a great book at Christmas called 101 Great Things To Do With A Metre Of Fabric, I took myself off to the sales and bought various pieces of fabric so that I can work my way through the book. I plan to find some new crochet projects and there is always the granny square blanket to finish.

So here's to an amazing 2013, let's hope it's a crafty one.

PS. Sorry for the lack of photos would have loved to showed off all my creations but as yet I still have not been able how to figure out how to add photos to blogger from the IPad. One day everything will be compatible (fingers crossed).

A whole lot of crafting going on.

Yesterday was crop day at Eclectic Keepsakes, I really do enjoy my time spent there, especially at the moment as I am not really scrapbooking (hadn't touched a LO since last crop). It reminds me why I like scrapbooking, also the company is good, it's a good way of exchanging ideas and as always the Lovely Karen had made very yummy cakes.

This months crop was a little different, as there was no class taught, instead we were each to provide a small kit that we had put together and then we would do a swap. Now as a girl who tends to buy whole sets of papers so that they match or kits that have already been put together, this did scare me rather a
lot, as did working to the budget of £5. My DH would readily confirm that I have great difficulty working to a budget. Luckily for me ATDML had their retreat last weekend and we were lucky enough to pop over and have a look at their shop and what a delight it was, so many papers to choose from, so many ideas for embellishments.

The first papers that I came across I chose, they were a mix of reds (favourite colour), blue and greens. Unfortunately I forgot to make a note of the name (I think I was just in denial about giving away the lovely new papers ;) I also came across some embellishments by Webster Pages called Designer threads dollies spring mix. Now these lovely things were out of my price range so I thought that I would have a go at making some, it took me all week but I succeeded. So I had a kit ready to go. We all arrived at crop and Karen asked us to put our goodies into brown paper bags so we did not know what was in them. They was great excitement in the afternoon when we got to choose a brown bag, like an early Christmas present.

Here is what I got in my brown bag, a lovely selection of My Mind's Eye papers, aren't the colours gorgeous. I would not normally go for this colour range, I tend to stick to very girly papers, but that is the beauty of this swap, it gives you something totally new to play with.

Guess who put together my brown bag, yes the lovely cake baking Karen, she also put together a lovely sketch for us to use.

So armed with the sketch and my lovely goodies I got straight to it and actually finished a layout to bring home.

I am really happy with the finished LO, it features a photo of my DH, which is something new as well as using a different colour scheme. I hardly ever scrap just him, most of my LO's feature my DD.

So in my eyes crop was a great success and I hope that Karen does the kit swap again sometime. Talking of Karen again, guess you got my kit?

It can be done

Yesterday my Mum and I attended a class held at our local sewing supply shop, a day of Mother, Daughter bonding. I was a little nervous as my sewing adventures are a little hit and miss and the free style embroidery that we would be attempting is more my Mum's thing. So with Grandad on pickup duty for school, off Mum and I went.

The class is held at Franklins our local sewing supply shop, it is also where I attend my sewing classes on a Tuesday. Our teacher was the lovely Alex Waylett, who introduced herself and made us all feel very welcome. In all there were four of us ladies eager to learn how to make one of Alex's gorgeous clutch bags.

So after all had been explained to us and we had rummaged in our supply bag in front of us, we then had to make an important decision, what fabric to use on the front of our clutch bag. Would we like an evening bag or a daytime bag? How would we be using the sewing machine to embellish it?
I found a gorgeous fabric that had a mainly circular pattern, in my eyes I would perfectly sew around the circles.

So once we had cut out all our required pieces, Alex gave us pieces of fabric to practice on. The excitement was rising, what could go wrong?

My inability to sew in the gorgeous precise manner that I had first imagined when I first picked up my chosen fabric. At this point I was thinking what on earth have I got myself into, I am not going to enjoy this at all, I can not perfectly sew around the patterns. Alex came over and gave me a couple of tips, firstly the foot that I had attached to the sewing machine so that I could do the free style embroidery was too tight against the material so that the fabric underneath did not flow as easily. I also needed to even out my speed, too slow leads to large stitches and too fast leads to too small stitches. So again I attempted to embroider around the pattern, at this point it hit me, it does not have to be perfect, if I do perfectly sew around the circles you would not actually see my sewing embellishment, also why am I giving myself a hard time, it is my first attempt at this. So with this in mind I started at the edge and began to sew around my circles and yes they are far from perfect but I love the effect that I have.

I also added some black sequins and orange seed beads to embellish further. At this point I am really happy, I can't believe how much fun I am having with the sewing. Time is ticking by so Alex starts to help us with putting together our purses. I chose a lovely deep purple to be the inside.

And this is my purse before we added the clasp, I love the padded feel it has.

Alex demonstrated how to attach the clasp on one side.

Then we attempted to finish it and finish it I did. I can not believe I finished a project in a day, a sewing project at that.

I am so happy with the end result and I can not wait to have a go myself at home, I even purchased a foot for my sewing machine that will let me do the free style embroidery. I am thinking of other things that I can use the technique on, maybe even somehow manage to use it in my scrapbooking, who knows, we shall just have to wait and see.

If you would like to see more of Alex's work click here

Crash & Burn

So my last post I was flying high, I had finished my basket and I was hoping to finish my dress that I have been making at home, what high hopes I had. Well I came crashing back down to earth, my dress that I was so excited about and that I thought was nearly finished has a major problem, it is too small! When trimming the material so that it fitted I had not factored in the seams allowances for the zip. I can't believe that I have made such a major mistake.

So on Sunday afternoon I was all for giving up on the whole sewing thing, but my lovely ever patient DH talked me down and persuaded me to go back to sewing class on Tuesday. I am so glad that I did, my teacher assures me that we can do something so that the dress will fit (hooray as I love the fabric) and I also completed my first dress, all that was needed was the hem doing so I have one finished dress that fits perfectly. Once I have ironed it I will post a photo.

So what about scrapbooking I hear you ask, well it is there I have a couple of pages from crop that I need to put on here. I don't think that I will manage my 100 layouts target this year, but there is always next year. Scrapbooking has taken a back seat, but while I have the opportunity to learn a new skill I want to make the most of it. Maybe I should think about doing some layouts that involve scraps from my sewing, what do you think?

This could be the start

So it is just under a week since I completed my basket and I am still riding high on the feeling of actually completing something, especially as it impressed my lovely ever patient DH.

As promised here is the link to the basket, it was created by Elizabeth Trantham and she very kindly put it on Ravelry, which is a great source of ideas and patterns for crochet & knitting. I love that the internet is such a great source of inspiration & also a great tool for learning.

So while I am on my finishing roll, my aim today is to complete the dress that I have been making at home to replicate what I have been learning at sewing school. My DH made sure that I had some time at the weekend to get a bit more done & I thought that I was doing great until I realised that I had actually done the seams the wrong way, so when I turned my dress the right way you could see all the armhole seams. So I spent most of Sunday afternoon unpicking. I must not let this get me down as I am still learning & as one of my friends pointed out, we learn from our mistakes.

So hopefully next blog post I will have a completed dress to boast about.
 Wish me luck x

In the mood to boast

I need to boast to somebody, so this will be short and sweet.
I finished something!!! I have completed a WIP (work in progress). Not only have I finished it, it actually looks like the photo on the pattern, hooray.
I have made a basket to put all my granny squares in. I will post the pattern details next blog post.

A crop a month....

A crop a month helps a girl's scrapping mojo. Unfortunately I missed last months crop (was having an amazing time at the Paralympics), so my scrapbooking mojo has gone a little astray. I have also found myself a little busy since DD went back to school, I was expecting life to calm down a bit but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Today is the first day I have actually been able to get to spend a good couple of hours in my craft room. I am still plodding away on our holiday photos, I have so many that it could take a while. Luckily for me the last crop I attended Karen did a fabulous class that I got to take away with me. It was perfect for the photo that was taken on holiday on our anniversary.
So today I have two completed LO's, let's hope it leads to plenty more.

A finished WIP

In my last post I mentioned WIPs (work in progress) & UFOs (unfinished objects). Well last night I managed to finish a WIP, hooray!

I am a lover of Starbucks, I just can't help myself. While looking on the Internet for ideas I came across various images for a cup holder, one of those cardboard bands that they put around your take away coffee. Well this idea spoke to me and I had a go.

I don't think it is bad for a first attempt, my DH is not so sure, his comment of "are you really going to use that" says it all. I think I will have another attempt, maybe some stripes or even seams might be good :)

Back to school

September is here and that means back to school, but not just for my DD but for me also. I am going to sewing school. This is a big step for me as I have dabbled in the past with mixed success. I usually leave all sewing to my wonderful Mum, who does a great job.

So Tuesday of this week I walked DD to school for her first day of year four, then jumped into the car to drive into town. While feeling a little nervous, I was excited more than anything. I have spent all summer looking for the perfect pattern, which I finally did, but then became stuck when I was unable to find any fabric that I liked that would suit the pattern. Luckily for me where are classes are held in a fabric shop.

The class is being taught by a lovely lady called Pat, who was very welcoming. There were four other ladies in the class all with different sewing abilities. Our first step was to measure one another, not a great after the school holidays but I guess it had to be done. Then Pat took a look at our patterns to see if they were suitable, luckily for me mine was. Then it was a trip down stairs to find fabric, again I got lucky and found some lovely suit fabric.

So the photo below shows my pattern, fabric, lining, zip and thread. Pat assures me that I will have a completed dress by the end of the course.

This is great news for me as I am know for not finishing anything and thanks to a lady called Susan Carlson who has a lovely blog called Felted Button I am going to borrow her categories. An Unfinished Project will now be know as a UFO and a Work In Progress will be a WIP. This dress is in the WIP pile, it will be finished. Many of my crochet attempts are in the UFO pile.

So back to my class, once we had the fabric, we then had to cut out our patterns, if anybody has ever opened a pattern you will know that they are folded and a little fragile, so you have to unravel them very carefully, otherwise you might tear or lose a bit. Luckily for me I only had four pieces of the pattern to cut out, a couple of the other ladies had many pieces to cut out. Once cut out you then have to pin the pattern to the fabric, in line with the grain of the fabric. I had no idea that fabric had grain but apparently it does.

Now my teacher Pat, said at the beginning of the class that if she says "are you happy with that" she actually means that she is not happy with it. So I awaited with baited breath and got a well done, hooray. Next task to cut out, then also cut a lining to match.

So there we have my first class, I am feeling a little chuffed with myself and can't wait to go back next week. I will be pinning it all together and then sewing!

I am lovin the school holidays!

There have been times this last school year that I thought I would never find myself making a statement like
"I am lovin the school holidays."
DD has had a rough year at school, which also led to home life being a bit rocky at times too. So the school holidays could be seen as something to dread, luckily it has not been the case. Without the whole school issues, DD has turned into a happy, helpful eight year old.
We have managed to jam pack the holidays with fun stuff and we have seen so much of London. We have been Wenlock mascot hunting (83 Wenlocks & Mandevilles have been placed all over London), we have visited Hampton Court, the Tower of London, Kennsington Palace and Buckingham Palace. All have given me lots of opportunities for lots of photo taking, which is good because when DD goes back to school (boo) I will have some time on my hands to scrapbook & hopefully catch up on my target of 100 layouts.
So with two weeks left let's hope my DD stays the happy princess that she has turned into.

What a way to spend an afternoon

Saturday was crop day and as always it was lovely to see the ladies. I made the decision to leave early as my DH was on his own as our DD was staying with her Granparents.
DH picked me up & we drove down to London for the weekend. We are all definitely seeing the benefits of DH having a flat there. He can work late as much as he likes without the stress of the sometimes two hour journey home & DD & I have base in the holidays so that we can explore London.
So today I could not persuade anybody to hang out with me (they all had to work) & DD had gone to Legoland, I had a free day. What to do? There are so many things to see, well I decided on the National Gallery. It has been years since my last visit. The gallery has two of my favourite paintings, Van Gogh's Sunflowers & Monet's painting of a bridge over water lillies, always worth a visit. After a mooch round I decided to come back to the flat to catch up on my Olympics addiction. I can't help myself I am obsessed. Team GB is doing so well, we can't wait to go to the Paralympics, we have bought t-shirts to wear & a flag to wave.
So my afternoon has been spent watching the Olympics & scrapbooking, yes you read it right, scrapbooking. By my DH picking me up early from crop & driving straight to London I had my stash in the back of the car. It doesn't get much better than that :)

Olympic Fever has hit

I would be the first to admit that when London won the Olympic bid I let out a big groan. Why would we want to host the Olympics? What was the likelyhood that we would be ready in time?
Gradually I have been proved wrong and slowly my excitement has been building, yes I did get very grumpy at the whole ticket fiasco (I had a daughter desperate to see the gymnastics). I have enjoyed coming down to London on the train & watching in amazement as the stadium progressed. We were lucky enough to get Paralympic tickets (swimming, cycling & athletics) & we got a real buzz when I collected the tickets from the post office. Looking on the plans to see where we will be sitting.
Yes we did go & see the Olympic torch go through Colchester High Street in the rain & yes we have been Olympic spotting for weeks now. We spot (& count) the signs, cars & buses. We have now started spotting people in Olympic 2012 uniforms, this leads to great excitement from my daughter trying to guess what they do, I wonder what she would actually do if she saw an actual athlete.
This school holiday will be full of Wenlock Mascot searching & watching sport on tv. We have plans to go on the cable car as well. So the day before the opening ceremony we braved the traffic & came down to London. We found these amazing mosaics in the mall & plan to use them as inspiration when we attempt to do our own mosaics later in the holidays.
I also finally found the Heroes tin bus, which I think we will be tucking into while we watch the ceremony tomorrow.
So will anybody out there be joining me in cheering for Team GB?