Christmas Is Coming

Hello everybody, how are you today?  I hope you're well.  I'm having a good week tackling jobs around the house and ticking them off the list - always a good feeling.

At the moment I'm reading this book -

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin - a very inspiring read and I'm aiming to put into practice some of her wise advice.  No one ever said "No" to more happiness in their lives.

So I'm tackling jobs I've been putting off, one of which was making a start on getting organised for Christmas.  I'm not brave enough to leave it for any longer.  At last, and with a sense of relief at having got started, I've conjured up some Christmas cards.

The inspiration came from Pinterest, where else? (Although I can't seem to find the original site that the inspiration came from to give it full credit)

It's a simple idea, using upturned paper hearts to create the shape of the Christmas tree with a few little sparkles and a ribbon added.

So that's one Christmas job complete - only a few dozen more to go - but at least I've made a start - and therefore it adds to my happiness!

How is your Christmas preparation coming along?

Family Matters

I hope you all had a good weekend.  Our weekend was special because it was Grace's birthday and she came over from Sheffield to stay with us.

It was just like old times.  We sat and knitted together and talked about knitting and watched Formula 1 on the television.  Perfect.

Here's the card I made her.

I really enjoyed drawing and colouring the owl.

Besides giving her plenty of knitted related presents, I knitted her these socks.

They have little owls worked in cables.

I learnt a new technique in the process, adding beads with a crochet hook, a very useful technique.

It was so lovely to have all the family together.

This week is going to be a busy one as Eve is moving down to London in a few days time.  She starts work there next week.  Very exciting for her.   This week will be spent packing up all her stuff and transporting it to London.

It will seem strange - this weekend a full house, next weekend, just the two of us!

Christmas Goodies Making Review

Here's a quick review of some of the goodies I made for Christmas -

1.  The hand made Christmas cards.

2.  Little gift bags for the hand made goodies.

3.  Knitted mini stockings.  I used them to hold the cutlery for each place setting at the dining table.  I used the free pattern from Little Cotton Rabbits.

4.  Recipe books - I bought plain notebooks and decorated them, then wrote out favourite recipes for the girls.

5.  A knitted sweater for Grace.  The pattern is called Lewiston and it's by Martin Storey.  You can see details of this project on my Ravelry page, here.

6.  A knitted boyfriend cardigan for Eve.  I made this same cardigan for her back in 2009.  It's been a favourite and she's worn it so much.  A replacement was called for and now this one is getting plenty of wear - no better way to show your apprecaition for  a hand-knited garment than to wear it out!  The pattern is called Frankie and it is by Kim Hargreaves.  Details of project, here.

7.  The man in my life loves his bananas!  So two cosies to protect them when on the move seems like the perfect gift.  The pattern is a freebie, available here.

8.  Bedpost toppers as already shared with you, here.

I have two other projects that, assuming you are willing, I will share with you.  I feel that they deserve a bit more time and space to explain so they will get a post each (how indulgent!)  See you again soon.

A Birthday Card

Today is my Auntie's birthday, so I thought I would share with you the card I made for her.

I was struggling for ideas but having tried a few arrangements, this is what I came up with.

It's relatively simple, but I often think that the simple ideas are the most effective.

I hope you all have a good day today, whether or not it's your birthday!

Unbelievably Organised

Unbelievably organised - yep! That's me.  Back in June I had my Christmas planning day, I thought through everything I wanted to do, make or organise for Christmas this year.  Then I drew up a schedule of when everything needed to be done, so that the work was spread over a number of months.

One of my tasks for September was to make my Christmas cards.  And here's some of the cards I've made.

I had a very sticky, but fun, session yesterday, glue, paper and ribbons everywhere - but I'm very pleased with the results.

The white strip of paper that features on the middle of each card is actually textured wallpaper, a  free sample from the local Do-It-Yourself shop.  I think it adds a nice snowy touch.

So that's another one ticked off the Christmas planning list.  There'll be no "I wish I had more time" when we get to December.  I'm on top of it all.  How come I'm so organised at the moment? - it worries me that I'm missing something big!

A Card and a Flower

I so much enjoyed making this card using fabrics and embroidery for my Mum for her birthday.

Embroidering the little squares was a relaxing experience that gave me time to contemplate all the things my Mum means to me.

Putting together the patchwork was fun.

I also crocheted my Mum this flower.

Like me her favourite colour is yellow.  The petals are lovely and lacey - they keep their shape with wire.

The pattern comes from an Italian blog called Lana e Cotone.  You can see the pattern, here, - and it's free.

I do so love making and giving.

Happy Mothers Day

A very Happy Mothers Day to all Mums out there.  For my Mum I did some more embroidery to make into a card - I'm so loving doing little bits of embroidery these days.

Little yellow bullion roses on a leafy green heart.  (I saw something similar on Pinterest and couldn't resist the design).

I add some lace to the top and bottom of the fabric and attached it to some colourful backing paper before inserting it into the card.

I think it looks lovely and is just perfect for my Mum.

No Longer a Teenager

Yesterday our lovely Eve was twenty years old.  No longer a teenager.  She's all grown up and independent.
It was wonderful that she was home from university - we collected her on Sunday - so we could have this time with her.

Most of her home friends are still away, their Easter holidays do not start for a while, which meant that I had Eve all to myself yesterday.

We had a delightful lunch out in a local coffee shop, catching up and having laughs.

For her birthday card I embroidered this little picture.

Then machine sewed the fabric to a colourful piece of craft paper to make into a card.

A wonderful, memorable day - I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.

Birthday Card

For my sister's birthday, I had great fun sewing a card.

I sewed ribbons, lace and fabric strips onto a backing fabric, with one ribbon attached diagonally.

I then put the fabric inside a large rectangular aperture card.

Simple but very effective.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to everyone.

Here are the cards I made for my two best girls.

I started off with a little doodle of embroidery.

Incorporated it into some patchwork.

Added some appliqué.

Put it in a card and added some stamping.

A little bit of everything went into these cards and I really enjoyed making them.  I hope you all have a lovely day.

Enjoying Some Embroidery

One of my New Year Resolutions for 2014 is to do more embroidery.  I have a few large projects on the go, but I'm also having fun doing little doodle embroideries.

Here's one I sewed the other week.

And this is what I turned it into - a birthday card for a friend.

What fun - I think I'll do some more this afternoon!

Happy Birthday Mum

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

Have a wonderful day - make it special.  

Here's a little something I made for her.  

The pattern is called Multiple Choice Doily.  

It measures 17 cm in diameter.

I used Anchor #12 crochet cotton and completed the last two rounds in yellow for a rather nice edging.  

A lovely pattern to make and it's free.  See my Ravelry project page, here, for full details of the pattern.  

And here's the card I made for my Mum - in case you haven't guessed, she's a fellow yellow lover (try saying that fast!).

I hope you all have a lovely day, even if it isn't your birthday.  

Grace's Birthday

Grace had a wonderful birthday yesterday.  We called to see her in the evening, after she had got home from work, and so were able to share part of the day with her.  She received lots of lovely presents but I'll tell you about the ones that I made for her.

At last I can show you pictures of the sweater I knitted her.

The sweater has a beautiful cable pattern up the front but unfortunately the photos don't do it justice.

The pattern is by Martin Storey from the booklet Rowan Casual Classics.  You can see something of the pattern in this picture from the booklet.

Here she is on her birthday, modelling the sweater.

It looks lovely and snug.  Grace chose the yarn.  It's Sirdar click dk.  She loved the colouring - a lovely blend of blues and browns - she thought it reminded her of the seaside.  I've since discovered that the shade is actually called seashell.  Full details of the pattern and yarn can be found on my Ravelry page, here.

I made this card for Grace.

The parcel opens out and there is a pop up smiling robot inside.

Her blog is called The Smiling Robot, so very appropriate.

I also made a little booklet for her.  I found a picture of a robot on Google images and embroidered it on to some calico.

I covered some card with paper and added the robot embroidery together with some ribbon and a large brass button.

Inside I devoted a page to each year of her life.  I took photos of house numbers that I saw on my morning walks and coupled these with old photos of Grace.  Here are a couple of the pages.

This is the collage I made from all the numbers.

And the collage of all the photos of Grace.

It was lovely to look back and see how she has grown over the years.

I also crocheted her a flower corsage from my pattern, here.

Finally I wanted to give her 21 £1 coins.  Besides robots she likes owls, so I crocheted a tiny owl coin bag to put them in.

I'm so glad she enjoyed her day - but enough's enough - I can't allow her to get any older - the last 21 years have gone far too quickly.