Family Love.

I’ve had a truly enjoyable weekend.  I’ve been spoilt by my two boys for Mothers day. Homemade cards and flowers had my little man busy in nursery all week.  A lovely breakfast and a roast dinner cooked for me, and bunches of flowers brightening up my day.

Usually I am a bit of a flippety jibbet on weekends wanting to clean and then go out and herd the boys to various locations and ultimately feeling like I need another weekend to recover, however this weekend I was very much happy to go with the flow and just chill.  We went out shopping (a trip to Ikea for some bits and bobs), we went walking, we played, and I even had time for crafting.

Delightful. 

 

I am so lucky to have my family and they whole heartedly reassured me that I’m not doing a bad job of being a mummy (and I’m sure that’s something that most parents question at some stage).

Love. Love. Love.

……………………………….

I had to buy some photo frames from Ikea for some pictures I had recently bought.  On opening the smaller one, I was most surprised to find there were two frames in the pack! That find made me instantly smile, almost like finding treasure. So with all the family love I’ve been feeling this weekend, it seemed fitting for this make.

 

I’d recently seen this Valentines heart card idea on Pintrest, and thought it would look fitting in a frame for a pop of colour in the living room.  I had all the ingredients…a frame, cardstock (cut to the size of the frame), needle, and embroidery cotton in red.  I had contemplated a different shape, but actually I really liked the heart so I forged ahead and traced a heart template on my card.

 

I picked the first needle I came to…Small eye and thick thread – NIGHTMARE!  It was fine, but threading the needle took more time than the project in total probably!

 

So making this evenly spaced, threading the cotton through the outer shape through a centre point and repeating around the shapes outline.  It was a nice one to do in front of the TV last night.  The thread did start to get a bit congested toward the end so I employed some pliers to pull the needle through a bit more easily.  Surprisingly, it took quite a lot of thread to complete. Thankfully I had enough red, otherwise I would have had to do a 2 tone heart.

 

 

TA DAH….

 

 

 

 Here in it’s frame…shot taken at night time so a bit dull…so here’s one in daylight with it sitting nicely in my living room.

 

 

 A simple but effective project.  I’m really pleased with how it turned out, and it makes me smile to look at it

Love. Love. Love.

More things to show soon.

 

Love from me and my little men x

 

PS..I'm not sure what's happening with my blogger but the layout keeps going all screwy...so excuse any bits that look odd!

THIRTY

I have turned THIRTY during this time away from my blog.  That's right the big 30!  It's not as bad as I thought it would be.  I do feel old...but then that might be due to the new family addition.  I have a few more wrinkles setting in, and considerably more grey hairs. 

My family were down for my birthday, but generally celebrations were low key.  I had lovely pressies and cards.  Hubby bought me a lovely new watch (he took initiative and sneeked on my pintrest for ideas...he gets brownie points...), and promise of a family holiday (which we've just returned from, but I'll tell you of that later!).

Of course we had the obligatory trip to the fireworks where we won a goldfish.

 Barry was probably the most expensive goldfish ever. Won on a darts fair game.  I doubt the RSP of fishes would be in support.  You'll notice this was Barry...he decided to take a leap of faith behind the sideboard...and that was his demise.  We had him for 4 months...not bad...I just wonder how much longer it will take Wills to notice that Barry is no more...yes he's been gone a month and he hasn't even asked where he is!

For my birthday an amazing gift from my family...a new sewing machine! It's a Singer Confidence -  electronic and a bit posh!  Lots of knobs, buttons, feet...it was like Chinese torture...a fabulous present that you have no time to use!!!  So I've been slaving over Pintrest lining up some projects in waiting.

My fabulous husband took the boys away for a weekend to give me some space.  I couldn't believe it...in 3years the first time I've been in the house on my own for a whole weekend!  It was a little strange.  I did a massive clean on the friday night to ensure I wouldn't need to lift a finger over the weekend.  And then I chilled, slept, crafted, watched movies...! I loved it.  It was nice to stop for a minute, however I did have the feeling I was waiting for them all to come back.

I then set about to do some projects.  I felt a bit daunted getting to grips with a new machine...but once I set it up and had a go I LOVED it!  My sister helped me find a few tricks to the machine (she has the same one). 

I wanted something simple and quick just to get me back in the throes of sewing. 

 Dummy clips - an essential!  We are indeed a dummy family - it works for us.

 I like the solider one...fantastic fabric for a boy.

 I also dabbled around in making a nappy clutch.  I've started using a nice brown leather bag as a nappy changing bag, but things do tend to get lost in there.  I thought a clutch/change mat would be useful to keep bits together.  I set off and ended up making this....

...it keeps nappy/wipes and a change of clothes, and then the dark blue is an oilcloth so that it is a wipe clean change mat.  I am pleased I used that oilcloth - I deconstructed a Cath K change mat that was far too bulky to use in a bag.  It works well, apart from lack of fastening to hold it together.  Since using it I now think a zippered pouch would be more useful for me with the change mat separately just for ease of access.  So that's the next project in the pipeline.

Not too bad for dibbing my toe back in the water.  I'm sure that now I've started I'll hopefully get back in the groove of making bits and bobs and keeping my blog updated as a record.

Must dash...naptime is over!

Love from me and my little men x

Gardening with Giraffe's

Still here awaiting baby's arrival.

I'm not in any rush...but it would be nice to know when they plan to make their arrival.

I've been super uncomfortable the past couple of days, and yesterday I was up at 2am and failed to get back to sleep.  So yesterday was spent on the sofa, being lazy (I've been told I'm allowed to be a bit lazy!), watching the House box set (which I am thoroughly enjoying!), and doing a little bit of crochet on one of my new projects. 

Here is a sneaky glimpse of my new project...

I am hoping it will be ready for autumn/winter...but no doubt as I've started a project I would like to finish, family life is likely to get in the way.  I fear I may have forgotten about the demands of looking after a baby...and I have a toddler to contend with too now!

We have had at least 2 weekends in a row of being at home, which has meant we have been able to get on with some much needed chores.  The garden being the most important in order to get it wrapped up ready for autumn/winter.  We have done a lot of pruning/weeding in the front and back garden.  There's still plenty of jobs to do, but at least we are looking tidier for a while.

My little man has been very helpful...

These little critters have been not so helpful...(can you spot him?!)!

 A rather large black legged one scuttled across our new rug under the sofa the other day before the husband could jump to his feet and dispose of it...he is lurking sure to come out again soon!

We have bought a new rug...something to warm up the lounge, and to offer us a comfier space to play with our little man and our new arrival. It has made the lounge look much bigger and is so comfy/warm and our little man is enjoying rolling around on it already...a big hit!

So on to some crafting.  

 

I mentioned in my last post that I had done some more crafting for a baby girl expected to arrive in December.  The couple had recently been on holiday and had fed some giraffes...so I thought I would embark on a giraffe taggie for their baby.  There are lots of patterns etc available if you google giraffe taggie...I decided to go off pattern and just wing it.

 

I picked my fabric, and then drew my giraffe template...

I then cut out 2x giraffe pieces (material doubled over so they would match!), and put right sides together...

 I chose my ribbon taggies...my ribbon selection is quite limited, and this pink/yellow ribbon fitted best.  I would have done different colours if I had some good coordinating ribbon.

So the tag ribbons were pinned in place, and then I stitched around the giraffe, making sure not to stitch the tags down when sewing down the opposite side of the neck!

I left a small hole for turning, and then turned inside out and stuffed.

I have sewn closed things before, but I thought I would try and learn how to do it professionally to get the "seamless" look.  I found this tutorial for invisible closing seam...I am informed this may be a ladder stitch?!?  I tried...and it worked! 

Look at this.

Very professional even if I do say so myself! I am pleased with it as my first proper attempt.

So here is finished giraffe taggie...

I am pleased with it and it has been well received.

I am going to try and buy some nice boy fabric to make some stuff for my men...they are overdue a make!

Speak to you soon.

Love from me and my little man x

Baby Lola!

An excuse to make some girly things at last!

My friend whom I had made skinny bear for has had a baby girl!  Lola Olive!  Brilliant news to receive on a morning, and pleased to hear mum and baby are both doing so well.  I can't wait to meet her, but until my growing bump decides to arrive, I cannot make plans to visit and cuddle her as they are about 2hrs away.

So time to set about crafting for a baby girl!  I wanted something that I could personalise for her and as I was trawling through my fabric stash, I found some lovely colours that were begging to be used.

I did consider leaving the green out, but I thought it was a nice bright addition. 

 They are quite bright, busy florals, and I wasn't sure how to personalise them...fabric or felt applique?! And what colour for the letters to stand out enough?!  I personally prefer using felt for appliques as it tends to look tidier and amongst the materials I had I picked  a light pink felt which seemed to look okay against all of the fabrics and thought I could do a contrasting running stitch to bring out the letters.  A cream bias binding was chosen for the top.

Firstly to cut out all the flags or "bunts".  I thought 6 would be big enough....4 for her name and one either side.  This way it could hang above her cot for example without being too long, and also I wanted her name central without having a "swag" separating the letters in her name.  Once all cut, to start the personalisation...

Not looking too shabby!

Now to pin and stitch....

The stage I then love... to turn them all inside out and iron them to get them looking smart ready for the binding to be sewn on.

 Completed!

Now the bit I'm not so good at...photographing the finished work!  

I hung it in the conservatory so we could get an idea of it hanging up and the length, but it turned out such a dull picture...probably as it looks so bright and sunny outside!

 So the only other option was to lay on the cream rug and take a photo from above...

Well that's the best of a bad bunch...

I couldn't hang around taking photo's all day...this bunting had to be sent to mum and baby!  (well...and the dad...but dad's don't really appreciate pretty flags...do they?!)

I have heard that it has been well received so I am happy it is another project completed.

I have been making more girly makes for another friend expecting a baby girl in December...I'll write about that one soon.

I am over 39 weeks pregnant now, hospital bag is packed and I am enjoying the calm before the storm before my baby decides to make his arrival.

Bye for now.

Love from me and my little man x

Forgotten makes…

So I forgot to post about two other presents I had made (again sorry about the photo’s, in the rush up to Christmas they have been rushed and often in a dark room.  I need to get some photo tips on how to make my makes look good!)…here goes…

1) A reading pillow for my nephew.  I did a patchwork pocket so that he could keep books, teddies and any other goodies in for when he’s cwtched up reading…

I quilted the pocket to give it some rigidity.

And an Envelope backing to make sure it can be bunged in the washer…I’m sure there will be some chocolate smuggled into the pocket at some stage!

I am really pleased with this, and have some of my own cushion plans for my little mans reading corner in his room.

2) Bunting for my niece’s birthday present…  I am disappointed that I forgot to get a finished picture of this.  It had a red binding, and I thought it was very cute and colourful…perfect for a girls bedroom.

I finally think that is the end of my makes for 2013!  Now I need to get going again.  My craft room needs a little (a-hem…a lot…) clearing/cleaning.  It’s currently bestowing a furniture makeover which is a third complete and that’s giving me a mental mind block about getting in the room and sorting stuff out!

I have re-instated our kitchen blackboard as a “Jobs To Do” List to give us that visual prompt that there are always odd jobs that need to be done, and also to give us that feeling of satisfaction when we’ve completed something.  A lot of them, so far, have been man jobs (fixing switches, re-newing bath seals etc.) which have been swiftly ticked off the list and a few I have been able to act as a wingman wielding my tube of “No Nails”! Ha ha!

2014 is going to be a year of doing I feel.

Love from me and my little man x

Better late than never…

Advent came a little late in this household.  My husband and I had our chocolate advents (a yearly provision from my in-laws) ready to go, but I had plans to make my little mans’ advent…but the plan came the day before the 1st of December, so I was definitely against myself in time.

I wanted to do a fabric hanging advent calendar with pockets that I would be able to fill with all sorts of things as he gets older. There are so many gorgeous, fun and funky Christmas fabrics online, but time and money was against me.

So remember this friendly cat looking after his Christmas Pud… He was the start.  I found the fabric in my local craft shop and I thought he was fun and Christmassy enough to pass muster on my son’s home made advent.

In the same shop I found a nice snowflake ivory fabric to be the base, with a red marble dot fabric for the pockets.

 

I sewed the top/bottom strips on first.  I then cut out and sewed the pockets in place, over sewing the tops to define the pockets.

Felt numbers were so tedious to cut out, but they were easier than hand sewing numbers in place.  I then put buttons in place to mark the “holes” in the numbers.

I backed the advent with plain calico fabric, and inserted a small baton to give rigidity to help it hang properly.

I wish I could photograph things properly…I swear things look much better in real life!

I have filled it with gold coins and a secret goodies hidden here and there.  My little man enjoys putting his hand in the pocket to pull out a treat…but I think he’ll understand it more next year (especially as we can start from Day 1 and I can put some thought into what to fill it with!)

It was a festive project…and now I know how to make one…I want to make another!

I hope you are enjoying your advent calendars on the countdown to Christmas!

Love from me and my little man x

Time to refocus.

Refocus looks incredibly wrong.  Re-focus looks much better…but who am I to argue with the dictionary?! I am struggling to accept that my last blog post was back in August.  People have now started to comment on my quietness…so I’d better get blogging again!

We had a brilliant time in Portugal in August. Hot sunshine and lazing around make the perfect combination.  My little man did well with everything new that comes with travelling abroad and settled amazingly well.  A daily holiday ice cream was also definitely a winner!

Me and hubby managed to sneak off on a much needed “date night” which was one of my most favourite parts of the holiday.  Having time out to recognise who you are as husband and wife, rather than mummy and daddy.  That makes sense right?! We still make each other laugh, we still have lots to talk about, and we can simply just ‘be’ together…almost 5 years married…and I still love him. Pics from our date night… (a very small one of my husband as he will probably sigh, roll his eyes and not thank me for putting his picture on here!)

Another fun thing that has happened (which has even included a tiny bit of crafting) was a work camping trip.  A bit of team bonding in the ways of 2nights camping locally.  It was much fun and definitely to be a yearly event for sure.  The rain poured the first night and it was a tad chilly but we embraced the onesies to keep us warm! I was one of the pretty pandas!

What crafting was needed for camping I hear you ask?!…A team Flag! I whipped this up so quickly, but it did the trick…

 

As well as fun times we’ve also had sad times over the past few months…we had to have our pesky Timber cat put to sleep.  He was quite poorly and it was the kindest thing for him.  You can read a little about how we came about having Timmy here.  It was the saddest thing we’ve had to go through in a while and I still don’t think we’ve come to terms with the fact that he’s not around.   

To do something nice for Timmy, I have painted a marker for where he’s buried (a grave-stone just sounds too morbid…).  I was never very good at drawing/painting…but I’m pleasantly surprised with how this turned out.  I have popped it in the garden, and we’ve planted lots of bulbs around too.

I think Tim’s just catching lots of slow worms wherever he’s gone to…!

To regain the blogging/crafting mojo I have taken in lots of deliveries of gorgeous fabrics in order for me to get crafting again. Admittedly the majority are Christmas presents in nature so how much I will be able to show you on here will be debatable.  Maybe some sneek peaks, and if not some quick crafts to keep my hand in!

I hope you are all well.

See you soon.

Love from me and my little man x