Blood, Sweat and Tears... Ta Dah!

At last!  I can reveal my latest blanket which has been a labour of love, hardship, frustration and unbelievable unpicking.  Yes, I have felt that I have shed blood, sweat and tears when completing this one.  While writing the words to this post, I look outside and the heavy clouds mock me.  Today of all days I need it to be sun shiny and tikety boo so that I can show you the work I have put into this project.

The Janie Crow Lily Pond Blanket was her CAL from last year, but when I saw it after finishing the Painted Roses Blanket from Cherry Heart, I thought it would be a good progression to learn new stitches and to push myself.  That I most certainly did!

Yes I was going to throw in the towel and just call it a WiP, but no, I continued, weaving my hook in and out of the different colours and hook sizes, and then it all started to come together.

So, I am writing this on a Sunday morning and then hopefully by the end of the day there will be some sun shiny shots for you to enjoy and appreciate the work that I have been doing for the last three months.

Hubby's reaction... "it looks like a pond".  Well done that man!

I'm going to miss making this blanket now that it has been completed as it has been something I can vent at.  But I need to have some calmness restored in my life, some nice easy lines, some nice easy squares, some nice comforting colours.  Well, I've already received this gorgeous box of woolly scrumptiousness after looking for my next project to get me through the summer months.  

Some of you know how much I love to walk in the rain and my love of the autumn and winter.  It's my happy time, and when I feel most alive.  The camera helps me capture those different moments that are more interesting than sun, sun and, oh yes, sun.  The water droplets captured on a rose, the dew on a spider's web, the reflection of a building from a puddle, the happy faces on children in welly boots being allowed to splash, the frost enveloping anything that it can hug.  Well, this project is going to be a happy one.

This is a CAL that has already started - Sheepjes CAL 2016.  The main one is Last Dance on the Beach, but I have gone for the comforting colours reflected in Dance in the Rain which just sings to my heart.  The CAL was designed by the late Marinke Slump (A Creative Being) who was designing this project when she sadly passed away.  Twelve of her online friends and bloggers completed the design and the CAL is in Marinke's memory and as a tribute to her work.  Please click on her link in this paragraph to understand why so many people are doing this in her memory.

It's only fitting that I am seeing this as a happy blanket and one that I am going to enjoy and think about the good things in life and what makes me who I am and what I want to achieve.

Right, post written, now where's that elusive sun??!!

A New Blank Page

So a new year starts and 365 blank pages stare at me excitedly once again.  I'm not one for New Year resolutions as they scare me with their threat of failure.  Once again I will ditch those pounds (as let's face it, we don't eat like that every day!), once again I will do more exercise (because the weather will get better... eventually), once again I will be more organised (as I don't have to rush about getting Christmas presents until the end of the year!)  Promising myself things because Big Ben has chimed at midnight will not help.  To me January 1st is another day with the difference that (and here is where I do get excited) a nice blank clean diary can be started ♥

Oh yes, my love of the note book/journal is at a height at this time of year and those that know me oh so well had wrapped me up some beauties for the tree.  I had actually bought myself a mighty oober humungous handsome devil before Christmas and have been itching to decorate and start filling in those gorgeous blank pages.  Two pages to a day!  Just waiting to be filled with the both equally exciting and the mundane thoughts running through my mind.  

Washi tape, coloured pencils, glue, postcards, sketches... yes, my plan will be a very thumbed and tatty book by the end of the year (don't you just love a tatty book?!).

I needed a cover though and as much trawling through Etsy and Ebay, I just couldn't find what I wanted, so a bit of shopping (very slow on crutches - but determined!), I bought these.

And then added them to the stash as I decided to make this!!

Well, correction, I did use some of the papers and supplies but didn't feel it was "me", and then found a Greenwich map and the creative juices flowed!

So, January 1st and the ink has just started to weave it's curves and lines in the book.  I hope that life will allow me even just an hour to work on this each day and that as the days turn into weeks, a glance will show exactly where I am from the tatty pages already thumbed.

Today has however been full to brimming with getting our home back to normal.  As I type this my feet are complaining and telling me off - what did the nurse say? "Absolute rest!", oh dear!  But it is so lovely to see fresh flowers dotted around the newly cleaned spaces.  It gives a real sense of achievement and makes me smile with so much content.

I only bought three bunches for £2 each, but there must have been six bunches per bunch as I ended up filling every vessel I could find!

My dresser is looking so neat and tidy after the festivities.  It had been quite cluttered but now my eyes feel cleansed each time I look at it, especially with another container full of flowers ♥

Another thing that I do think of at the beginning of the year is my word for the coming months.  Last year it was BALANCE.  How true this was, especially at the end of the year with me balancing my feet!  This year I am going to be bold and say...

POSITIVE

I lost my way last year and it reflected in my blog writing, my variety escaped me and I became more focused on my trips out and about rather than what was happening around me.  So with newly decorated and blank journal in hand (or should I say trolley!), I can look back at each week and remember all those lovely heart warming moments to share along with filling this jar with a positive thought from each week to unravel at the end of 2016.

So, with a deep satisfying breath I will publish this now for all my lovely readers (you are all so extremely special to me) and relax in my normal, happy home.  My big POSITIVE year now begins!

A very Happy New and Positive Year to you all.

Hotch Potch Button Art - A Quick Valentine Ta Dah

It has been ages since I attempted any crafts and so with a quiet weekend and my car keys having a rest, out came the sewing basket and a few bits and pieces.  A little creativity to focus my mind after looking at map after map of my Grandad's research.  Buttons, fabric, cotton and an embroidery hook... what could I make while the Sunday roast was in the oven and filling the house with gorgeous smells?

I have seen lots of different creations just lately using embroidery hoops, lots of different ways to display art and create such tactile happiness.  I loved the buttons I had recently bought with lots of different patterns and different cream and pastel shades and knew exactly what I wanted to create.

With Valentines Day coming up and the fact that I love hearts (I have them everywhere!), I soon had the outline in place.  Valentines Day is not usually celebrated in our home, instead we have a certain Mr Teen's birthday and that quite rightly is forefront on our minds each year, but there is nothing wrong with having another heart to adorn our walls.

I can't tell you how happy this little project was making me feel.  So quick and easy, and so pretty.  I just had to have the touches of signature pink in there didn't I?! 

I loved my hotch potch of different buttons.  Flat, domed, raised, convex, concave, cream, white, pink, beige - a happy mix.

About an hour later the heart was filled with all of these gorgeous buttons.  The heart was fit to burst
and I had to stop - too much??

So, here we are - my first project for the year!  A nice simple one to fit in between writing and Sunday roast.  An hour very happily spent!

I hope you are enjoying your January and getting ready for your little Valentines preparations.

Have a wonderful week.

Take care.

      

Sharing with Stephanie at the Roses of Inspiration Link Up Party, The Five Star Frugal Link Up, 2015 Spring Craft Blog Hop, and Tweak it Tuesday

The Quirky and Crafty Christmas Shopping - Sandringham Christmas Fair, Norfolk

I do love a good craft fair don't you?  Especially when it is in magnificent grounds with lots of space.  With the thoughts of one more month until Christmas, I felt it was the perfect time to start the PANIC and to start ticking the lists I had prepared a couple of weeks ago.  So, to start with, the shopping would begin with the quirky and crafty, and what better place than the Sandringham Christmas Craft Fair.  Grab your hat and coat and cash - I never take a card to places like this - too tempting!  Are you ready to start the festive shopping?  Here we go...

This fair allows you to see the products being made and this particular stall always makes me smile when I have seen it.  This is Dingley Dwellings and the lovely Denise Chapman.  I bought one of her quirky little houses a while ago for Mumsy's fairy glen along with a well.  They are still perfect at the bottom of the garden, so these are hard standing too.

Aren't they great?!  I particularly liked this one but had to resist!

Out of the marquees we heard the familiar sound of the creating chainsaws.  The little elves were busy working their Christmas magic and were dressed a little bit warmer from the last time we saw them (a past post is here).

I love the art that they create from one piece of wood.

And once varnished and torched, the definition is amazing to see.

Another marquee and we came across these boxes with some candles.  Now, I loved them but my two teens who are avid Harry Potter fans spotted a little mistake.  Should it say "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"?  Never mind, I loved them... but resisted!

There are some brilliant characters here, and I especially loved the mustaches on show (must be Movember!) 

Here's another one who was giving a cookery demonstration...

It was time for me and Mumsy to have some lunch and this marquee was full to brimming...

... and I wasn't surprised with the amazing pork baguettes on offer!  Believe me, they were certainly not holding back on the amount of pork they were selling!

Those who follow my Facebook page will have seen this particular stalls wares.  There were irons, wrenches, scissors, violins, nuts and bolts, graters, hammers - you name it!  And, all made from chocolate!!  And yes, you can get a chocolate coffee maker but couldn't see a chocolate teapot!

Why is it that there is always a queue ladies?!!

I digress! 

This stall holder was very curious about what was going on in the next stall...

Well, with an owl flying around and the stall holder selling sausages, it could have been too much of a temptation!

Christmas would not be Christmas without a wreath, and these were just adorable!

So, what did I buy? Oh if only you could smell this lovely package.  It's Christmas in a bag!  Spiced apples, tangy oranges, pine cones... so much delicious gorgeousness just waiting to be put into a bowl as part of the festive decorations!

For a certain Miss Teen a necklace which will be right up her street!

And then from Charles Burke - who is a glass artist, this lovely blue paperweight.

I would have loved to have shown you Sandringham House too, but from the grounds where the Fair was, this was the view... sorry.  But the trees are pretty spectacular aren't they!

So, how is your Christmas shopping going?  Are you enjoying the crowds yet?!!

Next week, Christmas at Hampton Court!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments on my Coco.  We have had a couple of bad nights with her (including one where I had to carry her home), we're taking each day as it comes.  Also my Dad is gradually improving (hence Mumsy coming out this week).

Take care.