A Weekend of Crafts and Decorating...finally!

Do you realise, I have been so busy with this, that and everything, that I bought my two favourite magazines a few weeks ago and STILL haven't read them!  I've become engrossed in everyone's blogs and the amazing, imaginative talent there is out there that I have neglected the use of my thumbs and fingers to turn the pages of magazines and books!

So, after a weekend of really getting down to it and finally decorating the living room and the dining room, rearranging the furniture and working on my Christmas decorations, it's now time to rectify this with a snuggly blanket, a cosy dark evening and a flick through the mags.

The news on my rainbow baby blanket has been restarted :o(  I went a bit wrong with my counting and I had dips where there should have been waves and a side that was jutting in and out.  I must have been very tired when I started it.  So, all unpicked and we have a new creation beginning.  I love this pattern that I am using from Attic 24 and once you get the initial couple of rows it becomes so easy and gratifying.  The different colours of the rainbow are beginning to take shape and I am so happy and content with each stitch that it will surround my niece/nephew next May.  YES!!  I am FINALLY going to be an Auntie!!  I never ever thought this would happen but we all received the official news last week and I am so so so happy I could burst!

My mum went to Kings Lynn last week, and bought me some beautiful pastel coloured ribbon, perfect for my gorgeous hearts that will be decorating my Christmas tree this year.  Another tick off my list!

But then, I remembered Attic 24's bauble decorations, so decided to have a little go with these.

Well at 12:30 last night I thought best put the hook down as my hands were tired (they did have a paintbrush in them all day!) and I still had the dining room to do on Sunday.  These are so quick to do, so effective and beautiful.  I am so excited and I can't wait to hit the shops to buy some beautiful beads and bells to go on these amazing little decorations.  What would we do without Lucy at Attic 24!  Her tutorials are so easy to follow and her ideas are down to earth and achievable with the most fantastic results.  Once I've made enough, I think I will have enough time to make the bunting too for the fire place.  Creative juices are really flowing now I have a bit of a blank canvas to work to in the living room (a good clear out is always a good thing).

So, with the living and dining room now painted and ready for oodles and strudels of colour to be injected, I can now settle down to get serious on the hooky front.

P.S/  Coco decided to be helpful and be a paintbrush today!  Sigh......

Have a good week everyone. XX

An Introduction

Hello!  I suppose I will start with an introduction.  My name is Chel and I live in the fens of Lincolnshire in a 10 year old house in a quiet village.  Now at the point of getting fed up with the plain walls of magnolia and thinking of putting a real mark on the place.  I do have some favourite places in the house:

This is my fireplace with my fabric hearts made after watching the fabulous Kirstie Allsopp and her programme last Christmas.  Instead of just making a garland to hang on the fireplace I decided to stuff them, add a button and prop them up, just to add some of my favourite colour to a rather bland area.  Oh, I love gardening too (as you may have gathered from the cut flowers on the coffee table) and the roses have really done me proud this year, they are a delight to see.  I have so many and one in particular has made its way to the top of my garage giving a wonderful display to my neighbours.  As a result, because of this wonderful summer of ours where it has done nothing but rain, I try to cut as many as I can on a Friday night when I do the housework after a hard week's work, and fill the house with the scent of roses and lavender.

Another favourite place is my chair in the hall way.  Here I can have a quiet moment with my hooky and have another chair upstairs where I disappear sometimes to watch my soaps and make the next project.  The cushion was made after reading the fabulous Attic 24 blog.  Lucy's designs and ideas as well as amazing instructions on how to create wonderful projects are a real inspiration.

My third favourite place is my kitchen window.  I love seeing the different seasons and am amazed each year on how much more everything has grown.  We have been here 10 years and came to a garden of rubble and chicken wire fencing.  My husband has worked so hard on the garden, front, side and back and it truly is a wonderful oasis.  Oh and yes, the stuffed hearts have made their way here too!

I am married and have two children, boy and girl who are your typical moany teenagers but I wouldn't swap them for the world.  They are very entertaining and, yes I will slap myself on the back as I have done a good job with them.

So that's a start on my life.  This is all new to me, but let's see how I go.  Take care XXXXXXXXXXX