My last Ta-Dah....of 2010

Hello lovelies,
Thank you for all your kind comments on my flower post.
It's another grey day outside today, but lets not talk about that cos I've got some crochet to share with you today , yay. But first a bit of build up!

Blog land is such fantastic inspiration, don't you agree. Back in November I saw this lovely post. Wow, crochet pictures, I'd never even thought of that.
So whilst I was on my Charity shop travels I picked up a suitable frame for a couple of quid.
Then I got a bit stuck , unsure of what to do .

Luckily Lucy came to my rescue earlier this week. She had a link to the designer Jane Fosters site and I was particularly impressed with her flower pictures.

They are so pretty , deceptively simple , but there is just something about them I really liked .

Then I had a light bulb moment...hurrah... I could do something similar in crochet.

Yay , yay , yay. I quickly ran to my stash and rooted around till I found this ...



Patons smoothie in a gorgeous shade of blue , Perfect !

Then I was like a woman possessed , puzzling out how to make a pretty flat flower, a stem and leaves.
About an hour later it was finished ......



What do you think! I'm really chuffed with how this turned out :0)




Taken from some lovely blogy inspiration but an original Bunny Mummy make !



I would be happy to write a pattern out for this project if anyone would like to have a go at one of these.

I even got to add the date 2010........just.....



I'll leave you with a little peek an my next big project, one that won't be finished till well into the new year , more of this soon :0)



Have a great New Years Eve . Here's to 2011, hope it is a good one for all of us with lots of happy family times,crochet, craftiness , and blogging :0)

Jacquie x

Floral Favourites

Hello Lovelies,

Here we are almost at the end of the year . The year I started this little blog. Back in March to be exact.I can hardly believe I've fitted in over 100 posts already. I've so enjoyed writing my posts , but even more enjoyable to me has been taking the pictures to accompany them.

I treated myself to a decent camera at the same time as I started this blog,and being able to take lovely images to share with you has been a real joy.

Earlier this evening I was admiring Lucy's floral review of the year , which inspired me to pick out a few of my own floral favourites to share with you today.

It's been such a dark , grey day in these parts that looking at these intense colours and sunny images has really lifted my spirits......











































Hope you enjoyed that.
Back soon, with a new crochet project next time.Really excited about showing you that :0)

Jacquie x

Christmas - part 2

Hello Lovelies.

Today, as promised ,I've got more pictures from Christmas day to share with you all.

Can you remember the last time we had a white Christmas ? Here in the midlands, where we generally escape the worst of the weather , it's extreamly rare.
Even as a young lass , growing up on t'Yorkshire Pennines ( close to here ) I dont remember us getting snow at Christmas. It generally started in January.

This year, though there was no snow on the actual day, the cold temps meant the fall we had earlier in the week was still looking lovely.

I really wanted to squeeze in a walk to enjoy the rare treat, so late morning I left all the toy assembly and chaos to soak it in for half an hour. Even better , I had a company.
One of my twins had asked for a camera as his main prezzie . I must admit to being very happy with this. We got him one of these and it is great. I have a touch of megapixel envy now.

So we set out and I was very happy to show him a my favourite spots , my little gap in the hedge........Where you get this stunning veiw.....





What a day to get your first camera. White glittery fields and icy blue skys ......



Further on we spotted animal tracks.....



This is the path up to the boys school, looks like Mr fox is the only visitor this week :0)



More berries.....



Here you can see our two shadows as we scan the allotments for photo opportunities...



Yes it' s great to have another keen photographer in the house.

Something else I must share today are my Santa Swap Goodies , Look what I got ...



So many lovely things , including a pincushion ,heart shaped pins, a book , hair grips and a candle.
My favourite are this gorgeous bunting and the cute buttons ......



thankyou Santa :0)

I do Love to here your comments and I've just realised this is my 100'th post !!!

Jacquie x

Christmas - part 1

Hello Lovelies ,I hope Christmas went well for you all.

Christmas eve in our house was a busy day of baking with the boys,this included gingerbread biscuits made with our new cutters..........



and mince pies made with the last of my homemade mincemeat. I treated myself to a mincemeat pasty for lunch made with the last little bit. I will definitely be making this again next year :0)..........



It was a ridiculously late night on Christmas eve , due to a family party,over excited children and some last minute wrapping , I took this picture at 3am! oops...



Back in November my Lovely sister in law gave me an Amaryllis bulb. I've never had one of these before and wondered if it would actually grow , let alone flower .Thankfully ,within a week it had started to grow , this is what it looked like on the first of December.....



By the start of Christmas week it looked like this ......



I started to talk to it at this stage, telling it to just hold on a little longer, as I was hoping against hope ,that it would start to flower on Christmas day.

Imagine my delight when I came downstairs yesterday morning ( after 5 hours sleep ) to be greeted by this stunning sight...




Isn't it just gorgeous , and such perfect timing :0)




We are fortunate enough to be invited to relatives for most of the day and spent a very enjoyable time, with our family around us.

Loving the cute napkin rings, made by my nieces, on the table at dinner.........



The boys had a great time with their cousins ,playing board games and getting more prezzies. .....



Whilst I indulged in a couple ( or more !) of these .......



Happy times . It was such a special day.My crochet robin now has a new home on their tree, by way of a very small but, heartfelt THANKYOU.
I'll do another post about the outdoor bit of our day and my swap parcel next time.

Love and seasonal greetings to you all
Jacquie x

Robins in the snow

Hello lovelies, hope your run up to Christmas is going well.
I was wrapping till midnight last night and it's still not completely finished .
Whilst I was wrapping the snow began to fall , so festive :0)

Today I wanted to show you some other festive goodness....Robins , don't you just love this cute little bird.
This is a Christmas card made by one of my eldest.....



I was really impressed with this watercolour. ...



This morning I ventured into our snowy garden and spotted this cutie....



No he's not real, but crochet....




I made him earlier this week , love how he turned out :0)..... pattern HERE....




Right better get on with my long list of jobs.

If I don't get a minute to post again, I hope all you lovely people have a peaceful, relaxing, fun Christmas.
Remember it's just one day and if you are feeling stressed out by it all this post is a brilliant antidote :0)

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and THANKYOU for welcoming me into the lovely blog community,see you again soon.
Jacquie x

Eight Hours of Daylight.

Hello Lovelies , hope you are keeping warm if you are in the ice box that is the U.K. at the moment. We haven't had much snow in these parts but it is exceedingly cold.
Yes the days are very cold but starkly beautiful ,loving the bare oak tree against the blue sky.......



Tomorrow is the shortest day and the sun is setting at about quarter to four. This is Sundays sunset .....



And today's.....



On work days I don't see any daylight at all....so it's nice to have a bright smiley face near the front door to welcome me home...




We've had this little fella since before children , he always makes me smile :0)

Five sleeps to go !
Jacquie x

P.S. Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and advice about Nannas' blanket. I've started a border and I will of course show you once it's finished.

Also thank you to my kind generous bloggy friend Emma for the Christmas goodies..



The choccy was delish, and the gingerbread man looks great on the tree :0)