Daily December :: the 8th

Hello Lovelies,

just a very short daily post tonight. Thank you so much for your kind comments about our handmade tree decorations.

Turning on the fairy lights after a busy day at work I had to smile at this handmade decoration I picked up for the princely sum of £1 at a local Christmas fair the other week....

 I love robins and there is so much lovely detail in this cute knitted piece. Look at those snow tipped pine cones...gorgeous and so clever.

I've really enjoyed The Great Pottery Throw Down. 
Watching beautiful handmade ceramics being created fascinated me

I could fancy giving it a try one day, but for now I've very happy to stick to yarn.......

Good night Lovelies...I'm bushed.
Jacquie x

Seven Snippets

Hello Lovelies,

having accidentally titled my previous two posts with two words starting in S, I'm intentionally carrying it on a bit longer :0)

Here are my seven snippets of happy things from the past seven days.

1. This gorgeous Gerbera was a thoughtful gift from my sister in law. It was pretty small when she gave it to me but it's growing super quickly on the kitchen windowsill, with new flowers emerging all the time...........

and aren't they gorgeous........a wonderful colour and so many petals!

2. This weeks thrifty find is this pretty, hand painted jug. I couldn't resist it for 49p and I love looking at it in the bathroom, filled with this weeks posy of garden flowers.............

 Sweet peas, nasturtiums, Alchemilla and Nigella

3. On Wednesday evening we had sunshine and showers. I looked out of the kitchen window and saw purple skies?..........I dashed outside and was thrilled to see a lovely rainbow.........

 With pink sky below it and purple above.

4. Soaring Swifts
I saw these birds on an evening walk and wasn't sure what they were. Their outline reminded me of a Swallow, but it was more boomerang shaped. Once home I discovered they were Swifts.............

and learned they are amazing birds that fly constantly for the first three years of their life....wow.

5. Youngests return from his school residential visit.
He borrowed my old camera and came home with just a few pictures. I think they were too busy doing activities most of the time. I love this shot of Chatsworth house he took on an evening walk............

 He said he took it as he knew I would like it....bless him.

I love the fact that he came home with handmade wristbands too. I'm glad the boys enjoyed making and wearing loom bands,  thanks to the generosity of the girls in his class who kindly shared their kits..................

6. Yellow Gerberas . I treated myself to another of these great house plants in the supermarket. They were only a pound and they really make me smile...............

 did you spot my crochet and reading material? 

7. We have booked a holiday in Dorset and I couldn't resist a little book about this stunning coastline to take with us...........

It's a part of the country I've never visited before.....but that I feel a little familiar with, thanks to memorable blog  posts like THIS

Oh, yes I'm so looking forward to seeing these lovely places for myself.
 Lucy continues to be a big influence on my choice of crochet too.........remember THIS post.
I'm concentrating hard on this wonderful but slightly tricksy free pattern. I think it's going pretty well so far
Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 44/52

Hello Lovelies,

it's that time of the week again, time to celebrate the small things that can add happiness to your days, even when life throws unwanted stress your way.

1. and 2. Handmade and Homegrown

Yesterday I went with my Mum in Law, niece and two of my boys to a craft fair. I spotted this cute-as-a-button witch and couldn't resist her hand knitted charms.

 I recognised the pattern as a Jean Greenhowe straight away, she is the queen of knitted soft toys in my opinion. I really wish I could knit when I see these lovely makes. Do take a look her patterns and  this page ,which includes an adorable image of this witch.....with a broom....ummm, maybe I could crochet her one.

Also on my mantle are a few blooms from my own front garden and an Apple ....just one of a huge bag of cooking apples given to me by a work colleague who has so many she does not know what to do with them all . I have one of these in the oven as I'm typing....smells lovely.

It's a shame I didn't get my witch before halloween  , but she was still too sweet to resist.
We had a quiet time on the day, only youngest went out trick or treating with his friends and accompanying adults.

 All three boys designed and carved these pumpkins without any help from me.....I think they did an excellent job...........the tiny one was rather tricky ......

3.. Thrifted

A new ( brand new with tags still attached ) scarf found in the charity shop. I like a scarf when the weather turns chilly. This one is so soft and I love the colours...........

4. Vintage

On our usual Wednesday outing Mum and I decided to take a detour and explore this timeless place I found earlier in the year

Look , you can just see Mum taking her own photo , towards the left in this picture.........earlier in the year, when she was very poorly , I hardly dared imagine mum would be so well again......but she is, thank goodness.

This place is by the river..........

and scattered around a little field are lots of these wooden buildings............

They are a bit like beach huts without the beach, but bigger, more like proper holiday homes . They all look so old but are beautifully maintained and full of character.
I couldn't quite believe my eyes the first time I came across them.

This one has to be my absolute favourite.....

With it's sweet little garden , including a bird table, rambling rose and  apple tree.

I just love the red and cream paintwork , floral curtains and veranda with wooden bench........

I would love to see inside. I can just imagine a little wood burning stove, comfy worn armchairs with lots of crochet blankets and rag rugs on the wooden floorboards ....... Two simple wooden chairs and a little table covered with  a pretty tablecloth and jug of flowers picked from the garden...... A simple kitchen with gingham curtains, a pot sink and little oven with the smell of baking wafting out of it ......  a  cosy bedroom with patchwork curtains, a patchwork quilt on the bed and more fresh flowers on the bedside table.....
Ooops , slipped into vintage  dreamland there :0)

I love taking the photos and writing these posts, but I wouldn't be half as much fun without your lovely comments and good wishes........they always make my week happier  ♥THANK YOU♥
Jacquie x

P.S. my latest blanket is now finished ......back soon with a Ta-dah :0)

Christmas Making

Hello Lovelies,
This year I didn't plan to make any particular things for Christmas. However some seasonal making has  occurred.
They are all quite quick and simple projects .....some times I do love making things in one sitting.
The most simple are paper snowflakes.......

I make a few of these every year , the boys usually give then a go too. They are super simple and I love the way you never know what they will look like when you are snipping away at the folded paper. It's not till you unfold them you get to see the final pattern revealed. I've stuck them up in our conservatory.........

 As you can see I've also been making these huge paper stars, inspired by Tina over at Tea and Woolly socks ........

There's a link to a clear video on how to make these in her blog post HERE.

As I mentioned in my previous post I've also made some chutney to give as gifts. I've kept a small jar for our house which I have tested ...it's yummy.
 It was really easy to make , worked out costing about £1 per large jar ( bargain ), and I got to prettify the jars with fabric and ribbon......Perfect :0)

HERE is the recipe link again, thank you for sharing, Gillian.

Another spur of the moment make , this time inspired by necessity rather than blogland, are some simple cards. I had these window card blanks lying around so looked for something to pop in them. Last year mum painted me a lovely picture of a Robin on some frosty Hogweed, which I had photographed already. So I simply cropped the picture and printed off a few copies.

I used some sticky letters from my stash to add festive words. And cut out some simple holly leaves to add to the ones that only got small writing :0)

This really was a quick, use up what you've got, project . Great fun and very satisfying. In fact I liked them so much that I kept one to display on my Welsh dresser.............

I'm still loving having this wonderful piece of furniture to play with and I change things around quite regularly. It's great fun.

Another fun thing I did , just yesterday, was to revamp my old door wreath. It's artificial and I've had it for quite a few years. Gradually all the old bit's and bobs are falling off so last year I added the Merry Christmas sign and this year I added some more artificial holly.........

I thought it looked pretty good . Then yesterday I saw Lucy's wonderful crochet creation. I would love to make something like that. It's so inspiring . I particularly love all the different crochet mixed in with shiny baubles.
I may have a go at something similar next year but in the mean time I decided to do a quick makeover  on my door wreath by adding baubles to it............

The great thing about this is, again I just used what I had . I nicked a few baubles from the tree and tied them on with yarn . It would be super easy to take them off and try a different colour theme next year.( I'm thinking candy canes and multicoloured baubles ).

It was yet another super fun project and makes me happy, happy happy.

 Lucy described her wreath as "a bit bonkers and over the top",well if mine looks a bit bonkers too I'm glad........

Christmas is the perfect time to go a little bit over the top, don't you think ?

Jacquie x

P.S. I'm also looking forward to Kirstie's Vintage Christmas . 8pm Channel 4 this Wednesday.

 Some of her latest series is available on the internet at the moment HERE. I love her enthusiasm for all things hand made.....but wish she could try nicer crochet projects. Did anybody see the crochet jelly fish in last weeks episode ? Why oh why did they not just make some colourful granny squares !

This Wintery Week......

..............Ive been playing with yarn...........

 Making sunburst granny circles in "Stylecraft" for a new project..........

More about them soon :0)

........... been baking. Gathering together all the ingredients for Yorkshire Parkin..........

I used THIS recipe and it's perfect......nutty, sticky, chewy and just the right amount of Ginger .........

Yummy

...........I've also planted up an Amaryllis bulb I bought a few weeks ago then forgot about. When I opened the box the poor thing was trying to grow but the shoot was almost white , thankfully it's greening up now........

...........Amazingly I've written and posted all my posting Christmas cards. Love the little Robin on these charity cards...........

..........Reached 100 squares on my Seaside Patches blanket............

 There's still a loooong way to go ! But I'm OK with that.

.......spent an enjoyable hour or so crafting with my youngest. Love this Santa Gingerbread Man he came up with..........

While he snipped and glued I made a couple of cards too.........

I do love a bit of simple paper play


And finally , I managed to take my own photo of a Robin..........

Can you sea him sitting on the trellis ? I love all garden birds, particularly Robins, but never seem to be quick enough with my camera to capture them in a photo.

Not a great shot but it made me happy :0)

Thank you for popping by and for all your wonderful comments , they are a special part of my week too.
Jacquie x

Little Things

Hello Lovelies,
 After ANOTHER unseasonably wet weekend I just thought I would pop in with some more little things that are making me smile right now.
 A little jug of flowers on the mantle. Pinks, Astilbe and Alchemilla picked from the garden........

Outside, between showers , the bees are going busily about their business .....

Can't say I've noticed these collections of pollen in their legs before...... apparently they  are Pollen Baskets

They move very quickly, these little creatures, I took loads of pictures and didn't  get a really good one.....this  view made me smile though..........

When I gave up trying to capture the perfect bee shot I noticed my Lavender was ready to pick for drying........

Hopefully I'll get round to making some little lavender bags with this . I absolutely love the scent of Lavender.

Though the days have been very wet there always seems to be a little window of sun in the day. Loved this dramatic sky on Saturday evening........

One thing that always makes me happy is a little yarn purchase.......I picked up a couple of balls of luxury yarn to add to the stash that I'm slooooowly building up. I got this in John Lewis.......

It isn't a brand I'm familiar with but It came in such gorgeous colours . I plumped for these as I didn't have any green or yellow in my stash. I wonder if any of you lovelies have used this brand ?You can see the colour range here

I've also picked up my hook again and finally started joining my daisy granny squares........

this is made with my usual Stylecraft acrylic....Love this bargainous yarn too :0)

I'm really liking how this is looking so far....it was supposed to be a baby blanket but I'm tempted to go bigger.......I can see this in our holiday caravan with my patchwork cushions .....

Hope you  find some little things to make you happy this week.

Jacquie x

crocus love

Hi there , well it's come around to Saturday again already !! where did that week go ? It's so nice to see some definite signs of spring isn't it .The weather was beautiful here today,blue skies and sunshine plus a fresh breeze which made washing dried on the line smell wonderful !!
I'm enjoying playing with my new camera and the spring flowers are particularly photogenic at the moment . Crocuses are my current favourite,with snowdrops coming a close second !! so here are some I snapped whilst out and about today...


Unfortunately I don't have any crocuses in my own garden ,must make a note on my calendar to plant some this autumn as they are so lovely ( and I don't think they leave you with lots of messy foliage once they have finished flowering which is a bonus )
I also wanted to show you the crafty bits of my week,all the amazing inspiration seen on lots of lovely blogs,not to mention flickr ,make me want to make something every day !! Most days I manage a little crochet,at the moment I'm working on a cushion cover in the same colours as my square throw,which I'm very proud of . I have a Lloyd Loom style chair in the loft and inspired by Lucy at Attic 24 I'm hoping to have a pretty chair of crochet goodness !!My cushion is inspired by the work of the very talented Emma Lamb
.So here's how it looks so far ..
Another bit of craftyness was a mothering sunday card for my mum .When I was little she allways encouraged us to make cards rather than buy them .At the time I wasn't convinced the recipient would prefer a less than perfect homespun effort but now I know which I would rather receive from my little ones !! so ,you were right mum !!
Happy mothers day
< Think I am getting the hang of this blogging business ,though it still takes me ages!!!
Better get to bed now ,even though I'm hoping for a lie in tomorrow . Wishing you all a relaxing Sunday and fun with your loved ones .
Jacquie x