Winners, Flowers and Spring Shelves

Hello lovelies,

Thank you so much for all your comments and entries to my give-away.

The lucky winners are Marjbrit and Clare

 congratulations !  I've already sent you a message via e. mail :0)

When I walked into the kitchen on Saturday morning the Daffodils I picked up as tightly closed buds on Thursday were looking at their peak of perfection.........they took my breath away..........

The sun was shining so I took some pictures of my spring shelves for you lovelies.

Ta-dah...........

It was Thursday morning that I decided that they must be done at once.
 I removed all the dusty ornaments and polished the shelves before unwrapping the thrifted plates and bits and bobs I've been collecting for this display throughout the winter.

It was this sweet blossom plate that planted the seed of this idea and I tried to hunt out nice things with these pink, green and creamy yellow colours................


I really like the idea of changing the things on my dresser shelves to suit the seasons.
 Otherwise after a while I simply stop noticing it at all.

And it's been such great fun to plan and make things too. My crochet primroses look right at home with the mixture of old things I've  recently thrifted  and old things I've had since childhood...............

As do my crochet Snowdrops.............

I had a lot of fun playing around arranging and rearranging stuff till I was really happy with how it all looked.
I was going to stick with the pink/green/cream colours, but in the end I felt it needed a pop or two of red as well..............

The cute pink tea pot was something Mum spotted in the charity shop and I love it.

The  precious blue and white china is now stored in the basket you can see on top of my dresser and you can just about see my new  pink doily under the fruit bowl........

The pattern for the crochet triangles  used to make the bunting is HERE and I used good old Stylecraft Special Acrylic yarn.

It was a charity shop find on Saturday morning , I love this pattern............

 I  am pleased with how my Welsh dresser looks. It's so me, if you know what I mean.
 It's crochet, flowers, nature illustrations and cute creatures..........I LOVE it and I'm feeling inspired to do something similar for Summer :0)

Later on Saturday we had a little outing to a magnificent country house.....but that deserves it's own post....

I hope you lovelies have had a good weekend. And those of you that are in the U.K. have enjoyed the exceptionally mild and sunny weather today.........it's been such a wonderful treat.

Jacquie x

Bunny Mummy in Print and a Giveaway

Hello Lovelies, 

Yesterday issue 16 of "Simply Crochet" magazine came out in the shops.

 It was such a thrill to see it on the shelf in Morrisons.....I had to photograph it before I picked up my copy :0)

 And when the chatty checkout lady commented on it and asked if I could crochet I had to smile and share my exciting news ...." ummm, yes I can crochet, and ummmm, actually I have a project published in this magazine" I said, blushing slightly as I pointed out my cowl.
"Oh, well that's something to be proud of" she kindly replied and we got chatting about her daughters knitting.

 My cowl is in  a supplement that accompanies this months issue and I thought it would be small, but no,  it's the same size  as the main magazine............

And look what's inside the cover..........My colourful squares much larger than life............

And yet more beautiful images to accompany the pattern...........

 I'm totally thrilled  with how my little project looks here.

 As well as writing the pattern I answered some questions . I hope Simply Crochet wont mind me sharing this part with you lovelies..........

click on the photo to read it more easily.

In the bloggers supplement there are six lovely projects to crochet.The gorgeous floral clutch bag you can see inside the cover is by  Tanya who blogs HERE

And here are the other four projects

Sweet flower Brooches by Rachel who blogs HERE

A happy Shopper Bag by Jules who blogs HERE

A Chunky Scarf by Rachelle who blogs HERE

and A cute Hat Pincushion by Hannah who blogs HERE

I think they are all lovely projects and I've discovered some wonderful blogs that are new to me.

To celebrate this first ever time I've had anything printed Simply Crochet have kindly offered to send two of my lovely readers ( that's you :0)   ) a free  copy of this issue, and what a treat it is .

In the main magazine there are absolutely loads of projects. 

These are some of my favourites.......  

Sweet Butterflies, I love this photo

 I cute Bunny....I should make this :0)

 Awwwww, adorable

 Such a fun make

and, eeeeek, look at this swoon worthy riot of colour...........

I'm so tempted to start this.

As well as patterns there's wonderful inspiration. It's lovely to see Lucy's column going from strength to strength......... 

If you would like the chance to win a copy simply leave me a comment on this post,

 making sure I can contact you if you win. 

Once I have your address I'll pass it onto the lovely people at Simply Crochet who will mail out your copy directly.

At the weekend I spent  a great couple of hours with some old  friends. One of this group  makes wonderful jewellery from polymer clay. We all sat round another friends dining room table experimenting with this clever product.

While my  friends made brooches and necklaces I played around making handles for some  4mm crochet hooks. They are not perfect but I'm actually pretty pleased with how they turned out for a first attempt.

While a simple metal hook suits me I've seen a lot of these hooks around blogland  and I thought you may like the chance to try one, so I'll send one of these off to each of my winners too.

I'll draw two names out of the hat on Sunday, Good Luck!

Jacquie x

P.S. Simply crochet also have a special subscription offer HERE too if you are interested 

PLEASE NOTE This Give away is now closed....thank you to everyone who entered.

Jacquie x

What A Wonderful Win

Hello Lovelies, 

on Sunday I was lucky enough to win Heather's kind " just because" giveaway.

When ordering one of Katie Daisy's lovely calenders for herself she thoughtfully decided to  purchase an extra one to giveaway on her blog.

Oooooh, isn't it gorgeous! I'm a huge calendar fan. Think it's such a treat to get twelve new images to enjoy thoroughout  the year. They are better than pictures in many ways as they seem to catch my eye more than the images on my walls that remain unchanged.

Heather generously included a sweet treat and an adorable Caroline Rose card. I had the biggest grin on my face when I saw this card as I had swooned over this very image last year when Lucy introduced us to this talented lady..........

Thank you , thank you Heather I'm so thrilled with this adorable calendar ♥♥♥

It even has a page for the last four months of 2013, so I can legitimately start enjoying my lucky win straight away....yipee.

Want to see what the first picture is?
....
oh, go on then
...
ta-dah :0)

eeek, isn't it perfect . 

Such an uplifting phrase beautifully painted with adorable touches like the flowers and leaves, and even some raindrops. The more I look at it the more things I find to love.It's already hanging over my computer so I can  be cheered by this happy, simply charming artwork.

I'll leave you lovelies with a few images of my favourite tree in all it's Autumn glory.......

What a wonderful world indeed.
Jacquie x

New crochet and a GIVEAWAY :0)

Hello lovelies,
I'm excited to have some new crochet to share with you today. But first I'm sharing some pictures of the fabulous flowers that I was lucky enough to be given after my run. These from my lovely sister in law....

And also beautiful roses from Mr BM...

I love flowers but something that makes me equally happy are all your wonderful comments.
 All your support for my crafty and other endeavours means so much that I wanted to do more than just show you pictures of flowers, so I decided to  make something I could give you the chance of winning. But what to make ??
Eventually I settled on  a crochet bowl I had started a few months back.      

I'm not sure why  I never got round to sharing this with you at the time. Probably because I got distracted by another project before I got round to sewing the ends in :0)
Today I've finished it and also made a couple more bowls. 
Slightly brighter colours and different sizes.

Luckily I had written down the pattern when I made that first bowl and today I've taken pictures for a photo tutorial which I'll be posting soon.

So  here are my three crochet bowls, just waiting to go to new homes.........

They are made using  cotton yarn and I held two strands together as I worked. This has created an interesting pattern of colours and also given the bowl strength to maintain its shape.......

The inside is almost as pretty as the outside........

And I'm sure you lovelies could come up with loads of uses for a handy bowl.......

So don't be shy. Even if you don't normally comment , now is a great time to start :0)
Just leave me a comment on this post and make sure I can contact you if you are a winner. There will be three prizes of a bowl each...I'll pop somethings inside too, but that part will have to be a surprise....

These bowls have been inspired by the gorgeousness over at sosorosey. Do have a look at Jennie's wonderful creations...not to mention fabulous vintage fabric.

Having admired her work I decided to have a go at making a bowl in single crochet ( u.s. ) ...trial and quite a bit of error ,eventually led me to a design I'm very happy with.

 If you would like the chance to own a Bunny Mummy original do leave me a comment.
I'll draw the winners at the end of the month........... If you are not lucky enough to win but can crochet remember ,you will be able to make your own version very soon :0) 
Have a great weekend and good luck !
Please feel free to enter where ever you live...I'm happy to post internationally .

Jacquie x

My First Giveaway

Hello Lovelies,
I'm sooooo glad the sun returned today. A few dull,wet days had really got me down.

This is a little worrying as we head into Autumn (how did that happen !).My moods never used to be so linked to the weather.

On Wednesday the rain held off long enough for a meet up with friends I made in anti natal class. Our children played happily together and it was great to catch up with all their news.

I thought it would nice to do a little crochet as we sat on our picnic blankets ,so I packed my hook and yarn along with our picnic.

When it came to getting started I suddenly felt self conscious. I mentioned I had brought my crochet along. One friend made a comment about granny's house and the sound of knitting needles. My crochet stayed firmly in my bag.

It's so different with you lot.I love being creative ,it makes me happy,even on a rainy day.
Being able to share my creations ,with you like minded lovelies makes me extra happy.
Your kind comments really do mean a lot.

So whilst I was on holiday I made a little something to send to one of you,wish I could send you all something really ,but that might take some time!



Here is my finished cushion cover. The colours remind me of heather. Purple,blue,lilac and green.......


There is a cute flower in the centre,pattern from here........



And lilac spotty buttons to close.........



I'm hoping you like her .She was made as a thank you to my special bloggy friends,who understand my crocheting ways.
I also picked up this cute little seaside tin ,whilst on holiday, for you.....



If you would like a chance to give her a home ,please leave me a comment on this post.


In a couple of weeks I'll get one of the boys to pick a name out of the hat.




So don't be shy, now is a great time to start commenting if you haven't before.
Please make sure I can contact you ,in case you win .
Good Luck ,and have a great Bank Holiday if you are in the U.K.

Jacquie x

Holiday Images

We travelled by car...........



Then by ferry.........



Stayed in a lovely Static caravan.............



Which looked like this when we arrived.........



So .....I gave it a makeover......That's better........



We spent sunny days on the various lovely beaches.This is Ventnor ,which is so photogenic.......



The boys did loads of body boarding ............



Made sand sculptures with their cousins.......



On windy days they caught crabs.....big ones.........



and tiny ones.........



On a damp day we travelled on the steam railway...................



Third class was still pretty plush ,with lovely wood and old advertisments.....




During quiet moments I snuggled under GSB did a bit of this.........



We saw loads of vintage vehicles........






All too quickly our week on the beautiful Isle of Wight was over.

The boys brought home these.........



I brought home this........



I have since finished this pretty cushion cover which is part of my giveaway. I havn't got around to taking photos yet ,so pop back later this week for the Ta- dah and more details

Jacquie x