Summer Holidays :: part 2

Well today has been so enjoyable ,now I'm worn out !
I decided to take my 3 boys, plus my 2 nieces, out for the day. So this morning saw us spending at enjoyable hour here..........




This was made much more enjoyable for me because I had this .....



Which saved me over £25 ,hurray! It was great, but after an hour of flashing lights and loud pop music ,I, for one, was ready for some fresh air.

So we took our picnic here........



Bliss.

After lunch we walked around the lake, taking our own sweet time ,chatting and noticing nature all around us ,in what is actually a city park.
This lovely sanctuary has looked a little neglected and overgrown in recent years ,but today we noticed many improvements,particularly this lovely waterfall ,which has not worked for years,until now....


Also these fun stepping stones...........




There were baby ducklings which the children decided to name...meet Rosie and Jim....


One of my boys actually took this picture ...I was impressed.



The flower borders were also very pretty........




Yes we all had a great time ...and the cost? nothing,except a bit of diesel. Frugal queen would be proud of me.Check out her great blog Here.

Can I also recommend another frugal blog, new dress a day,what this girl can do with a $1 thrifted dress is truly Amazing!
Hope your week is going well.
Jacquie x

Summer Holidays :: part 1

Hello Lovelies,
Ooooh it's been 12 days since my last post .Not sure how that happened.
Well ,I suppose three boys may have something to do with it !

School holidays are definitely in full swing ,meaning I seem to have very little time to myself,but it's all good.

I'm writing this post whilst the little people sleep as it's the only time I can get near the computer.

When we are at home they are drawn to it like a magnet.Which I'm not that keen on.Not only because I can't update my blog ,but also because I'd rather they played outside,or used their imagination like I used to when I was their age.

So,consequently we have been spending a lot of time at the park,or swimming ,or with friends.

I've been feeling the need to get a bit more active myself lately,unfortunately crochet and blogging don't count as exercise! (bummer)
So I'm giving running a try.I found an eight week training plan to run 5k online ,which is pinned on my fridge.....



It's still early days ,week 3,but I think I'm getting a bit better. The boys come along on scooters ,or bikes ,so they are benefiting too.

We have also invested in a tent. I'm a little unsure about camping,but I think it's another good way to get the boys away from screens.

Here is our new purchase ,seems to take up most of the garden......



Looks quite cosy inside......


Nice place for a spot of crochet......


Luckily GSB is long enough to keep my legs warm....



Here's Mr BM trying out the "stove"...



We slept in it, in the garden last week ,went OK actually.The boys loved it. So now I suppose we have got to go away somewhere with it ,gulp. I may need a little while to psych myself up for that bit !

I'll leave you with a colourful floral fix ,pictures taken in my garden today....






Thankyou for all your comments on my last post. Blogland is so special,hopefully I'll get chance for another installment fairly soon.
Jacquie x

Schools out for summer

Yay, school holidays are here at last.My three have been ready to break up for weeks now.
We've had such good weather whilst they were at school it makes me think the holidays should start sooner to take advantage of the longest days ,when it's hard to get them to come in and go to bed anyway.
Having said that I do think six weeks off is enough ,so I suppose I can't have it both ways.

We got all the flower brooch cards finished last night .I made 7 flowers in total.The one we gave last week and a further 6 today as I didn't want to miss out teaching assistants and other helpers. This is what they looked like.........

Hopefully they will like them. Making things for people is always a lot of a gamble.
Last year I made a really nice peg bag for a good friend.I wish I had taken a photo of it. It was in a pretty floral fabric with pink gingham lining,ric-rac trim and a crochet flower.
Last week I was visiting her house and saw it on the washing line, it had obviously been left out all winter and was now a faded grey mess !
I was a little hurt ,I must admit ,but I suppose that's going to happen sometimes.

One of the flowers is a poppy....



I made up this pattern myself as I couldn't find one I liked online.
It is for the lovely teacher of my youngest. She organises a remembrance day service each November for the childern to take part in.So moving ! I'm filling up now,thinking about it.

Oh dear,didn't mean this to be a depressing post !!I'm shattered after a stressful day at work.
I'll feel soooo much better after a lie in tomorrow :0)
Jacquie x

Teacher Prezzies

Hello,
back in April I made some crochet flowers from a pattern I found here.
I thought they would make a nice brooch .
So, now the end of term is 4 days away ,I'm busy making more of them for teacher prezzies.
Here's one we actually gave on Friday, as it was one teachers last day...



We attached it to a card ,which the boys decorated and wrote a message inside.

I was really pleased with this one, and I'll share what the rest of them turn out like next week.

In the mean time I thought you might like the instructions on how to make the flower into a brooch,so here goes.

To start with I added a fabric covered button to the centre. I bought these two part buttons which are designed to be covered........



The instructions say to catch the fabric on the spikes .....



but I found this nearly impossible so, after much bad language ,it dawned on me I could just gather the fabric with a running thread.....



And draw it up ....



then add the back...



Voila .....



This is then sewn in place from the back.....



Because this flower is concave on the back I cut out two circles of felt so I could add some padding .....



I then sewed a brooch back to one of the circles before sewing them together with blanket stitch,stopping three quarters of the way round to allow stuffing....




Once lightly stuffed you end up with this...



Which you place into the recess in the back of the flower and sew in place...




And that's about it.

Had anyone wondered about the blue polka dot fabric in the background of this little tutorial?




Well here's what it belongs to....



My new AL-fresco crochet chair!


Here's my bag ,modeling the Flower brooch for you....



Ooohh ,I LOVE this image !! Ploka dots,crochet stripes and flower, all looking so pretty on a sunny day, with my beloved garden in the back ground .

Hope you're having a relaxing weekend.
Jacquie x
P.S. my chair is from The Range x

Todays Photos

Hello, I must say a BIG THANK YOU for all your lovely comments about my bag.It made my day,you lot are so kind!

Today was busy in the BM household,but I managed to sneak a few minutes to capture gorgeous things that caught my eye.
I always carry my little Cannon IXUS with me and I think it's a pretty amazing camera.
It's soooo nice to be able to take great macro shots like these taken in my garden this afternoon...........





My sea holly is a magnet for the bees at the moment,and they are so busy they don't even seem to notice my camera only a couple of inches away...........







Then ,this evening , I managed to capture a beautiful sunset .These images were taken from a moving car at about 9 pm..........





It seems so odd to think less than a decade ago I was using film,to take 24 photos and I then had to wait days to see the results!

Night Night
Jacquie x

Summer Stripe Handbag

Hello,
let's talk handbags.Not your designer type I'm afraid,they're not really me.
This was my winter handbag.......


I found this crochet beauty in a charity shop and I love it's colourful stripes.The gorgeous Russian doll keyring can be found here.

It's not very big ,which is just fine in winter,but come summer and family days out a larger bag is required.It also needs to be sturdy,as it gets a lot of wear and tear,carrying heavy drinks,lotions and miscellaneous junk the boys pick up!
This is the bag I've been using for the past couple of summers....




It's very practical,big enough,lined,it's got an inner pocket and a zip for security.But it must be said it is looking a little shabby and I am bored with it...



So I decided to give it a crochet make over. I made a chain just a little narrower than the width of my bag( because I wanted to make sure the cover wasn't too baggy)......


Then did a half double crochet( U.S.term) in each chain.3 HDC in the last chain,and 1HDC in the opposite side of the chains ,back to the other end.2 further HDC in last chain.Slip stitch to join.This is the base of the cover.



Then its just chain 2 ( counts as first HDC)and HDC in each HDC of previous row.Slip stitch to join at end of row. I made my stripes varying widths to add interest.
Here it is at the park on Sunday....


Once it was deep enough I simply slipped my bag inside the cover and sewed it to the top edge.
And here's the finished result.........



That's better! I know it's a sort of a cheat,making a cover for a ready made bag .But this way I get a sturdy bag which looks pretty. I didn't go out and buy any yarn.I used cotton and some crepe from my stash,and my old bag gets a new lease of life.Here it is being modeled so you can get an idea of size.....




Right,I'm off the the shop with my new bag to test it out... Any excuse !!
See you soon
Jacquie x