Monday 31 March 2014

Giveaway Winner

Just a very quick post to say thank you so much to everyone who entered my recent giveaway. Such lovely, lovely comments...I wish I had something to give to everyone.

Anyone, I used the random number generator thingy to choose a winner, and it chose comment number 53...

 

....Jooles from Sew Sweet Violet


Jooles, if you could please get in touch, I will send your parcel out as soon as possible!

 

Thanks again for entering, and for all the sweet comments, you really are a lovely lot.

 

X

 

Friday 28 March 2014

For My Girl

I have become very aware recently that my Miss M is growing up and now she is seven, that she might not want things that her Mummy has made for much longer. So I have decided that while she is still very happy to have things that I have made for her, I am going to completely take advantage of it and make her lots of pretty things!

Like lots of you, I'm sure, I have been completely inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee and I am loving this series so much. I decided that I wanted to make a little summer skirt for Miss M.

So, I had a look around the internet and found this fantastic tutorial from Punkin Patterns here and also this lovely post from Jennifer of Thistlebear, here.

 

And so a little skirt was made....

 

 

And then I appliquéd some hearts onto a little plain white t shirt from Next to match...

 

 

Quite a sweet wee outfit for the summer I think! Miss M likes it very much and she is planning to wear it with some three quarter length white leggings underneath.

 

I adored making this little skirt and the tutorial from Punkin Patterns was wonderful and so easy to follow, even with my very basic sewing skills. In fact, I liked making it so much, that I am going to pop into Remnant Kings while I am in Glasgow this afternoon (I'm going for afternoon tea with friends from University) and purchase more fabric to make a few more skirts for my best girl.

 

Happy weekend everyone!

 

X

 

Thursday 27 March 2014

York

The weekend just gone, we spent a lovely couple of days in York. It is such a lovely city, and one which has been on my 'list' of places to go for a while now.

York is quite a distance away for us, over four hours drive...and although Miss M did utter the words "Are we there yet?!" at least three dozen times, it was worth the long journey...

 

 

We managed to fit quite a lot in during our wee break...the Jorvik Museum, a lovely walk around the City Walls, the Railway Museum, a boat trip and of course a visit to Betty's tearoom. I liked Betty's but G said that everything was too dainty for him...he likes our local cafe with it's mismatched plates, big mugs of coffee and huge slices of cake! Being in Yorkshire, we all thought it essential to have Yorkshire pudding at least once, so we had it for tea here but oh my goodness the portion sizes were enormous! Even G was struggling and he has a very, very healthy appetite!

So a lovely time was had by all! I do so enjoy visiting new places...I also like that I can record our little trips away on my blog to look back on and remember the things we saw and did.

 

Remember there is still plenty of time to enter my giveaway here...

 

Hope everyone is having a great week!

 

X

 

Monday 24 March 2014

A Giveaway!

 

Hello! I have been busy, busy recently and have needed a little blog break as I have had so many other things to do. But, today I am back with a little giveaway...

 

 

I had so many lovely comments about my pink scarf here, that I decided to crochet another one to give away. It is made with Sirdar Ella yarn in shade Stormbird which is a soft blue with a pretty sparkle. It is a lighter scarf, perfect for spring....

 

 

There are also two little brooches, again made by me, one is sewn and the other crocheted. Either would look pretty pinned on a cardigan or jacket...

 

 

And lastly, there is a little coin purse and a pair of sweet rose earrings, both from Cath Kidston....

 

To enter this giveaway you have to do only two things...

 

1. Be a follower of this blog.

2. Leave a comment below, making sure that if you don't have a blog, I am able to contact you via email.

 

And that's it! I will post to anywhere in the world and will announce the winner on my blog, a week today on the 31st March.

 

Good luck!

 

X

Giveaway now closed

Friday 7 March 2014

This Week

 

I have enjoyed cheerful tulips on my kitchen table...

 

 

I took part in a swap with the lovely Hannapat from the blog Cosmos and Cotton. We decided at the end of last year to make each other something for our kitchens. I received a gorgeous parcel from Hannapat this week with the lovely gifts above - two beautiful hand-made pot holders, a pretty vintage tea trio, some fruit and herbal teas and some Cath Kidston soap. I am absolutely delighted with my gifts, thank you so much Hannapat...

 

 

Above are the things I made for Hannapat - a crochet pot holder and a hand appliquéd tea towel. I also gave her a little sign for her kitchen to which I added a little crochet heart. I love doing swaps they are so much fun...

 

 

I have also been preparing for another swap I am taking part in - a handmade brooch swap organised by Jo of Three Stories High...

 

 

I enjoyed spending some time with my lovely mum today and she brought us a batch of chocolate butterfly cakes she had made. Miss M and I certainly enjoyed having one of those each after dinner this evening...

 

I bought the cookbook A Girl Called Jack on Sunday and G and I have already cooked three recipes from it - Chickpea carrot and coriander falafels, Sausage and lentil one-pot dinner and Paddington bear sponge puddings. All were delicious. I plan to have a go at one or two of the breads next. This is a very inspiring cookbook and one which I am sure will be really well used in this house...

 

This week has also been a good week for finishing off crochet projects! I have now finished the daisy blanket and will show it here soon and have started another blanket which is going to be for my Miss M. It is different from any blankets I have made before but I am really enjoying it so far...

 

So that has been my week! I am working all weekend so there will be no time for any cooking, baking or crafting but I have had a pretty good week so I really can't complain.

 

Thank you so much for the lovely comments about my pink scarf! They are very much appreciated...

 

I may not be around much over the next couple of weeks as I will be busy with work and other commitments, but I will be back as soon as I can, hopefully with news of a little giveaway...

 

Happy weekend everyone!

 

X

 

Thursday 6 March 2014

A Pink Scarf

 

Another scarf! I think I am addicted to making scarves but then I do wear one everyday so I tell myself that it's okay to keep making more!

I finished the scarf above on Monday, it was made using the same pattern as my silver/grey scarf here - I love this pattern, it is so easy to do but looks really nice. Again I used Sirdar Ella DK yarn, this time in shade 003 Candy Pink. I am looking for another project using this yarn now because I like using it so much. Maybe not a scarf though!

What have you been crocheting this week? If you would like me to add a link to your post, just leave a little note in the comments below.

Lovely crochet here...

Three Stories High

Jacques, it rhymes with cakes

Chrissie Crafts

Mamas Mercantile

Sweetpea Family

Forgetmenotsblue

Love made my home

Loving Crochet

Heldasland

 

X

 

Sunday 2 March 2014

The Weekend

We have had some mixed weather here this weekend - Saturday was bright and sunny during the day and then we had rain all night. On Sunday morning we had sunshine again but by lunchtime the rain had started and has continued since. G and I were both off today and yesterday, which was nice...it is not very often that neither one of us are working at some point in the weekend. So, we made the most of it....

 

 

On Saturday afternoon we spent some time at a lovely local park. I couldn't believe how many crocuses there were! Just beautiful. The park happens to have a really lovely tea room in the grounds and we stopped in for hot drinks and slices of cake. I had tea (of course) and a rather large slice of Victoria Sponge...

 

 

G left early this morning to spend the day down in the Lake District mountain biking, so Miss M and I had a very relaxed morning. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and spent time reading, drawing and crocheting whilst still in our pyjamas...

 

 

There was also time for some cooking - roast chicken with creme fraiche and herbs (a Lisa Faulkner recipe which I highly recommend, it's delicious) and some simple fairy cakes...

 

 

My Miss M is now tucked up in bed and I have just poured myself a glass of wine. I plan to catch up on last weeks Great British Sewing Bee and to continue with the daisy blanket whilst I wait for G to come home...

 

Hope you have all had a good weekend too?

 

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