Prettifying

We recently our first ever Wardrobe after nearly 14 years of being together - it meant that we had to re-organise our Bedroom which left a very large blank space on one wall. made word cloud that's full of our favourite places and it's going to be printed a whooping 1189 x 841 mm. I can't wait for it to go up.

Ceramic Painting

For Mothers Day, my Mum wanted to have a go at Ceramic Painting. I found a place near her in Kent called Kippy's, made a booking and on Saturday morning, off we went. I took some drawings as I didn't want to be stuck for ideas and boy was I glad I did as the selection of Bisque Ware was amazing - so hard to choose what I wanted to paint! I could decide if I wanted a Jug, a Bowl or a vase - but then was also a Teapot and a Gingerbread House - oh the decisions!

I opted for a small plate, my Mum went with a Mug and the Boy choose a Canister. Then it was time to paint. The very kind Lady who owns the Cafe went through the method and also gave me some carbon paper so I could trace my drawing onto the plate. There were hot mugs of tea, pretty colours and paint brushes - complete heaven!

I didn't take a picture of the front of my plate but I did take a shot of the back! On the front I went with flowers and two birds in shades of pinks, blues and greys.

The Boy painted a spotty design in Pinks and Blues for our kitchen - it's going to look so lovely in there! He even had enough time to paint a Truck which to be honest was probably more up his street!

My beautiful Mum painted Sunflowers on her Mug. Complete with teeny tiny Sunflowers on the handle and a large Sunflower in the bottom of the Mug. We spent about three and a half hours at Kippy's and I don't think I have ever seen the three of us concentrate so much. I'm so glad Mum choose to do this as it was a lot of fun and I am so looking forward to picking up our items!

Alice and Burlap

The other day I found a single A4 sheet on Inkjet Transfer paper lurking in my crafty supplies stash. This led of all manners of ideas flooding my head, but there as just one that really stuck. We usually have an Easter gathering of friends, food and general merriment. This year I've been thinking about having a little Mad     Hatters Tea Party theme. Therefore some bunting was needed, you just simply can't have merriment without bunting. It's a fact, well at least in this house!

I choose Burlap for this Bunting - I love it and have used it on many projects, it's just so versatile. A bit of cutting, a lot of fray stopper, some faux Bias making and then came the fun bit, the images. I found a site which has so many pretty images to download, called Vintage Digital Stamps. I wanted Alice in Wonderland, but something subtle, no Alice would not be making an appearance. So I chose the Mad Hatter himself, the Rabbit, a Tea Cup, a Teapot, a Fork and Spoon, a Rose and then I made a Drink Me label on Photoshop. The iron came out, the transfers were ironed on!

My Sewing Machine and I have been really quite good friends for a while now - we haven't fallen out in an absolute age! It has taken us many years to get to this stage in our friendship.

Some pining and sewing, then there was bunting. I am quite looking forward to Easter now. Decorating the house with pastel coloured Glass Eggs, Chickens and Rabbits. Hot Cross Bun Eating and the end of Lent when I can eat Chocolate again. Bring on the Mad Hatters (also known as my rather lovely friends!).

Playing with rush

My Sister in Law recently went on a Basket Making and Rush weaving course and she bought back some supplies. We spent some of last week down on the South coast with her so we got the opportunity to learn something new. The Rush got a good soaking in the Bath to make it pliable - which did look quite amusingly strange. We whiled away many hours of one evening weaving and wrapping.

My Husband made a Teacup and my Sister in Law a beautiful bowl. The boy was all about measuring and being precise and worked very neatly as my Sister in Law taught us the ropes. They both used traditional methods of weaving and the results are beautiful.

 I, on the other hand, couldn't work within constraints of instructions! I just had to do my own thing...

I went with wrapping the Rush into a Rustic heart - it took a surprising amount of Rush to complete the heart, but I'm really pleased with it, even if tradition Rush weavers would shudder in horror at my attempt! It was really nice using a natural product to make something and it was amazing how it could be manipulated and worked. I can't wait for the Rush to turn a warm Barley colour and when it's fully dried I am going to hang it in our home. It was a mighty fine way to spend an evening and I am glad that my Sister in Law shared her new found skill.

My Saturday

Today is our first day off from work for a whole nine glorious days. We wanted to take it easy today so spent the day pottering not too far from home. There was lots and lots of Tea - I do love Yorkshire Tea, it's my favourite. I started a new crochet blanket with a very very long foundation chain. It's very exciting starting a new project and I choose the yarn from my embarrassingly extensive stash. I had eight inches chopped from my hair in a nice hairdressers in Reepham - very impulsive, we drove passed, stopped and fortunately they had an appointment then and there. We had lunch in the rather yummy Recruiting Sergeant in Horstead - I went with  the Smoked Salmon Souffle and the Boy went with a Hog Roast Bap. We had a wander around Kerris Farmhouse Pine and Very Nice Things as well as a quick trip to Hobbycraft as the Boy needed some elastic, but I managed to pick up a couple of things too. Snacks after dinner was dried fruit and nuts - I particularly enjoyed the Lime infused Sultanas. Here's to the next eight days being so delightful.

Prettifying Time

We've had a slightly boring Silver Clock in our kitchen for an absolute age, years in fact. I decided that was quite simply was not pretty enough. It still worked fine and I didn't have the heart to just throw it away. So out came my Button box, Burlap, Embroidery Thread, Glue, Scissors, Gold Enamel Paint, an Embroidery Hoop and our Dremel. It was time to make it prettier.

I took apart our Clock and attacked it with power tools to make it fit within the Embroidery Hoop. Then there was some painting, gluing and sewing. There was quite a bit of drying time too. I was so pleased it still worked and that I hadn't broken it pulling it apart. It was also nice to use a some of the Buttons that I had collected over time that were just to precious to use. Pretty Mother or Pearl, textured Shell and Flower Buttons as well as some more simple ones. I just went ahead and used them as we'll keep it for a long time. It's so much prettier than our old clock.

Messing about with paper

I spent some of Sunday afternoon making a small stash of Greeting Cards to be used in the first few months of this year for loved ones. Instead of making a card here and there I'm much better at sitting down and making a few in one go. My main aim was to use us lots of mismatched scraps that I had lying around. Bits and pieces that I just couldn't bear to throughout as I knew they would have a use at some point! I'm a bit of a dithering and often can spend an absolute age trying to work out how to put things together so I had a look on the Internet and came across 2 Sketches 4 You - a lovely template site which really did help with. Add some Ink, Rubber Stamps, Buttons and Flowers and I was off - a very happy afternoon of making.

Kitchen Bunting

Last Year, I was fortunate to win a rather lovely give away from the equally lovely Ada from Vintage Sheet Addict. It was a completely joyful package of Vintage Wallpapers and Vintage Sheet Fat Quarters. The above photo from Ada's Blog shows you the loveliness that was so kindly bestowed.  I pondered for quite from time what do with them as I wanted to make the very best use out of them. Well we live in a Victorian Terraced house and the Kitchen it tiny, like minuscule! So just after Christmas we put a shelving unit in the Kitchen to hold my Baking Supplies and it very much needed prettifying.

Also last year, I bought some wooden bunting wood shapes from Etsy. I knew I would use them but they were stashed away. Well today was the day - out came the wallpaper, wooden bunting and other bits and pieces including my beloved Twine.

Within 15 minutes, it was done and up in the Kitchen. Boy, I love a quick project, sometimes making blankets just seem to take forever and some quick is just the ticket. Thank you Ada for the beautiful give away - it has made a rather dull shelving unit far more beautiful. Gosh I really love love love Floral Bunting.

New Supplies

New Fabric from Patch Fabrics in Lowestoft

Labels - I put one on the Baby Blanket I made my friend. I just thought they were a bit of fun.

New Inks - My Mum and Dad had these when I was growing up. They kept them in a box and I always got really excited when Dad got them out of the cupboard - the boxes completely fascinated me. When my Sister saw them she got equally excited and exclaimed that I have the good inks and then recalled the same story about the box and the cupboard. I love how even craft supplies can evoke such a happy memory. I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with them!

Ric Rac - one can never own enough!

Cute dotty fabric to make Bias Binding for lots and lots of bunting!

Silicone Molds for making pretty Polymer Clay brooches

And finally! A walking foot for my sewing machine - I can finally look to finish the patchwork blankets that I have on the go. They are all in different stages. The first one I started like four years ago and it's badly made - I am going to unpick it all and start again. The next is a Christmas lap blanket - the layers just need sewing together. Then there's a cover for my blanket from when I was a child - the squares are cut, but that's about it. At least I now have the bit to make quilting possible! Hurrah!

Weekending

We've had a rather delightful weekend. It started on Friday night with the Olympic Opening Ceremony. We were invited to a friends house and asked to dress as a Country - above is just a snapshot of the outfits. There was a Barbecue, some drinkies and we watched the ceremony in the outdoor cinema in their garden. There was lots and lots of puddings - almost everyone brought one! We took two homemade Pavlovas - a Summer Berry and Raspberry and Passion Fruit. I enjoyed every moment of the ceremony - it really was quite spectacular. 

On Saturday, we headed to North Norfolk to the Langham Street Fayre. It really is one of my favourite Norfolk events. I love the all the stalls, the food, the entertainment and the atmosphere.

Our first port of call was Yvonne Law's stall who hand casts pewter jewellery and ornaments that are inspired by the flora and fauna of North Norfolk. I love love love her work. We bought two pieces at the last  Fayre in Langham and I was itching to add to our collection.

Outside the Church was the stall of Sea 2 Sea who creates handmade decorative driftwood items. Eventually after a long debate, we settled on a Whale and I love him already!

This stall made me smile - I've never seen so much Licorice!

This guy made us smile too...

We then settle opposite The Bluebell pub and enjoyed the Sea Shanties of The Wild Rovers. I could have listened to them all day. Here's a little clip...

On the way home we stopped at the Norwich Makers Market and purchased some Macaroons - they were absolutely delicious, especially the Lime one! Such pretty colours.

Today, Sunday saw a stay at home day. A new Crochet project was started - a Baby Blanket for a friend whose little one is due in just five weeks - I must get on with this blanket and crochet quick!

There was also a little baking - Chocolate and Hazelnut Cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery book. Dang, these Cupcakes are amazing, completely yummy!

My Sister then came home and had bought us some more Macaroons! Two lots of Macaroons in a weekend - absolutely heavenly!