VINTAGE GIRL

A moment to blog!

2011-10-21T13:49:00.000+01:00

Hello! I am finally sat here at my laptop with a few minutes to blog! at last!! we have all been struck down by the most horrible of bugs these past two weeks yuk! To make matters worse we always seem to catch it individually so as one of us recovers the next one falls ill! I can honestly say I am thrilled to be sat here feeling completely recovered and more importantly so are the kiddies. I don't know about the rest of you lovely mums with kids at school, but I am feeling a little run down with the amount of homework and afterschool activities of late! I have a wonderful supportive husband, but, he works shifts and is rarely home at nights or weekends which has it's downsides regarding the kids. It also causes lots of stressful planning as we have one car, which is necessary as we live far away from schools, nursery, ballet, Music etc etc!! as a result I have to plan every little outing and activity down to the last minute which is really stressful! Not to mention I am totally responsible for making sure eldest is at all her classes as she has two exams in ballet and music! I don't like to sound like a whinging old so and so but sometimes when you are ill it gets a little trying!! I spent the best part of the weekend helping my eldest to do her homework, she had to give a one minute talk on any astronaut or cosmonaut along with some pictures. I thought "Oh that's not too bad, should only take a couple of hours to research someone and print off some pictures" how wrong was I!! Eldest decided she wanted to talk about the first American woman in space "Sally Ride" great I said easier to say than a Russian name. "Yes but mummy I also want to make a model of the Space Shuttle she flew her missions on the "Challenger", maybe out of paper Mache? "Um, ok" I said, realising this was Sunday Morning and paper mache takes an age to dry and then has to be painted, I could see my Sunday disappearing before my eyes, and I still had to amuse little one too! Well as expected I was up till way past my bedtime, drying paper mache with a hairdryer, it was promptly painted on Monday by eldest thank goodness it was an Inset training day yippee!! and was all ready to take to school on Tuesday. Eldest came out of school in the afternoon beaming with an array of head teacher award stickers and proudly told me "Mummy, my homework is famous!! I have had to take it around the whole school to show everyone, can you believe that Mummy?" well my eyes welled up right there and then, I was so pleased for her, and I felt a little guilty for all my grumbling on the Sunday evening to myself, I would remember that all these days and nights when I feel like I am really fed up with all of this running about, doing spellings, watching pirouettes, and practicing brownie badges, that these are cherished moments when I can be a part of my wonderful daughters life!

Also over the weekend eldest had to perform ballet in our local church to raise money for the "Babe Childrens Hospice Appeal" I am afraid my photos are very dark.

I have been knitting away when I can for a xmas swap but cannot show any of them for obvious reasons, I did however knit a few Autumnal bits and bobs to put on my Mantle piece, I like to display seasonal things around the house. Just need to get some nice Autumn candles to display in holders!

I also made a little felt leaf garland to drape along the shelf. Well I must dash, I have been requested by my youngest to knit a pumpkin hat for her Baby Annabell doll!! yikes it never ends. Have a wonderful weekend. x

Knitting and Halloween Make

2011-10-05T18:31:00.000+01:00

Hasn't the weather turned! I have to say I prefer this weather strange as I am! I really don't get on with the heat especially at night-time so I am very happy to see temperatures back to normal.
I am still working away on my de-cluttering of my home and am making great progress, the only down side is everything I set aside to get rid of, is then picked up by my girls because they don't want me to get rid of it! I'm talking about bits of plastic rubbish that has no home and once belonged to a toy of theirs that no longer works! I have resorted to hiding the black bags of rubbish and slinging them out when they are both in bed.

On a creating side I have knitted up two little hand puppets for the Operation Christmas Appeal that Annie is taking part in.

It's a fantastic appeal which I am sure many of you already know about, we usually send a box from each of girls which I make them pay for out of their pocket money, as I believe it is important that they understand the cost of these gifts and how so little can make a child who is not so lucky as them be so grateful. This year Operation Christmas is asking people to donate knitted items if they can, there is a link on their site that directs you to some sweet patterns. I knitted a clown hand puppet and a Pink Bear although I think he looks more like a cat!

On to my Halloween Make, I found this amazing seller on etsy that sells primitive tutorials for all sorts of goodies and one of them was for this amazing looking Witches Spell Book.

I am really pleased with how it turned out, it really does look like an old worn book. I am going to display it on my mantelpiece nearer Halloween with a few other spooky trinkets. Well I'm off now to listen to some Recorder Practice! Lisa xx

The Playhouse.

2011-09-30T14:16:00.001+01:00

Hello to all you lovely people! I sincerely hope you are all enjoying this beautiful sunshine! we are so blessed to have this warm treat. I wanted to say a really huge thank you to all the wonderful people that take the time to leave such thoughtful comments on this little blog of mine. It means the world to me to know that there are such kind people out there who make time to leave a comment of kindness on my posts, thank you all so much!

Well as I have mentioned earlier in the week I have been on a mission to declutter my home yikes! I decided yesterday to make the most of the sunshine and sort out the little playhouse at the bottom of out garden. We love love love this house especially youngest, and the added bonus is that she can now put all her housey themed toys inside and pretend to be a proper little mummy! We had been searching for an age to purchase a playhouse for the girls but boy oh boy they were way too expensive for us to afford, especially to get a decent sized one. I kept on checking the local papers, ebay etc to find a second hand one and back in July this one came up in our local Trade it and it was ours for £80.00 which I think was a bargain!
I have lots of ideas for this little house including making a shop area in it, but for now it is tided and everything is in it's place ready for little one when she returns from Nursery.

I have also managed to finally finish my knitted advent toys and decorate the box, all I need to do now is put away in the loft as the girls are constantly taking them out and hanging them around the house!lol.

And I have started a crochet project for the festive season, can you guess what they are going to be?

Well must dash I have two scrummy girls to collect and drop to ballet exam practice and what not! I am sooo busy at the moment with school and after school events its manic but I suppose at least I never get bored. Have a wonderful weekend! xx

Decluttering week!

2011-09-26T13:49:00.000+01:00

Hello all! I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front this last week, as I have signed up to the flylady cleaning site, and my duster and de-cluttering have been working in overtime! I'm sure like many Mums out there I struggle to keep on top of everything to do with the house and partake far too frequently in my little crafting bug!
I have cleaned like a demon and have got rid of so much clutter that I am now in a position to see what really needs to be done etc. The girls share a bedroom and they have sooooo much stuff that despite my best efforts their room is always going to look cluttered but to be honest I like them having their things out and it is especially important that the little one is able to access her million toys!
My eldest loves reading which is fab, but she reads so quickly that we struggle to keep her in books, my lovely Mum always picks up old Enid Blyton books from the Car boot sales which is a massive help, but as a result her book shelves are full to the brim! I thought about giving some away but because little one will be starting school next year it seems a shame not to keep them for her.

I decided to venture down to Ikea to look for some storage soulutions for this problem and having seen this brill idea on Pintrest I was dying to give it a go!

Basically its a spice rack for a couple of quid that is perfect for putting my eldest current books in to read, the girls have bunk beds so there really is no where for eldest to keep her book when she wants to go to sleep, I often find them under the quilt! I think this is a fab idea, it holds several books and is great for younger ones who rely on seeing the pictures on the front of the book to choose.

Eldest is thrilled as now she can read with her heart light on and not disturb the little one below! Well time to fly! I have much more decluttering to do in my flyzone LOL! I did however sneakily find time to make some yummy cupcakes though! Have a lovely Monday xx

New Dolly Wardrobe

2011-09-20T11:35:00.000+01:00

My youngest is absolutely mad about Baby Annabell dolls and for her birthday we decided to buy her a wardrobe for her baby doll! We had a lots of dolls clothes from when my eldest was into dolls so we have been lucky with the expense side of things. I have purchased Baby Annabell outfits and they are soooo expensive and the majority of the clothes are pink so it seems like you have a lot of the same outfits really.

I have so much acrylic wool hanging about my house which I needed to use up so I decided to knit some outfits to go with the wardrobe, it also gave me a chance to make some clothes in different colours!

Little one was thrilled with her gift and now finds it much easier to find clothes for her baby! she takes great care deciding what to dress her in and now everything is finally in one place which makes tidying up much easier yippee!The added bonus is the cost probably about £7.00 to buy the wool, which is a fraction of the price of one outfit in the toy shop. I would love to hear what you think of them? Have a wonderful Monday! xx

A cosy weekend of knitting and snuffles!

2011-09-17T12:24:00.000+01:00

Good Morning to you all! as my title states this weekend I am relegated to the sofa with my lemsip boo hoo! and the lovely company of my two girls for a wool fest! Yippee!! I have been feeling rotten these last two days, whenever school term starts I seem to fall victim to any bug there is, fortunately the girls are unaffected so far so I am happy to feel rotten on my own.

Hubby is working all weekend and the weather forecast is pretty dire so we have decided to have a crafty day! My eldest received a very lovely knitting kit for Christmas and has mastered the art of knitting at last! it was hard work but she is now at the stage where I only need to help if she drops a stitch or makes a few too many! She has been watching me knit since she was old enough to notice and has always loved creating so I am more than happy to encourage and help her. I always wished I could knit and crochet when I was a child but my Mum was working full-time and she had 5 girls so in fairness I think it would of been a bit stressful!

Whilst reading all the lovely blogs out there I heard about a book by Jane Bull called "Made by Me". Its a fantastic book for girls who love creating and covers everything from knitting, sewing, embroidery etc. There are some fantastic projects in the book which would make lovely gifts for teachers etc. Here is a photo of the knitted owl eldest is working on.

On to my knitting and I have finally finished knitting all 25 of the little Christmas tree decorations I posted about earlier in the week.

there is a Polar Bear, Pear, Tangerine, Snowman, Angel, Bobble Hat, Marzipan Pig, Apple, Toadstools & Drum.

Also a Woven Heart, Penguin, Straw Reindeer, Bugle, Pair of Mittens, Gingerbread Snowflake, Holly Bauble, & Candy Cane Heart.

And finally an Elf, Gingerbread Heart, Father Christmas,Sugared Plum, Mistletoe Bauble, Pair of Bells and a cute little Sugar Mouse.

My favourite would have to be the polar bear he actually looks like a polar bear!

Apologies for the terrible quality of photos I am still figuring out how to use properly!

This was a highly enjoyable project although did take too long but that was down to me! Hope you enjoyed seeing it!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Lisa xx

Another project almost there!

2011-09-15T09:25:00.000+01:00

Morning all! I awoke this morning to glorious sunshine! after the last few days of gales and rain it was a wonderful feeling, added to that a chance to get all my washing on the line at last.
As I have mentioned before I am determined to complete ALL my unfinished projects before starting the huge list of what I really want to make, so the last few days I have been frantically knitting away little decorations from this pattern.

It is from http://www.alandart.co.uk/products/product/53
I have had this pattern since early last year! and have been dipping in and out of it for an age! I finally finished the last decoration a polar bear yesterday and just have to attach cords to all 25 of them and decorate the box. Alan Dart patterns have a cult following over on Ravelery and command a small fortune on ebay which I personally would never pay! I highly recommend theses patterns for any knitters out there that are looking for a small project that can be completed in a few days. If you can knit and purl increase and decrease you will have no difficulty with these patterns. I hope to post a Ta-Dah picture later this week when I have completed the finishing touches! Hope you all have a wonderful day.

A Finished Project at last!

2011-09-12T19:22:00.000+01:00

Well I can hardly believe it! I have finally finished this little Amigurumi crochet Nativity. I started this project last Autumn thinking it would be a quick little project but as usual I got rather distracted with other things to do and make! so it sat looking rather neglected in the bottom of my knitting bag until I finally decided I could leave it no longer. I bought the pattern from ebay but I know you can purchase from www.gourmetcrochet.com they do lovely little designs and they are really quite easy to do if you can do a single crochet etc. I have had a job keeping out of my little ones hands as she wants to play with it now but I have convinced her that it is for Christmas and she seems content to wait, especially as she asked whether Santa would be watching! bless her!

We spent a wonderful afternoon on Sunday celebrating little ones Birthday at Build a Bear, we had arranged a party as my eldest had one in July and it was a great success! Mia had the best time ever and told me she wants to celebrate every birthday there from now on! yikes! not sure about that. I cannot recommend them highly enough the staff are brilliant with the children and really make the Birthday Girl/Boy feel special, they put Mia up on the counter and invited the entire shop of customers to sing happy birthday to her! she was so delighted and so was I. xxx

Autumnal Welcome

2011-09-09T18:43:00.000+01:00

Today was the first day I felt like it was time to sort out my display area near the patio doors. I like to have a seasonal display there throughout the year as we can see it from the comfort of our sofa and it gives the girls an extra area to display all there little treasures they have collected on our walks through the local park.

I saw that good old Lidl had some Heathers and Chrysanthemum's on offer last week so off I dashed to grab a few before they flew out the store. My chrysanthemums are looking a bit sorry for themselves at the moment but I am hopeful that they will recover!

I have also set myself a challenge of completing a crochet project that I started last year, hopefully in time for this Christmas!

I am nearly there and hope to reveal it next week. I don't want to think about christmas but if I don't finish these projects now they will be waiting in my basket forever and a day!
I must say I feel slightly strange speaking to this blog of mine after all this time but I am sure I will get into the swing of things soon. Have a wonderful weekend! xx

a sheepish return to blogging!

2011-09-09T10:05:00.001+01:00

As my title states I am attempting to return to this very little blog of mine which brought me many hours of pleasure and at times feelings of guilt! I have for a long time now continued to drop in and out of blog world and wished that I could muster up the creativity to write a few lines but for so many reasons I felt I could not. I really do not wish to dwell on the whys and if's of my muddled head suffice to say that I am back! and rearing to go.

I love love love this time of year! Autumn for me reminds me of all the festivities I loved as a child and still do, returning to a new year at school, the beautiful changes in the climate well beautiful to me anyhow, conkers, glorious coloured leaves, bonfire smoke in the air! My two girls have definitely inherited my love of all things Autumnal and especially love Halloween!. I love to decorate my house for Halloween and have had many a goulish party in honour of the Day! This year I have started to make a few things for my Halloween/Autumn mantelpiece and have just finished a couple of Primitive style rag dolls. One is a rather lovely Witch named Betty! of all names and the other is "Cooper" the scarecrow.

I thoroughly enjoyed making these two little dolls, it was rather nice to work with fabric and lovely smelling spices for a change as I usually knit or crochet. As usual my head is full to bursting with ideas and I suspect I will be frantically finished things the night before Halloween as I always commit to too many makes! But that is the way my muddled mind works lol! My two girls are now back at school and the youngest has just started Nursery and celebrated her 4th Birthday on the same day! she is the oldest in her Nursery but also the smallest which is quite funny.

I have arranged a Build a Bear Party for her this weekend! another bear for each of the girls and no room on their beds to fit them all!!! well I shall sign off for now as I am sure to ramble on and on. xx

Another lovely Swap!

2010-05-14T15:19:00.012+01:00

Hello all just wanted to let you all see the lovely things I received from Sophie over at Chez Sophie for the "Good enough to eat" swap organised by Emma.

A lovely box full of delicious treats such as some strawberry shower gel, lip balm and body butter, this really does smell good enough to eat! all inside a cute little handmade bag with strawberries all over it.

A beautifully made pin cushion and tissue holder.

A notebook and a little cupcake bookmark.

A cupcake plate.

And also a lovely handmade scented strawberry and some fairtrade chocolate. All beautifully presented in a box with strawberries on the front as well. Sophie gave me a recipe for some vanilla cupcakes which I will attempt to make this weekend with my two girls! Thank you so much Sophie for this lovely parcel I had so much fun taking part in this swap! Hope you like your parcel as much! Big thank you also to Emma for organising this swap. Have a lovely weekend! Lisa x

Spring/Easter Swap

2010-05-10T11:55:00.007+01:00

Hello all!
just wanted to share with you the wonderful goodies I received for the Spring/Easter Swap organised by Molly Cupcakes. Pixie from Farie Nuff was my swap partner and here is what she sent me:
A Beautiful picture of a Tilda Style Scarecrow which I love love love!

Some Sweet Pea and Sunflower seeds, along with some Tilda Bookmarks.

Some Tida Seed packets to store any seeds I have left over, a really clever idea!

A lovely scented cushion with my favourite flower faires on!

A gorgeous wall plaque which will be taking pride of place on my kitchen wall.

There was also a box of choccies but as usual my children got them first! before I had a chance to take a photo, all these lovelys were beautifully wrapped and I so wanted to take a photo but with two very excited children drooling over my pressies it was a case of opening as fast as possible before they got in first! Thanks so much to Pixie she is such a talented lady and I hope she likes her goodies too!
Bye for now. xxx

My Bike adventure

2010-04-17T11:11:00.002+01:00

Hello all! just a quick post today, I wanted to mention my little jaunt on the Bristol to Bath Cycle path on Thursday. I had a wonderful day although as usual forgot my camera so no pics to accompany this post! I did quite well and managed to cycle 11 miles which for me is amazing! More impressive to me though, was my 7 year old who has only been riding a bike for a few months who left me behind and did the whole journey with ease! I was sat on my bike thinking "How did that happen?" You see in my mind I am the same person I was 20 years ago still able to do all the things I did then with ease, and now, I find I can't actually do all those things so well! How ridiculous is that! Well I am determined to address this imbalance and sort myself out! My husband told me not to be so stupid! and accept the fact that I am hitting the big 40 this year, so things are bound to slow down! He is a so and so! he loves to wind me up about things like this lol. I did despite my little trip down memory lane really enjoy the ride and can't wait to go back again! Hopefully next time I will be able to see my daughter in the distance rather then having to yell out loud for her to stop hoping my voice carries on the wind! he he! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Lisa x

My New Best Friend

2010-04-12T16:25:00.008+01:00

Hello all, hope the sunshine is still shining where ever you are! Fingers crossed the weather will continue to be so lovely for the remaining half term holidays! I have just received a very special baby blue bike! I have been wanting to get back on a bike for too many years and kept finding reasons why it would never work in our family. My good fortune a lady knocked on my door about 1 month ago doing a survey for BetterByBike she wanted to know my general feelings on Bikes and whether I rode or not. Anyway to cut a long story short, she was offering the use of a free bike for 6 weeks in return for me getting out and recording my journey! Well I jumped at the chance as this was a good way for me to give it a go and see if I could actually revert to using a bike instead of car all the time. I have had the bike for a few days now and am loving it, I know the weather has helped, I am not so sure I would love it so much in the rain and wind, but, nonetheless I have been out and about with my eldest daughter and we have had loads of fun. My husband is going to fit a toddler chair on the bike for me so I can take the little one out as well,I just hope I am fit enough to cycle with her on board too! Hopefully if the weather stays good we are off to cycle on the Bristol and Bath Railway Path later in the week, so wish me luck! and I will inform you of my little journey later on in the week.

Sunshine hurray!!

2010-04-08T17:22:00.008+01:00

Hello! hope you have all been enjoying this lovely sunshine we have been blessed with in the West today? On days like this you just have to get out and make the most of the glorious sunshine don't you? I needed to stay close to home today so decided to take the girls to our local city farm it's a fantastic place to go with kids and they have the most amazing allotments which I am so desperate to have! Unfortunately there is no chance of getting an allotment here, the waiting lists have actually closed because they are so big!
We had a great time and the girls loved meeting all the animals. Liliana loves the goats and here she is with "Billy" the most gentle goat who just loves being tickled under his chin!

I have tried to capture some of the allotments in the photo but I am not great at photography as you can see! lol
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we saw the cutest little squirrel who was completely at ease with my screeching children.

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We all enjoyed the trip immensely and will definitely be going back soon.

On a creative note I finally finished the little mouse project which I mentioned in my earlier post, she now has a little matchbox to sleep in and will handed over to my Niece for her birthday tomorrow.

Another little project that I have finished is making some soft fabric dolls for my girls I had the tutorial for some time and wanted to make them awhile ago but never got round to it.

They didn't take too long to make and have gone down really well with the girls. Only problem is I have already had my sister hinting at how her two would love them, so I suspect I shall be making more! he he. Well that's about all for now, have a lovely evening! Lisa x

The Tale of a Little Handmade Mouse.

2010-04-06T10:21:00.021+01:00

Hello to you all, I hope you all had a lovely Easter Weekend! we certainly did and despite the bad weather forecast there was some spring like sunshine about for awhile at least!

I have been trying to complete a little craft project that I have had on my mind for some time now. My eldest daughter received a lovely gift at Christmas from the Danish company "Maileg" a baby mouse inside a matchbox complete with a pillow, mattress and blanket! It is so adorable and has proved very popular with all my nieces who come to play! I decided to try and make something similar to give to one of my Nieces for her birthday this week.

I found a free pattern for a little knitted mouse on Ravelery.Com you just have to sign up and search for "Marisol Mouse" if you would like the pattern. It was really quick and easy to knit up and made use of various bits of wool that were lying unused in my chaotic wool basket. Here she is:

Next up I needed a small box for the matchbox, I found this cardboard box with lid in HobbyCraft and it only cost 75p!

Then some bedding made out of some leftover Cath Kidston fabric scraps. I embroidered my Nieces name on the pillow

Finally a cosy pink knitted blanket.

I intend to cover the box with a photocopied image of an original matchbox and glue some fine grade sandpaper on one side to make it look more like a matchbox. I think my Niece will like her gift judging by the ongoing arguments of my two girls as to who should have little mouse! I for one shall be sad to see her leave, but I know she will be well loved. Lisa x

Happy Easter to All!

2010-04-04T13:49:00.005+01:00

Well Easter is here and I can honestly say I was not ready for it this year! As usual all my plans for a well planned and organised time have gone astray and I find myself wishing I had sorted things out sooner! Despite my worries the girls seem very happy with things so maybe I need to follow their lead and be happy with chaos! I always have an Easter tree and have visions of a beautifully decorated tree full of pretty eggs etc but, as all you Mums know with small children or big come to that decorating pretty things cannot be done without their input! So I gave in ( which is hard for me as I like everything to be just so) and let the little one decorate the tree.
You will notice how all the eggs are very creatively loaded on one branch! he he!! I gave lots of encouragement and she loved doing it!

As soon as the girls were in bed I managed to tidy it up a bit, and they did not notice this morning so all is good.
They have like most children had lots and lots of chocolate eggs, me and hubby had decided that a small egg from us and a little handmade gift would be enough from us as they get so much chocolate that I don't think they really appreciate it.

I decided to make a little crochet bag with a rabbit on the front for little Mia, it was really quick to make and used up some wool that would of just sat in the wool pile for an eternity! I also made a knitted egg with a chick inside it for Liliana which she is over the moon with! again made with wool that I had no use for.

All in all I am quite pleased with these little makes as they seem to have brought more joy to the girls than the huge amounts of chocolate! well that's all for now, hope you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend whatever you do! Lisa xxx

The Tilda Swap

2010-04-02T10:06:00.010+01:00

Well after far to long away from this very unloved blog of mine I return to show you all a wonderful parcel of beautiful goodies I have received from the talented Winnibriggs. This Tilda Swap was organised by another very talented lady over at Fairenuff.
A huge box was delivered by the Postie and I when I saw it I gasped "It's Huge!" I sat myself at the dining table the only place to put such a big box and when I opened it this is the visual treat that met my eyes!

Everything has been wrapped beautifully, and even the tags and stationary have the Tilda Angel on them! So Pretty!! Inside this lovely wrapping come surprise after surprise.

A covered notebook with an embroidered rose on the front. This has been hidden away from my eldest daughter as she swooned when she saw it!

A really useful eye mask, with the lovely embroidered rose on it.

How lovely are these? Bookmarks for a family of avid Bookworms like us. These will be used by all! Look and see how Jenny has even made these with the Tilda Angel on them, she really is so talented!

A lovely Mug which is so pretty! kindly filled with little chocolate eggs, which have been duly consumed by the little people of the house!

The most stunning angel! she is so well made and puts my sewing skills to shame! I love her so much and can't stop grinning when I look at her. The little people are deciding what to call her at the moment, Little Mia has decided the rather obvious "Dolly" as to her she is a dolly bless her! and Liliana has so many names she can't decide which sums her up really! lol.

some really cute cake cases, always need these especially with Easter chocolate nests to be made.

Well folks I hoped you enjoyed seeing all the wonderful goodies I received! I must say a huge thank you to Jenny she has been so generous and the time and effort she put into these lovely gifts must have been enormous! xxx

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T13:02:00.002Z

Hello all! I am just totally embarrassed to show my face after such a long time, but couldn't not wish all the lovely bloggers I've met over time a very very happy Christmas! Will try to get back in touch with you all in the New Year! Lots and Lots of Love Lisa xxxx

Glorious Half Term and Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-06-01T16:00:00.009+01:00

Well ladies where to start with this past week! It's been full of sunshine,

bunting,

bouncing on girls new trampoline,

far too many barbecues and generally wonderful summery ways to spend a day!

I hope you have all had a wonderful half term break too! After having all this wonderful fun it was rather lovely to end of the fun with my birthday! I have been really lucky and received some Lovely Cath Kidston goodies, cards and some money which I have already mentally spent! he he! anyway enough of my chattering here are some photos of my lovely pressies! Speak soon! Lisax

Oh I also received a candle making kit, which I thought might make a rather boring photo, so I will have to wait until I have made one before taking photo, wish me luck!

An eventful Bank Holiday!

2009-05-26T10:19:00.002+01:00

Hello to all, hope you all had a lovely sunny Bank Holiday! We had a few glorious days of sunshine that made one feel that spring was finally here! Saturday was my sister's 40th birthday and she was having a barbecue to celebrate. We all had a wonderful time, until Little one fell off the steps of a rather large slide! She had a really big bump on the front of her head! Now I don't know if any of you remember me mentioning before, but for those who don't, My little one has absolutely no fear! she has been really agile and physically able since she was 9months old! To say that I am run ragged with her is an understatement. No matter how vigilant I am in watching her and trying to keep her safe , she is always one step from serious injury. I was absolutely terrified when I saw the bump on her head which was quite large and blue! she was not even crying which I could not believe, anyway I rushed her off to the A&E department, feeling like a total inadequate mother once again for allowing her to come to harm, because you do blame yourself don't you? I was amazed to find the casualty waiting room full of children of varying ages with different injury's including another two little ones like mine with bumps to the head! Anyway she was seen really quickly and doctors were happy that it was just a bump and no serious damage had been done, which was a relief! I think it was obvious to all that she is an active toddler, because she managed to escape the doctors clutches and make a run for the opening doors where the ambulance bay is! I think the doctor could see she is very quick and has absolutely no sense what so ever, he was looking at me half laughing and half pitying! this look I am well used too I have to say, I have been receiving this look of disbelief for a long time now, usually from Mums at our toddler group who have lovely quite babies that sit on Mummy's lap and are happy to be there! My little one is just not that way inclined, she wants to explore at all costs and to be honest even though it's hard work keeping up with her, I glad she is like that because that's her character isn't it and I can't expect her to be anything other than what she is now can I. I have to say as I am writing this post I am laughing and worried at the same time, I think that will always be the way with my little explorer, she brings me great joy but also great worry, but I love her to bits! Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Lisaxxx

A bargain on ebay and a makeover is needed!

2009-05-20T08:40:00.004+01:00

Hi there ladies, hope you are all having a lovely week! I have to say I am a little disheartened today after having a rather disappointing result on ebay with my brooches I showed you yesterday. I managed to sell one, and was offered ridiculous money by one buyer to buy all five without additional postage. To be honest I don't rate my projects that highly and would give them away to people free gladly, but I don't like being had over! and a small minority of people on ebay take the ****! Please excuse my french but it really amazes me how cheeky some people can be, I mean I like us all love a bargain and do my best to watch the pennies but there is a limit to what I would offer someone especially when they have taken the time to make something!

Anyway that's my rant for the day over! My eldest has been on at me and dad for some time now for a desk for her bedroom, this is a great idea as she is always taking over the dining table and little one tries to climb up on the table to join in uninvited! So I have been searching for a suitable desk/dresssing table to paint etc.

I finally found this dressing table which I won on ebay and was in the same town as us so no postage hurray!

I have already got some pretty accessories to put on it , and when it is all painted white I think it will look lovely. I shall show you an after photo when I've finished it. Speak very soon! Lisax

Weekend full of fun and rain!

2009-05-19T08:30:00.008+01:00

Well I don't know what the weather was like where you are but here in the West Country it was terrible! we had rain all day, apart from a small window in the morning when fortunately for us we managed to escape to the local park for an hour! The girls love this particular park as it has one of these Ariel swings (i think that's what its called) which they absolutely love! Daddy comes in handy as he has to run along and push them as hard as possible, which as you can see resulted in Liliana coming off and falling flat on her face into the sandy landing!
Luckily she was unhurt and saw the funny side of it, which is unusual for her as normally she throws a strop if she thinks anyone would dare to laugh at her misfortune!! As much as I love each year of my children's life's and the way they are changing I have to admit that Girls around the age of 6,7,8 can be a bit too sensitive! everything that is not right or does not go her way results in a hissy fit which has taken me by surprise as I thought she was so over that stage! I'm told it's another stage of her development but to be honest it's exhausting! I found myself telling her to "get a life"! which I am ashamed to say is not very adult like is it! Oh well, none of us are perfect are we? and Mummy can have a strop now and again too!

I thought I'd show you some crochet I have been doing lately, the idea for these little brooches came from the amazing Attic 24 Blog! I have found them so addictive to make, they take less than 1 hour to make, and the colour combinations you can do are endless! I have given some away as gifts and my Mum has ordered some for her friends. They seem to appeal to lots of different people , so based on this and with my Mum's advice too, I have listed some on Ebay, I don't know how they will go so it's a bit of an experiment to be honest but it's worth a go to see what kind of interest I receive. Well I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and look forward to speaking to all soon! Bye for now. Lisaxxx

Am I ever going to get back on track!

2009-05-16T11:59:00.006+01:00

Hello there to all you ladies, yes it's me the most unreliable blogger of recent weeks! Please accept my heartfelt apologies for being so absent and for not replying to all your lovely comments! I read them all and was touched to know that I had been missed! As some of you will know from my last rather depressing post things round here have been pretty miserable and to be honest did not improve after my last post. I decided to remove my last post as I found it so depressing! I really have not felt in the right place of late to write as so many negative things have been happening that it would have put anyone reading on a bit of a downer!

Anyway I am feeling like the worst is over now and whilst I know you ladies are a great source of comfort when one of us is down I really did not feel it would be fair to moan on about the last few months, after all we all have times when we feel like life is getting us down and we just deal with it don't we?

I have been cheered immensely by two rather lovely gifts that arrived for me via the "PIF" swap, one was from Emma over at http://stitchingmagpie.blogspot.com/ this beautiful heart, with the most lovely details on it, it is hanging on my dresser and looks gorgeous! thank you so much Emma! hope you are feeling better soon as well.x

The other lovely gift I received was from my lovely friend at http://blueberry-heart.blogspot.com/ she took part in my "PIF" and sent me a gift to say thank you for letting her take part would you believe! It is a heart made with pretty mother of pearl buttons isn't it lovely! bless her she is so generous and sends me lovely things, so a really big thank you to you! you are a very special lady me thinks!x

Well I am now off to catch up with all your lovely blogs and leave some well over due comments, I am hoping to get back into my blogging gradually and have a few more projects to show you next week so ta ta for now, and heartfelt wishes to you all! Lisaxxx

Happy Easter To You All! & "Pay It Forward"

2009-04-12T14:18:00.004+01:00

Hello and Happy Easter to all! I have just signed up for something called "Pay It Forward"

For those who don't know, it goes like this - the first three people to leave a comment will receive a hand made gift from me! The only thing you have to do is participate and carry on the gift giving to three more people...as soon as you have left a comment do a "pay it forward post" on your blog and continue the giving. I've signed up for the one over onhttp://stitchingmagpie.blogspot.com/ . It's such a great idea!!

Have a Lovely Day! Lisaxxx

Easter activitys & Tantrums

2009-04-08T12:41:00.011+01:00

My Easter Tree

Hello all! hope you are all enjoying your week so far and looking forward to the Easter Break. Here we have been busy playing, crafting, baking and all other child friendly activities you can think of! I love spending time with my children but as I have mentioned before I do find it difficult to amuse two children of such differing ages, Little Mia is too young to do a lot of the crafting I do with Liliana so I try to give her something to do that is safe and for her age. Well that just does not wash with my Little Mia who is having massive tantrums at the moment, because she wants whatever Liliana has and when we say no she goes ballistic! and I mean BALLISTIC! I was blessed to never really experience tantrums with Liliana but then being an only child for 5 years she always got my undivided attention. These tantrums are really draining as I'm sure all you mums who have had the same experience will know, I'm running out of ideas to placate the little one and I do try to ignore a lot of the behaviour because I know she is trying to get attention, but I am reaching the end of my rope! I know this stage will pass and I am willing it to come asap! We even let her smear her hair in Vaseline! I know you are probably thinking I am mad, but she gets eczema on her scalp so I do rub a little on her scalp at night time, however Mia never does anything by halves and used the majority of the newish tub to do her new hairstyle much to the hysterics of my other daughter Liliana. I must admit it did raise my spirits to see her having so much fun and not be erupting into a tantrum. Here is a photo of her after having her hair spiked up by big sister!

Anyway enough of my complaining, on to creative things which will always cheer me up! Put the Easter Tree up this morning with lots of help from Liliana, bless her, she had totally loaded it up on one side and it was on the verge of collapsing, I told her how beautiful it looked and then discreetly adjusted to my liking, am I wrong? I do feel a little bad for doing this but I just can't help it. I tend to be a bit of a control freak and would rather do things myself, which is not good when you have little people always so keen to lend you their unique creativity to all your projects! The main thing is Liliana has not noticed and is taking all the credit so that's good.

Hope you all have a lovely week, and will speak to you soon! Lisaxxx

Tintern for the day

2009-04-05T16:48:00.013+01:00

Hello to you all! I hope you are enjoying your weekend? Today we decided to get out of the house bright and early with a picnic lunch all ready, and see something historical for a change. We are very lucky as there are plenty of places that offer historical interest around where we live. There is the most obvious choice of Bath which is literally down the road, but I wanted to go somewhere a bit more isolated and quite than the very busy Bath. So we decided to head into Wales instead.

This is where we ended up, Tintern Abbey, a ruined Cistercian abbey that is absolutely stunning it literally takes your breath away and it is hard to believe that it is 900 years old!

I believe it was totally ransacked during the reign of King Henry XIII when he wanted to change the religion to enable him to divorce his long suffering wife, and marry Anne Boleyn. So unfortunately the Monks had to go!

Please forgive my terrible photography skills! I like to blame it on my useless camera which it really is, but I'm afraid I too am useless at using it!

We all had a lovely time, especially the girls, Liliana has started to show a real interest in History which is great as I too love it, so it's something we can both discuss and enjoy. Little Mia thoroughly enjoyed running about amongst the ruins, apart from having to watch her near the ancient tunnels that were originally the monks sewerage system!

On a creative level I have manged to make some birds to hang on our Easter tree, just need to attach some ribbon and then there ready to perch on there branches.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend! speak again very soon. Lisaxxx

Crafty Friday

2009-04-03T17:27:00.007+01:00

Hello there, the last few days I have spent frantically getting all my chores done around the house, as it's Easter half term at the end of today. I suspect it's same for a lot of you ladies, I like to try and get all my chores out of the way so that I can enjoy the time with the kids. I managed to get ahead of myself this afternoon, so a bit of crafting was in order as a treat for finishing early! I have had some lovely paper left over from my card making days and decided that I would try and use it , I had seen this lovely idea here and thought it would be perfect for using up my paper. what do you think?

My dresser is going to get a Easter makeover sometime this weekend. I have lots of ideas and can't wait to start.

I also found time to make another brooch for my mum which I am really pleased with, do you like it?

Well it's short post today as I have some long overdue weeding to attend to, damm! I hate weeding. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Lisaxxxx

Lovely Easter/Spring Swap! & Flower Brooch

2009-04-01T19:11:00.009+01:00

Hello to all you ladies, like many of you I have taken part in the Easter/Springtime Swap that was so kindly arranged by Pixedust. I was paired up with the lovely Blueberry Heart and these are the lovely parcels I had delivered this morning!

A hanging heart in the cutest fabric patchwork, a beautiful yankee candle in "Cherry Blossom" along with a candle holder with butterflies and flowers painted over it. The most pretty hanging egg decoration in a duck egg blue colour, and a lovely picture of easter eggs. Thank you so much to Blueberry Heart for such a beautifully thought of gift, I am so thrilled with everything and can't wait to arrange all these lovely things with my easter decorations next week!

I have been admiring everyones efforts on making the fabulous flower brooch from Little Gem's tutorial, so I have had a go too. I had lots of felt left over and did not want to waste it so I used it up to make this brooch. I love the colour green as you can see, and I think it looks ok? do you? thanks so much to Little Gem for being so generous in sharing her lovely tutorial with us all!

Hope you a re all having a lovely week so far! Speak to you soon. Lisaxxx

I'm so Proud I could Cry!

2009-03-29T12:58:00.006+01:00

Hello to all you lovely ladies, I hope the sun is shining brightly wherever you are today, here we are basking in sunshine hurah! Well as the title for today states I am so Proud I could cry, in fact I did cry lots! The reason for my outburst is my 6 year old daughter Liliana, she had to take part in a church parade this morning representing her Rainbows group, along with the Brownies and Guides. During these services the older girls are encouraged to make short readings from the bible but the Rainbows are seen as too young and to be honest they get very frightened as a rule about standing up in front of strangers I know I do! Anyway we were one brownie short for the readings so Brown Owl suggested that maybe Liliana could have a go, I knew Liliana could read the passage but I did not think she would feel comfortable standing up in front of a packed church. Well how wrong was I! She stood up and read beautifully and clearly and I just lost the plot! I was so overcome with emotions that my nose was running and I was having difficulty keeping quite! I think some of the parishioners thought I was having some kind of a breakdown. My daughter on the other hand was as cool as cucumber and looked rather embarrassed of her deranged mother. I must remember this moment for the rest of my life, for I know my not so little girl is growing up faster than I realised and I am just soooo PROUD!

I have spent most of this weekend with Easter on my mind, Liliana wanted to make some Easter Cards for friends and family so we had a crafting session on Saturday which was lovely. Little Mia was not so easy to please as she has taken to drawing on mummy's walls instead of on paper! It can be quite challenging to amuse two children of such differing ages, and I do feel a bit sorry for Liliana sometimes as she probably feels a bit left out a times, but she does understand that keeping Mia safe from injury at this moment in time is Mummy's sole objective!

I have been persevering with my new book I mentioned earlier on in the week, and have managed to create a daffodil, Poppy, rose and viola. I'm quite pleased with them, and as some of you ladies who already have the book told me it does get easier if you stick with it. So if your thinking of having a go do!

Oh well time to go now, wishing you all a lovely sunny Sunday, speak to you all very soon. xxx

Two Awards in One Day! and a fab giveaway.

2009-03-27T17:34:00.010Z

Just a quick one to say thank you to http://jemmintheflinthills.blogspot.com/ for awarding me these two awards. As I have received the Kretiv Blogger Award before and listed 7 things I love on an earlier post, I will just deal with the other award if that is ok?

The Lemonade Award

The lemonade award is for showing great attitude and/or gratitude.
The Rules: 1. Put the logo on your blog, nominate at least 10 blogs, which show great attitude and/or gratitude.
2. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
3. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
4. Share the love and link to this post, and/or to the person from whom you received your award

Here are the 10 Blogs I have nominated:

http://http//bettyandviolet.blogspot.com/

Lace Hearts

Blueberry Hearts

Pixedust

Also wanted to let you lovely ladies know about a fantastic Easter Giveaway over at http://bettyandviolet.blogspot.com/ it really is a beautiful giveaway so go over and have a look!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, and thanks once again to the lovely Jemm. Lisaxxx

Lovely Suprise!

2009-03-26T08:53:00.007Z

Hello all, I have a lovely suprise to share with you all, as many of you will know the very talented Sadie over at cotton rose gave a beautiful cushion as a giveaway, and I won! The 1st thing I have ever won, and Oh it was so worth waiting for! On Tuesday morning a parcel arrived and I had quite forgot that the cushion was coming!

Isn't it LOVELY! thank you once again Sadie, you are a very talented and generous lady!

I haven't had much going on in the past few days apart from a little retail therapy so I will share some of that with you!

An Emma Bridgewater Biscuit Tin, I have been after one of these for ages, although there will never be any biscuits inside, because biscuits get devoured straight from the packet in my house! hehe!

New Shoes for the Little Lady, already scuffed!

And a book that I have seen on a few other blogs, it's a lovely book the photos are beautiful, but I have found it rather challenging to follow the instructions! I considered myself to be quite competent in crochet, but I have been proved wrong! I don't follow charts so I have lots to learn, but I will not be beat!! Oh dear a bit of my OBSTINATE character is coming out!

Hope you are all enjoying your week ! Speak to you all very soon! xxxx

2009-03-23T09:49:00.009Z

Hello to you all, I hope you all had a lovely weekend! I spent a lovely Mothers Day with my family in glorious sunshine yet again! we really have been blessed with this weather this past week. I received some lovely cards one which my six year old made at Rainbows for me along with a lovely little butterfly suncatcher! so sweet I love receiving handmade things especially from children they experience such joy and excitement in creating and giving their little gifts to us. Also received a beautiful bunch of Hyacinths and a "Mummy"mug for my never ending cups of tea! All in all a lovely day spent with the ones I love most.

Over the weekend I managed to finish the crochet ripple cushion cover, I decided to use a red fleece Ikea throw that I don't use for the back, and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

I,m still working on the Easter/Spring themed swap at the moment, and will post photos once the recipient has received them, I am really enjoying these swaps although I must admit I am struggling to find the time to do them as the little one is very high maintenance! Bless her! hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Lisaxxx

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-03-20T17:16:00.002Z

Happy Mothers Day to you all, hope you have a lovely day! Lisaxxx

My 1st Swap HEARTS

2009-03-20T11:15:00.011Z

Hello there! recently I signed up for my 1st swap organised by mollycupcakes, I'm sure many of you have also signed up too. Well I have been really looking forward to this one as it's my first but also suffering from a bit of anxiety as I was worried about what to make and send! I was paired up with the wonderfully talented lady Gillian at Fabric Nation, and this morning this lovely parcel arrived on my doorstep from the lady herself! Want to see what beautiful things she has sent me?

A beautiful handmade bag with a fabric heart on the front with the cutest little cats on it, and lined with red polka dot fabric, you are so clever Gillian, now I get the question regarding polka dots!I must hide this from my eldest daughter she will love it! and she is not having it!!

Inside this bag of gorgeousness, I found many many treasures all combined with sparking heart confetti and beautiful vintage images, so lovely and beautiful I was overwhelmed!

Here is what came all wrapped in heart tissue paper.

A lovely "Home is where the Heart is" Postcard, a badge with Morph on the front, I loved watching Morph on Take Heart when I was a child! A little heart embroidered with the message "More than yesterday,Less than tomorrow. A Love Lottery Reveal me card, I've never seen one of these before but it looks like fun so I'll wait to reveal the hearts with Hubby.

A little wooden heart frame, some lovely heart cupcake cases, a beautiful glass paperweight, some tissues, a tiny metal heart, I think a heart bindi please forgive me Gillian if I have got that wrong! and a beautiful hanging heart which Gillian tells me was a New years Gift exchanged during the festivities on the Chinese-Tibet border! I am so overwhelmed, and I will cherish it Gillian! Thank you so much!xxxx

Wonderful few days!

2009-03-19T13:05:00.010Z

Hello all! hasn't it been a wonderful few days with this beautiful weather! It's amazing how happy a little bit of sunshine makes you feel so happy! And I am sooo happy, not just because of the lovely weather but because I have had a few lucky things happen to me yippee! Firstly like many of you lovely ladies I love Caroline Zoob China, however, my budget cannot stretch that far so I wistfully dream of having some, knowing my Husband would throw a major fit if I purchased some. Well I was lucky enough to win this lovely jug on ebay on Sunday Night and I paid less than half the RRP!

I absolutely love it, and it goes so well with my collection of miss matched china on my dresser!

My other bit of luck was that I won a stunning cushion from Sadie over at cotton rose. I have never won anything ever in my life so you can imagine my delight! Biggest thank you to Sadie you have made my day!

Also treated myself to some lovely bright buttons which I think I will use for the back of my ripple crochet cushion cover I'm making.

Hope you are all enjoying this lovely weather, and lets hope it stays for the weekend please!!! Lisaxxx

Glorious Sunshine!

2009-03-16T09:48:00.000Z

Flowers from Hubbyxxx

What a lovely weekend it was for us here in the West Country, glorious sunshine, cloudless blue skies all day Sunday. It was the kind of day we all get early on in the year after cold weather when you just feel you have to get outside be it the garden or any outdoor space and experience that 1st flush of Spring. I had so many things I wanted to do in the garden that my Husband's eyes glazed over like they do when I get a bee in my bonnet. Of course little children needed to get out too and don't do gardening, at least not to my standards anyway! So a trip to a lovely park was 1st on the agenda of to do's. After lots of sand playing and ice-cream's we headed home via a little garden centre, primroses in hand and attacked my overgrown garden. I am not a natural gardener but I do love being in it and trying to make it pretty, my husband and I have planted every single plant in our garden as when we moved into the house it was just a long narrow strip of mud and sparse grass.

I have lots of ideas for the garden this year , a new patio to start as the existing one is very unlevel and cracked in places, and I would really like a summerhouse to put a the bottom of the garden but that probably will not happen this year as finances are tight! Anyway I hope you all had a lovely weekend whatever you did! xxx

My 1st Award!...

2009-03-12T13:14:00.000Z

I have received an award from the lovely Pixie Dust over at Faerie Nuff thanks so much! I have to list 7 things I love and pass the award on to 7 other blogs which I might find difficult as most of the blogs I follow have already received the same award. I will have to start venturing further out into blogland and discover some more lovely ladies to award. Anyway here goes with my list:

7 THINGS I LOVE

1. My Family.

2. Italy

3. Anything Creative.

4. King Charles Cavelier Spaniels.

5. Castle Coombe Village.

6. My Childrens Sleepy Faces first thing in the morning. They look like little Pixies!

7. Bluebell Woods.

here are the seven people I would like to pass the award on to:

Mummy Boo Bear

Shabby Chick

Country Bliss

Rosesposes

Lace Hearts
mitmot
Miss Sew n Sew

A lovely Weekend

2009-03-09T10:46:00.000Z

Hello all! first of all lots and lots of thanks to the lovely ladies that left such kind comments regarding my very sorry for myself post last week! It was lovely to hear such kind thoughts and really made me feel much better in myself! I managed to sort out all my disorganised paper work in time to settle back and relax as hubby was off for the weekend! My back is feeling much better still sore but at least I can get about without hobbling around.

Saturday was spent planning a miniature garden for my eldest Rainbows Competition, finishing some of my projects, and also lying back with a lovely hot water bottle for back doing a bit of crochet. My new Crochet project comes once again from the talented Lucy at Attic 24 tutorial. I am finding it extremely relaxing to do as the stitches are pretty much the same round after round, you almost find yourself doing it without looking.

Bunny has finally got a face!

Sunday we decided to get out in the fresh air before the forecast rain arrived , it was beautiful morning and one could not believe that rain would come, but oh my how the rain came down! we managed to let the girls have a good run about and just as we got in the car the biggest rain drops I have seen started to fall on the windscreen! The heavens opened and for a moment we could not drive so we just sat in the car and watched the rain fall. All in all despite the rain a lovely relaxing weekend! Hope you all had a good weekend too!xxx

Racing up a very big hill!

Roley pol lying down the very big hill, Watch out!

My Never Ending List of Unfinished Projects!! And my two girls.

2009-03-04T08:35:00.000Z

Well as promised here is some of my projects I am determined to get finished in the future! . If I can just keep my mind on track I should be ok! I have quite a few ideas floating around my head regarding the spring/easter swap by Fairie Nuff at the moment but I am trying very hard to concentrate on the projects listed 1st.

So here goes this is going to be a quilt for my oldest daughters bed, I'm halfway there with the construction just need to get more fabric.

I plan to get my youngest daughter a little wooden cooker for her birthday and thought it would be nice to crochet a variety of cakes and food to go with it. I have managed to make two so far so still need a few more!

These are courtesy of the lovely blog Attic 24 where there is a tutorial for making tiny flowers, just need to sew in ends and assemble into lovely floral brooches.

This little bunny came from the Crafting Springtime Gifts Book, which I love. She just needs a face! Nose to be embroidered and little eyes please!

My youngest daughter who is now 18 months old is keeping on my toes at the moment! We have just moved a tall ikea shelf unit into the living room to keep the books in as the other one was to low and she was taking every single book off and throwing them at any moving object usually me! Anyway it is rather difficult at times to get anything done as she is so agile and loves climbing. We decided to leave the bottom shelf of the unit empty so she had no objects to grab, but she has taken to climbing into the space and curling up to rest!! I am terrified that the unit will topple over, but hubby has fixed it to the wall, still I can't get the thought out of my head so I have resorted to barricading the space up which she just giggles about and promtly bulldozes through the said make do saftey defence! I know this stage of toddlerhood does not last for long and I am trying to enjoy it but at times I feel that I spend my entire day trying to keep her from serious injury, I remember my eldest being exactly the same and everyone kept telling me not to worry all children are different and my next baby would be really placid. WRONG I have produced two distincly similar stunt women in the making and as much as I run around like a headless chicken trying to keep them alive I would not change a single thing about them.

Little one climbing in or out of new hiding place the bottom shelf!

2009-03-03T14:13:00.000Z

That's right I'm delighted I discovered this morning that I finally had 3 comments on my blog! I am so computer phobic that I did not realize until my hubby explained to me that you have to comment on other peoples blogs for them to realize that you exist! I feel so silly I just assumed that someone would chance upon me and that would be it! OH well I am now just a little bit more educated on the subject now. Thanks to all you ladies who commented it made my day!

Now I need to confess to a rather obsessive condition of mine I spend many a while getting inspiration from all the lovely blogs out there, and, also own many crafty books of all kinds which is ok, the problem is I have so many projects uncompleted around my house that it has become a source of discontent with my Hubby. He sees me spending money on various materials and looks forward to the day of completion but it never arrives! The list is very long and there is far too much to mention ! So I have decided to sort myself out and start as I mean to go on and finish an entire project before starting another!

Here is my 1st finished project. A union jack cushion.

Do you like it? please let me know what you think.

Tomorrow I am going to show you a half finished project of mine that I must also finish it's a quilt for my oldest daughter's bed. Love to allxx

2009-03-02T14:07:00.000Z

Gosh it's been a long time since I wrote on my Blog! to be honest I'm finding it a bit hard, I'm not sure how I feel about talking to myself and I don't really know how the whole Blog thing works!! I love reading other peoples blogs and admiring what they have made, I don't know whether people would be that intrested in what I get up to, but, I'm going to give it one wholehearted try! So here goes, I'm going to put my name forward for a Easter/Spring swap over on Faerie Nuff blog and I'm hoping to get some half decent photos uploaded sometime soon. Wish me luck!!

2008-11-19T17:56:00.000Z

After weeks and weeks of listening to my six year old daughter Liliana going on at me to make a environmentally friendly shopping bag for her I finally sat down with her and helped make one. My local shops on the main road have recently started a campaign to stop providing plastic carrier bags and have designed a cotton one to buy instead. I think this was a fantastic idea and everyone is keen to get involved even my very environmentally friendly six year old. Any way she decided she wanted a christmassy feel to the design and the end result I think looks really lovely! For anyone that's intrested in the campaign here is there link http://www.lovegloucesterroad.org.uk/

Wed 19th November 2008

2008-11-19T13:23:00.000Z

I'm so excited! I have just won a beautiful pine dresser on ebay that I have been watching like a hawk for nearly a week. I did'nt think I would win it but I did! Yippee!! it is a lovely old dresser which will look lovely in my living/dining room. I can't wait to get rid of my IKEA cabinet which although very functional never really fitted with my Shabby chic idea I had in mind. I have stored away a few lovely bits and bobs which will look lovely on it and i'm so excited about making it look all christmasy. My Mum has had a lovely old dresser in her home for as long as I can remember and I have lovely childhood memories of it always being dressed extra special at christmas time. When it arrives and I've had a chance to put all my lovely things on, I will post another photo.