A moment to blog!

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

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.

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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