Thursday 30 January 2014

SSCS Wall Hanging Celebration


When I took part in Chookyblue's SSCS 2013 I was partnered with the lovely Kris at Tag along Teddies and she sent me a gorgeous wall hanging.  I felt, as did hubby and a number of bloggers who left comments, that it would be suitable to have it hung up all year round.
I have since been looking for a suitable hanging mechanism.. I was looking for something along the wood line as that is the style that I have in the house at the moment.  There seems to be a bit of a shortage in Cornwall for that type of hanging so I had another think.
Due to Kris making loops I did need to fold over the loops as this wire heart hanger is made of metal and comes in one continuous shape.  I have very lightly tacked them so that it can be taken off again without damaging the wall hanging in any way.
Hubby and I thought that it would look lovely in the kitchen as we have a red and off white kitchen.  We shall keep an eye on it with all the cooking, but I really would like to look at it all the time.
I looks great next to my little dresser.
It also goes very well with other items in our kitchen.
It truly is one of the loveliest swaps I have ever had.
Thank you again.
x

Sunday 26 January 2014

A Little more Crochet and a Gift


I can not believe that it has been a week since I last posted but it has been a busy one at work.  Two very late evenings with Options and other sessions.
The picture above shows a lovely hand stitched heart which was given to me by one of my students.  This does not happen very often but when it does it is very memorable.  The student is in Year 7 and wants to continue with textiles as she goes through the school.  I shall take it back tomorrow to hang in my room.  I have another handmade gift made by another student when she was in year 7 and is now in Year 11!  Tine goes by so fast doesn't it.
Yesterday I spent my day at Truro college trying to get to grips with my final piece for my  A level coursework.  Lets just say I was busy and produced a lot for my sketchbook but came up with no final idea at all.  Panic is starting to set in but after I have done this post and looked at some homework I shall spend the rest of the day trying to get a Eureka moment and get an idea before our evening class session on Wednesday.
 I sat down when I got back from Truro and got to grips with finishing the second coaster from the free gift from Mollie Makes and after countless rounds of crochet and unpicking I finally go there!  I made the first one just before Christmas.
Blogger seems to like this photo the wrong way round!    I am pleased that they both look quite similar and I love the overall shape.
Dottycookie put me in to several blogs which looks at how to learn to follow crochet patterns and even though it will take some practise I have learnt a lot already.  So thank you very much indeed.  I shall post the links here but I do not have them written down as yet, they are saved on my computer.
Pleased with how this one turned out and I would say was a slightly better shape as well.  While I can still remember how to follow the pattern I think I will use up some soft white cotton yarn left over from making dish cloths to make a few as presents for later in the year.
Whilst on Holiday in Austria I did find a video on Youtube which showed you how to crochet some really lovely flowers which were then made into a tunic.  I may not manage a tunic just yet but I do have another idea for this.................
I was really pleased with the shape and even more because it looked like the one made on Youtube.
 I do also like making the usual crochet flowers as well with smaller versions in the centre.
I have an idea for the crochet skills that have developed but more on that once I have fathomed it out exactly.
2014 is going to be my year of cracking my crochet skills and so far it has got off to a positive start.
I hope you have all had a lovely weekend even if it has been raining and gale winds.
xx

Saturday 18 January 2014

Meet "Bobble"

After Sophie and I made our knitted  Owls before Christmas, last night I decided to finally finish the Alien that I started.
I did not have too much more to do to finish really and whilst sat on the sofa with the fire on and some pretty boring Friday night TV ( I really must organise a DVD next time) I set to work.
Starting at the top I added a pom pom on each corner that clashed nicely with the green knitted body.
I then used a large eyed needle to stitch 1 cm down from the pom pom and pulled the stitching tightly to create some small antenna.
Over the past four years of running my Monster Making Workshop I have become quite fond of making just one large eye in the centre of the face with layers on top.  As with the Owl's I used a glue gun to add them to the alien.
I had made some legs using a french knitting dolly, in fact it is an old wooden Cotton reel which my Dad had added some tacks to wind the wool around.  I have had that since I was at primary school, so it has lots of sentimental value to it.  I had considered putting some wire inside so that I could shape the legs but then wondered if it would catch and stick out so I left them as they are.
The body was stuffed generously and then the bottom line was stitched up, inserting the legs as I went along.
I shall be taking these my textiles club on Monday as we have started knitting the bodies for our knitted pets or aliens.  Some are finding knitting hard to pick up so I am going to suggest that using fleece for the body might be an idea.
Sophie was in bed when I made "Bobble" and when she saw him this morning she loved him!!
These are excellent for using up scraps and would make a good starter project for a new knitter.
Would a tutorial be of any use to anyone?  It would give me a good excuse to make another.
Hope you are having a lovely weekend.
xxx

Wednesday 15 January 2014

More crochet capers - Headbands/Ear warmers

I am not a great fan of hats but neither to I like cold ears.  So just before we went to Austria, I searched the Internet to see if I could make some headband/ear warmers.  I found loads of ideas and decided to try out some crochet versions.

I had some 100% cotton yarn left over from a crochet blanket i made several years ago so I settled down on boxing day to see what I could come up with.
The above one is for me and I decided to add a bit of detail with a crochet square to show where the front is.
I used a very simple stitch which I have now forgotten, I think it was a treble.  Oh I will have to check but seasoned crochet creators will recognise it.  It grew very quickly and I soon had it long enough to go round my head.
I then joined the ends together using a large eyed needle.
Sophie has kindly offered to model it for me here.  It is a little big for her but you get the general idea.
An alternative way to wear it.  Once Sophie saw this, guess what?
I had a request for a purple version for herself.............
So I was quite surprised when a request for a cream one to go with a scarf she had was also put it.  so finally I made three of these and we took them to Austria with us and we worn them a lot.  when we got back to the UK we did not need them as it is pretty warm for the time of year.  However it has rained ever since we got back and I have seen a crochet pattern for an umbrella using granny square stitch!  You stitch it to a frame.  Could be a possibility I suppose!
Take care all.

Sunday 12 January 2014

Etsy Shop Semi-shutdown

A lovely picture taken last spring to start off a slightly disappointing post.
I have decided, as I sort out yet another self assessment tax form, to shut down my Esty shop.  It is still there in terms of you can find it but nothing is listed there.
Everything has been moved to my webshop HERE.
There you will find nearly all of the items that were on Etsy and a few others.  Postage has been included in the prices and overseas buyers can calculate costs before they buy to convert currency etc.  The site was built by the son of a blog friend so any problems can be sorted out and I pay for its maintenance.
I hope to complete my A level Art Textiles course at Easter and then my next project will be to try and get the website off the ground more.  I see it being used mainly by UK buyers but mosts of my sales on Etsy were overseas.  I have tried to join the two together.  Paypal is still the main choice of payment but for UK buyers other ways can be accepted once payment has cleared, just like with Ebay really.
We shall see how it goes and I have left my options open with Etsy but time is not on my side at the moment and it seems silly to have to shops at a time like this.
Not featured here or on my shop sites, ( and most of you will not know this) but I do lots of commissions which I do not feature, perhaps I should and I shall start asking clients if I can start to do that in the future.
New Year = New approaches.
xx

Saturday 11 January 2014

Fresh as a Bouquet of flowers


 The holidays were busy for us, not only with Christmas but also Hubby and I have birthdays too.
This year there was a knock at the door and standing there was a delivery man (in the pouring rain) with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers!!
A lovely range of colours and they smelt so lovely!
Beautifully arranged and packaged.
Delivered carefully despite the weather and every single flower bloomed.  Guess what?
They are still going strong!  Yes, you read that right, I still have them in a huge vase near to wear I am typing this.
So who had this wonderful idea?
My long standing friend Andrea, who I met at Sixth form when I was 16 and despite jobs, families and living on opposite sides of the country we try our best to keep in touch!

Many thanks Andrea it was such a lovely surprise as I have not been bought flowers like that since Sophie was born and it is such a lovely thought.
xxx

Thursday 9 January 2014

My Crochet Progress in 2014

After my small success with the crochet flower on my colleagues ceramic travel cup I decided to have another go.  So after a bit of a search i found issue 22 of Mollie Makes which came with the above kit.
All that is needed was inside the packet and the actual instructions are in the magazine.  So on a rare evening to myself I made a start.
I had to unpick what I was doing SEVEN times and after a while I eventually ended up with what you can see above and I was sooooooo chuffed with myself and I had no one to tell at the time and then Christmas arrived.
The picture does not do the yarn colour justice and I really like the shape that the pattern created.  More to the point  my effort actually look likes the picture!!
This is by far the most complicated pattern.crochet idea I have ever attempted and I feel (well hope) that maybe 2014 might be the year I start to unravel the crochet mystery where decoding the pattern instructions has been my main problem.
My next challenge is to use up the rest of the yarn to make the second coaster and get it to look similar to the first!
Before I go shall we have just one more look at it..........................?


Take care all!

Tuesday 7 January 2014

SSCS Parcel Post

My camera and laptop are at odds and  for several days I have struggled to upload these pictures and blogger keeps sending an "Error" message so keep your fingers crossed that this post will "post".
My partner this year was kriss from Tag Along Teddies and at the beginning of December the above parcel arrived.  
 Inside the parcel I could open were these cute patchwork tree stockings and these teddybear chocs.......
Then it was a long self controlled wait until Christmas day until this parcel could be opened.................
So with several weeks of stored up excitement Sophie gave me the parcel from under the tree and......
... opened it up to find this gorgeous patchwork and hand embroidered Wall Hanging.  Each panel has a different word in the centre of each heart.
The top one says Peace. Love and finally Joy.
Also in the package were some more chocolates and Christmas clips which we do use to hang up our cards and we ran out this year so a very timely gift!
The wall hanging is so lovely we are seriously thinking of hanging it up all year round.  What do you think?
Many thanks Kriss is has been great to exchange a few emails over the holidays and I hope that we will continue to keep in touch in blogland.
Thank you so much to Chooky and Googleygirl for organising this swap as there are an awful lot of swappers in this SSCS and is very skillfully organised.
Look forward to hopefully taking part next year and in the mean time I shall be having a very stern word with my camera, memory card and laptop as there have still been several pics that would not load up to this post and it has taken me two hours to post!  
Time to spring clean the hard drive I think.
Take care all.


Friday 3 January 2014

Postalm - An Austrian Holiday

On Monday we bundled on to a coach and went off in search of the snow we were seeking.  It took about an hour to get to Postalm along some very twisting roads with sheer drops with no barriers at all as we wound our way up mountains!!
As we got higher the snow increased until we arrived to see loads of people skiing, sledging and snowboarding.
This is the sledging run and you can use donuts or wooden style sledges as well as little plastic squares with handles.  Hard to describe really but they worked very well!  Below shows Sophie with one of them
This is  the end of the sledge run looking the other way.  Goes on for some distance but hubby nearly ran out of room a couple of times!
The sun was shinning and after a while the cold was forgotten about.  We spent Monday and Tuesday doing this  (mad are we not!!)  On the Tuesday I had a go using a large fabric covered tyre and you really can not control these after you have set off,  I went down the slope at a lick of knots and took out this wooden pole with a sign on it.  I saw it coming and could do nothing so just stuck out my foot and hoped my walking boot would do the rest!  In hindsight this may not have been a wise idea but better than using my head.  My in-laws have this on camera which I have yet to see.
It is about the only picture that there might be as I seemed to be the one taking the pictures most of the time.
Sophie loved the chance to make a decent snow angel and at every opportunity threw herself on the floor and started waving her arms and legs around.
The scenery was lovely in every direction that you looked in.
We really enjoyed the two days we spent at Postalm and there were so many tiny little children in ski's that we think that if and when we ever go back we will sign up for some skiing lessons and see how we get on.
The second day we went was 31st of December which is Hubby's birthday and he could not think of a better way for a 45 year old man to spend his birthday but sledging all day!!
Brilliant.
xx






Thursday 2 January 2014

The Swap Pledge

Just a quick diversion from the Snow Holiday........
I took the PLeDGe...

I invite anyone and everyone who wants to participate in my swaps to do the same. Place the button on your blog sidebar & post "the pledge"to acknowledge your intention & commitment.


MAKE THE 7 STEP PLEDGE

I (insert name) will try my utmost...
·        To always swap on time.
·        To always email a THANK YOU to my partner.
·        To be considerate and thoughtful when choosing a gift.
·        To give my partner the quality of gift that I would like to receive.
·        To communicate when it’s required.
·        To NEVER over commit and let a partner down.
·        To advise the swap mama when I receive my gift.

This I sewomly pledge....

~*~*~*~*~*~

Phew!  Think that will save as the Internet here does not seem to like Blogger very much which is why I have not posted many pictures for the last couple of days.
Been snow shoe walking today......brilliant off to try and sort out the pictures.
Take care and thank you to the new visitors who have been commenting over the festive holidays!!




Wednesday 1 January 2014

Happy New Year!!

Goggle images
Happy New Year everyone from St Wolfgang in Austria.
Had had a lovely meal last night and then we wrapped up warm on went down to the market place with everyone else to see in the New Year.
Came back to the hotel at 1.30am.
The locals were letting off fireworks everywhere, some were really good!
Very good humoured, fun and very cold!!
Due to some Internet uploading issues I have not been able to keep up with my holiday posting, but I shall try again later.  But I can say that the snow and the sledging  was brilliant and alot of fun, so more on that to come.
Enjoy the rest of the day and be back here soon.
xx
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