A Monthly Make 2012

I've just signed up for this year long project, hosted by Annie at The Felt Fairy

The plan is to make one thing every month.  I can Knit, it crochet it, paint it, felt it, sew it, carve it, embellish it, play dough it, scrapbook it, stick it..... whatever I want.

I already have an idea for January so fingers crossed they turn out OK.

If you'd like to join in pop over and see Annie.  I'm sure she'd be delighted to see you.

A year of crafting

I didn't think I'd done that much crafting this year but it seems I did.

:: January ::   A Thomas the Tank Engine cushion for my nephew.

::  February ::  A felt heart for Samuel's girlfriend.

:: March ::  More felt hearts.  This time for Mother's Day.

:: April ::  I started sewing my 101 Granny Squares together.  This is still an on-going project!!

:: May ::  A Birthday card for my sister.

:: June ::  A scrapbook reminder to self that the diet starts now!!  Unfortunately I'll need to bring this reminder out again next week after over-indulging in the last few weeks!!

:: July ::  With fresh raspberries picked at the local farm it was jam making time.

:: August ::  It seems I wasn't crafty at all in August so I thought I'd show you my favourite picture of the month.  Samuel outside Notre dame Cathedral, Paris, France.

:: September ::  A bird badge for my sister to wear at a weekend scrapbooking retreat.

:: October ::  A card for my friend at work who turned the Big 40.

:: November ::  Time to crochet some Christmas tree decorations.

:: December ::  I'm still plodding away at my first ripple blanket.  It's going to be a lot bigger than I thought but I'll get there in the end.

So there you have it.  My crafty 2011.  I'm just about to sign up for something new and crafty in 2012 so watch this space.

Relaxing

So what has everyone been up to since Santa came? 

We've been eating waaaaay too much of John's delicious cooking.
We've been walking the dog.
We've had the gas boiler man out to change a fan and ended up having 3 visits as their computer system went wonky and lost all our info!!
I've been trying to get Orange to fix my mobile phone which is only a month old.  No luck so far.
We've finally got the approval for Samuel's brace to be fitted.  4 Jan 12 will be a trip to Aberdeen.
I've been adding the finishing touches to my December Daily.  Still have a few to go.
John has cleaned the oven (good lad).
I've been adding a few more rows to my ripple blanket.
We've de-frosted the freezer and now don't need to shop for the next few months!!
and

I've made my Kindle a cosy cover.  I was going to buy one but thought I'd like a go at making my own.
Made with Heritage wool

and lined with lime green fabric (of course)

 and finished with a button from Paperchase which my Mum sent me months and months ago.

My Kindle by the way, although being the "Dark Side" of reading is brilliant.  I downloaded two books on Christmas day for the grand total of £3.68.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas filled with love and happiness.

December Daily

I'm managing to stay on track with producing the daily pages, just not so organised at posting pictures every day.

Here's what I've I manged so far.  Apologies for the really bad scans.  It's not so easy to scan once you've already bound your journal!!!

Days 1 - 4

Days 5 - 8

I still have some sort of embellishment to put on the journalling pages but can't decide what to do yet.  Any suggestions?

Power Cut

What do you do when the power goes off.

1.  Rummage through shed for camping lamp.
2.  Rummage through teenager's room for board game.
3.  Set up said game in living room near to gas fire and aforementioned lamp.
4.  Make tea the old fashioned way.  A pan of boiling water on gas hob.
5.  Drink tea, play game of choice and watch the teenager doesn't cheat.

It was a lovely way to spend an evening.  Teenager's comments were..."It was really nice to spend time with you!!!"  Mum's comments were."I'm always in the living room at night it's just you never notice because you're always on your X-Box!!"

The Monopoly (Star Wars version) is still set up in preparation for finishing the game tomorrow.  I hate to say it but Samuel is very good at it and seems to have all the properties and still have money left.  Where am I going wrong?

December Daily

Instead of falling behind on Journal Your Christmas with Shimelle (like I did last time) I thought I'd have a go at December Daily by Ali Edwards.  My sister Ruth sent me all the templates to get me going but being a bit dim when it comes to classes I wasn't sure what to do with any of them.  I've since had a quick talk through with Ruth and am now following her lead when it comes to sticking paper to card.

I need to get my scanner up and running to show any pages I've done but here's the journal I made to put all the templates in. 

The papers for  inside are Basic Grey - Eskimo Kisses and when I've checked it out I'll let you know what the red paper is.  I bought it at my local Papercrafts because I liked the Reindeer but can't remember who makes it!!

Bloomin' Eck

My Clematis is still blooming despite the bad weather.

Still here

I'm still here.  I've just been very busy this past week with sporting events, new windows, crochet, making goodies out of felt and catching up with my reading.

I'm half way through The Wives of Henry Oades and it's OK so far.  I'll may leave judgement until the end!!

In the late 19th century, Henry and Margaret Oades emigrate from England to New Zealand. There, Margaret and her children are abducted by Maori and eventually given up for dead. Grief stricken, Henry sails to California, where, many years later, he marries a young widow, Nancy Foreland. When Margaret and her surviving children show up on their doorstep, Henry and Nancy take them in, and all attempt to adapt. Berkeley townspeople rise up against the apparent debauched arrangement. Henry is charged with bigamy, a crime punishable by hanging. As their legal troubles mount, Margaret and Nancy find themselves allying in ways neither could have predicted.

Ripple Goodness

Although I've been crocheting for almost 2 years now I still couldn't bring myself to start a Ripple blanket.  It looked far too complicated and way beyond my experience.  All the blankets and cushions I'd seen over on Flickr and at Attic 24 looked amazing and I was desperate to have a go so the other weekend I cast on my 219 stitches and took the plunge.

Then the dental pain started and I had to put it down as I couldn't concentrate.

There are always some consolations to laying awake all night as it did get me thinking how the stitches would work out and low and behold I've managed to do it.

It's taking me a while to get into it as I keep having to stop to count how many stitches I have and I have also learnt (the hard way) that if I crochet while watching something good on TV I end up having to undo it and start again!!!!!

My very own Kandinsky







Samuel has been busy in Art at school over the last few months and their artist of choice was Wassily Kandinsky.  I L♥VE it .  It is destined to be framed and hung in the hall.  It even has lots of my favourite lime green in it (even if it doesn't show very well in this photo).

If I'm honest I've never heard of him but then I can't draw and have no interest in Art.  This is one from the man himself.

Wassily Kandinsky (Russia/France, 1866-1944) renowned both for his abstract and non-objective work was also perhaps equally renowned for his political activism. The combination of both earned him the significant role as member of the avant-garde artists of the time. Deeply involved in the Bauhaus Movement, his work influenced the world both culturally and artistically catapulting the Modernist style to the forefront.

Almost back to normal

I'm please to say that due to wonders of modern medicine I no longer look like a Cabbage patch Kid!!

Thank you

Thanks to everyone for their get well wishes.  I'm feeling much better today now I have stopped taking the co-codamol which made me feel worse than the sore mouth!!

I thought I'd treat myself to an afternoon of crochet seeing as yesterday was a write-off.

Poorly me

I had a sore tooth on Thursday night so got an emergency appointment with the dentist on Friday morning.

He said my tooth was OK but as it was still causing me problems 4 years after having root canal treatment, he would send off a referral for me to have it removed.  He took and x-ray and charged me £20 for the privilege.

I went back to work and took some painkillers.

I bought extra strong painkillers after work and took some of those.

I was in agony all night, couldn't sleep at all, felt sick and went through the packet of pills in record time.

I phoned the out of hours dentist this morning.  He hadn't replied after 2 hours so I took myself off to the A & E department (ER) at the local hospital.

I saw a lovely lady doctor who checked me over and told me I have a dental abscess.  She gave me anti-biotics and more painkillers.

I'm now only just up after spending the afternoon laid up in bed..  I'm very thankful today for Samuel who has looked after me all afternoon especially after I've discovered that I can't take co-codamol without feeling really sick.

What a boy ♥♥♥

Hooky decorations

So, do you want to see what I made with all those circles?

OK here you go.................... They are Christmas Tree decorations.  I thought I'd have a bright and funky tree this year with some hand crafted decorations.  I saw some hooky decorations that Lucy at Attic 24 did a few years ago and adapted it from there.

I'm now looking forward to decorating my tree as I also found some bright coloured baubles in Tesco in almost the same colours as I crocheted.  Great minds think alike!!

What will it be?

A few bright hooky circles are the start of my next project.  I'm into brightening up my home at the moment and these are just the start.  Stay tuned!!

Never too old

for Sparklers!!

A Woolly Week

It's been a woolly old week this week.

:: I've finished one blanket....

 ::  and have been trying to sew odd squares together to make another one.....

 ::  and making another three of these for friends and family.

I wonder what's next on the wool agenda?

Last weekend

Amy at Over at Our Place likes to read posts about what people get up to at the weekend so with that in mind I snapped a few piccies while out with my boys (all 3 of them).  I meant to blog this earlier in the week but got carried away with wool!!!

::  The "Boys".  You can just see Moss on the left.

 :: Loving the colours at the moment.

 ::  Ferns turning from green to brown.

 ::  Leaves a beautiful orange colour.

 ::  A view of the village.

 :: And of the River Spey.

 :: Some late Heather.

 :: And a tired teenager!!!

Love it ♥

Coming along nicely

My scrapping has stopped as I've been busy with wool this last week and I'm pleased to say it's

"Coming along nicely".

Lots of little piles...............

 turn into one bigger one.

Just the edging to do now.

Today

A few moments from today before giving myself an afternoon of crafting.

:: 1.  The dreaded ironing.  No need for a photo of that as we all know that picture.

:: 2.  A walk with Moss.  The weather today has been a positively tropical 16 degrees C, which after yesterday's 4 degrees was very welcome.
As we hadn't been for a few days I took Moss for a walk around the pond on the local Estate.

The sun was shining

The colours were beautiful.

There was dappled light through the trees.

The sky was blue

One side of the pond was sunny

While on the other side the clouds gathered.

and the sun glistened off the water.

and now it's grey and raining so perfect for an afternoon of ME time.