Latest makes!

As promised yesterday here are the photos of the non-Christmas items I have made over the past few weeks. (And my replacement camera battery charger arrived today – whoop!)

So to begin with there were a couple of finger puppets – a donkey and a horse…

 A little beagle brooch

Little Fleece Mole

Some more little pirate brooches

A spotty little whale

Another cat rattle this time with a nice spotty fleece back

A little red geometric monster!

A better photo of the Scottie Dog I featured the other day!

A couple of different types of moustaches on sticks…

And finally a polar bear with a lovely stripy scarf!

Do let me know which ones you like and why!

Finally photos…

Eventually after some procrastinating playing Mahjongg this morning, I took photos of the items I have been making over the last few weeks! Plus I also made another set of christmas decorations today.

The vast majority of items are Christmas related, getting stocked up for my upcoming craft fairs. So Christmas pics today and other non-Christmas items to come tomorrow!

Little Set of Angels

Blue Snowflake Mittens

Red Star Mittens

Cookie Hearts

Cookie Stars

Christmas Puddings

Gingerbread Houses

Polar Bears

Mini Wreaths

Larger Stuffed Wreaths

So there you go. I will be making more decorations over the next couple of weeks. Let me know which ones are your favourite!

(And I have finally caved and ordered a new battery charger for my camera…)

Hot Water and Pumpkins

On Friday we had our new boiler installed, everything went pretty well except for the fact one of the engineers broke the test nipple off our gas meter (yes I said nipple.) So on Saturday someone from The Gas Board had to come out and replace our gas meter. So with that all done we just have to wait for the correct timer for the boiler and it will all be done. So we enjoyed a rather lovely hot bath last night. It is a novelty to have to actually put some cold water in because the water is so hot!

The new boiler – with pipes yet to be boxed in!

Today we carved pumpkins. This is not a tradition I have done since I was a kid as Halloween wasn’t a thing we did, my parents were pretty much against Halloween so I never went trick or treating or did pumpkins. Now that I am married with a stepson this is something we tend to do every year. I’ve never been all that fab at carving a design but I thought I would try a bit harder this year. We got out the craft knifes and got cracking (or carving.)

So in amongst the multitude of times Mini C kept telling us what his favourite part was of doing pumpkins (varied between carving out the middle and squishing his hands in all the seeds) and asking us if we liked the smell of pumpkin about a million times, these are what we came up with…

Mini C’s…

Mr C’s…

And mine…

This also means I have got my husband’s camera out so photos of my latest makes will be taken tomorrow!

 

 

I hate gussets

I am still learning the ropes with this sewing lark.

Today I made a Scotty Dog out of a fleece scarf. I found a nice free simple pattern for it which I could easily use for a flattish simple toy and also with gussets for a more chunky look.

I have never been able to master the mystery of the gusset with any aplomb. Today was no exception. My trusty seam unpicker came in handy at least once or twice.

I am waiting for a book to come in the post soon which hopefully will really help me figure things out and help me more with making my own designs for things with gussets which I tend to avoid like the plague. That book is Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction by Abigail Patner Glassenberg who created the book off the back of her excellent blog – WhileSheNaps.

But I finally finished the dog, and it looked a bit odd so I ended up doing a stitch or two to pull it together a little more, gave him some eyes and a little yellow ribbon.

(Still no sign of my battery charger for my camera! – Proper photos will be taken!)

I also made some moustaches on sticks. Had an order for two brown ones from a very dear friend for her super cute little boy and her husband as stocking fillers for Christmas. I then made some black ones and an orangey one. I have to use some glue to hold the sticks in place inside the moustache and in the process of hand sewing them the middle finger on my right hand ends up super painful from pushing the needle through the set glue. (I know I should wear a thimble or finger guard but I don’t.) But hopefully they will go down well!

Only one more day until the new boiler is installed. Really cannot wait. Thankfully the weather has been pretty mild (despite it raining almost constantly) so it’s not been cold, it’s just a been a pain having the hot water going off about a million times when trying to have a quick shower!

I made a rather lovely lasagne tonight. Made using chipotle chili sausages taken out of their skins and fried up with some fennel seeds and the usual ragu suspects and a nice bechamel sauce and of course lasagne sheets and mozzarella. Was lovely and plenty for tomorrow too.

Here I am at gone 1:30am blogging. Last night I was up till gone 2:30am buying fleece scarves on eBay. I can probably sum my life up by the fact I have an app on my iPod called ‘Where to Wee’. All the important stuff.

Baby its cold outside…

Ok so today wasn’t so cold outside, it was actually quite warm for October in the UK – about 18 degrees C and I had a pleasant little walk earlier to get some butter from the shop and to pop my booking form through the door for my first craft fair of the year at my stepson’s school on 14th November.

I am thankful that it is nice and mild at the moment, as well as the hot water being on the fritz (had a marginally nice shower this morning which was marred by the boiler going out towards the end and having a stone cold rinse off…) but also the heating has decided to pack in too. We have now booked in a replacement boiler to be fitted next Friday, so just have to make it through this next week with some quick showers and hoping it doesn’t get too cold! Extra layers and keeping busy.

I have also fairly recently kept having dreams involving a very tiny mouse, that I have a pet mouse (I did used to have a pet mouse…) but that I keep losing it, and then finding it again only to lose it again. Wonder what Freud would make of that. In one of them I found the mouse in a cup of coffee. Some years ago when giving away our old sofas, I had thrown the cushions down to the hallway by the front door and when I picked them up I noticed something small scurry away under the shoe rack which we moved out the way to find the cutest tiny mouse ever. We looked after him for a little while before taking him to a field over the road. Isn’t he cute?

I’ve been making a fair few bits and bobs this week, a mixture of christmas decorations and other items. Photos to follow!

I have also ordered some little blackboards for my stall to write prices on, I think they will look pretty nice with my black and white theme. Got to pick them up tomorrow.

I was thinking again today about some items I have made in the past that I am quite pleased with and a while back my stepson had a party to go to for a little girl called Scarlet. I asked him what he thought she might like for a present. He said ‘a drum and a gun…’ I suggested that while she might, maybe girls don’t always like guns etc. He thought again for a moment and then said ‘I think she would like a badge that said she was super.’ So off I went and made this – and a little set of hairgrips for something extra. I hope she liked them!

I used some glittery red and pink felt for the super symbol for that added bit of glam!

Ups and downs

Yesterday I was lying in bed when I heard a sound I dread… the boiler making cacophanous banging noises while my husband was in the shower. Next thing I see him dashing out of the bathroom to check on the boiler. Yep the hot water has decided not to want to work.

So I had a brief cold shower before he left for work and had to call for an engineer – one is coming on Monday. So it will be lots of boiling kettles and washing with jugs this weekend. Not for the first time, our boiler is rubbish and we regularly have this problem thanks to the hard water area we live in, ruining all the internal workings of the boiler.

However I did meet up with an ex work colleague for lunch on Friday which was really good. Had a nice meal and a great laugh.

This morning I had to make two more of my cute little bat decorations as they and my hanging pumpkins I made for my challenge a while back are heading off to Washington DC.

Then it was shopping, decided to throw a bit of a buffet lunch tomorrow and invite my sister and her family across so bought an array of items. The main reason for doing this is because just recently my husband had a chat with his ex about their son being perhaps old enough now to make up his own mind about whether he wants to be a vegetarian or not. (He has been raised a veggie as originally my husband was a vegetarian as is his ex.) However he doesn’t really like a lot of vegetarian things and it is sad when he goes to parties and gets sweets in party bags he isn’t allowed to eat etc. We thought that he should be allowed to make up his own mind about food now he is almost six, and that buffet type stuff might be good for him to nibble on and decide whether he likes things or not. He was pretty over the moon when we told him Mummy said it was OK for him to try non-veggie things. “You mean next time I go to a party I can have anything I want?” Sometimes it is the simple things in life! (He said he wants to try a bacon sandwich to see if he likes it!) So will see how that goes down tomorrow.

I have made a trifle for tomorrow a bit of a twist on something my Mum used to make. I lined a bowl with thin slices of chocolate and vanilla swiss roll, then poured some raspberry jelly on top so it soaked into the cake. Then when that had set I poured more raspberry jelly on top. I had a carton of ready made Ambrosia Devon Custard (yum) and melted some milk chocolate and added a small amount of strongly brewed coffee into the melting chocolate and mixed that into the custard. (It tastes divine!) Tomorrow I will be putting some marshmallows on the top. My Mum usually makes it with raspberries and cream on top, but lately I have found that I cannot eat cream – it makes me pretty ill. I have IBS so there are a lot of foods out there on my death list! Plus the kids don’t seem to like raspberries all that much at the moment, too many seeds I think.

My husband has been baking tonight – making a starter dough and making some walnut bread – he’s made it before and it is super nice, especially warm out of the oven with butter on!

I have got a few craft fairs coming up in November, so I decided to try doing a bit of a mock up of my table. A while back I bought a folding trestle table from eBay and some other bits and bobs for display including some ex-shop units which were black and white modular units. Turns out the white one was just far too big for the table and so that is now residing in our airing cupboard playing host to loo rolls and other gubbins! The black one is smaller and can go on the table for displaying some of my larger items.

I also painted my pasta dryer white this week, and it works pretty well for displaying my hanging items.

The table isn’t quite how I want everything to look at the moment, I wouldn’t put everything out, just too much going on. I have also ordered some chalkboards to stand on the table with prices written on to make things a bit clearer. (Although sometimes you could have the prices in massive neon lights and people will still ask you how much things are!) I am thinking of putting all my finger puppets into baskets to keep them together and look a bit better organised. Any comments are welcome for ways to improve!

I will also be putting a frame on top of the black unit with the shop name in to make it clear who I am. Also patently clear that I need to make more larger toys!

Also in two weeks time I will be having my first physio session. I have been waiting for about 12 weeks for the appointment to come through. Initially the appointment was for my left shoulder, but 12 weeks ago (about four days before I was referred for shoulder physio) I fell over in a car park. I have a special gift for being able to do things like that. My foot rolled over in a dip in the tarmac and doof! My left ankle immediately swelled to about three times it’s normal size and I was in agony, couldn’t walk on it at all. Thankfully my husband was with me at the time and dashed to the nearby supermarket for some frozen peas and whisked me home. I kept it iced and elevated but still couldn’t walk on it properly for about a week. The bruising came a third of the way up the outside of my calf, all down both sides and the top of my foot. Two weeks later it was still hugely swollen and I ended up at A&E for an x-ray, no broken bones. But now, 12 weeks on I am still in such a lot of pain and discomfort and cannot walk very far without it swelling up and being incredibly painful. So my GP added to my physio referral for my ankle due to my ligaments having been torn. So will be good to get them both seen to soon and hopefully get back to my normal self!

I have also made a few more things this week but I really need to find my camera battery charger! I live in a little house, there are only so many places it could be, but we have turned the place upside down for it! I can bet that if I was to buy another one that I would then miraculously find the original one. So I will probably use my husband’s camera and take some pics soon!

My husband and I will also be going to Bristol on Monday 21st October to see Fascinating Aida at Colston Hall. Looking forward to that. I was going to go with my Mum but my father isn’t too well at the moment so it is best she stays with him and he takes it easy. For those of you who may not have heard of Fascinating Aida, they are a trio of ladies who do musical comedy – this is probably one of their more famous perfomances – Cheap Flights.

Hopefully next week we’ll have hot water again (although somehow I reckon he wont have the parts and will have to come back!) The photo below just sort of sums up everything!

Yet more celebrations!

This week I became an Auntie again! My brother and his wife had their second child, a daughter named Seren (which is Welsh for Little Star). I am already an auntie to two nieces and one nephew and until recently I’ve not really made much for them as I’ve not really had much time between the day job and making things for the shop. Although last year I did make my nephew a little set of finger puppets based on the family’s five dogs for Christmas.

So as a little present for the new arrival I made this little cat rattle (and yes the ears are a little long and make it look more like a cat-rabbit but never mind – adds to the charm). Made using cream cotton, a lovely pink floral cotton, felt, rick rack and a ribbon tail, backed with super soft red fleece. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had bought some rattle inserts and so I made a little felt bag for the rattle to go into and sewed it up as they are quite smooth and can just get moved around a lot inside the toy. So the little felt covered rattle went in amongst the soft stuffing and voila! Not too bad for my first ever rattle toy!

Also as there is a little boy who has just been promoted to the role of Big Brother I made him a little badge to show just how big and strong he is for his new job. He can flash it about like some form of I.D.

And in case you were wondering about my mention of the dog finger puppets earlier – here is a photo of them with their little denim bag! Each dog had it’s name embroidered on the back.

Celebrating

This time two years ago my husband and I were settling down to bacon sandwiches and champagne sat at a table outside at a gorgeous holiday cottage in the Wye Valley. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary yesterday with a lovely romantic drive for several hours on the motorway on the way back from a nice weekend at my parents place in North Wales. (We even taxed the car when we got back for that added little bit of romance.) But we had a nice takeaway and snuggled up together watching The Hobbit so all was not lost!

We got married in the Great Oak Hall at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire on a stunning day. It was a really nice simple ceremony with a small gathering of family and friends. My best friend Dom was my ‘maid of honour’ while my husband’s sister was his ‘best man’. I wrote a reading which my Dad read and we also picked a poem that is very special to us which Dom read –

You 

Uninvited, the thought of you stayed too late in my head,
so I went to bed, dreaming you hard, hard, woke with your name,
like tears, soft, salt, on my lips, the sound of its bright syllables
like a charm, like a spell.                                   

Falling in love
is glamorous hell; the crouched, parched heart
like a tiger ready to kill; a flame’s fierce licks under the skin.
Into my life, larger than life, beautiful, you strolled in.
I hid in my ordinary days, in the long grass of routine,
in my camouflage rooms. You sprawled in my gaze,
staring back from anyone’s face, from the shape of a cloud,
from the pining, earth-struck moon which gapes at me and I open the bedroom door. The curtains stir. There you are
on the bed, like a gift, like a touchable dream.

— Carol Ann Duffy

Our honeymoon was spent at Glentrothy Old Stables near Llanvetherine. A lovely few days away, pottering about in Hay on Wye and going around some castles!

I did come back from my parents with a nice little bag of odds and ends of ribbon and a pasta drying rack which is going to come in very handy for displaying christmas decorations for the upcoming craft fairs I am doing. Not to mention some utterly scrumptious Pink Grapefruit Curd made by my lovely Mum! So now to get making some more things! Just waiting for some more stuffing – and awaiting a delivery of some rattle inserts for baby toys!

My parents run a really special B&B in rural Wales called Rhyd Hir – not too far from Oswestry, Welshpool, Shrewsbury, Chester or even Bala, Snowdonia and Lake Vyrnwy. Go take a look!