Contented

Ta daa!

 

Finished at last! (And very cozy they are too!)

R x

A late birthday present

Do you remember, on my birthday I won a giveaway over at You Go Girl?  Well, today a little parcel arrived in the post and inside it was this lovely little pincushion.

 

 

I just love the little embroidered flower button.

 

And the underside is just as pretty.  I know I've said this before but blogland is such a cool place - that a complete stranger can send you something so special, just for saying hello on their blog, is still quite amazing to me.  But I'm so pleased to be part of it.  Thank you so much, Cassie!

It's also come to my attention that I am getting very close to 100 posts, so I ought to be thinking of some kind of giveaway myself!  Stay tuned... ;)

R x

Some things making me happy this weekend...

1. It's half term - yay!  No early mornings for a week!

2. New books,

 

both lovely, I want to make nearly everything!

3. More new fabric:

 

This is from the Ava Rose collection by Tanya Whelan - I ordered a fabric "wheel" which consisted of 20 10x10 inch squares and which positively screamed "quilt" at me as soon as I opened it and was then hastily sewn together in a fit of excitement!  Possibly not the most sensible thing to do - I didn't measure or recut any of it so some of the squares don't line up and there's even a bit of selvedge in there too (but it's very pretty selvedge!) but I just LOVE it.  So, although I really shouldn't be buying any more fabric for the foreseeable future, am now on the lookout for something suitable for a border and backing.

Oh yes, and I just finished my first sock!  I don't have a photo yet as it's evening now, but will post one soon.  But I'm pleased to say that it worked perfectly this time and feels extremely cozy.  Will be casting on no 2 tomorrow!

R x

Red and green

I made some little bun cakes today and, on the way home from school, asked Joe what colour we should ice them.

"Green!"

"And red!"

Did he mean some cakes red and some green?  Oh, no.  He wanted each cake to be half red and half green.  Well, not a cupcake design concept I'd pick myself, but I gave it a go.

 

Yikes.   Still, at least they taste nice!

Have a great weekend!

R x

More fabric gorgeousness!

I do apologise if it's starting to get boring with me posting pics every time I get new fabric, but this latest bunch had me practically jumping up and down with glee, they're so scrummy!

 

These came from Z&S Fabrics in the States and were a real bargain - even more so as there was an extra discount running at the time!  The first two are by Free Spirit and the last two from the Two Young Street range designed by Prints Charming.  Some of you may recognise the last one from the front cover of Sew Hip magazine.  I could only buy half a yard of that one but was really glad I did!

 

Oh, they're so pretty, it'll be such a shame to cut into them!  I don't have anything planned for them yet, but I expect bits of them will find their way into my quilt, and I might make some more little denim totes with these too.  But I can't help feeling that the hearts fabric really deserves to be quilted whole, as it were, and as I don't have enough to make the quilt in Sew Hip, maybe I'll make myself a quilted cushion with it instead.

Enjoy your week!

R x

This is..... my favourite film

I recently joined the This is.. group over at Three Buttons.  Basically, each week a different theme is chosen and then every Sunday the participants post their choice for that category.  I thought this sounded like fun - a good way to post about things that I might not otherwise.  And the category this week is favourite films.  This is a really tough one!  There are so many great films to choose from, and so many that I love, all for very different reasons.  So I'm going to cheat slightly and pick two.

     Apologies for the tiny pic, I can't seem to get the size right - it's either this size or enormous!  Anyway, I saw  A Room with a View in April 87.  It's a lovely film in it's own right but is made even more special for me as it was my first date with Peter.  And then he bought me the video of it for Valentines Day the following year!  So yes, this is one of my fave's for mostly sentimental reasons, but that's as good a reason as any, right?

And my next choice is Back to the Future. What a fab movie,  I saw this three times, I think. (Although that was probably partly because I had a huge crush on Michael J Fox - and yeah, I still do, a little bit!)  But again, I love the film anyway, it had a great soundtrack too.   Peter knows me so well, the box set of the 3 Back to the Future films was another gift from him!

Oh, this is hard, can I list some more? 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Dirty Dancing

The Breakfast Club (you can tell I was a teenager in the 80's, right?)

The original Star Wars films

Amelie

The Railway Children (although i can't watch the end of it now, it makes me cry every time!)

It's a Wonderful Life - an absolute classic

and my favourite recent film was probably Stardust.  I'm sure I'll probably think of a load more right after I post this, but I think I've probably listed enough!

What's your favourite film?

P.S. I bet loads of people would pick Mamma Mia - but can you believe I still haven't seen it yet!

R x

A little announcement

I have taken a very deep breath and got myself a little shop on Folksy!  I figured there wasn't really much to lose - it's still in Beta so they're not charging commission yet.  I've only listed a few items so far, but will hopefully get more on there in the coming weeks.  Please do go and have a look and let me know what you think - and be honest with me,  constructive criticism will be greatfully received!  I know I still have some work to do regarding my photo's.  I did try and put a button in my sidebar but failed miserably (I've tried putting on buttons before for swaps and had the same problems) - I've read the instructions on Typepad itself and read a tutorial on Bella Dia but I just can't crack it - hence there is only a link.   Maybe someone can help me with that too?  Anyway, I'll leave you with some pics of three little bags made this week - the first two are in the shop but the last one is for me! (Click on the pics for a bigger view).

       

Enjoy your weekend!

R x

I won an award!

The very lovely Jane at Picciolo has given me an award - my first one too!

 

The "Proximidade" or "Friendship around the World" award is for blogs that are special in some way and extend the hand of friendship around the world.  All I have to do is pass this on to eight of my favourite blogs, and ask that they do the same.  So, I am passing this on to:-

Matching Pegs

Turkey Cookies

My Sewing Serenity

I'm a Ginger Monkey

Vintage Amethyst

Rachael Rabbit

Moogsmum

Today We Are...

R x

Mish mash

There's a lot going on in my head right now, and I've found it a little hard to concentrate on any one particular thing the last few days.  I'm going to try not to turn this post into a long, rambling mess, but bear with me, ok?   There's nothing particularly bad - this home is still a contented one, happily - but I have been worrying a bit about Joe and how he is coping at school, and it's been niggling away at the back of my mind for a while.  Basically, he is doing fine, but seems to struggle with concentration and confidence.  He's also a very solitary little boy, in a world of his own a lot of the time, and, although he does have friends, just doesn't seem to know how to connect with them.  It's very hard to explain or to put my finger on anything specific but I just felt that he has some issues and wanted to discuss this with someone - even if it was just to be told that I was worrying about nothing.  This week we had parent/teacher consultations, and I made an appointment to see Joe's teacher this afternoon so that I could voice my concerns.  But she actually phoned me earlier on today to say that the AEN lady had been doing a routine class observation and had felt that Joe could do with some extra help, and would it be ok if she sat in on our meeting?   This was so well timed, I felt very reassured that they had noticed something before I'd had the chance to flag it up first.  So we had the meeting and they are going to ask some communication and behaviour specialists to come and observe him, and hopefully give some advice and guidance on how best to support him at school.  I'm now feeling a lot happier now that the ball is rolling and I'm not just being a paranoid mother! 

Also going on in my head:

Trying to plan Joe's birthday in a few weeks.  I'd been agonising over what kind of party to give him, but in fact I think he finds big groups of children quite overwhelming, so I've decided to ditch the party idea and just keep it very quiet whilst still making a big fuss of him.  So it will be some kind of family outing instead I think, and maybe one friend home for tea after school on the actual day.

I've also been thinking about the Christmas swap.  I am DEFINITELY not doing a bag for this one, partly because I've made bags for both of the other swaps I've done, but also because my partner makes some very gorgeous bags herself, with clever things like zips too!  So I've come up with an idea that I think will be really fun, and after a bit of experimentation, have just started working on the project "proper".  As always, you'll have to wait a while to see the finished article!

I've been toying with the idea of opening an Etsy shop and trying to sell maybe some tote bags, maybe some felty bird brooches?  A little extra money is always useful, especially in the current climate.  What do you reckon?  Shall I give it a whirl?

Gosh, I have gone on a bit, sorry!  I'll leave you with some photos from our weekend.  We went to a wedding and it was the most beautiful sunny day!  The whole thing was so lovely.  The reception was at this stunning venue.

 

The Spa Valley Railway actually passed the venue, and look who chuffed past while we were having pre-dinner drinks on the patio!

 

There was a lovely meal and a great disco in the evening.  A good time was had by all - Peter even got up and danced with me!

 

Me and my lovely hubby.

R x

Sock report - part 3

It's finished!  Well, sort of.  I followed the pattern that came with the yarn for the toe bit and I'm pleased to say it all made sense and worked perfectly, no extra research required! 

However, as you can see and as I suspected, it is rather on the baggy side (that's an understatement - it's mahoosive!), so I refrained from grafting the ends together as that would involve cutting the yarn, something I don't want to do as I will be reknitting this AGAIN!  I am going to invest in a set of the correct sized needles (!) and try and get it right next time, but I actually don't mind as I really enjoyed knitting it and am just so darned pleased with myself that I got all the way through it without tearing my hair out!  Don't worry, I won't bore you with any more progress reports, but I will definitely post a photo of the finished pair.

As I was typing this the postman came, and look what has landed on my doormat!

 

The first issue of Sew Hip!  I've just had a quick flick through it and it looks fab!  So lovely to see many names I recognise from the bloggy world too!  So I'm now going to go and make myself a cup of tea and settle down to have a proper read through.  I only ordered the first copy but I think I will definitely have to get myself a subscription!

Many, many thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes!

Have a great weekend!

R x