Contented

Rockin Robin

This week has, so far, turned out to be almost as busy as last week.  So far there's been:- more sign painting for the Bazaar, Christmas shopping in Tunbridge Wells (too busy, it's going to be all local or internet from now on!) and this afternoon, wrapping presents for the Santa's Grotto.  But it's all good, and on Monday there was more goodness when this little lovely arrived in the post:

 

From Claire, who makes some really funky felty creations - I won 2nd prize in her recent giveaway. 

 

Inside was this cute little chap, plus a sheet of her Moo stickers.  Thank you so much, Claire, he is lovely!  Joe took an instant shine to it and declared that it should belong to him.  Hmmm, we might have to negotiate on that point. 

R x

Busy week - and more Q&A

This week has been unusually busy for me.  Normally I just kind of potter along, maybe see a couple of friends, pop into town for a few bits and bobs - but this week has been a bit of a social whirl!  In addition to the usual Tuesday coffee morning and inevitable trips into town there has also been quite a lot of crafting for our school's Christmas fair - painting signs for stalls one day and the next day painting and decorating little bits of mdf to make plaques/signs to sell - a lovely day out yesterday with my friend Hazel, supposedly Christmas shopping but in reality it was just lots of chatting! Another friend this morning and tomorrow there is a girls evening in - a group of school mums having an early Christmas get together.  The week has just whizzed by and the house is looking a bit of a tip - nothing new there, then!!  But I really do want to try and make the house nice and tidy for Christmas - it's creeping up on me very quickly so I think next week will be spent trying to catch up.  For now though, while I have some time before the school run, I wanted to finish answering my giveaway questions in the peace and quiet.

So, Lucette asked "what kinds of photos would you like to take?" (with my new camera).  Very easy answer to that - good ones!!  I have to come clean and confess that I barely glanced at the instruction manual for my new camera - I think that perhaps I ought to take the time to read it through properly!  It's great for snapshots, and I have managed to take one or two really good close up shots, but I would really like to be able to take the kinds of photos that have real "atmosphere" to them.  Before we got a digital camera, I went through a phase of buying black and white film as I think black & white photos have such a lovely quality to them, quite different from the same shot in colour, and I got some gorgeous pics of the kids.  I don't even know if I can create black & white pics with this camera - or does that just depend on the computer software you use?  See, completely clueless!  I'd quite fancy doing a course in amateur photography and learn about lighting, how to stage a shot etc - I could certainly use some help regarding taking photos of the things I've made. 

The final question was from Katy, who asked "if you could master one thing you can't do, what would it be?"  Gosh, can I really only pick one thing?  No, that's too tough, sorry Katy, I'm going to have to pick a few!  Ok, I would really love to be able to ice skate - proper figure skating with turns and jumps and stuff.  I can skate a bit, forwards no problem and backwards just a little bit, but it was always something done very rarely - there was never a rink near where we lived - and I haven't been for years, in fact I think the last time I went may have been when I first met my husband!  But skating is one of the few sports I actually like watching on tv and I always wish that I could do it too.   I saw Torvill & Dean once at Wembley and was just mesmerised by it.  I would also love to be able to play an instrument, either piano or guitar.  We have Guitar Hero on the Wii which I LOVE - a bit sad as it is my sons game, but that really made me want to be able to play for real.   And we always had a piano at home growing up - my mum plays but I don't recall ever wanting to learn as a child - I actually did violin for maybe a year but couldn't wait to quit!  Anyway, piano playing just looks so amazing I always think (and sounds lovely too, of course).  And finally, I think that I too would also like to learn to crochet - if only because I want one of those gorgeous ripple blankets!!!

I'll leave you with a photo taken last night - as I was typing yesterday's post I glanced up out of the window to see the most amazing coloured sky, and dashed outside to try and capture it.  I did even use the "sunset" setting on the camera, although even then I'm not sure that the pic really does it justice!

 

Have a great weekend!

R x

Q & A Part two

Hello again!  Ready for question no 2?  

Both Jane and Chloe asked what my dream job/occupation would be.  Well, actually, I am really happy just  being at home and have absolutely no desire to go back into the workplace at all!  (Chloe, I think you hit the nail on the head!).  Before I stopped work prior to having Joe I did have a really good job, in a fantastic company with lovely people, but I wasn't sad to leave and didn't miss it at all.  I have never been remotely ambitious or career minded at all - my jobs were only ever "just a job" - a way to pay the bills.  Even now both the kids are at school, I am perfectly happy just pottering around - I am actually a very lazy person and am completely comfortable in my own company, not one of those people who have to be doing something all the time.  If I could make some money selling the things I enjoy making then that would be wonderful, but I don't think I would say that was my dream job either.  If I had to go back out to work, I'd rather like to work somewhere like Monsoon, and get a big staff discount!  However, I must admit that I did always rather fancy doing something in interior design.  I LOVE home interiors magazines and buy several every month, tearing out pictures of things or room sets that appeal to me.  (They're all just stuffed in a folder as potential inspiration should I ever be able to afford to decorate my home with anything other than Ikea stuff!)  When my brother bought a new house a few years back, he let me "design" his bedroom - just helping him pick out paint colours and new furniture - but I really love all that stuff, the planning and dreaming up of room layouts.  I'm working on him to get cracking on his lounge so I can help him with that too! 

I hope that answers your questions, ladies!  See you tomorrow for question no 3!

R x

Q & A part one

For my giveaway post, I asked entrants to ask me a question about myself, and now it's time for the answers.  But because I only got a few responses I'm going to be cheeky and spread this out a bit, with one question per day for the rest of the week.  So here is question no. 1:-

Lesley asked "What three luxuries would you take with you to a desert island?"

Well, I don't really do beach holidays so my first thought was a private jet to fly me straight back home again!  But I think that would count as cheating, so had another think about it.   Now, I don't know if Lesley meant a shipwrecked, Robinson Crusoe type of island, or an exotic, romantic honeymoon kind of island, but in fact I think I would pick the same things for both - Peter (obviously), a really comfy bed (no, not for that reason, it's because I LOVE sleep so a comfy bed is extremely important!), and then probably a gallon of sunblock so I wouldn't burn to a crisp - or maybe an air conditioning unit.  Is that just really sad and unimaginative?  Do any of those things count as luxuries?  I did try to think of "luxurious" things, but nothing really came to mind that I couldn't live without.   Oh lord, this question thing is harder than I expected!!  I'll try to be a bit more interesting tomorrow!

I'll leave you with a pic of my latest sock - finished this morning.  (Katy, if you're reading, this is what you've let yourself in for!!)

R x

Giveaway winner(s)

Well, where'd everybody go?  Only six entries for my little giveaway, which was a little weird, but then I guess that makes the odds better for those that did enter!  Anyway, I put the names in my lovely new little fabric basket,

 

ahh, don't they look sad in there? And the first name pulled out was...

 

Katy of I'm a ginger monkey!  And because there were so few entries, I decided to pick a runner up as well, who was...

 

Chloe of Mee Crafty!   Well done ladies, if you could email me your addresses I'll get your goodies sent off asap.  And thank you to all for your questions, they were all actually quite thought provoking, so much so that I still haven't decided on my answers!  But I will do my best to answer them all tomorrow.

R x

Giveaway reminder

Don't forget, you can still enter my little giveaway here (scroll down to the end of the post).  The winner will be drawn on Monday.

 

R x

Christmas swap goodies!

Today I received my parcel from Lesley - I knew it was coming and was checking for the postman at regular intervals until he finally turned up just after lunch!  Now, I know this was a Christmas swap but you didn't really think I'd be able to wait until December 25th before opening this, did you?  Besides, I knew that Lesley had already opened my parcel to her, so at least we're both cheating together!  Anyway, I did at least manage to restrain myself long enough to grab the camera and take some pics:

 

The parcel was wrapped in what looks to be at least an FQ size of lovely Christmassy fabric, and inside:

 

this gorgeous fabric basket with the sweetest little house appliqued on the front.  Lesley, I love this so much I can't tell you!  But wait, there's more...

 

five little, tissue wrapped parcels, containing...

 

five lovely felty/fabric ornaments.  The house and the snowman are my favourites, but I love them all and can't wait to hang them up at Christmas.  There were also some Christmassy stickers and some chocolate coins (mmm, yummy, all gone now though!) and a beautiful handmade card.  I really was chuffed to bits with these goodies, and have really enjoyed reading Lesley's blog and getting to know her too.  And now, of course, I can show you what I made for her:

 

A little cushion with her blog name appliqued in felt letters, plus some little birds for good measure.  Here's what the back looked like:

 

I also made a mini quilt with some of that lovely heart fabric:

 

This was the first time I had attempted "proper" binding but thought it turned out rather well.  In fact, I was very tempted to keep this for myself!  I also sent her a little birdie brooch but forgot to photo that as well.  All in all, I think I can safely say that this was another successful swap!

R x

Ramblings

My cold is now, thankfully, on the way out and I'm feeling a bit more human (although still having to blow my nose a ridiculous amount of times every day).  But my crafting and blogging mojos seem to have (temporarily I hope) deserted me.  I really haven't got much to talk about.  This annoys me somewhat, as I really like talking to you all, so I will try and make an effort.  I wonder if it's just a little hiatus, now that Joe's birthday is out of the way and I've posted my Christmas swap parcel,  but I'm not quite ready to start on Christmas "proper" yet?  Also, in a very uncharacteristic burst of domesticity, I blitzed downstairs yesterday and the lounge and dining room are really rather tidy - there is actually NOTHING on the dining room table and I kind of don't want to mess it up again with loads of sewing stuff. (Hmmm, perhaps I am still ill and am, in fact, delirious?)  I do have another pair of socks on the needles, and did manage to make these at the weekend, but I don't think I shall be starting anything else this week.

 

Now, I did promise a giveaway to celebrate my 100th post, didn't I?  Ok, so I'm going to cheat slightly and offer something that I bought from a shop - a set of 5 lavender themed art cards from Ikea:

 

I think these would look really lovely framed and hung in a row, and that was in the back of my mind when I bought them, but I already have far too many "pictures in waiting" so thought I'd offer these to you instead.  And as a bonus you can have one of the little beaded hearts too, just let me know which colour you'd like.  To enter, instead of answering a question, how about asking one?  Anything you'd like to know about me.  (I saw this on someone's blog ages ago and it was actually quite fascinating reading - of course, it could all fall flat and you'll find out how boring I am but what the hey!)  I'll pick a name out of the hat next Monday (17th) and try and answer as many questions as I can. 

Wow, for someone who claims to have nothing to say I do seem to have gone on a bit.  Enjoy the rest of your week.

R x

Gogo crazy (and 100 posts)

 

These are just some of Joe's gogos.  If you've not come across them before, they're little plastic figures (aliens?/robots?) about an inch or so high, that come in packs of 3 (with stickers - yes , you have to get the sticker album too!) and there's about a billion of them to collect.  (OK, maybe not quite a billion, but you get my drift.)  It's the current craze at our school.  William, at 11, considers himself far too mature for such things, but Joe loves them.  And I have to admit, despite my constant attempts to avoid allowing any more plastic tat into the house, I actually rather like these.

 

Yes, they end up scattered all over the house and yes, it hurts if you tread on one, and there's aways JUST ONE that has disappeared and can't be found,  but you can play games with them, and count them, and look up their names in the sticker album.  And they are kind of cute, don't you think?   I just need to persuade Joe to keep them all in his room!

I just realised, this is my 100th post.  Wow, that came around quick.  I was going to do a giveaway but have to hold up my hands and admit that I have nothing planned - I'm still feeling pretty woolly headed with this rotten cold so just hadn't got round to thinking about it.   But I'll try and get something sorted out for next week, so watch this space....

Have a great weekend!

R x

Sneaky peaks

I'm actually feeling pretty crappy today, with a stinking cold, but nevertheless, have managed to complete my Christmas swap items.  So here's a couple of sneaky peaks:

 

 

I think I'm suffering with a bout of swap anxiety.  The things I've made are not at all what I originally thought I would make for this swap!  In fact, I had one idea that got made up not one, not two but THREE times before being scrapped because I was still not happy with it.  I worry that my stuff will not be up to scratch (especially when my swap partner is so talented!).  Having said that, this week I stopped thinking about it so much and just MADE something, and ended up much happier with the outcome!  So now it's all ready to be parcelled up and sent off next week in time for the deadline.

R x