Contented

Sale!!!

I wasn't going to do a post today, but I'm so excited about this I just had to share it with you!  I just got back from dropping the kids at my mums, only to discover an email in my inbox saying I have sold one of my little birdie brooches on Folksy!!!   And there was me thinking no-one was ever going to buy anything!  There was a slightly frantic 5 minutes while I tried to locate the said brooch, but now it's all wrapped up and ready to go.  Now, I hope you'll excuse me as I have a party to get ready for, but you can bet that next week will see lots of organising some new things to make and get listed!

R x

Masquerade

 

On Saturday my friend is having her 30th birthday party and the theme is "wear a mask".  A lot of people are going in fancy dress - imagine lots of Batmen, Catwomen and maybe the odd Hong Kong Phoey (my favourite suggestion, but Peter wasn't keen!).  I, however, leapt at the chance of wearing a "posh frock", masquerade ball style.  So before Christmas I trotted off to Monsoon and got myself a dress in the sale and decided to have a go at making a mask myself. 

 

This is the result.  I bought a cardboard blank in the craft shop, sprayed it silver, painted on the "eyeliner",  covered it with glitter gel then stuck on the little jewels.  Feathers were scavenged from an old feather boa and the stick is actually a chopstick painted black with a string of sequins stuck on.  It probably cost me about £4 to make - the craft shop also sold ready decorated masks (and very stunning they were too) but at £8-£10, so I have at least managed to save a few quid!!

R x

Planning

There's not been a great deal of creating this week, but there are a few ideas brewing, which I thought I might share with you :-

* Bags.  I've not done any "serious" bag making for a while (too busy with quilts and socks!), although I did make this one for my niece's birthday last week.

 

You can't see from the, frankly quite appalling, photo, but it is actually quilted.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out and my niece loved it, which is the main thing!  Anyway, back to the subject, last month I purchased a Portobello Pixie bag pattern and this afternoon got round to transferring the pattern from the tissue to a more sturdy paper.

 

 

Although it worked out quite expensive to buy due to the awful exchange rate, the thing I was most interested in is the fact that the designer, Sandi Henderson, has given permission for the bag to be made and sold by "the home sewer" without any fear of a lawsuit!  Hoorah!  So, once I've made one for myself (of course!), I'm going to make some to try and sell.

Which neatly brings me to my next point:-

* Folksy.  I opened a Folksy shop I-don't-know-how-many months ago, listed 4 items and then forgot about it.  No surprise that there's been no interest then!   I would really like to try and make at least a little bit of pocket money from this hobby of mine, so I think I need to give Folksy another chance and actually make a bit more of an effort this time!  If anyone has any tips on this, they would be greatly appreciated!

*  Also in my mind is my next quilt, using that lovely Georgina fabric.  I'm quite glad that I didn't go straight ahead and start making it, as I think I've changed my mind about how I'm going to do it (well, a girl's allowed to change her mind, right?)  I'm now quite keen on the idea of cutting it up into smaller pieces, and surrounding it with lots of white (I think that was Lesley's idea?) - and then using more of the georgina print for the binding - something like this:

 

What do you think?  This will be a summer quilt for our bedroom and I'm really exciting about making it.  I just need February to be over so that I can buy the white cotton I need, then I can get started!

*  And that's the other thing.  I've been very good and haven't bought any extra fabric or yarn all this month (apart from a couple of FQ's for Joe's quilt, but I did say I would allow myself that!)  It hasn't actually been as hard as I thought it might, but I have seen a quite a few new prints around the blogosphere that are on my wish list!  Top of the list has to be some of this gorgeousness from down under:

 

Scrummy new Prints Charming fabric!  And I also can't wait for this new collection to come out:

 

French Hatbox by Tanya Whelan - just beautiful.

So there we have it.  Any guesses as to which "plan" I'll do first?

R x

My new favourites

Socks, that is.  I finished these yesterday and wore them today.  Sooo, so cozy!  And I absolutely adore the colours.

 

I know that handknitting your socks is not cheap but I can't see myself getting sick of this anytime soon - and lucky for me, I don't seem to suffer from "second sock syndrome" either!  I'm just glad that Feb is a short month, as I am still trying to stick to my "no yarn or fabric buying" challenge (and it is proving to be quite a challenge too!), so only 8 days to go and then I can buy more supplies!  Yay!

R x

Hello

I just wanted to pop in and say "hi" and let you know that normal blogging will resume shortly.  Can I also say again, a HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has left me comments regarding our situation with Joe, all your kind words and virtual hugs have meant more to me than I can say.  I am feeling a lot more level headed about things now and am trying to think positive - in a wierd way it does kind of help to have a "reason" for his behaviours and, after all, he's not sick, we are getting help and if it is an ASD, he is only mildly affected - for many of my friends who only see him for short periods of time he appears to be just a normal little boy.  It's just frustrating that we will have to wait so long to find out for sure.  Despite what I said last week, I have done a little online reading at the National Autistic Society, and, whilst I would not presume to try and diagnose him myself, would also not be surprised if he is diagnosed with Aspergers.  This is not an entirely unknown quantity to us as my nephew has it (which does make me wonder if it has come from my side of the family, although we are not aware of anyone else being affected).  Anyway, we are enjoying half term, spending lots of time just chilling out at home, and there has even been some time for a little bit of sewing - which is actually a very good way of taking my mind off things!  Hopefully I will have some pics to share with you soon - I've almost finished a pair of socks, making good progress on Joe's quilt and am itching to get started on some new things.

See you soon.

R x

12/28 - Taking a break

Firstly, thank you so much for all your thoughtful comments yesterday.  I really do appreciate it.  I woke up this morning feeling much more "together" but then at the school gates, talking to Joe's T.A., the floodgates opened.  This was the first time I've cried since our appointment so I needed to get it out of my system.  She was so, so lovely, taking me into the medical room and talking to me and giving me tissues!  She's a real gem, Joe is so lucky to have her.   Anyway, my posting every day project is going to be put on hold, certainly for the weekend, as there are just too many things buzzing round my head right now.   I may get back into it, or I may decide that 12 days was enough and go back to normal posting.  We'll see.  But for now, thanks again and see you next week.

R x

11/28 - Slow progress

Yesterday we had Joe's appointment with the paediatrician, a very nice lady doctor.  I think it went well.  She said that she could very quickly see that Joe had some quite subtle but definite behaviour issues and, to cut a long story short, she is referring us to the Social Communication clinic, which will be checking for autism.  So I asked if this meant she thought he was on the spectrum and she said yes.  We could have quite a long wait ahead of us, but at least we are one step closer now.  I had a meeting with Joe's teacher and the school's SENCO this afternoon.  They have set Joe some more "little steps" targets - I am honestly so impressed by how they have dealt with this, his teacher and T.A. have been really wonderful.  When I told them that it was possible autism, the SENCO put her hand on my arm and said "and how do you feel about that?"   (I could easily have lost it at that point, but somehow didn't). The truth is, I feel in a bit of a daze.   I know that Joe will (eventually) get the support he needs and, if it is autism, he is only mildly affected.  I have avoided looking on the internet as I could easily become overwhelmed with information.  It's hard to know how to deal with as we are still so far away from an actual diagnosis and, until we get that, we are almost in limbo.  So that's where we're at right now. 

As a result, I've been in an odd mood today, unable to focus on anything very much.  But I did manage to make a batch of cookies - recipe found on Attic 24 here - and they are the most simple and delicious cookies I've ever made.  Go and make yourself some now.  They won't last long.

 

R x

10/28 - For Victoria

Today I made a donation here.  Please think about making one if you've not done so already.  Also, do take a look here and here for other ways in which you can help.  I'm going to try and come up with something to send tomorrow.

R x

9/28 - Swap goodies!

This morning a parcel arrived from my "Fat Quarter Swap" partner, Beth.

 

Ooh, I was so excited to see some Prints Charming fabric in there!  Let's see what else there is:

 

Not two, but FOUR lovely pieces of fabric!  Plus a little bag of vintagey looking buttons and some really cute bobble trim which reminds me of summer hols as a child down in Devon (I'm sure that someone, maybe my Nana or Auntie Dot, used to wear something, probably made of towelling, with this kind of trim on it). Thank you so much Beth, you've been a great swap partner!  And thanks, also, to Katy for organising it all.

R x

8/28 - red

 

 

 

 

R x