Country In The Town

A lovely competition and house news...

2011-10-12T09:38:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

Just popped back to share this gorgeous competition being held by Cottontails. You have a chance to win a choice of two scrummy aprons from English Eclectics and a co-ordinating toy from Moulin Roty, the prize is worth £39! Just click on >>THIS<< to enter, all you have to do is Name That Biscuit!!!

I have loads of photos to show you of things for my new house..... except I have a new phone (which won't connect to this PC) and I'm getting my new laptop tomorrow. So I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer. I will show you the agent's picture of the kitchen though, as you can see it's been done in quite a country style even though it's right in town. I so cannot wait to get all my pretty girly things in there :)

I'm moving in on Saturday!!!!! Three sleeps to go, cannot wait!

Have a great day, love Mel xxx

Quick hi, shopping and update!

2011-09-13T12:32:00.000+01:00

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the good wishes on the last post. Unfortunately the apartment fell through (gutted is not the word!) because the landlord suddenly decided he didn't want children. But I've now got a holding deposit on a lovely little private city centre property. It's not very old, it's not very big but it's so sweet and perfect for me and my little ladies. The kitchen is proper country style, so it fits perfectly with my blog name heeheehee. Just wait until you see all the gorgeous girly lusciousness I am purchasing for it!!! I will be back with photos soon.

Just been shopping today.... meant to buy practical things... um.... well you can see what I came back with! I am very chuffed with the melamine bowls, so pretty and reduced to £1 each from £2.50 (from BHS, which is also where the flower in jar arrangement and the heart frame were from). The bag is £22 from M&S and the jewellery was from there too. The cream is to try and banish my frown lines!!!! Cheaper than Botox hahahaha.

I had best go, my little one started school last week and I have to pick her up after lunch. She is so cute and tiny in her uniform, I'm so proud. And of her big sister as well of course!

Have a great week, love Mel xxx

New beginnings...

2011-09-01T04:01:00.000+01:00

Hey folks,

Yet again I've disappeared but I am back with exciting news! It's been an eventful and very difficult year to say the least, I have been on a bit of a rollercoaster the last six months but hopefully (please keep your fingers crossed for me!!!) it's calming down now.

Anyway the news is that I have just found a place to rent, and I think and hope that you will all enjoy the journey of making this new place a home for me and my girls. Once I know it's all going ahead properly I will of course give you probably far too many photos and show you how I'm progressing. It's all new for me because I've never rented before so it will be strange not being allowed to do whatever I want with the place but I know it will feel like home soon enough.

The place I've found is a huge, old flat that's absolutely full of character and pretty open plan, so a massive change for me from anywhere I've lived before. There's even a big landing that will be perfect for a crafting area, so I may actually even finish my youngest daughter's quilt ;)

I will keep you posted on how it's going, I'm staying at my Mum's at the moment so I can go as soon as all the paperwork and things are ready. I can't wait, and hopefully you will have fun reading about my fresh challenge too. Take care and thank you for hanging about waiting for me, love Mel xxx

A make and a nice chore for once

2011-05-10T13:58:00.000+01:00

Hey all!

I've realised it's been a month again since I was last here, but that's improving on my last appearance! Thank you for my welcome back last time though! Just popping on quick to show you my latest make, which was inspired by the saying "Friends are like stars, you don't need to see them to know they are there". Except with less stitching.... it's only a mini cushion! It's for someone I miss a lot and I hope they will like it :)

Yesterday I had a proper girly day and washed all the china off the dresser and gave the whole thing a good clean. It was actually quite a satisfying job and I was inspired to do the rest of the dining room as well afterwards. I love how all this rosey china looks together.

The dresser is now devoid of random paperwork/ hairbands/ badges/ small toys etc etc. Let's hope it stays that way for a while!!! Apologies for the drunken angle.

The cast on my ankle came off a couple of weeks ago and I'm getting used to walking about on two legs again. It still hurts, it swells up when I walk about too much and the scars aren't nice but I really appreciate not having to use crutches any more! I've got to have two screws taken out of it at the end of the month sometime and a follow up appointment in June and then that's it hopefully.

Right I'd better go and spend some time with my brother, who is watching Doctors in my living room on his own at the moment. Take care all xxx

The wanderer returns...

2011-04-04T14:02:00.000+01:00

...Um, yeah so I wasn't back before Christmas... or January... or February... or even March! So thank you for your patience if you have carried on following me or are a new follower.

Part of the reason for my absence is that my husband and I have separated and therefore I won't be living in this house too much longer, and this house has always been a big part of my blog! I also broke my ankle at the end of February on a "look I'm freeee!" night out, which has meant husband moving back in to look after me and the girls. Yep, it's awkward.

Anyway, on a more positive note I have managed to make a couple of things to show you in the intervening time! Firstly one of my best friends was given a sewing tin for Christmas and asked me to give her some pins and cotton to go in it.

Never one to resist a challenge I decided to make my first pin cushion and a needle book along with a few other bits and pieces.Weirdly enough I chose to use the strawberry fabric before I found out the tin she was given also had strawberries on.

Everything's pretty simplistic but my friend was really pleased.

I also made a patchwork heart on the spur of the moment the other day. Lots of people have suggested that while I'm laid up with the cast on my leg that I should do more creative things, which I can see makes sense! Though I always struggle to make when I'm not happy so what with everything that's going on at the moment it has been a bit of a mental challenge. I am pleased with this though, and I think I will use it for a Facebook pay it forward that I signed up to months ago that needs to be completed this year.

Right, I think that will do for the time being, I will do my best not to leave it so long next time! Hope you are all doing well, love Mel xxx

Kitchen update :)

2010-12-13T12:45:00.000Z

Hi all, hope everyone is doing well. I thought you might like to see how the kitchen is coming along. We have made some progress at last... here is my beautiful new range cooker!!! The tiles need to go up but at least we can use it!

I absolutely love it to bits already! It was only installed on Wednesday and I’ve already cooked a full roast beef dinner with all the trimmings and baked some biscuits with my girlies. I can’t imagine how I managed with just a microwave/convection oven for sooo long.

In the garage we have a dishwasher, washing machine, ceramic sink and a tap waiting to be installed. I am hoping desperately that they will be in by Christmas (especially the dishwasher!!!) but even if not at least I can cook the dinner with ease, as there will be eight of us this year.

I found a picture on the PC of how the kitchen started off, I’ve never shown a full view on the blog because I don’t like it at all, though it is light at least. This is as tidy as it ever gets ;)

The sink and washing machine will be staying where they are but being replaced with new. The dishwasher is going where the old oven is on the right there and the hob will be removed. All the new worktop will be beech effect to match the existing breakfast bar. There are a replacement fridge and freezer in already down the end which are larger and actually matching so there’s not a gap at the side any more, which looks much tidier already. The cupboard (which is currently a built in extractor and small amount of storage at the top) above the old hob is going to be taken out and a shelf or two and some enamel utensils my Mum gave me are going up there.

Unfortunately as funds are not limitless the compromise we’ve had to make is keeping the rest of the old units as we just couldn’t afford to replace them, but although there are unfortunately two different types (don’t ask!!!) they are both white and fairly inoffensive! I’d like to get new blinds made and a new curtain for the back door but it depends if we have any money left over at the end really.

I’ve deliberately not mentioned it too much so far as sometimes it’s nice to escape the thought of it, but how are the Christmas plans coming along? We’ve got our tree up and various Christmassy things about, just wrote my cards in the last couple of days too. We have a few pressies under the tree but I need to have a huge wrapping session.

I've just got to show you a picture of the ceiling in my friend's flat in Bristol. I stayed at his place with my brother last month when we went to see Motorhead and he lives in a really nice place that I think you would all appreciate. This is the top of the living room shutters and the ceiling. Gorgeous, I am very envious!

Well I will bid you goodbye for another day, I can't believe it's been a month since I did a post last, sorry about that. Take care and I will be back before Christmas! Love Mel xxx

A day out and other bits and pieces

2010-11-13T15:38:00.002Z

Hi there! Hope you're having a good weekend. I'm not working today, which is very nice. Crafting seems to have been a bit thin on the ground this last week with the horrible weather, so I thought I would show you a few pics from half term when we all went for a trip to Salisbury Cathedral Close.

The one below is from a tiny front garden, in a lot of the gardens in The Close these pretty little flowers grow amongst the stones, but I thought the geranium was so pretty and striking as well. I could spend hours just looking at the gardens and houses.

For us it's less than a half hour walk so we should go more often really. It was pretty chilly so we didn't hang about outside for long but we did go the Salisbury Museum and took some shots in there as well.

There is a big statue outside the Cathedral of a man reclining, this doesn't show how huge it is and how realistic it looks from a distance.

Inside the museum there are all sorts of things but these caught my eye.

There's a lot that kids enjoy too like costumes to try on, little mice to spot amongst the exhibits and colouring in sheets at various strategic points so we all had a good time.

There was icecream in the cafe at the end too, mmmmmm. Unfortunately we ate it too fast to photograph :-S

On the home front we've been battening down the hatches against the rain and winds. I'm back addicted to Yankee Candles again so most evenings you will see one of these lit and making us feel warm and cosy.

I received a lovely giveaway runner up prize this week from Annie of Birdcages and Butterflies, love the baker's twine on the wrapping!

I got a gorgeous keyring plus some pretty earrings (which I'm really sorry have not photographed at all well on a red background). Thanks so much Annie, I love it all xxx

On the kitchen front there is not a lot more to report but after living here since January 2007 we finally have bar stools at the breakfast bar! Only £19.99 plus p&p from ebay and perfect after a scrub. That's my kind of bargain.

I'm going to do and do some more quilt square sewing now I think, seems a good idea as it's very grey outside. Take care all, love Mel xxx

"Cheep" and cheerful changes

2010-11-01T09:41:00.000Z

Hi all! Hope you had a great weekend, whether you celebrate Halloween or not. I might add a picture of me as a spooky witch at the end of this if you're lucky ;)

I've been vaguely industrious the last week, despite a real low spell over Friday and Saturday. We have finally made a decision on the kitchen as the budget refused to stretch to both appliances and new units (the price of which have gone up incredibly since we had the kitchen in our old house done in 2002!). So we've decided on a compromise and are replacing appliances, worktops, sink and taps as well as having the walls re-tiled and the floor tiled to replace the existing vinyl flooring. I'm not 100% happy with this as the units are fairly old and the layout isn't great but in these times we really don't want to borrow money. I'll do a proper before and after once everything is in motion but I've started making a few little changes here and there.

This is the side of one of the units and did have the key hook thingy below up. This is one of the first things you see as you go into the room so the orangey wood one that the previous owners left (longtime readers of this blog may remember the previous occupant's love of orange wood!!!) used to really get on my nerves. So I used my very own DIY skills and used the holes from the old one to put up these cute little tin birdy hooks. They were only £1.99 each from ebay and I've had them a few months. There's also a little bird house looking one on order that I will put higher up and in the middle of the other two.

A vast improvement on this I hope you'll agree! Sorry it's not a photo of it up but I was so keen to rip it down that I couldn't even stop to take a picture first!

Next is by the door into the kitchen from the dining room. The letter "C" is stuck up good old blu tack over the hole where the nail for the clock used to be, but I put up the other little set of hooks myself - spirit level and everything, I was well proud!! It's hard to see in the picture but there are three little trees with three little birds on there. At Christmas when I get my new apron that will hang up with the girls' ones.

The above is the before pic, taken late at night as you can see by the clock! The picture was bought for our old house but my tastes have moved on a bit so we'll keep it but I fancied a change. I'm going to rearrange the kitchen mantelpiece so hopefully we can keep the clock there, it belongs to my husband and it's one of the few things that's his on display so we will be keeping it!!

Next onto the progress on the quilt. I've done another row since these pictures were taken so there are ten done in all. I'm not sewing the rows together until I've done them all as fabrics will vary. I am waiting on a new delivery of squares at the moment as I've only got four left! I think it will work out at 450 four inch squares once it's done (twenty five rows of eighteen squares) and I will probably do borders around those as well. I love sewing the squares together! This is them so far laid out on my eldest's bed, which is not where it's for but she's got white bedding on at the moment so it was easier for photographing ;)

We went to a Halloween party last night and all dressed up, we were three witches and a scary pumpkin man! It was fun (though very tiring, especially with the clock change) for the girls. I was quite upset to find that someone has pinched one of our pumpkins from by the front door overnight! It was the one I did with little one so she's not very happy either........... though I did tell my other half that this is definite proof ours was better as his was left behind heehee.

Bye bye and have a lovely day from Mel the witch! xxxxx

New project!

2010-10-27T15:51:00.000+01:00

Hello!

Just realised I've been AWOL for a week so I thought I'd just do a quick post. I randomly decided last week that I really wanted to make little one a patchwork quilt. The one below is one I made in about 2002 and I gave it to my eldest. It's lovely and heavy. It used to go on our bed but to be honest I prefer it on her single as there's lots draped either side and she says it's beautiful, awwww. I would apologise for the cluttered bedside table but hey, she's five and this is a real home so I won't!!!

So anyway I used to money left over after selling some things on ebay and paying the extortionate fees (*grumble grumble*) to buy some ready made 4" fabric squares. Last time I seemed to spend forever cutting out squares so this time I'm cheating! Well, I do have the excuse of two children this time round... and accuracy is not my strong point.

I know some will probably want to lynch me for the choice of fabrics here. Yes, they are mostly Cath Kidston but having worked with her fabrics so much in the past I have to say you can't fault the quality. Plus they're easy to match together ;) There are a few Laura Ashley "Stocks" dotted about and I have various different designs and maunfacturers on the way too. I've gone for pinks, greens and blues with the odd dash of red as littlie's room has green walls and a rose pink iron bed. I'm aiming to make the quilt a generous size like her sister's so that it's useful when she's older too.

Here's part of the first "strip" I've made (it's folded in half in case you were worried it would be tiny!). It was brilliant just to sew together in front of the TV last night. When it comes to sewing all the strips together at the end I may sweet talk Mum into doing it by machine as that's the part that will take so long, but we'll see. Making something for yourself when there's no rush has to be the most relaxing way of sewing.

Hope life is treating you all well. As those of you who are Facebook friends with me will know, school holidays are definitely not my favourite time so I am a wee bit stressed out! Take care, love Mel xxx

Folksy Finds and Bargain Bric-A-Brac

2010-10-19T13:59:00.000+01:00

Afternoon! Hope everyone's alright today, it's a gorgeous day here. Crisp and chilly with a bit of sun, lovely. Thought I would show you a couple of things I've got from Folksy lately.

This is Prudence Chicken bought from Swirlyarts, little one fell in love with her when I was flicking through Foksy so I bought her intending to pop her in her Christmas stocking but they managed to get to the envelope before me and much excitement ensued!!! She's a gorgeous little thing made out of vintage linen, so far she's been found in bed, a bag and the grate of little one's fireplace where she keeps her special toys. Gorgeous!

Then there's the lamp I got for my eldest from Made By Kate D, which she made as a custom order for us using some of our buttons along with some of her own. I've shown it in daylight above and lit up in the evening below, the pics haven't come out great but it looks very different from day to night and it's great for kids to look at as there's all sorts of different button shapes and colours there. It has made a five year old very happy :)

Next onto the bric-a-brac bargain! Mum bought this embroidered tablecloth for me, awwwww. It was only a fiver at the church Autumn Fair, so it was well worth going ;)

The edges look to be machine sewn but the rest is hand embroidered. I love it (but it does need an iron)!

I think the mix of crochet and embroidery is lovely, it's on all the edges and ends as well as the top. This one is definitely a keeper.

I also got six matching mats, which I'm not sure whether to keep or make into something yet. They'd make gorgeous cushions but I'm not sure if it would be a crime to cut into them!!!

The only other thing I bought at the fair was this little box, it looks huge here but is in fact only about two inches square. I love the slogan, I absolutely agree with it. It's a Gisela Graham one and cost me £1, which I thought wasn't bad at all.

Lastly this final thing is a posy I found in Oxfam a couple of weeks ago for £2.99, good bargain for round here! I got a white posy log a while ago at a boot sale but this is a more natural coloured one with three flowers. As you can see, the yellow one is a little bit chipped but still pretty.

I've got a busy afternoon and evening ahead, it's parents evening later and then we're going into town for some chips and a stroll around the fair that's on in the market square, I'm hoping for some candyfloss! Take care and have a lovely day, love Mel xxx

Dolly's Cot Makeover

2010-10-17T13:33:00.000+01:00

Afternoon! I seem to be in the makeover mood at the moment, last night on a whim I revitalised the little doll's cot that my youngest got on her birthday from one of her grandma's.

Here is the before.... there was nothing really wrong with it but it didn't match the colours in the room and I wasn't hugely keen on the frilly covers and poor dolly had no sheet to lie on *sad face*

In the same way as I madeover the previous doll's bed (see this post) I padded out the base board with two layers of wadding cut to fit and stretched over some cotton fabric, securing it on the base with drawing pins. I had to put three layers of felt between pin and board as the board was quite thin and I didn't want little fingers pricking themselves!!!

I made a little pillow out of a pale pink fabric with white stars and embellished with a pretty heart and pink button. None of the fabrics or materials used here were especially "precious" as it will get naturally played with and probably grubby and I don't want to be worrying about that.

Next I carefully cut the frills off the existing coverlet as close to the edges as I could and removed them. I also took off the foldover white frilly part at the top (the part with the ribbon bows on). I bound all the edges of the new simpler coverlet with pink and white bias binding from Patch to cover the little scraps of blue and white frill still showing.

The embroidered rabbit on the cover was held on with four small areas of machine stitching so I carefully cut him off and cut as much fabric off around the stitches as I could. To cover these areas I sewed on four biggish buttons. It looked a bit unbalanced so I added another heart - just sewn on with running stitches but through all the layers of the coverlet for a quilted effect - and added another two smaller buttons at the sides to further embellish. I think it works pretty well to cover up what used to be there and a little bit of colour and sparkle too :)

The top part then looked too plain so I simply sewed two lines of running stitch through all the layers to add a quilted effect to the top of the quilt and put three large toning buttons between them. I started at 9:30pm, I finished at 1:40am - I don't recommend getting inspiration late at night!!

Little one loves it! I hope you do too. Have a lovely Sunday, we're off to the church Autumn fair soon for the chocolate tombola and to have a root through the bric-a-brac! Love Mel xxx

Books and a 30 Minute Project :)

2010-10-13T19:43:00.002+01:00

I promised to return soon with some books I've been enjoying and here we are today! Here's part of one of my two stacks of books that live on a shelf in the sitting room, looking pretty and ready for a browse any time.

The new one here is At Home With Country by Christina Strutt, who is the founder of the company Cabbages & Roses. There are lots of beautifully styled and inspiring interiors inside, just the sort of thing that makes you want to rearrange your own home and pay attention to the little details.

It has the chintzy, colourful style that I love but there's plenty of more pared down schemes for those who prefer life a bit more simple.

The only problem I have with it - if you can call it that really - is that it does start to feel a bit like an expensive catalogue as although the fabrics are lovely they are shown in almost every scene, and I'm not sure any household is quite that loyal to one company ;)

The next one is Nigella's latest, Kitchen, which I suspect many other bloggers have already got their hands on! This was a surprise pressie from my hubbie and it was a good one!

I have all Nigella's previous books bar Nigella Express (for some reason that series just didn't do it for me) and her Christmas one, and I would have to say this is my favourite after How To Be A Domestic Goddess. Huge book with loads of ideas written in her chatty style and some lovely sounding recipes. Once the new cooker is fitted I will trying lots of them out!

There is some of her traditional comfort food type recipes but lots of other inspirational ideas too.

The last one I wanted to show you is one I am really naughty for taking a peek at as it's my Christmas pressie from the girls (I found it for £9.99 in a local book shop, I never pay the RRP for books ever!). This is lovely, and I think probably a lot of other bloggers' favourite too. It's the Homemade Home by Sania Pell.

There are fifty projects throughout the book and templates at the back for many of them. I'm not normally "into" instructional books as I prefer to make it up myself but this seems like a good mix of ideas, pictures and clear directions. It would be a really nice gift for a beginner or a more experienced crafter I think.

Love the photographs! Can't wait to have a proper read when I'm officially allowed!!!

In the spirit of gaining a homemade home I made a little something yesterday that I thought I would show you. I've been sorting through the clothes lately as both girls seem to be growing faster than I can keep up suddenly and I've been passing a lot of things on. I'm sure most mums can relate to those one or two things that are so hard to part with, and yet it seems a bit pointless keeping them hanging about. For me one of those things was this T-shirt, which although not expensive or glamorous (I got it second hand from ebay myself) has seen both my babies through the terrible twos and onto preschool.

Yes, we all love parties, puddings and pink ;)

Awful picture as the light was fading yesterday afternoon when I took it I'm afraid. Anyway, I paired it up with a cheap and cheerful piece of stripey cotton from my stash and got inspired with the pink button jar.

I cut out a rectangle where the logo was and sewed on a couple of pretty buttons, I chose a big mother of pearl one and a little glittery one... strategically positioned to hide an ancient stain!

I sewed it together with the stripey cotton and made it into a self contained mini cushion. I would probably pin the fabric if I did it again as I discovered T-shirt fabric is a bit of a bugger for stretching and moving in odd ways! So it's just a little pretty that's now in my youngest's room. But it was such a relief to make something cute and not have to bin or give away a T-shirt that was definitely past its best, but of sentimental value.

In my view that's what homes are all about, keeping familiar and comforting or beautiful things around you to create a place where you feel happy and safe. It it makes you happy, then go for it :)

Thanks so much for all the very kind and generous comments on my previous post, I do so appreciate all of them. Sorry I'm not much cop at getting back round to everyone but I am thankful that you take the time to read and reply. Lots of love Mel xxx

Pretty corners of my home

2010-10-12T14:02:00.001+01:00

Just thought I would show you a few corners of my home today that I'm liking right now. There are plenty of areas I don't like so much but here are some of my favourites :)

I'll be back soon with some books I'm loving at the moment! Have a lovely day, love Mel xxx

Buttons and more cushions!

2010-10-07T09:48:00.001+01:00

Hi all,

Hope you're OK today, think it's going to be a lovely crisp day. My range cooker arrived this morning!!! It's in the garage though so no photos yet but I will have a peek later.

I've been admiring buttons today. I ordered some from The Little Bead Box and they arrived yesterday and are so pretty. I spent ages sorting through them with my eldest (and whilst I was doing that a certain even smaller person managed to spend £40.15 on games on facebook, little monkey... I knew she was too quiet!!!). Anyway I'm loving the candy colours. I've shown them on some felt I got from Lupin Handmade which I tried out last night on a cushion which you can see below.

I'm pleased with this, it's the first time I've really used felt and I have to say I find it easier embroidering onto fabric but at least there's no fraying or hemming involved!!!

A good excuse to use two little duck buttons I've had for ages. The fabric is a Tanya Whelan one from Patch Fabrics in case you were interested.

I love sending off baby pressies!

I've made more progress with the union jack inspired cushion, it needs the back sewn on, which is my job for this afternoon but it is finally finished. This is the front tucked round an existing cushion so you can see how it will look.

Here's the top of the one to go with it with the little girl's name on, I think it's cute.

I think that's all for today folks. Hope you have a thrilling Thursday :)

Love Mel xxx

PS hello and thank you to new followers, do say hi!

Cushion love :)

2010-10-01T13:12:00.001+01:00

Just have to share this with you today! I had a lovely comment on my post about the dresser from a new-to-me blogger Rebecca, whose brilliant blog is called Athene Noctua and I went to have a good look, as you do! Never one to pass up the chance to visit a Folksy shop I haven't seen before I popped into hers and absolutely fell in love with one of her cushions! As I said before I've been just a little bit norty lately when it comes to spending but I found I did have some money in my bank account (OK, OK... some leeway left in the overdraft... let's be honest here haha) so I went for it.

It was sweetly wrapped up with a CK note and two mini pretty cards which are now on the girly notice board :)

Love the fabrics!

I've tried it out in a few places and it seems to look best in my youngest's room, it looks too cute to move!!! Don't be surprised if it pops up in future in any other room of the house, I like to move things about a lot. She doesn't know it's there yet but she will be so happy and most likely hug or kiss it!

Thanks Rebecca, it's gorgeous and I love it :)

I've been busy making a cushion cover rmyself for the commission I had for bunting and two cushion covers. The first one is going to be a union jack one, it's taking ages but it's all done by hand. My friend is giving these to her daughter as part of her Christmas pressie to go in her little play house in the garden, the only specifications are pink, lilac, bit of pale blue and she's a girly girl! So I spent yesterday sewing and using it as an excuse to dig out my stash and have a good look. Here's the only type of ironing I like to do! More progress was made last night and I will show you again when it's finished.

Do you spy the Rosali pillow cases on the right there? I'm not cutting those up, they were an ebay bargain. Can't wait to try them out.

Right, it's my brother's 29th and I'm supposed to be watching Dogtanian with him on DVD..... we are proper grown ups honest!!! Have a great weekend, love Mel xxx

2010-09-29T13:01:00.000+01:00

Hi there folks!

Is it raining where you are? Because it's pretty miserable here! I have a three year old in pajamas and a wooly bobble hat because she's not well, she was meant to be at preschool all day but I've kept her off and she's watching Winnie the Pooh on video. Yep, that's an old fashioned VHS, I often wonder it's just me that still owns some! We do have DVD's as well, just in case you were worried ;)

I've found a great site called Mithus this last week. The actual reason for my being on the site was to purchase my own Christmas present from my husband. Yes, we are incurably romantic in this house... especially when there's money off ;) The site is definitely worth a look, all delicious Greengate and scandinavian style goodies and delivery was surprisingly fast. I found the gorgeous Greegate blue paisley apron that I've been lusting after for months had 30% off so it was only £16.10 and I just HAD to have a matching little bowl, didn't I? What do you think?

So that's my pressie sorted and will pretty up the kitchen a treat when we finally do something to it. Things are a bit tense in this house on the kitchen front at the moment. Negotiations are taking place. Most importantly, the range cooker is on order!!! It's not an Aga but it's a very nice electric Belling number.

Oh the other thing I got from Mithus is something I think my fellow bloggers will love as much as I do. It's some brilliant wrapping paper I found tucked away in Clearance Corner (always a temptation don't you think?!) and couldn't leave it there. How cute is this! All the windows have curtains and everything!Forgive my rubbish photography.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments on my previous post about the dresser, you're all superstars and make me feel quite embarrassed! Feeling inspired by the feedback I tackled the chest of drawers last night (also in the dining room) and again I think it's a triumph.

Here's the rather orangey before pic,

and here's the lot better after pic!

Do you notice how I managed to get a bit of the curtain in too? I've only mentioned it a million times before but Cath Kidston Chintz is absolutely my favourite fabric. Well..... definitely in the top three anyway!!!

The only problem with painting the furniture is that now the walls look totally dingey in comparison, they are boring Magnolia painted God knows how long before we even moved in and that was three and half years ago. I think I'll go for Crown's Golden Cream for the walls, it's a really warm cream shade, almost yellow really. The dining room has three windows one of which faces South so it's very light most of the time and I think that will keep it cosy.

I'd really better go and do something useful now. Somehow even though me, little one and my brother were here at 11am I managed not to hear the postman with two parcels, grrrr. I think they are probably some clothes I've bought on ebay for the girls who both suddenly seem to have shot up and worn everything out all at the same time! I may have gone a tad OTT but I managed to get a Boden winter coat for £7.53 so the hubby can't say I'm not saving money heehee.

Take care, love Mel xxx

Dresser Makeover

2010-09-28T13:38:00.000+01:00

Hi y'all! I don't know if anyone remembers me saying (probably not, it was a long time ago!) that I was thinking of making over my dresser??? Well on a kind of spur of the moment Homebase excursion on Sunday I bought myself some paint and decided to crack on with it.

This is it before with all the china emptied off, looking pretty naff to be honest...

And here is the after with everything back on....

I took the knobs off and left them as they were and I really like the contrast.

Have to admit this is probably my favourite makeover I've ever done, I always wanted a cream dresser and now I have one for the price of a pot of paint! We got the dresser from someone on ebay when we moved in about three years ago, I can't remember how much it was now but it was definitely a bargain so it's a pretty thrifty piece altogether. I keep catching sight of it and being so pleased, makes it all worth the FOUR coats of paint it took :)

Hope you had a great weekend and see you soon, love Mel xXxXx

Presents (and not ALL for me!!)

2010-09-24T19:41:00.000+01:00

Hi again and thank you for welcoming me back after so long. Hopefully I will actually get around to your lovely blogs sometime soon for a catch up :)

I have a few gorgeous goodies to show you today and I'm quite excited to show you! Firstly some of the things I've bought my little ladies for Christmas, yes I know it's early! All of this came from Cottontails Baby (blog here). Do have a look, the website is gorgeous and Charlotte who is behind it all is lovely. This is little one's main present, an absolutely divine wooden baking set. It came in a nice box but of course I had to open it and check it all over, heehee! The swiss roll is in three sections so it can be "cut up" and the rectangular cake and cupcakes come in sections.

I love the mixer, you can make the beater part move and it lifts out so you can remove the bowl. She doesn't know she's getting it but spotted it on the Cottontails facebook page and fell in love so this will be her surprise. There's a cute apron and a stripey rolling pin too that has somehow missed out on being in the picture (probably because a certain blogger was a bit too excited playing with it all!). I'm so happy as it just has such a chunky, nostalgic feel and I hope one day my grandchildren might be playing with it!

Next onto big one's pressie, this is so sweet and right up her street as she's just learning to write and loves making cards and letters. It's a beautiful tin fairy postbox complete with envelopes, rubber stamp and cards with fairy shopping orders and invoices.

You take the lid off the tin to collect the post so it can be used again and again. The set comes with a red and white pencil, which I'm sure every good fairy needs, and sheets of adhesive fairy stamps! She is going to have such fun with this, and it was only £15.50 so we'll have to think of something else to give her too... what a chore ;)

Look at this cute card! You might need to enlarge it to see the words but it's so sweet.

The pictures on the Cottontails site are better than mine and there are so many other scrummy things to look at too. Being a naughty lady Charlotte sent me some extra treats, you can imagine how I pounced when I saw this with its adorable tag....

Inside there was a lovely little soap,

a hanging fabric flower

and the cutest little spotty Maileg mouse! She looks big here snuggled up in a dolly bed but is only really just under 4" tall.

Thank you soooo much Charlotte!

Next onto the pressie for me! This was ordered from another wonderful blogger who I'm sure all of you know well, and that's Mary from Polka Dots and Posies. Also on facebook here. Love the wrapping with the lavender!

I ordered one of her patchwork hearts as I'd had it bookmarked as a favourite on her Folksy page for yonks and finally decided to treat myself... and I wasn't disappointed! As always she was so friendly and professional and checked what I wanted along the way and this is the lovely result. She was a bit of a tinker too and made a bigger one than she was meant to but I am most grateful! You might spot it again further down the post if you're lucky ;) Thank you very very much Mary xx

Lastly here is a heart sadly not as pretty as the one above but it was a little pressie I sent to one of my bestest friends to say thank you for my birthday present. I hope her boyfriend is right and that her favourite colour really is purple, I've known her for 25 years but I had no idea!

Yes my birthday was months ago but she gave me a voucher for zorbing (see here for info) and we finally did it together last weekend. It was really brilliant fun, we got absolutely drenched rolling down a big hill in a massive inflatable ball with water in it! I would recommend it to anyone though I was terrified!

I've been having a bit of a reorganise the last couple of days, you know I'm feeling better in myself when I start moving things around and generally having a fiddle with the pretties in the house. I was getting bored of the dining room so that's had most of the treatment. This is now my peaceful window cill next to the PC, this is as close to the "all cream" look as I get (and yep, that is a bit of duck egg blue creeping in haha) and I managed one little window cill!

Next some of the posies and a cake stand decided that they were made for eachother ;)

So I reorganised part of the dresser and it now looks like this. I really will get around to painting it one day honest! Not sure about the mirror there but I got given it last Christmas and it's never really found a place.

Finally the mantelpiece has been minimalised a bit as I was bored of how it looked before but now it's getting to how I'd like it to be.

I think that's it for today folks, hope you've had a good week and wishing you a wonderful weekend. Love Mel xxx

It's been a long time!

2010-09-19T22:38:00.000+01:00

Hi folks, I am sneaking back in after being AWOL since July, I hope you're still talking to me!!! I had a bit of a low patch and the school summer holidays were a bit of a nightmare but hopefully we're getting back to normal a bit now. I hope you've all enjoyed the summer :)

I've got quite a few things to tell you about, to say the least. I'll start with the things I've been making. At the moment I've got a commission to make some bunting (which is finished, shown above) and two large cushion covers for a friend. I love when people ask me to make them things and trust me with which fabrics to choose etc, it's just the best. The cushions need to be one with the little girl's name on and one union jack one, which I'm part way through. I am so much more careful when I'm making for someone else, none of the guesswork and no measuring like I do when it's something for me! Anyway here's some of the things I've been making...

A mini pirate themed cushion for one of my eldest's classmates, with a few sweeties inside. Apparently he told everyone about it at school the day after the party, which was lovely to hear!

We gave it to him with a pirates activity book.

This is an awful picture of a cushion I made for another school friend, whose favourite colour is red and she loves High School Musical (which up to now I have been spared from.... thank God).

Then we have a heart for another little girl and a fairy sticker book as she's into those. The button doesn't show properly but it's a glittery one. I was pretty pleased with this one.

I made these thank you hearts for my eldest's teacher and teaching assistant at the end of term and apparently it made them cry!!!!

The reverse had their names on and some buttons and kisses...

I also made hearts with initials on for little one's preschool ladies, which they seemed pleased with too. All strawberry themed.

To spare you from any more hearts here is a lovely doll I made with my eldest, it came in a kit and is really for eight years+ (she is five) so it was a joint effort and we just did it now and again over a couple of months but it's ever so sweet.

In the kit you get a piece of (I think) calico with the doll printed on and a little bag shape, which you have to cut out and then sew. On the pictures they sewed theirs leaving the raw edges on the outside but we did it so they would be inside (Mummy got a bit anal there hahaha).

So here is Rosanna on the rocking chair which the box converts into.

I made a pirate picture for a friend's son's fifth birthday on her request as he loves them, she'd asked for him to be holding a sword. She was really pleased with the results and is going to get it framed soon, apparently Joshua was delighted and it's going up in his bedroom, awww.

And here is a cushion I made for one of my bestest friend's 30th birthday pressie, which now lives on her bed. I adore the girls under umbrellas fabric and I've told her that it's us!

So here is us!!!

Onto a couple of bloggers I have recently received goodies from from and been delighted with. Firstly I won a giveaway prize from Bekimarie (here or Facebook shop here). She sent this lovely felt heart brooch, I absolutely love it! Thanks Beki xxx

Look how beautifully wrapped it arrived, and with sweeties too, mmm!

Then this cupcake brooch was bought from Kitty Eden via her facebook page or you can find her goodies here or here. Isn't it gorgeous?! Again I was lucky and got a lollipop... this one I kept for myself... purely so the girls wouldn't fight over it you understand ;) The button brooch was popped in as well and is sooo cute, I love the little card it was on as well, that's made it onto my girly noticeboard of lovelies by the front door. Thank you Kitty Eden!

What next? Perhaps you'd like to see some car boot finds??? These are from the huge boot sale that takes place every August bank holiday Monday at Wilton House near Salisbury, it usually turns up a few gems and this year was no different luckily. The girls got a lot of toys and books, Mummy got lots of lovely things too!

Here's a collection of mad little mice that to be honest I still can't find a place for! Perhaps the heat had got to me but I couldn't resist. They were from three different stalls and were about 50p each. I love the one in the cheese! They are sitting on an embroidered table cloth that I got there too. Kicking myself now for not buying the embroidered white one on the same stall but somehow at a boot sale £4 seems like a lot ;)

Then I got these lovely posies, I think the most expensive one was about £2. Don't you just LOVE the crinoline lady cloth? Just £1, I couldn't believe it! I am half thinking about setting up a Folksy or Facebook shop and if I do this will probably be used to make something for it but I will keep you posted on that one.

Fancy seeing some swap goodies? This was from the seaside swap that I mentioned before and I have to apologise to Beverley for being horribly late with her things.

Here is what she sent me, the bag she made is v clever... thank you Beverley xx

This is what I sent her when it was wrapped ready to go...

Some of it was bought on holiday in Exmoor,

and other parts handmade.

This picture was made from a fabric I've had for a while saved for something special, I think it's cute.

OK I think that might be it for now, and you are probably breathing a huge sigh of relief! Thank you for all the birthday wishes, it seems so long ago now. Take care and I'll be back soon I promise, love Mel xxx

Birthdays, parties and presents, yay!

2010-07-09T13:21:00.001+01:00

Hi and thank you everyone for the birthday wishes, in the end I had a wonderful weekend and the lead up was more scary than the turning 30 part!!!

[Necklace and earrings from my other half and girls custom made by the lovely Corrina at Green River Studio - here on Folksy]

The party was really good, I hope it's not just me that perceived it that way but we seemed to achieve the relaxed make yourself at home feel that I was hoping for. Everyone had quite a lot to drink, but not too much... except my brother who ate an onion and a raw egg and then vomited outside the back door....

I got given some lovely goodies and ate plenty of goodies too!

Here's some of the cards :)

And as a lovely surprise that morning my giveaway prize from the talented Rachael at Made With Love X arrived. I was so touched by all the lovely things.

Pretty CK bird card :)

and a gorgeous corsage,

a heart with an M,

and a scrummy notebook with my name on!!

Thank you so much Rachael.

I went spending some of my birthday money on Sunday and got a couple of Yankee candles and some bargain notecards too, the price on the back is £4.99 but in the discount book shop they were £1.99 and it was buy one get one free! Thank you to Aija for the divine smelling CK sachet which arrived in the post.

I think on the cards I like the ballet shoe design the best, probably because it reminds me of lessons when I was little. There are three different designs in each pack, they are all nice to be honest!

And finally here are my cakestands from my little brother and an Emma Bridgewater memo block in a box from a friend who was at the party.

Tomorrow I am off to one of my bestest ever friends' parties in Devon (we've known eachother 25 years now and our birthdays are only five days apart!). The plan is to go to the beach and then move onto the pub, then we are finding a space on the floor in her house somewhere to sleep. I'm going down there with little bro - eggs are being left behind, don't worry! - and will be home Sunday. Can't wait!

Wishing you all a sunny and happy weekend, love Mel xxxxxxxxx

PS hello and thank you to new followers :)
PPS do I HAVE to take the decorations down already? ;)

T minus three days!!!

2010-06-30T12:29:00.000+01:00

It's three days until I turn 30, arrrgghhhh!!!!! The thing is that when anyone else turns 30 it's fine, and I don't think it's at all old. When it's me however, panic sets in, and I have been having a kind of ongoing early mid life crisis since Christmas!!!!!

I am cheering myself up with thoughts of the party we're having on Friday, although I am completely disorganised and have only today decided that it will have a union jack theme so please keep everything crossed that the balloons and things arrive on time! I picked union jacks for no reason other than that I like it and I really can't face having huge 30 banners and balloons all over the place. As you can see below, I've done some party bags... including Alka Seltzer.... for the other thirty year old children who are coming ;)

I bought this Boden dress from ebay for £40 and I'm so happy with it! Can't really afford it at all but if you can't have a new dress for your 30th then when can you!?

Have a wackeroony Wednesday (to borrow one of my eldest's favourite self invented words!) xxx

Strawberry Swap - what I sent :)

2010-06-27T16:25:00.000+01:00

Firstly thank you for the very lovely comments on my last two posts on the doll's bed and the bunting, I'm glad you like them! The doll's bed is still in my bedroom at the moment heehee!

Now I know that Aija of Crafty Smiles has received the goodies from me (better late than never!!) I can show you what I sent to her.

Here we have a CK strawberry mug, which I was very tempted to keep... a selection of some vintage and modern red and white buttons... some squares of various strawberry themed fabrics... a vintage embroidered hankie with 'A' initial made into a heart (red fabric behind to show up the details).... a hanging embroidery inspired by one of my favouritest Beatles songs embellished with buttons and mini strawberry patches...

oh and some strawberry scented tea lights,

and of course some choccy!

Hope you enjoy it all Aija, I've really enjoyed being your swap partner :)

Enjoy the last of the weekend folks. Me and the girlies will be walking up the road in a bit to join my other half when the football finishes. He's watching it at our friends' flat but I didn't think the language would be toooo suitable for such young ladies!!! So we'll be going up to join the BBQ once it's over

See you soon xxx

Dolly bed makeover!

2010-06-26T09:04:00.001+01:00

Now ladies if you don't like this I'm begging you to keep your feelings to yourself, this truly must have been a labour of love.... six straight hours of sewing (don't forget, it's always done completely by hand). I finally got to bed at 3am and was woken at 5.30am by my youngest vomiting on the carpet!!! But seriously I really enjoyed this, I've been letting myself rediscover why I love sewing rather than just making things as gifts for imminent birthday parties, which let's face it can be a little bit of a chore if you're not in the mood!

Right, shut up Mel and get on with it!!! This little bed is the first thing I've ever taken from Freecycle, normally I just use it to give things away but I spotted an email about a doll's bed and couldn't resist. Here it is before, it had a very basic homemade pillow and coverlet and no sheet, the poor dolls just had to sleep on hardboard ;) Looking a bit sorry for itself I feel.

First I reused the cat and mouse fabric to make a smaller and more plump pillow, and used some vintage trimming from Donna Flower that I've had for ages waiting for a project. This is it along with the wadding I took out of the original coverlet, by coincidence it exactly the same size as the hardboard base.

Then I covered the hardboard base with the wadding and some pink gingham which is from one of the duvet covers I made for my eldest when she had a cot bed (now outgrown!). I loved this bit! You're probably supposed to use proper tacks but being impatient me I folded the fabric and hammered in drawing pins to keep it in place. We now have a comfy mattress! And oh yes I discovered it was an Ikea bed so quite a result there :)

Here they are together, quite sweet I think. By the way do excuse the light/shade thing going on, I was doing this bit sat out on the patio under the parasol while the girls played in the paddling pool.

Next I made another pillow to match the gingham underneath and added a white lace trim. I think it came from a parcel from a blogger but I'm sorry I can't remember who but thank you! Hope you like the two together.

Next I made a little eiderdown type cover with my absolutely most favourite fabric in the world, Laura Ashley's Rosalind. This was from the same duvet cover as the gingham. I very rarely use it because I don't think I'll be able to get it again, I had to track it down from German ebay in 2006 so that I could make the bedding to match the curtain in my daughter's room (there's dedication for you!!!) and it hardly ever comes up for sale. I added another lace trim to match the pillow and quilted around some of the individual roses rather than do boring old straight lines! The wadding came from the other piece of bedding that I got with the bed and it was nice to be able to reuse it somewhere else, nice and thick too. I tried binding the edges with pink bias but the two layers of fabric plus the wadding were too thick so the Patch cotton tape came to the rescue! Probably not meant to be used this way but being that bit wider it was soooo much easier and holds it together nicely.

Lastly I made a top sheet to go with it as I wanted a layered effect. Not massively happy with this to be honest as you will probably be able to tell by the fact that I have fiddled so much with it! Letting you into my secrets here but generally the more embellished I make something the less satisfied with it I am. So we have a pink background with little daisies and at the bottom some broderie anglais trim that was left over from some dresses my Mum made the girls. There wasn't enough to go all around so the sides have the same trim as the cat and mouse pillow. I used some green ribbon as a strip up each side to complement the greens in the other fabrics and hide the stitches from hemming the sheet. Finally I added a length of white velvet ribbon at the top because I adore the texture of velvet and thought the top needed something extra.

Oh and naturally as it's me we had to have a mini hanging heart.

All in all I am pretty happy with the final result, and I think bunny likes it too! Unfortunately for the girls I now want to keep it for me! ;)

I sent my Strawberry Swap goodies off yesterday so I really hope they arrive today or Monday and my next post will be a quick reveal of what I sent.

Have a wonderful weekend xxxxx

oh and PS yes I might yet paint the bed but we have not one paintbrush in the house at the moment and definitely no money for them so I'll keep you posted on that score!

PPS yes I know I said doll bed and it's a rabbit, but I like rabbits ;)

Vintage embroidered bunting

2010-06-25T09:57:00.001+01:00

Last night I finally took the plunge and cut up the two vintage embroidered tray cloths that I bought over a year ago from another lovely blogger (Rose & Bird... who just had a gorgeous baby... congrats!) and made it into some bunting. It was pretty scary chopping into it but I thought it was probably better to do that than to have it hidden away in a wicker hamper!

Couldn't resist adding a cheeky tiny ladybird to one of the triangles, little things like that please me ;)

I made this using cotton tape for the first time, it was only 15p per metre from Patch, a shop which also sells gorgeous fabrics which I am coveting daily!!! I used the larger size and I have to say it is more sturdy than bias binding, which is what I normally use. I might go for the thinner size next time but it's always good to try something new. I have lots left so no doubt I will be onto another project soon with it.

I think it combines pretty well with the rose garland which I bought last year from Vintage Amethyst, who has a really nice blog here.

Here's hoping for sweet dreams tonight!

Have a Fantastic Friday xXxXx

Seeing the sights with Shabby Chick

2010-06-24T11:19:00.000+01:00

Just some pics for you today that I've taken over the last week, I'll try to keep words to a minimum but I've been trying to capture some of the lovely things about where I live and what I see day to day.

These pictures are from a walk to Figsbury we went on as a family. It's so peaceful there, and free as well. It was a gorgeous day and yet there was only a handful of people there.

and a lavender I got for 50p from a table outside one of the farms on the drive out :)

Next the drive home through town. First some lovely old houses on St Anns Street, I love the mossy uneven roof. One of my grandmas was actually born in a house in this road in 1917.

Then we see The White Hart Hotel in Exeter Street. Where you see those pillars there is a first floor balcony and by three hundred year old tradition when the local MP gets elected they have to sing a song apparently about turnip beetles from it. I've never been and watched myself.

Then past Russell & Bromley, where we get the kids shoes. I really like the old sash windows.

This is above Barclays Bank but I think it's actually part of a hotel/pub called The Kings Head Inn (formerly The County Hotel, as it was known up until the 90's I think).

This is Salisbury clock tower in Fisherton Street, which was built in 1892 by a doctor as a memorial to his wife. It was built on the site of the old jail apparently.

And just a short way further down the street we have the old Infirmary, built in 1766, which I can remember as a really horrible place that my Grandad went when he had a stroke. It used to be Salisbury's main hospital but nowadays is called Pembroke House and private sheltered flats for older people... they are always complaining about the noise... it's the city centre... you can guess what I think about that ;) It's a great building anyway, the crenellation type arrangement is pretty cool.

Lastly in our trip through town we've got the top parts of Lloyds TSB, another building that I really like.

Then finally we have a picture of a pretty garden I took on the way home from school this morning, I love the hollyhocks (or whatever!!!).

I love living in Salisbury, I feel so lucky to live here and hopefully I've shown that there's more to it than just the Cathedral and Stonehenge, which is all that usually gets mentioned. If you visit you wish to pop in here....

Have a thoroughly lovely Thursday, whether you are hiding from the heat indoors like me heehee or enjoying the sun outside xxx

Don't you just love giveaways and swaps!!

2010-06-18T19:10:00.001+01:00

I have two lots of gorgeous goodies to show you today, as I've been a really lucky girl the last two days

Firstly I'll show you the Strawberry Swap lovelies that I received today from Aija at Crafty Smiles, who is a really great lady who I'm glad to have got to know through this swap. Here's what I found when I opened the very cute parcel!

And inside...Wow!

I had a gorgeous smelling soap, an embroidered handkerchief, yummy choccy that has now all been scoffed!, a pretty emery board, two wonderful handmade fabric strawberries (shown at top of the post in their current home), a butterfly brooch, some mini pegs, buttons in a sweet little jar, delicious strawberry fabric and a cupcake lipbalm.

Here is the postcard that was in with it all in its new home in the hall, along with one of the pegs. I love the saying on the card "Happy days in sunshine spent", I thought that was charming.

Here is the butterfly brooch on a cushion I made for my eldest. She is off ill today (though you wouldn't know it... she's plagued me non stop!) and helped me open the little parcels. Anyway she loves this so it's going to take turns with the usual crochet corsage on the cushion.

Thank you so much Aija, you're a star. And I promise your goodies will be with you soon.... if you want a little teaser I will say that so far there's a bit of vintage, some embroidery and something by a designer/retailer very popular with us bloggers ;)

Next onto another thank you! This time for the very talented Bloomin' Myrtle. I was really lucky to win a giveaway that she did and got some delectable new treasures, all wrapped beautifully.

First I opened this stunning bird house, it looks so cute and even better it smells to me just like Love Hearts, fantastic and summery!!

You can see all the work that's gone into both the front and the back...

Next I discovered some adorable cards she had made. I love stationery so this was perfect!

And then two surprises for my girls! These dolls are brilliant and the girls are so pleased with them. They have the reverse of eachother's outfits and the tops tie on the shoulder with ribbon, soooo sweet. This is Dolly (original name choice I know!) who belongs to my youngest.

And here is Primrose where I hung her up to surprise my eldest when she got home from school.

I can promise they will be well looked after. I love the bird house in its new home in my bedroom too. It's angled so that when you stand in front of the mirror on the right of the fireplace you can admire the birdie on the other side :)

Thanks very much Elaine, I am delighted with it all!

If you would like to get involved in a swap or giveaway there are three brilliant ones just being launched (is that the right word?!) that you should have a look at......

There is the I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside swap which will be perfect for Summer and gives lots of scope to use your imagination.

Then there is Tilly's Vintage Shabby Swap, which is all things shabby chic and delicious, yum!

If you fancy your chances at winning a fabulous giveaway put your name down at Victoria Rose Crafts' 100 Follower Giveaway, lots of goodies there!

Phew, I think that might be it for now!!! It's been a totally up and down day with wonderful new things to discover but the kids haven't half played up! Think it might be time for a glass of wine and a rest.... not too much wine though as it's work tomorrow!

Have a great weekend xxxxxxx

Pretty pink things!

2010-06-17T00:25:00.002+01:00

Hi folks

Hope you're having a good week, I've really enjoyed reading all your comments on my post about eco living, it's not something people talk about a lot so I've found it so interesting hearing others' take on it. We're all different, we all do things our own way and that's cool (erm forgive the less than eloquent phrasing there, I've had three glasses of wine...). Thank you to everyone who read and replied :)

This post is not deep and meaningful but it is deeply cute! This print is from Shirley who sells on ebay and I bought this absolutely AGES ago but only just got around to framing. I had to buy it as it's so lovely even though at the time I had no idea where it would go!!! So it's in my eldest daughter's room now above the bed and she thinks it's brilliant! Here it is in situ, I think it goes really well with the colours in there and is very cheerful and seaside-y. It's a bit higher than I would normally hang a picture but I don't really want the two little monkeys taking it down to put in a den or similar!!!

There was a problem with Shirley's printer which held up the order slightly and so she was extremely kind and sent me this other Love design as a special surprise, and it's now brightening up the side of my wardrobe. As mentioned before I do not like the wardrobes in my bedroom and they desperately need painting cream but now I see this pretty print instead of the wood and I just adore it. (Sorry for the reflections in the glass!)

So thank you to a clever lady! I've been assured she is on the case designing a new print which I can't wait to see. Definitely worth keeping an eye on ;)

Take care all, I had really get to bed! I made two items for the Strawberry Swap yesterday but of course I can't show them as it would spoil Aija's surprise!

Have a terrific Thursday, Mel xxx

PS yes it is the right link I promise but there's no pics listed just now, I have asked if Shirley could please list some more :)

Vague thoughts on eco living etc

2010-06-09T20:59:00.000+01:00

[shelving unit £2 from car boot sale painted with leftover emulsion, Lillipeg doll by Lucy Bloom, all posies 2nd hand from car boots/ebay, vintage tin, cup and saucer and camera, UJ heart made by me]
I've been thinking about this post for a while and I hope it will come across the right way and not make me into one of the people who annoy the hell out of me!! It's working out the thoughts in my head as much as anything. It reminds me of that old chestnut where you hear someone criticised for publicly giving money to charity and you have to wonder if that makes their contribution any less worthwhile and useful than if they'd kept it secret. Often the people who are moaning about this "public display" have donated nothing themselves! Oh dear, this is getting very jumbled. Right start again...

I have to start by saying that I don't believe in global warming, I really just don't believe in it. I do believe the earth has periodic shifts in temperature - both up and down - but I don't think we've done it and I don't think we can control it. "Saving the planet" hasn't been on my radar since I went through the obligatory phase when I was about ten. My old motto used to be "Enjoy landfill while you can" and I never recycled anything.

[Mini cabinet approx £2 from charity shop, shells holiday beach finds, posy from car boot, jar reused from a candle, buttons vintage from Betty & Violet, handmade glass angel from craft shop, backing fabric left over from a duvet cover project]
But before you all drop me like a stone for my eco crimes there is the other side of the story to tell. Things have changed over time. I've not flown (or even been abroad) since 2004. We are a one car household and I can't drive. The children are picked up from school on foot and even if my eldest is driven to school in the morning it's a one minute detour from my husband's route to work anyway. I buy everything I can from furniture to clothes second hand on ebay or from charity shops and car boot sales. I make as many gifts as I can and so avoid excess packaging and where possible I try to buy my children handmade products and support fellow bloggers and crafters. We don't leave lights on in rooms we aren't using (my brother thinks I'm a real tightwad about this as their house is always lit up like a Christmas tree and they sometimes leave the TV on when they go out!!). To me all of this is just practical common sense.

[Fireplace repainted with leftover emulsion, basket £3.19 from ebay, logs from my Dad from a tree cutting job in 2008, shoe lasts from ebay, all candle sticks charity shop finds from my Grandma, cup and saucer inherited from other Grandma]

It's not a perfect science, there are things (for example the camera we bought our eldest for her birthday) that we buy new and I'm not going to apologise for that. Many of the fabrics I use are not repurposed, although I don't see the sense in using something new if I have something perfect for the job that came from somewhere else. Slowly I can feel myself getting sucked into the made do and mend frame of mind and you know what? I'm quite enjoying it! I like the challenge of being given or finding something and thinking up a way to use it in a practical way.

[Curtain originally from a pair in my bedroom in our old house, too short for the windows here so I sewed on some gingham and velvet ribbon to make it fit]

My pet hate is the people you see in the media (OK, perhaps it's just me that's hypersensitive to this!!!) who are wealthy and very smug about having a Toyota Prius and recycling all their wine bottles every week. But yet they fly on holiday twice a year, drive 100yds to the local shop instead of walk and buy everything brand new and shrink wrapped. If you ask me they are missing out on the fun side... the thrill of the chase, of finding something that someone else got rid of but you love it.

[Rose patterned fabric repurposed from a canopy my kids wrecked!]

I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say, this post doesn't have a message as such, just some thoughts that have been wandering around in my head. I'm not ever going to claim to be saving the planet but I think my life now is a happier, more thrifty one than when we had two incomes and no kids, and it's a way of living I'd be happy to pass onto my girls.

Wishing you all a lovely evening.... I am going to be making a worthwhile contribution to society now by watching Big Brother ;) xxxxx

The weekend's haul :)

2010-06-06T20:47:00.000+01:00

Hi, I hope everyone's had a lovely sunny weekend! I'm not keen on going back to reality tomorrow, I will enjoy the peace once my eldest is back at school (teacher training tomorrow) but I could keep hubby off work a while longer! It's been a really fun half term break though.

Thought I would show you a little bit of crafting first, I made these last night as birthday pressies for twins. My eldest is off to their birthday tea on Tuesday straight after school so I wanted to get them finished. I'm not too sure about the girly one but I'm pleased with the spider on George's!

Here are just a couple of the things my Mum has made lately for the girls. When I was their age and younger she used to make beautiful christening dresses for a living, I even held a doll wearing one for an article in a magazine once... how's that for a claim to fame?! Anyway she used to make me pretty things when I was little but she's made some stunning things for them. Above and below is a top she's made for my three year old, unfortunately taken in artificial light that doesn't really do it justice but I love it!

Then a dress which she gave my eldest today, it comes with matching shorts as my daughter's very particular about not showing her knickers off!!! It has tie shoulder straps and a ribbon detail at the bottom, I love the butterfly fabric.

Next we have a couple of car boot sale finds, this little chap is for my kitsch corner, I adore him in his little dungarees... I'll leave you to imagine what my husband thinks! For only 10p though how could I leave him?

Then there was a party book for 30p which is a bit outdated but has some great party game ideas in it. I must say the two boys on the front look like they've really overdosed on the old school colourings that used to make us all go a bit nuts!!!

Best of all was a brand new Laura Ashley polka dot drum shade that I got for £3 but apparently was £15 new. The seller was lovely and insisted on giving me a carrier bag so it wouldn't get grubby. We needed a new one for little one's room as my two "little angels" had hit the old paper shade with Hissing Sid the snake so many times that it had to be removed! So as I find often happens in life if you give it time the thing you need comes along :)

Ooh, what else do I have to tell? I went to lunch with my best friend today, the one who lives in Madrid who was over for the weekend. We had some lovely Italian food and then went for a child-free wander round the shops (fantastic!). She knew I wanted some shoes and was encouraging me to try on some that I like despite my protests that I am totally broke. I loved these ones and she bought them for me as an early birthday present, how nice is that!? I was so surprised and they are really comfy. Just in time as well as my other two pairs of casual shoes were both bought in 2003/2004 so it's probably time I had replacements ;)

She came back to the house and had a play with the girlies once they got back from Mum's house with hubby. It was so nice to have a catch up and a glass of cold wine together.

How has your weekend been? xxx

Things that are making me smile...

2010-06-04T13:28:00.000+01:00

.... roses from my Dad's rose in the back garden....

...blowing bubbles....

.... nice glass of pink wine with ice to go with a BBQ.....

.... my lovely girlies playing in the park.....

... pretty dresses drying on the line.

The kitchen planner lady came today and it turns out her son is the year above my eldest at school so no doubt we will regularly bump into eachother from now on!!! We should get the plans back next week and I can't wait :)

Not sure if I've shown you this before but this is the reason I neeeeed a range cooker in this house, imagine how this wasted, junk hoarding space could look....

Hope you have a fab Friday xxxxx

Giveaway goodies and other ramblings!!!

2010-06-02T21:17:00.003+01:00

Evening all!

Sort of progress already on the kitchen, we've booked for a planner to come out Friday and I've got the numbers of the plumber and carpenter MIL used for hers recently so we just need to get the boiler and radiator sorted and it's all systems go!

I thought I liked this kitchen design from seeing it online, but in the showroom I really wasn't keen, the cabinets just looked too wood grain-y for me. So I think we'll be going for this one, which I gather is cheaper anyway so I'm not complaining! We have white units now and the colour is about the only thing I like about them so I think that design will suit. Of course I'm now lusting after a pink Smeg fridge/freezer but there is no way that will happen! But a girl can dream ;)

Here are the giveaway prizes, I have permission from the lovely winner to show them before posting!

We have some bunting that is a carbon copy of some I made just before the recent birthday party and liked so much I made some more; lacey edged hankie to keep as it is or use in a project; a red and white apple mug; some sweeties and a red and white heart with vintage mother of pearl buttons. I'm afraid the cake stand is just to show it all off and not included*

By the way, turkey sandwich anyone??? Little one will only eat them when cutters have been used, this is actually jam but it's getting a bit silly now!

Lastly here's a little heart I made for a friend's little girl who turned five yesterday, not as proficiently made as I'd like but I had all my own girly's things to do for her party as well!!!!!

Well I'm off to watch the finale of series one of Being Human, it's the latest in a long run of TV series that we get addicted to (previous candidates being LOST, Dexter, FlashForward and The Wire). Have a nice evening xxxxx

PS I know everything is red and white mad at the moment, it's my latest thing... next month will probably be blue and yellow or something...

* only joking, of course the cake stand is included, I'm not that cruel, I bought two the other day specially! ;)

Birthday related pics and news!

2010-06-01T23:01:00.000+01:00

These pics speak for themselves the best so I've not put too many words in. Not many were taken at the actual party as it was sooo busy but here are a few pics taken before and after.

Cakes made by yours truly....

Cards from before the party....

Dolly made by Dainty Pastimes....

A party bag, they included cutters, personalised sweeties, pencils and all sorts!

My gorgeous big girl opening her Snakes & Ladders game (paid for by MIL, chosen and purchased by guess who...)

A bad artificially lit pic of the front of the cushion before it was sewn up, sorry for the bad quality but I embroidered a patch with my daughter's name onto the boat and I try and keep their names off the blog, I hope you'll understand! I put it on her bedside table the night before so that she would see it when she woke up she spontaneously gave me a big hug and said thank you for her cushion; when I asked her if she liked it she said "I don't just like it, I love it!". Bless her.

When it was a WIP...

Meant to be my big girl with a cat. She loves cats! The back of the cushion was the same brown with green spots as she said she really liked that fabric when I bought it.

This is a lovely octopus from Minifelts (and blog here), this lady makes absolutely gorgeous things and is very nice too! This is little sis holding it up as she gave it to her big sis :)

Onto the news, which is not that I'm pregnant, because I know that's what everyone always thinks when a woman under 50 says they have some!!! No, the news is that we've cashed in a life assurance policy endowment thingy that was doing really badly so we can finally get the kitchen replaced! It's going to be a long slog unfortunately because we need a new boiler first as ours is so old and keeps going a bit weird so I want it done first so that the new tiling etc won't be all in the wrong places!

We also have to get a radiator moved and replaced with a thin tall one because at the moment it's under a breakfast bar (which we don't need or use as one) and I would like base units there. This will be done as cheaply as poss but I am determined to get the range cooker which I said eight years ago when we had the kitchen done in our old house that I WOULD have one day..... and I always get what I want eventually! So that's the one non-negotiable. I will keep you posted on the progress, but I am really excited and will be incredibly happy to see the back of the badly laid out and horrible tiled, two different worktopped (is that a word?!), broken ovened kitchen we have right now.

I will leave you with a funny pic taken by my eldest on her Kiddiezoom camera that was her pressie from hubby and I, yep it's blurry but she did the special frame effect all by herself! This is her beloved Octy, her favourite toy ever. I could show you so many more pics, all the kids at the party were taking photographs and there were about 200 by the end of the day and some of them are a scream! I'd recommend that camera to anyone for a child a similar age and we found it cheapest on Amazon.

I will be back tomorrow to show you a little pressie I made for someone else who turned five today and a peek at the giveaway goodies! Love Mel xxx

Giveaway Winner... and a big thank you (not in that order!)

2010-05-31T22:37:00.001+01:00

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who replied on my previous post about depression, I'm so sorry I haven't replied to you individually but I've been incredibly touched by how many of you shared your stories or took the time to reply. Things have been so hectic around here leading up to my daughter's birthday that yesterday, but that was good in a way as it made me get on with it as I had so much to do! Things are a lot brighter the last few days and the lift in mood seems to have passed onto the kids as they are being lovely, but it's always something I'm aware of lurking in the background. Many of you said my post might have helped others who were feeling the same and I hope you're right, if my experiences do help anyone else feel less alone - as a lot of you have done for me - then I would be so pleased. Sending hugs to you all xxx

Next onto more cheerful things and the giveaway winner!!! My other half has kindly drawn a name for me and the winner is .............

Yes it's Toby Tea Cozy, which is a lovely quite new blog you should all visit!

I have to be honest and confess that I haven't got everything together yet but you will be getting a lovely summery package :) If you could please email me your address to melbusybee@gmail.com I will get your prizes to you ASAP. Thank you to all who entered and for your lovely comments, welcome to any new followers as well!

Tomorrow I will post some pics from my daughter's birthday, it was a magical day and there's all sorts of things to show you. Take care and I hope you've all had a wonderful bank holiday weekend xxx

The dreaded downward spiral

2010-05-25T11:53:00.000+01:00

Sorry folks, this is not a cheerful summery post, so you may wish to look away now. Today I'm really feeling that familiar knot in the stomach and the feelings of dread that unfortunately are permanently bubbling away under the surface, and far too often boil over. I'm hoping that maybe if I get it out now it might make the rest of the day a little easier to cope with.

I've had depression since 2005 when my eldest was born, it started as post natal depression but now it's pretty much just boring old, unglamorous, regular depression. I found out after I had my eldest that depression runs in my Mum's side of the family, perhaps if I'd been warned I would have looked out for the signs but I had very little idea about the illness whatsoever so it didn't cross my mind. The early days were literally hell, I would beg my husband not to leave for work and just feel terrified of being alone with my daughter, I would count the hours until he was home as I felt so useless and unable to look after her. Oh yes the essentials were covered - she was clean, fed and played with - but I wished I wasn't there any more. After five months I realised that I had to seek help or I wasn't going to be around much longer so I called the Health Visitor and quickly progressed to the GP and onto fluoxetine (better known to most as Prozac).

Those green pills are something I just can't learn to live happily with, something about them makes me want to rebel. In the beginning the Health Visitor asked me if there was anything I was worried about when it came to being diagnosed with PND as in her experience there was always one "demon" that frightens new mums when they find out what's wrong. Mine was that I would be stuck on the pills forever. She promised me faithfully that after six months I would no longer need them. It will be five years on the 1st of November.

Three times I have tried to come off them and three times I have slowly, slowly slid back down that subtle slope and into the darkness. It happens so slowly you don't realise and you think everything is fine. For me at first it is, I'm doing great and taking life in my stride. Finally I am free and can do anything I want without taking anything. Then it gets more difficult. It's frightening when one day you catch yourself feeling utterly worthless again, convinced that your children will be better off without you and not enjoying anything. No energy to tidy and clean the house, and then the state of it makes you feel so much worse. You don't want to go out and even making a phone call seems impossible. My inner circle of people I can cope with seeing shrinks to my husband, my girls, my brother and my Mum. And that's when I know that this time isn't the time I am finally ready to give them up; I can't cope on my own. My brain works totally differently when I'm unmedicated, I'm sent into a panic by the smallest thing and overreact and then hate myself. I realise I have to start taking the pills again and I'm thrown into a dilemma - is this unlovable person the real me? Am I cheating by taking medication? Should I stay this bundle of nerves rather than choose a false dawn?

Then once the pills start working again all those feelings fade into insignificance. I can be that good mummy and wife that I've always wanted to be. It's not the end of the world if someone lets me down (again) and it's not my fault. Those green pills don't make you "happy" as they have the reputation for doing, they just make you feel normal, they stop me from descending into a darkness that has never been as black as it once was but I am so scared to go back there and not find the way out.

I'll admit, I've been lax lately, I've missed a few days of medication and I'm feeling it. Anxiety is rising like a wave that can't be ignored. But right now I will start taking my pills again properly and go out into the sunlight and hope that soon it fades again.

Sending love you to all and thank you for listening xxxxxxx

Seeing spots and tops for girlypops!

2010-05-14T13:30:00.000+01:00

Thanks to everyone who has entered the giveaway so far, if you haven't yet please do leave a comment on the previous post and you're in! I forgot to say yesterday that you don't have to be a follower to enter, despite the confusing title. Didn't really think this through did I?!

I promised to show what I've been making lately and that's what's contained in this spotty dog parcel! This is a birthday present for my eldest's best friend, whose fifth birthday party is on Sunday. She loves dalmatians so I've got a bit over-ly spot mad I'm afraid!!!

We have a dalmatian inspired faux fur cushion with black buttons for spots (the fabric was given to me by M-I-L). I made the heart first in a mixture of embroidery, buttons, fabric and ribbon and then did all the sewing onto the fur. Gahhhh I hate that stuff! When it wasn't shedding everywhere it was just a bugger to work with, never again! The back of the cushion is also red like the edge of the heart.

This is the obligatory matching heart! My daughter loves the clear bead, I have to say I am partial to a bit of bling myself so I have to agree ;)

So here it all is, pre wrapping. The card barks when you open it, much to the fascination of my kids! I think Summer's parents may be a teeny bit annoyed about that one ;)

Moving on I have to show you Mary's lovely work from her shop side of things - Polka Dots and Posies. I got this gorgeous little bundle earlier in the week.

Feel free to be jealous of this lovely stationery set she sent me, the girls have already nabbed half the stickers but the rest are mine, all mine!!! She is a naughty. The cupcake card is so sweet, that's up on the mantelpiece.

This is my eldest wearing her top, I chose the fabrics from Mary's lovely selection, choosing blue ones as that's her favourite colour. Beautifully modelled with her skinny jeans I hope you'll agree!!! Little one's has a 'C' as well (both their names start with C) but in a deep pink CK print with a pink polka dot heart. Just as nice but unfortunately due to potty training she is mostly running around half dressed and when I tried to take a snap she wanted to me to photograph her little peachy bum instead, which I didn't think was all that appropriate!!! Thank you so much Mary, we are all delighted :)

In other news M-I-L is speaking to us again... and I can grudgingly admit she did actually help with getting little one to use the potty for the first time (ouch, that hurts to say heehee). And it was our 9th wedding anniversary on Wednesday and we went out for a tapas dinner. Mmmm that was gorgeous, I think I'm a convert!

The next make on my list is an octopus cushion for my soon-to-be five year old. She wants an octopus and a rainbow included apparently! I have a few ideas up my sleeve, I haven't made anything for the girls for ages so I want it to be special. Just ordered a few fabrics off ebay -oooopppsssss! - and there are some I will be using in the design somewhere.

Bye for now, hope you all have a wonderful weekend xxx

200 Follower Giveaway

2010-05-13T14:29:00.001+01:00

**This giveaway is now closed! Thank you for all entries**

I am finally sorting out my long overdue giveaway! I will confess I have only one thing to go in it so far so I'm going to surprise you - and myself - by finding things between now and the end date.

Right, the only rule is that you have to comment on this post and if you don't have a blog please make sure to leave an email address so I can contact you. You have until the evening of the 30th May (which is my eldest's birthday) to leave a comment, if you want to put a link on your blog - with or without my rubbish picture!!! - then please let me know and I'll add you in twice. I promised this giveaway a long time ago and I do apologise it's taken so long but it's to thank each and every one of my followers for having the patience to read and the kindness to comment even though I am hopeless at replying :-S

Tomorrow I will show you some lovely tops made by a very talented fellow blogger who I'm sure many of you know, and what I've been making. Have a great Thursday xxxxx

Things new, experimental and tacky?!

2010-05-07T12:42:00.001+01:00

Well hi all, and a happy May to you! This is my favourite month of the year, when the flowers really start coming out, my wedding anniversary on the 12th and my eldest's birthday on the 30th. I just love May, and we're hoping for plenty of BBQ weather and sun :)

A few things to show you today! First of all I must must must show you my gorgeous new buttons! Don't you just love the colours?! As a result of this button mania on a divine ebay shop called Craft and Sew Beautiful I am now too terrified to check my bank account but I shouldn't need any more for a while!!! I warn you, clicking on the above link before payday could prove stressful to you and your bank manager!

What could be in this parcel?

It's the second new thing to show and is this gorgeous picture made by the talented Sharon of the blog shop Shabby Polka Dots. I love this too! She sent it superquick and with a really pretty card. Thanks Sharon, I hope you approve of where it's on display.

Where it is on the dresser I can see it from my place at the dining table and it makes me smile every time I catch a glimpse.

The experimental part is that I tried making playdough for the first time at the weekend (you can see these show and tells are out of order as we have a naughty, messy dresser in the background!). I was a bit nervous but it came out fine. I found a really easy non cook recipe - half cup of salt, 1 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 cup of boiling water, food colouring of choice - mix dry ingredients and then vigorously mix in water, colouring and oil. We didn't have cream of tartar so I used baking powder, I have no idea whatsoever if that was an acceptable substitute for whatever it was supposed to do but it turned out fine! I used the American cup measurements on a small measuring jug but I guess as long as the proportions are right then anything is fine. As you can see, one child was more interested than the other!

Mmmm lastly the kitsch... a blue china bambi. My brother has described this as "The most hideous thing he has ever seen" ... a bit more eloquent than his verdict on the earlier acquired ornaments. Well, I think it's adorable, and it was less than £2 with p&p on ebay so hardly the most irresponsible purchase I've made lately!!!

I hope this has been an interesting diversion for you from the whole election stress thing. I don't know what to think really, I don't like any of the big three leaders (though I have particular venom for GB) but I guess a change of any kind is worth a go! Have a Fun Friday xxx

PS haven't forgotten about the promised giveaway honest
PPS for anyone following the mother in law saga I hear her house is finished but we haven't been invited to see it, despite it being 10 minutes walk away! We had a big fall out last weekend about potty training and I think we are in disgrace ;)

Time for a catch up???

2010-04-28T14:15:00.000+01:00

Hi all :)

Hope everyone is OK, I know I've done my disappearing act again!

It was my youngest's third birthday yesterday, I can't believe it! When I started this blog she was about sixteen months old and has changed so much in that time. Here she is with messy first-thing-in-the-morning hair opening up the little fabric picnic set we got her. She had a lovely day, my husband was off work and her sister was at school until 3.00 so she got both her parents to herself for a change! She started preschool last week and took to it like a duck to water, she can't wait to get in the door and has a whale of a time. I'm so relieved as her sister was so clingy and it's quite draining when you have to worry about them!

Last week I got a little parcel from Annie of Birdcages and Butterflies. I bought one of her gorgeous charm necklaces and she generously added a couple of extras, the pretty earrings, lacey doily and some green ruched lace which will no doubt will pop up in a creation soon! My pictures are not great but thank you Annie xx

I haven't done a huge amount of crafting lately, I've made a few hearts that will go in my eldest's party bags next month (actually being prepared for once!!!). Oh and this mini cushion for my friend's little boy Zach's christening present. I had noooo idea what to make and made this the day before, I'm quite pleased with it really.

Here's the back, I think it's nice to have a little detail.

Right, I will love you and leave you, little one finishes preschool in half an hour so just time for a cup of tea and to mop the kitchen floor... rock and roll! Thank you for reading and for all your comments and messages, it is much appreciated.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Mel xxx

Sorry I'm AWOL!

2010-03-23T01:11:00.000Z

Sorry lovelies, I know I haven't posted for about three weeks now, just saying hi and that I'll be back soon. Take care xxx

Fabric Love

2010-03-01T16:55:00.000Z

Hi all!

Isn't today gorgeous? Well it is here! I've had the heating off, the windows open and a Yankee Clean Cotton candle blasting away the cobwebs and it's been beautiful. Somehow housework doesn't seem like such a chore when you're getting some sun and fresh air. Even the school run was a pleasure, it was so quiet and I could hear bird tweeting. Well it was all good until my eldest trod in dog poo anyway!!!!

I know I said I wouldn't but I may have had a little tiny spending spree on fabrics this past week! Although most of the cash was from the bunting money that was sitting in Paypal just begging to be spent... and anyway as I pointed out to the other half I'm saving us a fortune in bought birthday pressies by making them so it's practically an economy measure ;) All but the Kidstons and the stripe were 99p-£1.60 per FQ which I thought was really good.

Without realising I think I went a bit mad on strawberry themed fabric, though I do think they are lovely! Three types may going a bit far but for bunting it will be really handy.

I don't really like buying anything just because it's practical rather than because I love it but these will be great for mixing it with other designs. I always find that smaller scale patterns are more practical, I don't know about you.

This is CK Clover, which is the same type of fabric used in the door curtains between the living room and dining room, it doesn't come up very often so when I saw it in this alternative colourway I snapped it up. Very reasonable as well for quite a rare one. I think this will become a cushion for the living room, can't bear to give it away!

I'm into red at the moment so these designs instantly drew my eye and I think they combine well too, I see a collaboration in the making!

Then is one I bought a few weeks ago, apparently it's called Scattered Flowers and is another CK design. Not sure what I'll use it for yet (as with most fabrics I buy it's only a pretty small piece because I can't afford more!) but I thought it was so pretty and it combines my three favourite colours - blue, pink and red.

Ooh and would you like a mother in law update? Well we had a bit of a "heated discussion" two nights ago about parenting. I'm quite proud of myself for standing my ground as a few years back I would probably have held back but I did say what I felt and pointed out that she was being a total hypocrite! .... she is now back to almost best behaviour, I guess the thought of not being fed or being allowed to use the shower is not worth the satisfaction of having a go at your daughter in law ;)

I don't think I showed you this mini bunting that I made to go with the picture from a couple of posts ago. It's not terribly exciting but I think it's quite cute, sorry I photographed it on the most crumpled linen in the world ever!

So we have another completed birthday present ready to go to another little person at their party this coming weekend. They never give you enough gift tags with wrapping paper do they? Here you can see a perfect demonstration of my dodgy DIY handiwork of non matching pink tag with a cut out cupcake badly stuck on with sellotape... kids don't notice that stuff do they?!

I had better go and make some dinner now, the oven has packed up (I think it self destructed to avoid you-know-who) so I'm doing a stir fry. Have a great evening, Mel xxx

It's oh so quiet!!!! :)

2010-02-23T21:29:00.001Z

The mother in law has sort of moved out, hooray!!! Still coming back for most meals (and driving me demented with advice in the process) but she is sleeping at her wreck of a house. She wasn't over tonight, so like the rebels that we so obviously are we had Domino pizza, which would most definitely NOT be approved of ;)

I am glad some of you are having a laugh at my discomfort!!!!!!!! Hee hee, I'd do the same in your shoes! These gorgeous tulips are helping to lift my spirits.

Moving swiftly on, I have caught up on a few blogs, not half as many as I would like though but I'll get there eventually.

I've been fairly busy on the crafting front, another friend asked me to do her some bunting with her daughter's name on so here it is, hope you like! The little girl's room is lilac and pink so I went for pinks, lilacs and purples. You are the first people to see it as it was posted off today. The fabric behind the letters is repurposed from my daughter's Gisela Graham canopy that was soon destroyed by overenthusiastic pulling, the gingham was offcuts from when my Mum made the girls' dresses and the other floral is (much hoarded and very stingily used!) fabric from the cotbed duvet cover I made when we moved here that is no longer needed as both girls are in big beds.

She paid me to do it and I find it so hard knowing what to charge as I mainly do it for the love of it. The thing I have found most incredible is that people just trust me to make things and apart from answering questions about colours etc they let me get on with it and do what I like, it's marvellous... well will be until someone doesn't like what I've done! I must say I am pleased with how this turned out.

The compulsory matching freebie heart ;)

Another friend asked me to make her a heart as she wanted to girly up her room and I gladly did it as she is lovely and brought her puppy over to play with the girls in half term, which they loved. I gave her a heart and three mini lavender cushions to go with it. I love little projects like that as you get a result so quickly, she was pleased with them and I was glad she hadn't wasted £9 in Culpepers like she was going to!

Then there was the spontaneous evening wicker chair cushion makeover. The old cushion was an Ikea one, brilliant size and a good feather one so I wanted to keep the pad. But the cover was a horrible greenish beige so I agonisingly cut into one of my most treasured fabrics, CK rose paisley in cream to make a big new cover. It's in the dining room in the corner near the phone. Yes I could have moved the toys out of the way for the photo I know...

I used pink gingham for the bottom because for a start I love a bit of a mix and also I didn't want to waste it where some of it wouldn't show.

Work have said I can now go back to doing every Friday, which is brilliant news as we could really do with the money and I love my job. Just hope Mum agrees to look after little one for me that regularly and then I will be in there like a shot!

Hope you're having a good start to the week... not long til payday and giveaway!!! xxx

Normal service will resume shortly!!!!

2010-02-20T00:17:00.003Z

I am missing you all so much! I have had a few G&T's and some wine but I mean it!

The mother-in-law didn't just turn up from six weeks holiday with no lovely clinky duty free bottles in sight. Oh no. She needed to stay with us as her house is being renovated and she came back to find she has no bathroom or kitchen and cannot live in it! I now have to wash up within 0.013 seconds of meals being finished and keep the place spotless... not what I am used to ;)

She's OK really but I think after five days (the last two I have also worked nine hour days) I deserve a drink, heehee.

Will be back soon to catch up when I am allowed near the computer... it is not really approved of much so I am steering clear until she's in bed!

TTFN and hugs to all xxxx

PS My top tip of the day is really really really don't watch Embarrassing Illnesses with your mother-in-law. Yikes, I am so glad I had two glasses of wine under my belt but it was her choice! Eek!!!! Oh and if you follow that link do NOT watch the toes video, eeeuuuugggrrrggghhhh

"Necessity is the mother of invention"...

2010-02-15T06:49:00.000Z

... is the proverb of the moment for me at the moment! After spending far too much already this month (see decorating and shopping posts!!!) it has been a case of having to make birthday presents for my eldest's friends, so I am sticking to my pledge to have at least an element of handmade even if only because I don't have much choice!

This is what I did with the thrifted 69p frame I bought the other day, painted it and made a little sewn picture to go inside. I will buy a couple of little things to go with it for the birthday girl, luckily the party isn't until the beginning of next month.

Very awful picture of bunting made mostly the night before a party that was on Saturday just gone, it looked a lot better in real life I promise. The purple looks black taken in artificial light!

And the little extras I bought to go with it, a necklace with a glittery daisy and ladybird from Sainsbury's TU range and a chocolate lollipop.

This is some bunting that a friend commissioned me to make, I personalised one flag with her daughter's name just to make it a little bit more special.

How was your Valentine's Day? I was mostly hungover from staying out until 4am the night before, oops. We swapped cards in the morning but that was it for romance, it's Mum's birthday today so we went to her house for a lovely Moroccan lunch (plus epic cake!) and stayed on for tea. It was nice but not romantic at all! I was very naughty and bought her present in Laura Ashley at the time we were supposed to arrive... luckily the lovely girl behind the counter sold me a gift bag and lent me a pen so I could write the tag! Then I fell asleep whilst getting my daughter to go to off at 7.30pm and didn't wake up until 5am, I feel v guilty for abandoning hubby but he was probably on his Xbox360 enjoying the peace anyway.

Thank you very much all followers old and new, we're now over the 200 mark but unfortunately I am now pretty much stony broke so I will do the giveaway at the end of the month when I have some cash to buy some gorgeous goodies. I promise not to forget!

Today is going to be interesting. Not only is it the first day of half term so I have two little monkeys to deal with but also my mother-in-law is back from six weeks in New Zealand. Oh it's been nice and quiet here!!! I forwarded a funny email to her at work the other day and got an auto-reply saying she's back in the office on the 22nd... dare I ask her to look after the girls on Thursday as work have asked me to go in?? I would put a tenner on her saying no! No doubt she will be full of indispensable and helpful advice as we will have been practically on our knees struggling without it while she's been gone ;) Oh dear I am such a bitch sometimes! Better to get it out of the way now than when she's here though perhaps. She might bring alcohol and then all will be forgiven ;)

Right, hopefully today I will get a chance to reply to comments and catch up on everyone else's blogs. I loved reading about your dreams, seems a lot of us would like similar things but it is lovely to have something to plan even if it only stays as a castle in the sky!

Have a lovely Monday xxx

What's your dream?

2010-02-10T09:44:00.000Z

My dream is that one day we'll have a camper van, a proper VW one that I can make all pretty inside and the girls can use for sleepovers when they're older...

obviously when we have the big house with lots of land to park it on ;)

I'm pretty sure that one day it will happen and for once I'm in no rush, the anticipation and dreaming is fun enough on its own.

I play with battered little Primrose and design the interior inside my head. To a time when we can relax and disappear at a moment's notice.

And I have this gorgeous Heather Ross fabric to gaze at in the meantime and imagine how much fun it will be. I've had this in my special drawer for about two years now, I can't bear to cut into it. I am saving it for when we have a real Primrose and she needs some cushions!

What's your dream? xxx

Recommendations Please!

2010-02-09T00:37:00.002Z

God, I'm not here for months and now you can't get rid of me!!! This is just a quickie to ask for fabric website recommendations. As much as I love ebay I fancy having a look somewhere new and I know I've seen all sorts of sites mentioned and then the names have flown out of my head again! Thank you in advance, I know it will almost kill me to wait the long three weeks until pay day to buy any but I can't even remember the last time I bought some new fabric.

Thank you for all the lovely comments about the living room and regarding the matter of Anonymous!!! Seems they have gone into hiding ;) I'm afraid the living room is not normally so tidy and probably won't stay that way either!

Hope you're having a good week so far, I've had my eldest off school today poorly (though mysteriously it seems to come and go so I'm not sure what is happening there!) and little one isn't too great either and actually asked to go to bed tonight and stayed there!!!

Hmmm it's 00:36 so I had better go to bed... nighty night xxx

PS only three more followers and it's giveaway time, I have bought one thing already heehee...

Living Room Reveal

2010-02-08T11:30:00.003Z

Here we are folks, the madeover living room. Less toys, pared down but plenty of pretty stuff!!!!! Hopefully this will give you a good idea of how it really looks, I have had to include real life things such as surround sound speakers I'm afraid but then this certainly isn't a magazine set ;)

I've started with the view you see as you walk in the double doors from the dining room and worked clockwise.

Ahhh it's almost all finished!

2010-02-07T18:30:00.000Z

Thank you for the replies yesterday about the room decoration, in the end I went for Ivory Cream and am really happy with the result. It's a lot brighter and I have my new piece of artwork for above the sofa, Mum has bought it for me for my birthday but is being lovely and not making me wait until July to have it! I will show you pictures of everything next time once I've done the final touches and you can have a look.

Here is just a peek at how dingy the old colour looked compared to the new (the old is in the middle in case you can't tell!)....

To the, ahem, charming anonymous poster who left a comment on the previous post I would have a lot more respect for you if you weren't too afraid to say who you are! I could say so much but instead will just point out that it was a light-hearted post and it's MY blog and I'll say or ask what I like thanks. If you don't like what you see then please don't read it!

Onto more pleasant things, we just had my Mum and brother over for tea, which was lovely. It would have been my Dad's 63rd birthday today so I wanted to mark the day in a nice happy way. Cue more red spot overload! I would love to say that I baked the cakes myself but what with a start of the month food shop and getting the furniture back in the living room I just didn't have time. I still miss my Dad every day but I'm very happy to say that I didn't dread today in the same was as I did last year and there have been lots of smiles and happy memories :)

Hope you've all had a great weekend and wishing you a nice week ahead xxx

Please help me choose!

2010-02-05T14:08:00.000Z

I need help for decorating the living room tomorrow... please let me know in your comments which you would choose. On Facebook one is much more favoured than the other so I'm interested to see what you think!

Option 1 - Golden Cream. Very cosy and warm colour but does tend to look more of a pale primrose on our walls (we have it in our bedroom which faces the same way as the living room i.e. North). Not necessarily a problem but there's nothing yellow in our living room.

Option 1 - Ivory Cream. A lot lighter and more neutral than the golden so may bring more light into the living room. However less cosy, so in a North facing room this may be a problem. We had it in our old living room (South facing) and it was a lovely relaxing colour but in that room there was a lot of natural sunshine coming in.

I really am 50/50 on this one! Which would you choose? Thank you and have a great Friday :) xxx

Wordless Wednesday - Patchwork Picture Made Last Night

2010-02-03T13:43:00.001Z

Thrifty Shopping (and erm a bit of CK maybe?)

2010-02-02T14:05:00.001Z

Hello all,

It's pouring with rain outside now but I had a lovely morning in town with my little one so I thought I'd pop by and tell you all about it. We went straight from the school drop off into town and she was very good in the pushchair all the way :)

In charity shop number one there was a buy-one-get-one-free on children's books so we got a modern Ladybird about baby animals (which kept little miss amused in the pushchair) and a book for my eldest about fairies with all sorts of little flaps and things. I think there's a few fiddly bits missing but at 50p for the two I'm not complaining! We also got the cup below, I hope you can see properly but it's like a honeypot with what looks like honey and some little bees floating around in the sealed base. Very cute, little one loves it as she's very into Pooh and I love my bees. I'm not sure if we'll use it as a cup or maybe a crayon or pencil pot.

In charity shop number two I hit the jackpot... well as far as I'm concerned anyway!!! Three adorable little china animal ornaments. The kissing bunnies is my favourite and was the most expensive at a whole £1, the other two are also cute (even with one of Bambi's ears glued back on) and only 49p each. Now I am absolutely in love with them, however I have a feeling that my other half will have other feelings on the subject! But they were coming home with me whatever happened, and are now sat on the mini chest on the window sill next to me. My brother just came round and described them as "über-gay". Mmm thanks bro!

I also got a very bright and plastic train for little one for £1.49 to keep her quiet, she's still playing with it so it must have been worth it ;) Oh and a small wooden picture frame that I will probably paint for 69p.

Then we had to have a detour to the library as someone was a little bit grumpy and kept wanting to get out of the pushchair. She loves it in there though, playing in the little house and making friends with whoever is about. I read her a couple of books too when she would sit still for a minute. When it was time to go I thought we'd have the usual fight but once I mentioned one more shop and then we'd get a gingerbread man she was raring to go!

So onto charity shop number three. This one is a bit hit and miss so all we got was a white frame for £1.75 but I thought it was nice and will either sew a picture to go in it or I might try to find a nice postcard. I've shown it with the 69p one from the earlier shop.

Then I was graciously allowed about two minutes in TK Maxx - still no CK, think it's banned here - and then onto Reeves the Baker to get the gingerbread men. Mmmmm they were lovely, and don't worry I have one for my eldest for when she finishes school.

Having been ever so thrifty on this trip I then decided that as little one was quiet we'd pop into Lulu's, which I haven't been in for ages. Soooo many lovely things, I was tempted to get a CK cowboy pillowcase as they were reduced to only £5 but as we've no boys it seemed a bit too naughty! As you might just have guessed from my top picture I indulged in some CK crayons in a tin, which I thought was v cute and as the girls are always drawing it was practical... er, ish. Then I had to grab a spotty button tin because it indulges my dotty cravings. Now instead of a button jar pitifully half empty I have a tin that's almost full, hurrah!

When I got home there was a parcel on the doorstep which was a book called Floral Interiors which was published by Country Living magazine, I won it for £4.99 including P&P from ebay so a bit of a bargain really. I haven't had a proper chance to look at it yet but I'll leave you with a few lovely pictures from it. Oh and sorry this blog seems to have become a "what I've bought" at the moment, the purse is now firmly shut until March!

Have a great day xxx

PS I seem to have frightened off a follower in the last few days but I only need twelve more and there will be another giveaway :)

Cushion covers for a friend

2010-01-28T16:09:00.001Z

Hello! Looks like I am back into the blogging habit now so you'll have to put up with more of me about! Thought I would show you some sewing as it's been a while.

Do you remember this post from yonks ago? Ohhh I am so ashamed to see the date on it, I don't think I've ever taken this long to do anything. I was making cushion covers for friend. Well she must be the most tolerant and lovely person ever as I only just finished them last night at 1am (that was the mission that might kill me for anyone on facebook!). But they are now hopefully making their way to Devon with a friendly postman and I've sent a couple of extra treats to make up for being so useless!

These pictures aren't great as they were taken in artificial light but I knew if I didn't get them parcelled up last night ready to post today it would end up dragging on longer. Phew! I made three and they are all about 14" square, using different CK and vintage materials alongside plain white linen and a bit of embroidery and buttons for good measure.

So the moral of the story is probably... if you want anything done don't ask me ;)

Have a lovely evening xxx

PS I am using the "new" post editor for the first time so if the pictures are tiny or the link is wrong hopefully I will get the hang of it eventually!

All sorts of catching up and lots of pics :)

2010-01-25T21:16:00.003Z

Howdy folks! Please note I am actually doing two posts in the same month, quite rare these days ;)

This is going to be a bit of a mishmash to catch up on a few things. Firstly I wanted to show you the lovely goodies I won from Sam in her December giveaway, I was so pleased with all the beautiful gifts :) Thank you very very much Sam and I'm so sorry it has taken me such a long time to post about them.

Secondly there was a fair bit of interest in the red and white spotty items! So here they are. The first things I got were the tea, coffee and sugar tins and the Home Sweet Home sign in Christmas '08 but the obsession only really took hold the last couple of months! It has spread from the kitchen....

to the dining room.....

and on into the living room.....

Where will they crop up next?! These spots are definitely catching!

And at long last I can show you my youngest's finished bedroom, unfortunately I can't show you all of the lovely CK bunting as it has her name on it but here's a peek at the rest :)

NB in picture below the curtain rail looks wonky but it's actually the window! Dontcha just love old houses ;)

The hare painting below is by Erica Hemming, who is a lovely lady who used to live next door to me when I was a teenager! My Mum bought it for my daughter's first birthday present and I hope she will always treasure it. You can buy prints of this here if you are interested.

And finally I bought a little cream wire shelf from ebay earlier in the week, using up my ebay points from all the stuff we bought over Christmas. It's now the hallway - which is getting more prinky by the day! Alongside the mirror that was already there and the heart my brother in law gave me (erm I must add that I kind of forcibly told him this would be my Christmas present and that he would reimburse me, haha).

This is a close up of the home sweet home mirrored sign that you can see hanging from the top. For anyone observant yes this was taken before I changed the white ribbon for a pink one, I can't resist fiddling! Mum gave me this and I've seen them on other blogs before and much admired them so I was really pleased.

And here's the noticeboard I have right near the front door, if you look carefully there are quite a few bloggers' cards on there :)

On the projects front I really haven't done a lot. I remade a heart I got for Christmas from ebay (along with a matching table runner and cushion) to make it a nicer shape and change the plain white ribbon for red and white checked. Heehee, should have just made it myself in the first place!

We've just won a coffee table from ebay for only £10 which we'll collect at the weekend hopefully. It's just a tad vile at the moment but the shape is promising, I think it's 1950's, and I think once painted cream it will be really nice - of course I will show and tell once finished! We're hopefully going to redecorate the living room at long last soon and repaint the magnolia walls a bit lighter, it's a North facing room so I want to maximise what light there is but keep it cosy. I'm going to move my collection of little Helen Drewett embroideries from that room to the stairs and landing as I think they will have a lot more impact there, they seem a bit "lost" where they are at the moment. And I have something with a bit of an impact in mind to replace them, which I will keep to myself in case we change our minds!

By the way I must say hello and thank you to new followers! I really appreciate the comments and new friendly faces but I have to confess I am not fantastic at keeping up with everybody but please believe me that I am glad to have you aboard! And haven't forgotten that I will do a giveaway if I get to 200.

Have a lovely evening all, I am home with the girlies (who are both asleep) as my other half has gone to the pub and am having a quiet one with a couple of bottles of Orange WKD. My inner teenager is forever surfacing! Take care xxx

PS as it's been a while since I inflicted any blue icing pictures on you here is our latest cooking experiment from Saturday, TTFN!

Very Quick Message!

2010-01-16T01:51:00.002Z

Sorry to all those who have left me messages asking if I am still alive ;)

Thank you so much for caring, everything is fine but things seem to have been really busy. I haven't done any crafting or even much shopping so there's not been much to report! Our pictures from Christmas day are not very good but the above is me in my much wanted Slanket that my lovely other half bought me (excuse the lack of makeup... if you can see the clock that was an hour after we first got woken!) and my girlies stuffing their faces with chocolate Santas!

Hope everyone is well and I will pop in on some more blogs soon and do some more posts. Just before Christmas I developed a mini obsession with red things with white spots so I may inflict some of those on you!!!

Happy New Year, love Mel xxx

Update and makes :)

2009-11-26T18:33:00.005Z

Hi all!

Firstly sorry I've been a very bad blogger and not visited as many blogs as I should lately, hopefully I should get that sorted over the next few days :)

Also thanks v much for all the comments on my last two posts showing the Christmas decorations and the Rainbow heart!

Just a couple of new makes to show you today, I will warn you now that the photos were done in artificial light and are pretty rubbish! Firstly I made a mini cushion to go with Rainbow's heart (which has now been embellished with a crystal bead), and there are two hairclips which I got from Bobblelicious - there are lots of lovely detailed designs of handsewn felt clips and hairbands on that site. So this is one gift that is 100% handmade.

The next one is a small cushion I made for a birthday party last weekend, and I gave it to him along with a pack of toy cars. Not totally handmade but getting there!!! I used a cowboy fabric that I got from ebay about a year ago plus a piece of marbled red with the birthday boy's name on and a couple of buttons.

Other than finally making a few things life is pretty quiet. Unfortunately there is a new member of staff at work so it looks like I won't be doing Fridays any more, which I'm quite sad about because I love my job. In the last few days my youngest (now two and a half) has mastered the PC as well as big sis and can get onto the Cbeebies website by herself and navigate around it so I get even less time on here now! My eldest is loving being at proper school despite all the worry and got some lovely new friends, and can write "cat" and "zoo" by herself, I'm so proud *sniff*

Still haven't got around to doing any more decorating but I might brave it this weekend... though my hubby and brother are going to see Motorhead tomorrow night which means both my childcare (husband) and helper (brother) will probably be too tired on Saturday morning!

Have a great Friday, lots of love Mel xxx

PS Big THANK YOU to all new followers, if I get to 200 I'll do another giveaway!

Christmas show and tell part deux

2009-11-19T14:29:00.005Z

Hi again! These are the last of my Christmas haul, and I am under very strict instructions from the husband not to buy any more so until everything is in its right place this will be it!

I seem to have a bit of a snowflake fetish this year! This turquoise one is made by Greengate but I got it from ebay. I think this one and the pearly beaded one I showed before I might hang in the windows.

This garland is adorable (close up pictured at start of post). To give you some idea of scale the central heart is about 8" tall. I love it and it was made by Janet and bought from her on ebay. I only discovered her blog as a result of buying the garland and there are some beautiful things on there if you take a look >here<.

This gorgeous primitive style reindeer was made by Sarah of The Blueberry Patch (blog >here<). He was £6.50 and I fell in love as soon as I saw them on the site! She very kindly enclosed a couple of little extra tree decorations as well. Thank you so much Sarah :)

And finally, I've decided that every present I give to my eldest's school friends will be at least partly handmade (whether by me or others) and this is my make from this afternoon as she has finally been invited to another girl's party, yay! The little girl is called Rainbow and her favourite colour is pink so I hope she'll like this. To go with it I've ordered some felt cupcake hair bands and a felt clip shaped like an icecream from a lady on ebay.

Have a lovely evening xxx

Festive show and tell

2009-11-16T15:58:00.005Z

The time has come to show you some of my Christmas pretties purchases, I have actually done pretty well with the present buying as well but this is the good stuff ;)

This is a garland from ebay which I think looks quite sweet hanging from this shelf in the living room (which - you never know - may even get redecorated before Christmas......). I felt that room was a bit bare last year so I've bought a few things to make it more interesting. Not bad for £5.99 plus postage I thought.

This is a glass bird decoration from Homebase, which my husband insists is actually a crack pipe and my eldest believes is a whistle. Cue fruitless demonstrations from both!!! I just thought it was a pretty decoration with it's snowflake and iridescent glass.

Another ebay purchase now, these pegs have CK paper applied to one side. I'm intended to put them onto a piece of twine and string it across the living room wall and hang the cards from them. They aren't specifically Christmas designs so might come in handy at other times as well.

These decorations were brought back from Australia by my Grandma, on clsoe inspectin you can see they are not really Christmas themed... we have parrots, duckbilled platypuses and hedgehogs! But sweet all the same.

Next is my favourite one, a lovely wired and beaded snowflake that was made by Lisbeth Dahl. It's so delicate and pretty and I love the pearly beads on the hanger. It was £3.99 but I think it was worth it.

Next the Tesco three-for-two decs. The pair of clear baubles have "snow" inside that you can shake around. I'm glad they're plastic because they're irresistable to me, let alone the kids! Then there's the glittery bird baubles and the white glittery birdies with feathery tails which will clip onto the tree.

More Tesco decorations that I forgot I had! These are a set of either ten or twelve wooden reindeer for £1. Do excuse the chipped nail varnish!

Lastly a wooden painted Christmas tree that I got from ebay but I think is a Gisela Graham. I liked the little details. The tree we were given by Mum in law last year when she got a bigger house is a lot bigger than our old one so there is more room for decorations, hooray!

I'm a little embarrassed to say that there is more on the way, including a couple of lovely things from fellow bloggers but I will show those when they arrive :)

Hope you enjoyed my little pre-Christmas show and tell! Have a great evening xxx

Evening all!

2009-11-13T20:41:00.005Z

Just a quick post tonight to show you the lovely name art that Annie did for me, isn't it clever! I hope she won't be cross with me for shabby chick-ing it up a bit! I couldn't resist trimming it down so I could add the fish fabric background when I saw the adorable little fish being snapped up by the seal, which naturally lead to ribbon being added as well... you know how it is! I hope little Oscar will like it, if not I'll have it back ;) !!!!!

Thank you very much Annie, I think the little characters are gorgeous and you did it so quickly for me. If anyone else is wondering what to get for a little person I give her a double thumbs up!

This will be the first party my eldest has gone to without either parent there and she is soooo excited! Wish me luck for dealing with the sugar high afterwards :-/

Have a great evening, I hear the Smirnoff calling! xxx

PS next post will be my Christmas purchases so far... I am getting very excited already!

My first crazy patchwork

2009-11-11T17:26:00.005Z

Hello! I am doing my usual trick of disappearing for weeks and then pestering you every five minutes I'm afraid ;)

I can't remember where I first saw crazy patchwork but last night I couldn't resist having a go! We've been making over my youngest's room a bit now that she has a proper sized single bed and my eldest is moaning that "You never buy me anything!!!!" accompanied by stomping, so I decided to make something for her.

I know I saw a tutorial somewhere but I can't remember where so I just had a go at it freestyle, I'm not sure it looks quite how it should (originally it was going to be a hanging heart... but became a cushion...) but my eldest loves it! The heart fabric is used for backing as well as a bit on the front. I can't take credit for the flower, that was very kindly made and given to me by Kirsty and it's my daughter's favourite part. I've also used some scraps of some favourite fabrics including CK chintz and Rosali. Think I might have to make another very soon, it was fun and easy!

Thank you for all the gift suggestions for the little boy's birthday. In the end I've decided to go for one of Annie's name artworks so I will show that before I give it to him. It's nice to be able to support a fellow blogger :)

Hope you've had a great Wednesday, especially those who went to the CL fair... I am very jealous! xxx

PS if anyone knows what has happened to Rosesposes/A Decluttered life please let me know... just went for a catch up and it seems to have disappeared :(

First crafting in AGES!

2009-11-10T18:28:00.007Z

Hello!

I doubt anybody will remember this from back in the mists of time but a friend of mine asked me to make her three cushion covers and I was all nervous. Then something happened and I not only had blogger's block but also crafter's block.... not good. Well I have finally dragged myself out of it kicking and screaming and have practically finished the fronts of the three covers and thought I would show them to you (as it's my first makes in soooo long!). Here are some sneaky peeks, I will show you the final looks once they are finished.

This first one is make of a CK paisley fabric embellished with old mother of pearl buttons and the word "Love" embroidered along with some hearts and kisses.

The second one is some pink Rosali with a vintage doily and a mother of pearl button in the centre, mounted on white linen. I like the way the colours show through the holes.

The last is my favourite and is another CK print with a a vintage embroidered handkerchief and a very frothy type of doily on top. I've added an old linen button sewed on with pale blue thread to echo the background colour of the floral print.

They all need much ironing and the backs doing (which will be white linen) but as far as I'm concerned the hard part is over! I really hope my friend likes them, she gave me free reign to do what I wanted - her confidence in me may well have terrified me into the crafter's block!!! - and she is going to base her new girly bedroom colour scheme around them.

I know some of you have seen my plea for help on Facebook for help with a birthday present for a five year old boy but I thought I'd ask here as well, I have trawled ebay and a big toy shop and just can't pick something! He's a boy from my eldest's class and I couldn't pick him out in a line up at the moment lol. My problem is that I can never give somebody something that I don't like so with boys' things that kind of narrows it down. Hmmm I really am a pain in the arse sometimes aren't I?! I've got until Saturday..... any advice gratefully received. I thought about making something but my husband thinks that's a terrible idea.

The weather lately is hideous isn't it? Though it does give my eldest an excuse to use her umbrella that looks like the one below, which does bring a smile to my face.

And finally thank you so much to Rockingloubylou for this Lemonade Award for "seeing blessings where they're not obvious and making lemonade instead of complaining about sour lemons.". I am meant to tell you some things I am grateful for. I have dug deep and here it goes...

* That my family are all healthy, something money can't buy.

* That I live in the South and the weather in general is pretty good! Can't be that bad normally if I don't even own any wellies ;)

* That my eldest is settling in so well into proper school after I was really worried about it.

* That I have a job I love (and HQ are even giving us a proper Christmas party this year, woohoo!)

* and that I am always welcomed back to Blogland even after disappearing!

I'm not sure who has or hasn't got this award at the moment so if you don't have it I would love you to take it, and pass it on if you wish to. I love anyone who reads my blog!!!

Have a great evening xxx

If you'd like to take a look...

2009-11-02T19:14:00.006Z

(...edited post...) I've added just a couple of pics from Halloween, one is of the cakes I decorated from a Tesco kit (tasted vile but fun to do with the kids!), then there's the pumpkins we carved and my darling eldest making a scary face with her face painted using leftover cake icing... nothing wasted here ;)

Hope everyone has a lovely evening, please do leave a comment and let me know how you are as I've been so bad at keeping in touch and been missing you all xxx

Quick hi

2009-10-22T11:23:00.004+01:00

Hi all

Sorry I've been missing for so long and thank you for all your comments on my last post and to the new followers, you must be feeling quite cheated but I am very pleased to have you on board! Nothing huge has happened to keep me away but I've done no crafting in months and my eldest starting school seems to take up a lot more time than I imagined it would! Half term now already and although it's lovely not to have to do the school run the girls' arguing is driving me nuts already and we are only on day one!

The picture above is about the only one I've taken lately, it was when all the candles on the mantelpiece in the dining room were lit on my brother's birthday (1st October) and it was starting to feel more Autumn-y and cosy. As you can see the bunting that I "borrowed" from my eldest's bedroom for her birthday in May hasn't come down yet heehee.

Anyway I will be back soon but in case you haven't already it's definitely worth entering the ever lovely Annie's blog giveaway for some of her beautiful blocks.

Take care and see you soon xxxxxxxx

Three hours' worth of car boot finds!!!

2009-08-31T17:06:00.005+01:00

Hi ladies, sorry I've been gone so long! This last week seems to have been quite hectic but there's not been much news. Glad to be Facebook friends with a few of you now... though now you will all know the unglamorous truth about my life, heehee!

This is just a quick one to show you my boot sale finds from today, there's always a huge one in Salisbury on August bank holiday Monday and even though it was drizzling we spent the best part of three hours trawling for goodies. So, enough words already, here are the results.

Two glass jars for 50p, which I have put some of my buttons into - much nicer than the jam jar they were in.

A mini cloche for £1, it is only plastic unfortunately but looks fairly realistic and as I've wanted one for ages I thought I'd go for it. Not sure what will go in there yet but I'll probably get that hook out when I find some pliers!

Two Paragon cups and saucers (which don't actually fit eachother but they are pretty!) for £2.

Three posy brooches for £3.50 in total, the quite damaged one was only 50p but I couldn't resist.

A Crown Staffordshire white on white anemone basket posy for £2. I've wanted a white posy for ages and this was the first thing I bought, it's in perfect condition so I'm really pleased.

An Addersley rosebud posy for £1, a Staffordshire one in an unusual tankard type pot for 50p and a Coalport trinket box for 50p.

A truly awful picture of a very sweet Meakin plate with a hickory dickory dock scene at the top, some little mice and some children playing blind man's buff for £1.50. Wish I'd bought the matching one now but it was near the end and I was trying to save money.

Three very little plates, I think they might be bit parts from dolls tea sets but I loved the forget-me-nots on two of them. This was £1.50 the lot.

Then a Royal Albert posy with no damage at all for 50p - I nearly ripped the poor woman's arm off!

The girls got all sorts of little bits and pieces but this space hopper for £1 got bounced on the entire way around!

Next is the last and my favourite find of the day. I've been after a plastic tea set for the girls' little house for ages because the ceramic one got broken in about five minutes, but I wanted something a bit more interesting - and cheaper! - than the usual ones. I found this Spot the dog set including the tray for £1 and I think it's from the 80's at about the time I would have really wanted it myself! I think the little images on it are so cute. The girls soon put it to use for tea as you can see (don't worry, I had washed it thoroughly first)....

How did you get on today? Hope you've had a lovely bank holiday weekend, Mel xxx

PS thank you for the awards I've been given lately, I will do a post about those next time!

2009-08-21T00:04:00.003+01:00

Hello! Glad you all enjoyed the strange posies, if I find any more good ones I will keep you posted :)

This is just a quick hi really, I thought I'd do a quick update. Thought you might like to see the little paper dollies I made earlier with my eldest, they're enjoying it on top of this mini cabinet where they can see everything ;)

A friend asked me earlier today to make her three cushion covers, she trusts my taste so is letting me surprise her with whatever I fancy! Somehow this is terrifying, I don't mind fiddling about making stuff for me but when it's for someone else (and she's paying me) I get nervous. So far I've sewed a vintage doily onto some pink rosali fabric with a mother of pearl button in the centre but it's nowhere near a cushion yet! Will add some pics as I make more progress.

And lastly here is a picture of the banana bread I made with the girls yesterday - they LOVE cooking. My eldest doesn't like it so for once we have some cake left after the day we made it ;) It tastes better than it looks honest! I highly recommend the sort of loaf tin inserts you can buy in Lakeland, so much easier than having to bother to grease a tin.

I'm working tomorrow and Saturday, so I might not be about much in Blogland. I enjoy it work on the rare occasions I go in during the week because there is a lot more chat and banter than at weekends (when there are only two of us in). Mum doesn't work Fridays so she will have the girls for me thankfully. To be honest work is probably the most "me time" I get!

Hope you have a fun Friday xxx