Unfinished Christmas Crafting...

This is the flip side of crafting for Christmas...too many projects taken on and having to decide who misses out...I'm ashamed to say that this year it was a gift for my Mum. This year we all agreed on no presents as every ones finances have been stretched for various reasons, so I felt very guilty when I DID receive the lovely presents I blogged about previously and had nothing to give in return.

I had wanted to do something fairly quick and simple that involved the kids, I browsed through my bookshelf and found the lovely bookmark idea from Amanda Blake Soule's lovely 'Handmade Home' which involves your little one doing a drawing of a favourite person and then embroidering over it with a simple back stitch. So I had some cotton scraps and I got my eldest (five) to draw a picture of Granny! I got her to do it on paper first as I worried about how it would turn out! I then traced it through onto the fabric by holding it up to the window and then spent some lovely hours relaxingly stitching away!! Mostly all watching Star Trek I'm slightly embarrassed to say! I'd forgotten how much I like embroidery, I used to do a lot of cross-stitch but embroidery is much nicer as you don't have to keep looking at a chart!

So I've now added her writing of 'Granny' to the top and now just need to sew it all up, I'm trying to get her to do other family members this week so I can do a whole set! It's lovely taking her artwork and making something personal and lasting, as her drawing style is constantly changing/developing. The other feel-good factor is how it hasn't cost any pennies, all made with scraps and stuff I already had and mostly with love. I'll post the finished photo when done!

Am thinking of ringing in the New Year with a visit to Ikea at Milton Keynes! Much better then having a hangover! I'll let you know....need to do some sofa research and of course just to LOOK at the textiles!!!

Post Christmas

After the rush to get things ready it always seems to flash past doesn't it the big day!!

With last minute crafting and doing a proper roast since we've had kids, it seems to have been a lot of effort for a short period!!

So I tried really hard this year to make the girls something which inevitably led to a last minute panic!! But I really enjoyed it and was very proud to see their faces when the saw....

the finished knitted mouses and the fleecy floor cushions. It made the 2am Christmas Eve morning finish all worthwhile!!

Mary Christmouse was from Knit Today, issue 39, Nov 2009, pattern by Val Pierce, which as a novice knitter I found very easy, there's a lot of sewing together though and I still haven't got the hang of charming faces! The info is also on my Ravelry page, (HoldMyHand).

The floor cushions were a late brain-wave, I had an old king size duvet which I was going to Freecycle but then as a couldn't afford bean-bags for the girls I wondered if I could cut it into squares as large floor cushions! So I measured out a generous size and doing some calculations made the 60cm squares which made 16 squares, eight per cushion.

I then sewed a square inner cover for them out of an old sheet and the used the three metres of very bright fleece that's been waiting for a project to make simple pillow-case type opening covers. I added some flaps of fleece and different ribbon to identify them at the top corners. The best thing is they cost nothing!! And more importantly the girls love them and have been lounging on the all Christmas!! I hope they'll end up in the room under the cabin bed where I hope to finish creating a reading/listening chill-out area for them!! The curtain to go around the opening of the bed is the next project, when I can find a large piece of appropriate fabric (I'm thinking of Ikea)!!

Me and the kids didn't really do a huge amount of Christmas crafting this year, I've really noticed the difference from last year when I was only working two days a week (what bliss!!), it's been a bit sad having to rush to fit everything in, we didn't even visit santa, although both the girls have seen him via school/nursery.

We did get to decorate pine cones for our card display

I found a pack of ribbon with small pegs at Clinton Cards for only £1.99 which although it wasn't as nice as the Cath kidston washing line version I fancied, the cheaper then £5 price tag won me over!!

I can also now reveal the present my Mum got for me from the Vintage & Handmade Fairback in November....

Meet Bea, from the lovely Vintage Magpie, isn't she lovely, a much loved addition to our family.

I was also lucky enough to receive...

a lovely Lindt Matroyshka dolly, hyacinths planted by the girls and a tea set with a lovely Cath mug!

I'm still waiting for my knitting counter I was promised by the other half!!

I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from knitting now too, I'm itching to get started on a sleeveless cardie which is my next project, again details on Ravelry.

I'm also looking at the benefits of changing to a different provider for blogging as the lack of features on Blogger is slowing me down, especially the add image function which as a fairly important one, is infuriatingly rubbish! Any comments/info would be very welcome.

I hope all blog readers had a lovely crafty Christmas and here's to making 2010 New Year's crafting resolutions/to do lists!

Handm@de Fair, Oxford

Counting down until Sunday now, after the excitement of the Vintage & Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury it's time for our local feast.

Really enjoyed V & H this year, not as christmassy as I'd hoped (really wanted a vintage looking christmas tree angel), but looking at the pics from the blog, think the best things went early! I treated myself to a Babushka rabbit kit from Donna Flower, whose stall was fab, wish I had more budget for fabric!!

And then I ummed and ahhed over one of the gorgeous bunnies from The Vintage Magpie that I saw in the summer and loved, & thanks to my Mum who accompanied me, I will have one for Christmas!! Will try and sneak a photo of the one I've adopted!

I did fancy one of these gorgeous prints too..

..but sadly I restrained myself, (too much I think with hindsight!).

Very glad we battled through the high winds and flood water!!

Vintage & Handmade Fair

One & a half days to go!!
I'm really looking forward to this again, the summer one was so fab and I enjoyed it so much.
My Mum is coming with me again as she really loved it too, so it'll be a girls day trip and I'm planning on spending money too! Would really like a vintage christmas tree angel, so will be keeping my eyes peeled, will report back on any purchases!

I've got my mind on Christmas quite a lot at the moment, there are several things I'd like to make for the girls, the first thing I started last weekend, it's Mary Christmouse from a pattern in 'Knit Today', which is a basic knitted mouse, I'm doing this in white I had in my stash but it's nearly all gone, so fingers crossed it lasts for the legs & ears!!

I'm also struggling to find an alpaca DK yarn for a pattern for my self, I don't find it very easy browsing for yarn on the web, I really want to see it person and feel it! So I've been perusing in my LYS's - Witney Wool Shop & Port Meadow Designs in Oxford. I want something with a bit of colour variation, but what colour do I go for?! I definately need more experience at this!

The Big Knit

I'm a bit late on the uptake with Innocent's annual knitting challenge, but with one week left I decided it was better to contribute something than nothing so very slowly (!) I have produced three tiny hats that are now winging their way to London to hopefully be in time for Friday's deadline.

One Year On...

Blogiversary!!

A whole year? Surely not, ok so I'm not the best at regular posting but I've really enjoyed having my blog as a creative thing to think about, to plan and have a reason to do things/take photos/be creative, I highly recommend it to anyone, just do it!

Although being a personal thing I haven't really plugged it out there in cyberspace which is my yr 2 challenge!

I should be having a giveaway, but with no regular readers that may have to wait!!

It is also one year since the annual Witney Feast!!!

Hurrah, the fair came to town and once again I loved the lights, colours, noise and enjoying seeing it all through my kids eyes.

We also had a great time at Blenheim on Saturday watching the cross-country, so I'll try and get some pics up of that tomorrow.

Heading Back to School

Kissing Hands

Last year as my eldest was due to start school I stumbled upon a sweet idea that would remind her that we loved her and were thinking of her on her special day, I think I followed a link from Tip Junkie to 'back to school traditions' from Shauna-na-na for these kissing hands biscuits, which will once again be in her school lunch box tomorrow, to hopefully give her a smile at lunch!

I just used a basic biscuit recipe:

4 1/2 oz plain flour

2oz brown sugar

3oz butter

I halved the quantities as I didn't want to make loads! Rubbed it all in together to make a dough, (I needed a bit of extra flour as it was still quite soft) and rolled it out.

I then drew round the hands on paper and cut out to make a template, then used this to trace round on the dough and cut out, which is a bit fiddly and it pays not to drag the knife but to make small cuts as you run the risk of amputating a finger (a dough one that is!).

The girls then added a chocolate button (snaffling a few out of the packet when they thought I wasn't looking!), I put them onto baking parchment (I love this stuff, I can't cook without it, soo much better than greaseproof paper) and into the oven for about 8-10mins on 160c.

Now I've just got to hope that it survives in one piece until lunchtime! Back to the last minute name labelling now!