Wednesday 30 December 2009
Unfinished Christmas Crafting...
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Post Christmas
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....
I was also lucky enough to receive...
Monday 23 November 2009
Handm@de Fair, Oxford
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Thursday 12 November 2009
Vintage & Handmade Fair
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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!
Wednesday 28 October 2009
The Big Knit
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Tuesday 15 September 2009
One Year On...
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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.
Wednesday 2 September 2009
Heading Back to School
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!
Sunday 23 August 2009
The Quilt Show
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Saturday 22 August 2009
Festival of Quilts
I'm off tomorrow to the NEC, as I have won tickets to see the quilt show, which I'm very excited about! I shall have to be careful not to take any money with me though!
After seeing the local quilt group (The Buttercross Quilters) display their large collection of quilts in Bampton a couple of weeks ago, I have wondered about starting a project of my own,but haven't really known where to start,so will be looking with interest tomorrow for inspiration and know-how!
Full report to follow...
Thursday 30 July 2009
SecondHand Goodness
Got some thin foam for future paint stamping, with some tester tubes of blue fabric paint. Some acetate sheets for stencilling and finally a tin of 'moon shadow' emulsion for one wall of the lounge. Although after slapping a bit on to test, it's a bit bluer than I wanted so may have to mix with some white so it's a bit more muted, but not bad for 50p!
Then it was into Town for a trawl through the charity shops, I was buggyless today (youngest at nursery!) so it meant I could do a big trip and go to the ones with stairs and narrow aisles!
Sobell House was jammed packed with great stuff today, had to rein myself in!
First off, three hoops which I wanted to display nice fabric in and hang on the walls, ala Soulemama,hope to get either some Amy Butler or new Ikea fabric for those.
Some more wool, all for only £1.50 so I couldn't resist...I'm working on a knitted flower corsage at the moment, so needed some scraps to test on!
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Monday 20 July 2009
Art in Action 2009
Monday 13 July 2009
Witney Carnival
Oh and the fabulous Mr Alexander:
He has the most lovely set and is very British and entertaining! We were very lucky with the weather and there was a lovely sense of community and people having a good time. Some bits of the main arena entertainment are unbelievably naff, but it all seems very old school and eccentrically British!
Hurrah for bric-a-brac too...
On Sunday, I then popped to Woodstock to The Oxfordshire Museum, to finally catch (on the last day) the Annabelinda exhibition. Soo glad I did, it was wonderful, basically Oxford's couture house since the Seventies had a retrospective with lots of original designer outfits all displayed, it showed fashion through the decades too, but the dresses, the handiwork, the Liberty fabrics, it was all so beautiful and sumptous. It was a real effort to not reach out and touch all the fabrics as they were all so stunning! The skill and craft put lovingly into all the creations was very evident and I loved the 70's pinafores, so much so I wondered if you could get away with wearing/making one now?! Even my girls liked it and were heard gushing over the lovely dresses and colours! Although after 10 minutes they were desperate to escape to the garden (which is lovely, as is the cafe, highly recommended!).
Monday 6 July 2009
Inspiration board
I finally managed to put together my inspiration/mood board that I've wanted by my dining table for while.
I got the pin board from my Mum's garage during the car boot sort out and painted it with a lilac tester pot which was also uncovered!
I then cut all the images I'd saved in my 'To Print' folder. Basically I'd been saving images from sites I've visited to serve as inspiration.
And now it looks great, couldn't stop looking at all through dinner!
The bottom 'artwork' board is also pretty funky!
Thursday 25 June 2009
Knitty Nora and podcasts
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Monday 15 June 2009
niggly knitting
DOUBLE POINTED NEEDLES!!
AGGHHHH!
I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I desperately want to knit a pattern I have found for a knitted doughnut!
So after much putting off (after reading and re-reading 'Ultimate Knitting Bible' : I love this book, I keep it handy for reference) I have started but I can't hold the needles so it's easy to knit with and I'm lost about what round I'm on and the tension is baggy at the ends!
But, it has also reminded me about why I like knitting, it's addictive and the rhythm is like a mantra, once in the groove I'm calm and at peace (usually!) so I will persevere.
This weekend I have cleaned and fired up the heirloom Singer:
Hi-tech indeed!
It does have a dazzling array of stitches and feet, which makes it better than my current newer budget model which is a Viscount.
The stitches look a little crude and the straight stitch has a bit of a uneven line, but it works so I will give it a test run, probably on the Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt I keep meaning to start!
Getting started has always been my problem!
I am also currently trying to make my blog look better, but I am struggling to get Blogger to work how I want and I still haven't got a good photo for my header, so I'm trying to do homework on what I can achieve.
Hope to be doing a car boot this weekend, I'm desperate to clear away some clutter but I think the biggest challenge will be not bringing anything new home!!
Sunday 14 June 2009
Sew Mag
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Saturday 13 June 2009
Back Home...
Had a lovely mid-week break at Center Parcs, second time round it's still as relaxing and homely as I remembered. There's something about living in all those trees that resonates with me and feels so right, I overheard other people commenting on this is how we should live, within nature, sympathetically living side by side. Forget foreign holidays (no aeroplanes for me thank you!) this is my kind of treat. Trees, sunshine, bike-riding, swimming, rollerskating (yes, me!), badminton, kayaking and eating pancakes, this is surely the life!
I did take my knitting in the vain hope I might feel chilled out enough to re-start my second knitted monkey (in blue this time) but no, after a full days activity I couldn't muster up the will.
The coming home (to bills and reminders!) is the horrible bit though, so until work on Tuesday I'll keep looking at the holiday snaps and smiling!
Saturday 6 June 2009
Shaak MonkTi
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Saturday 30 May 2009
Wowwee what a Fair!
So glad I made the effort to go all the way to Chipping Sodbury today, the Vintage & Handmade Fair was fantastic, so many great stalls, it was eye candy heaven! So much to look at, browse, rummage I could have stayed all day, if I had more money to spare I would have indulged in lots more lovelies. All the stalls were beautifully set out, there are some pics via the Vintage blog, it seemed to be very well run and set out. Having tea and cake was really welcome too, it kept the kidlets amused, well sort of one was being very grumpy!
So after looking around, going away for a think and coming back, what did I treat myself to....?
And then I bought something else which is not something I would have liked previously but I now love these sort of flowery/corsages and have ummed and ahhed over making one. But this one was a fabulous colour, aparently it's Liberty fabric and the quality is lovely, the colours all work well together and the stitching is beautiful, well worth the £7 from Brocobelle (http://brocobelle.typepad.com/brocobelle)
I then had to drag myself away as aparently it was Picnic Time!! So we stopped off at Westonbirt on the way home which is lovely, very sunny and tranquil. So a long, tiring day but a good fun filled day, now hopefully a lie-in tomorrow morning! Fingers crossed.
Friday 29 May 2009
Vintage & Handmade Fair
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Knit It Monkey
Saturday 10 January 2009
Costumes
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