Oops!

Oh dear, I really did mean to post this in early January but I suppose early February will have to do instead.

Not much crafting happened for Christmas this year but there was a tiny bit!

Firstly, Connor 'helped' make this years Christmas cards at the grand old age of two months. Hand and foot printing with a baby who was still holding on to those tight fists and curled up toes reflexes was quite entertaining but thanks to Vistaprint we only had to make one decent copy!

And secondly some play scarves for the babes in the family. I regret not making two rainbow ones, as it is by far my favourite, but I plan on making more at some point (not least because I lost two of Connor's to my niece Lexi the other week.) So watch this space little Jacky nephew, you will have a rainbow at some point!

Since Christmas I have actually managed a little crafting too and hope to do more now that the jongen is going to bed so much earlier and giving me an hour or two in the evening (most of the time anyway)...

A new crochet hat for the wee one (and hopefully another one on the way for his baby buddy Erin sooner rather than later.)

And finally, I had to share this fab pic of my own Ma and Pa with a slightly grumpy looking babe just because of Mum's great facial expression!

Happy belated new year everyone.
S. x

Play mat

It started with the centre patchwork. I love this style of quilt...Fibonacci like in a way as it grows larger as it goes out from the centre.

The fun part came in deciding what else to add to interest baby!

Different textured and bold coloured fabric patches...

...Loops filled with buttons, tags, foam etc to make sounds and give more textures. I'm hoping these will be great for sucking on when the time comes...

...taggies - I'm assured babies love these things - again, different textures and lengths and can be used to attach things onto...

...and my favourite bit, a mirror, a definite must for all small folk.

I really enjoyed making this and it came together really well after only a bit of fiddling about at the planning stage. I wanted to have lots of patterns in the fabrics I used and stuck to a green, purple and blue palette in the main, using fabrics I already had in my stash so no money needed to be spent save for the plastic mirror (a bargain from Ikea!).

The mirror slots in at the side and is held in place with some lovely chunky wooden buttons so it can be removed to make the whole thing easier to wash.

The whole thing is backed and bound in lovely Liberty print Tana Lawn which I bought ages ago and couldn't decide what to create with as it had too many colours in it. It works well here and the piece was certainly big enough for the job.

And here is daddy very kindly testing it out...

...and a very young Connor (still a little jaundiced) using it for the first time.

Wishing you a good start to December folks.
S. x

Happenings

A lovely long summer holiday (the benefit of moving counties - 2 extra weeks!) is drawing to an end. Much of the time has been spent on a complete overhaul of my new classroom - 12 days so far and with at least two more planned during this last week. All worth it though as it's so much more organised and ready for all of the lovely new little ones to come in and enjoy it in a week's time. It's not all been work work work though...

Much fun with the nieces and nephew and my lovely mama...

A lovely weekend chasing logs (and a little crafting thrown in of course) with my old friend Carrie and her husband Giles...

And as for house goings on, well we are now truly ready for winter with two lovely log burners fitted and working (and in action today on this rather miserable bank holiday in, uhhum, August). With some gorgeous bespoke book shelves and a TV cabinet in the making its almost time to get those tester pots in and start really thinking about wall colour for the sitting room. I am so excited (and a little nervous) to finally be able to paint walls - out with the magnolia and in with the colour I say!

Hope you're making the most of the "summer" bank holiday everyone. (We are in full sofa, fire and film mode, perhaps not making the most of it but certainly enjoying it.)

S. x

Goodbyes

After four and a bit years I've left my job in Leicester. Four and a bit years is not a long time in the grand scheme of things but I learned so much and laughed so hard while working with a wonderful group of people and such delightful (most of the time) children. I will miss it very much and it was very hard to leave it behind. But...

It did lead to a little bit of crafting for my closest friends - a card for each and definition of sorts.

Oosh, Fwit, Right and Floppy Whopper - The words were chosen because they remind me of each member of our little Foundation Stage team (you probably had to be there!)

Thank you so much for everyone's help, love and support over the last few years, you truly are amazing! (And thank you for beautiful flowers too.)

As for the other goodbye, at the end of June we said farewell to our dear dog Finn - a good life of 13 and a half years and a quick and quiet end. He was ready and so were we, though going up to Northumberland and not having a dog getting in the way all the time will be a very strange
experience. Goodbye lovely boy. xxx

With the summer holidays now in full swing, I'm hoping to blog more often - one a month is not really good enough is it!

S. x

In with the old and the new

With a new sofa cover and plans for a decorated, colour schemed sitting room in the not too distant future - so very much looking forward to painting, be gone magnolia! - I felt the need for some new cushion covers.  They were something of a dream to put together as l have button hole and button sewing on my new machine which made life a lot easier.
 Yellow, grey and blue is going to be the theme for this room and I can't wait to get a pot of paint out and get struck in... patience!  Patience!

 

Along with a new bed that arrived just yesterday, with drawers underneath (how novel to be able to put my clothes in drawers rather than boxes), we also got very lucky on gum-tree with a couple of old pieces including a futon for the spare bedroom/studio and a very blue dresser which of course then required some nice plates to display on it rather than the ones we went through university with.

So much spending but so much loving is going on in our new home.  Not even two months have passed but it has felt like home for years.

Wishing you all a fabulous Sunday. S. x

New Year Productivity

Happy 2015 everyone! Our New Years Eve celebrations consisted of eating roast chicken, sitting by the log stove and watching Lord of the Ring...such party animals we are!

As the snow melted away yesterday morning we started the new year very productively. Rice pudding for breakfast (I use a variation of this very simple and tasty recipe - half the milk and half the sugar, everything else the same - and for all those nay-sayers who would never consider using basmati rice to make pudding, don't knock it 'til you've tried it!)

The last few finishing touches were added to this little blanket that I've been making for I don't know how long. It's small but perfect for putting on your lap on a cold day when you're trying not to put the heating on before dark - super warm!

My littles' Learning Journeys are as up to date as it is possible for them to be, washing is done, studio tidied, fire set, tea prepped... all those little every day things that sometimes it's just so satisfying to get done and dusted. A lovely, clean start to what promises to be an event filled and exciting year - weddings of friends and family coming up in the next few months, the prospect of really getting stuck into our house hunt and hopefully buying within the next 6 months and everything else that comes with a move away - job hunting anyone?! 

But alongside all of these big, life changing happenings, I hope to have many small moments of happiness and peace (and crafting!) in between. These small, reflective moments are, after all, the things that make the world keep spinning and remind us of what it really is to be alive in this world of ours. Thanks for letting me remember this here in this little online space. Wishing you the very happiest and most hopeful start to the year.

S. x