Gratitude - better late than never

Cards. One of my favourite crafts for various reasons. Quick. Versatile. Personal. Recycled (it's amazing the designs you can invent with a few old calendars).

And of course, as all creative activities are, relaxing. Time for a bit of music (Josh Garrels at the moment), the scent of candles and a slowing down of breath and activity for a few minutes after a busy day at work. It really makes me wonder how people who don't do things like this survive.

With my dear Ma staying over lately we discussed many issues of personality, perhaps even spirituality if you prefer, and one that we talked about rather more than others was gratitude. As children it was never demanded of us to show excessive gratitude. By this I do not mean we had no manners. Manners were required of course but they are more habit than real gratitude. I'm thinking more of writing thank you cards and celebrating things like Mother's day and Father's day. These things were not asked for nor adhered to when we were small and I think without this set way of showing gratitude we learned instead to show genuine thanks for things as and when they occurred. I remember occasions, rare yes but certainly genuine, when as a child or teenager I would feel the need to express my thanks in more than just the word and would create a card or picture or perhaps just return the favour.

What better way to express genuine thanks than to create something personal, to dedicate time specifically to the people who have helped you. So, with much genuine gratitude I say here a bit 'thank you' to all those who have helped me out so far this year.
Thanks and happy crafting
S. x

Birthday gifts and sunshine

Just a quick post to share some gorgeous fabrics (thanks to my brother Bob and his gorgeous girl Jess!), lovely Rowan wool (thanks to Betty for the money to buy this!) and a brand new craft, Marquette, not yet tried but so looked forward to (thanks to my lovely Sam for this one!)

 

A few extra 'thank you's to Tammy for the gorgeous flowers and to Ma and Pa for the money for skiing next week - so much appreciated.

Last of all, a bit of crafting for school - spider webs!
















Happy crafting all.
S x

Snow and crafting

After a very tough week of nail biting reports from hospital my sister Emily is over the worst of her pneumonia but still has a long way to go before she returns to everyday life. Once the happy news that she was back with us arrived this weekend the recent snow we've had looked much more inviting. Sledging with my wonderful Sam, walks in blizzards and many photos soon followed.

And to finish the weekend/start the week? Why crafting of course!

My lovely niece is due to lose her first tooth any day now so the tooth pillow is for her. And the crochet was what kept me sane last week...

The little squares will be joined together at some point and the big one I hope to make even bigger when I get more of the same wool - lovely natural undyed British chunky wool from Rowan.
Happy snow day to all/most my teacher friends and happy week to all.
S x

Thoughts for my sister

In the small dark hours of Friday morning my sister Emily was rushed to hospital with severe pneumonia. She's been in the ICU, sedated on a ventilator for three days now and it's only just beginning to sink in. Here are my thoughts for her now:

::: Relief - that she, my big sister, my only sister is still here with us
::: Fear - that she is still so ill and that the unnameable may still happen
::: Sorrow - for her little girl who does not really know what is happening
::: Awe - at the wonders of modern medicine
::: Strength - as my family gathers together
And most of all Love, an overwhelming, deep feeling in my heart that makes me feel light and prickles my eyes.

I know she is in the best place possible. I know she will recover over time. I know life will return to normal eventually. But for now, my thoughts are always with her.

Yuletide Crafting Revealed

Well, now everyone has received their little piece of festive handmade I can finally blog all about them!

First up, place mats - the red and grey are the ones now in Guernsey with my brother and his girlfriend and the funky house shaped ones are Jo's creation for her ma. Both sets were great fun to make and were very well received by their new owners.

The more we do of this sort of crafting the more efficient we become and the neater our work gets. We're now self styled pros at turning in those awkward seams and solving various problems we come across along the way as we make our way along a new crafting journey.

Next up, pin cushions - super fun and easy to make and they do their job brilliantly. The white is mine that I made ages ago, the yellow is my ma's and the little pink one is Lexi's, my niece. Jo made some too but I didn't get a photo - as usual we were too wrapped up in the making to document it much.

Initials - I used some of mine as labels for when wrapping gifts and others were used as the gifts themselves. Once templates and a few logistical issues were sorted these came together beautifully. With a little bit of ribbon or fabric to form a loop they make lovely additions to the Christmas tree too.

Organisation is the key to all sorts of life's little pleasures so we each made a little peg organiser (Jo's was 'lost socks' while mine was just labelled 'things' as my parent's are so organised that they would rarely consider having lost socks or lost things of any kind for that matter.) Ma's going to use it in her green house for holding seed packets and instructions so I'm sure it will be well used.

Along with all of the above creations we also made chalk boards, animal magnets and various other solo projects for various friends and relations. All in all, a very lovely weekend spent with a very good friend and my first car-boot experience too.

Hope you've all had a lovely festive season. I'll be back in the new year with more bits and bobs. 2013 here we come.

S. x

The Christmas Crafting Begins

With the first fully frosty weekend of the season comes a day of crafting inside and a wintry walk at dusk before hitting the books  (or laptop really) to prepare for work next week. But not before blogging eh!

The quilt has been backed and is now almost complete. All it needs now is to actually be quilted - a long job for the Christmas holidays I think. 

It's fairly minimalist but for a first try I'm pretty happy with it. It's about the right size for a child's bed rather than an adults as the batting is too short but it's pretty nice to wrap up in before the heating comes on of an evening, even before the quilting.

With one project nearly complete and Christmas only just around the corner the pressure is on with the Christmas crafting! Along side several gifts, which will appear here after the season so as not to spoil any surprises, I'm also cracking on with the cards and wrapping paper. I've made my own for a few years now and although it can be quite a task, I do love it. So, here's a sneak peak at some of the cards - 2 batches done already and another 2 or 3 to come to meet the demand.

Happy Christmas crafting all. S

Life's little pleasures

The question of what you would do if you won a large sum of money on the lottery came up in the kitchen at work today as everyone, or almost everyone, dug out £2 to put on tonight's Euro millions. We laughed as everyone 'in it' suggested I'd be one of the few staff members left at school and talk turned to moving abroad, buying big houses and never working ever again. And what about me? What would I do with a few million?

My honest response is that I would change very little. I would buy Tao, my favourite horse at the stables to spare him from a life of riding school misery. I would hopefully buy the house we currently rent and probably give a little money to friends and family, or a lot in my parent's case who have given me far too much over the years. Of course things would change. I wouldn't have to calculate the costs of skiing and riding and purchasing fabrics and craft materials. I could upgrade my equipment and maybe buy a pair of ski boots. I would have savings!

I would not quit work - hard as it can be at times I really do love my job. I would try very hard not to change the person I am now, except of course in a positive way - become more patient, more generous and more tolerant.

The reason for this? I am content. Like everyone else I have good days and bad days but ultimately I feel I have been dealt a bloody good hand and I am grateful for that.

On that note I will leave you with a few photos of mine and Jo's last two-in-a-row crafting sessions.

Glass beads bought from a charity shop for 75p + interesting paper from my stash + Jo's never-before-used glue gun = very funky marble things to be used to make coasters, decorate jars for candles and stick on drawing pins to make them prettier.

Getting ready for Christmas with some very cute stuffed trees - expect these in your gifts people! 

Jo's first mini patchwork...

...and mine.

And the complete works - two patchworks each, a bunch of trees and our first attempt at free embroidery.

Happy crafting and happy life in general lovely people.
S (and J) x