Saturday 31 January 2009

What's On Your Wish List....

I have been tagged by Beki @ Ramblings Of An Everyday Mummy


All you have to do is post the fourth photo from your fourth file and pass it on to 4others.


So here it is.





Hey good job it wasn't the fifth, I think you'd have Spat your breakfast out :)


I would love to tag


Lace Hearts

Fifties Girl

At Home with MelMel

Notes From My Days


Thank you so much for all your lovely and encouraging comments on my bunting, they mean so much for little olde butter fingers. I really am not a natural maker, though methinks I am getting better. I am enjoying making my pretties and I am so spurned on by your wonderful comments :)


So much so that I didn't want to pack my crafts back into my vintage suitcase. I wanted to make a little something else, and what a good excuse as we had a little birthday present to buy for a little male friend of Big Sister. Well why buy when I can make, so here is the mini cushion we made for the 2 year old special little man. I love the retro cowboy material and it is backed in a lovely Ikea red gingham. I filled with a little of my lovely Lavender from my mother's garden in Wales, so hopefully he shall sleep like a baby.





Are we all enjoying our new look CK magazine, Mmmmm





Here is what I am loving. Textured rose blue cotton bag.





Affordable china.





I love their little spray flowers beaded food cover.





Gorgeous rolls of prettiness and now you can buy from 50 cm.





Mmmm how sweet shall Big sister and Little Man look.





As for my wish list.


A gorgeous and pretty Daisy crepe mini dress.





And my special favorite, a wonderfully gorgeous Sprig stone fitted trenchcoat.





I would love to know what is on your CK Wish List.


Thank you so much to all of you who have left wonderful comments for my Giveaway Good Luck :)


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Thursday 29 January 2009

Pretty Bunting And A Swap....




So I thought it was high time I made something pretty, and what a perfect little Tutorial from Mel @ Country In The Town, such a pretty and fun tutorial and as a Bunting Maker Newbie I had to give it a whirl.


So armed with my highly professional tools :) I began to make.


Pretty little sewn triangles, I could quite happily leave it at that, but of course I really should finish the task in hand.





Now I found the bias binding somewhat tricky,I don't have the best of machines so the material kept getting somewhat stuck and my work is very wonky, but hey I have always thought wonkyness equals character, and of course very shabby chic :)
I even bought one of those handheld Bias Binder maker thingys, please inform me that they are easy to use and please feel free to click and enlarge to assess wonkyness :)





Well she loves it, Big Sister that is and thinks her Mummy is very special and very clever Ah, she must have been bribed. So for now it is on her bed and I think looks right at home along with one of Bloomin Myrtle's special handmade doggy's :) As you can see it is actually a draught excluder though Big Sister has fallen in love with her :)





So thank you Mel for introducing me to the world of Bunting Making, a crochet maker I may not be, but a bunting maker now there's a thought :)


I am so glad that my dear friend Lace Hearts loved the CK Esque swap I sent her, I do love to send pretties that touch the receiver in some way and hopefully aim to do that in my Giveaway And it looks like Lace Hearts was thoroughly touched.


Here is a snippet of what I sent her please go see her if you would like to see what pretties I sent.


A pretty little patchwork cushion.





One of my napkin cards, I love making them and they are really easy.





A pretty vintage postcard in a frame with some handmade labels and pretty floral stickers. Thanks MelMel :) MelMel loves the stickers too.





And a lovely candy stripe vintage pillowcase that I knew was a very much wanted pretty yet lace hearts had been unable to find one. And a sweet heart with the words I Believe In You, which I know meant so much to her. Glad you likey Lacey :)





So please feel free to join in on my Giveaway and I am so enjoying reading what your favourite room or rooms are, they all sound delightful. Good Luck :)


X

Sunday 18 January 2009

A Beautiful Swap Story....




The knitted tea cosy is a little £2.50 treat to myself, the lovely ladies at the hospital knitted it, and believe me I needed a treat whilst I was there :) and I think is such a dear little thing.


Thank you all for all your wonderful and pretty suggestions for my round windows, I love them all, and may plum for the fantastic pin board idea for Little Man's room and pretty curtains for Big sister.

Thank you so much for my lovely awards that I have received, apologies it has taken me so long to acknowledge them. I am very grateful.


Thank you April @ Cake Makes The World A Better Place


Thank You Victoria @ Vintage Tea





Thank you Marianne @ Le Temps Jadis





Thank you Victoria @ Vintage Tea





Thank you MelMel @ At Home With MelMel


Thank you Claire @ Serendipity Loves New York

Thank you Gem @ Echo Lodge





Thank you MelMel @ At Home With MelMel





I too have been tagged by the lovely Victoria Plum's Homegrown Blog and shall have a think of some random things about me.


You all have such brilliant blogs and would find it so hard to only choose a few of you and many of you have them already too. So please if you would like one of these pretty awards please do consider yourself awarded.


Here is a beautiful swap that I have received on the SC cafe from the lovely Mary also known as Mitmot, lovely Mary has no blog but she should have, she is the most brilliant and creative crafter. The theme was CK Esque, so I knew that whatever was received, I would be very grateful for, and would dearly love. And boy am I in love with my beautiful and thoughtful swap.


I thought of you and wondered if you would like to take a look :)


Gorgeous lovingly wrapped parcels.





One of Mary's delightful beautifully handmade pincushions.





A beautiful handmade flower card.





The prettiest lavender heart.





I love shopping and shall even better with Mitmot's new floraly bag on my arms.





Pretty CK covered notebook, Ohooo look it matches my wallpaper perfectly.





Gorgeous and very pretty make up case, Mmmmm is there something in there.





Gorgeous and so me bangle, delightful and pretty bath salts, a gorgeous hand embroidered glass paperweight and some lovely CK body cream.





Now here is where I become all soppy. I am always grabbing one of Big Sister's bobbles and look somewhat rather daft in hers, think glitter.


So imagine how happy I was when I unwrapped the most gorgeous hand embroidered hair accessory, now I shall look like a proper lady with it in my hair, not like a seven year old :)


So special as the buttons in it were Mary's Grandmothers.





And then the most beautiful one with a matching brooch.





What a delightful, special, beautifully handmade Heart covered note book, all the fantastic work that has gone into it, and pretty CK ribbon for the pages. It Is made even more special, as I now know from Mary, that some of the materials used in the Heart were from her childhood dresses, and hold some very special memories for her and hopefully I can do her proud, in that in years to come it shall indeed hold some very special memories for me too.





She has been kind enough to allow me to share her memories with you.


Here is her story in her own words that I have copied onto here

" For those of you who may be interested in the story behind some of the fabric I used in Mary Poppins patchwork heart i have included the story here

The story of the patchwork heart…..

I have strong memories of my Godfather ‘Uncle Les’ he was a farmer like my Father and lived on the next farm to us when I was growing up.

He and my Father would help each other at busy times on the farm, and when my father was struggling financially Les helped him out. Les was a man of few words but was a real country gentleman who treasured his friends.

For as long as I can remember he would always visit us on Easter day with the BIGGEST black magic Easter egg for me, and on Christmas morning, and with a gift for my Mum and one for me. It was so special although the presents were always the same, hand embroidered hankies for my Mum and a party dress for me, often handmade by his wife ‘Aunty Vera’. In later years I realised even more how special the dresses were as they were not able to have children of there own.

Les died 20 years ago when I was 22 and Vera passed away 4 years ago aged 96. She continued to live in the farm house they had built together in 1952 and my family rented the farm land and still do now.

I helped to clear the house after Vera had died and found her fabric stash including the scraps from making my dresses and her nephew kindly allowed me to keep them along with some other items.

The house had to be sold and the money was to be split between 9 beneficiaries, and I was surprised to learn I was one of them. What is even more special to me is that I am sat typing this in the kitchen of there farmhouse as with the support of my husband and a huge mortgage we bought it from the estate and then spent months refurbishing and modernising it. We have such a lovely home here overlooking the farmland that my brother continues to work, and I am sure that both my godfather and my father who passed away 7 years ago would have been proud that it is still ‘in the family’

So back to the patchwork heart, the central hand embroidered flower is from one of the hankies, and the arrows point to the dress fabric







Thanks to Mary Poppins for encouraging me to write this and for getting clever with the arrows "


I am not embarrassed to say I got quite emotional when I unwrapped my gorgeous swap and then knowing the moving story behind them has touched me greatly.


Thank you So much Mary, What a beautiful story, I am truly honored and I hope that you know that your precious memories are now a part of me, and I shall treasure your lovely Heart Notebook for ever :)





I hope you enjoyed seeing my lovely swap and reading Mary's story.


X

Saturday 17 January 2009

Through The Round Window....




Thank you so much for your lovely comments on O's bed and on your patience regarding project Home Sweet Home. I would dearly love to show you some pretty photographs of my 'New Home'. Like most who embark on the same refurbishment journey, I know it can be a long process, we have had a few snags along the way, and to be honest would rather it take a little longer than we originally thought but get it right. Though I am sure even then it shall not be Mmmmm how can I put it quite right :)


I have some new little photographs on my sidebar to hopefully make up for it somewhat.


Having read some delicious Blogs, one thing that is intrinsic in most of our lives it that our homes are ever changing, I seem to be never quite happy with this or that, always one more little D.I.Y. job to be done here or there. If you are anything like me I seem to be constantly moving things around, why do I do that. Even friends who come to visit remark on objects, furniture, photographs, etc were in different places when they came before.


Do you move things about like me.


So on to my lovely round windows, we have three upstairs in the attic conversion. We have one in each of the children's bedrooms and one in the dormer bathroom. I had thought of them without any dressings as they are quite nice to look at, though as they are children's rooms really do need something to darken the room a little for naps etc.


You all have such good taste and can come up with some wonderful and inspiring solutions to anything, so I thought I would take this opportunity and ask how can I dress a round window. Do any of you have round windows in your homes, I have looked at bespoke blinds but dont really have hundreds of pounds spare right now :) I really would love any of your ideas and suggestions, I love all things girly and pretty, and maybe thought of a little pelmet, though not sure Little Man would like that look in his room :) He is having somewhat of a boats theme, CK Boats wallpaper and bedding, Ohooo have you seen CKs new boats design, it is very nice.


Look forward to seeing what you think.


Regarding Darling Husband's redundancy, it is getting rather tense here. I think it is the not knowing, especially for Darling Husband as it looks like it is between him and a colleague who of course, is also a friend, and he is looking into the possibility of voluntary. We are finding talking helps, we are getting better at it each time we go through this :) and plenty of hugs, also reminding ourselves that we are together and we have food on the table, and for me, reading your lovely Blogs, with your wonderful craftiness, lovely comments and inspirational photographs cheer me right up.


Thank you so much.


X

Thursday 15 January 2009

He Is Growing Up....



So, Master Poppins is ready for his new bed.


Though I have to say, I really am not. I want to keep him safe and warm in his little cot. My little baby is growing up and I want to relish all the moments I have before he becomes a big boy and says his prayers, not in a cot, but in his own special bed.


It shall be alright won't it, if I keep him in his cot a little longer :)

X

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Uncertainty and Lovely Surprises....




On the day I found out that my Darling Mr.Poppins faces redundancy yet again, we have been through this twice before in only a few months, a special surprise from the lovely MelMel came through the door. She knew I was feeling somewhat gloomy and wanted to send me something to cheer me up and my it really has. The day is not a good one though to know that there are people out there thinking of me, and now us as it turns out is very touching.


My special surprise was a delightful Mary Poppins book, I shall so enjoy it and it is indeed a very thoughtful and apt gift. One to be treasured. The card too is very very sweet and what lovely words, it means so much. Thank You very much MelMel.





I shall of course keep you posted on Mr. Poppins, I know that there have been some of your loved ones, or even yourselves who have been in the same boat, it was indeed a boat I thought we had had our fair share of, but it seems not, so we are back on for the ride again, and as my sweet husband is one of only a handful left in the Office you can I am sure understand how we feel.


Miss. Poppins has commented when we have been through the same before, on the fact that Daddy could lose his job, and wondered if she would be able to carry on having School Meals, her sweet comment made me smile :) isn't it funny how they think sometimes.


We are doing our best and are happy to take the rough with the smooth, and I shall be thinking of you if you are or have been in that same rocky boat and wish you all the very best.


X

Sunday 11 January 2009

Home Is Where The Heart Is....





Thank you so much for all your lovely comments regarding my return to Acting, I am lucky enough to have a really good Amateur Dramatic Society here so am looking forward to maybe treading those boards :)



I am so excited to have been invited by Little Gems World to share the hearts I have around my Home. Now many of you shall know that we are having our Home Sweet Home refurbished and it is taking longer than we thought so many of my pretty hearts are not hanging from pretty hooks or shelves but are tucked away in the depths of tissue and bubble wrap waiting to be unleashed on my home.



Reason I love my hearts so much. When Master Poppins was only a few months old and was having a routine examination, they discovered he had a Heart Condition, Pulmonary Stenosis and he had a cardiac catheterization. He is very well and happy and we give much thanks to his cardiologist who treated him and he is so happy with Master Poppins he doesn't need to see him for three years. So my love of hearts has great meaning for me as my son has a very special one :)



So it was with great joy that I began my search of my pretty Hearts, I am sure there shall be some you recognise too.







Gorgeous SC Cafe Swap, handmade hearts from Little Gems World.







A gorgeous handmade Angel Heart and sparkly heart from MelMel.







SC Cafe Swap, beautiful Keep Calm And Carry On Heart from Second Wind.







Hearts I have purchased very reasonably from fellow Bloggers, the pretty handmade button one is from Raspberry Grace. and the gorgeous Crochet one is from Serendipity Loves NewYork











A pretty cream rack for my Hearts.







Hearts in my home.



















Two very special ones.







More Hearts.



















Big Sister and Little Man have a love of Hearts too. Pretty Hearts with true words, click on the photograph if you want to see what they say, shinny Heart mirrors for Big Sister and Ikea lights for Little Man.























I love pretty postcards, special thoughts and words, special handmade cards and little trinkets to have on my lovely cream Wire Heart.











So thank you for accompanying me on my Heart journey, I so look forward to having them all in their special places, and I cordially invite you to share any of your great loves.



Thank you so much too to all of you who have handmade some gorgeous Hearts for me for Swaps etc, they mean the world to me, as when I look them I am reminded how very lucky and grateful we are to have such a special little man in our lives and it brings a smile to my face.



Talking of Hearts I need to be cracking on with my CK Esque swap for Lace Hearts :)



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