Catching up

Wow, it’s been a long time! I’m not really sure why I ended up having such a long break from my blog but I suppose life just got in the way for a while and the longer the break went on, the harder it seemed to write that first post again. It’s been about 7 months since I last posted and i feel I should catch you up a little on what’s been happening in that time. Nothing major that should have stopped me from posting really but as i look back at the photos I’ve packed quite a lot in to this year, so it’s no wonder if not found the time to post!

If I was to tell you about everything that I’d done in the last 7 months I’d be here all night, so here is the condensed version with pictures.

There has been a lot of gardening. Our garden produced so much for us this Summer, I really am thankful! We had a huge amount of courgettes and green beans. We tried to use them as we went along but there were so many, our freezer is now full of zucchini soup and green beans. We also had plentiful tomatoes, raspberries and so many beautiful sunflowers.

There has been lots of running, including 3 half marathons and of course the all important bling!

There have been plentiful family times including a wonderful caravan holiday in the Summer where we were able to catch up with family and dear friends who we hadn’t seen for a while. Special memories were made and shall be cherished for a long time to come!

Alongside all the other goings on there has, of course been a lot of crafting. Never quite as much as I’d like but when I look back on the last 7 months I do wonder where on earth I’ve fit it all in. Over the Summer months I did a lot of embroidery for gifts as a number of friends sadly moved away. I forgot to take photos of all the finished embroidery but here’s a snapshot of what was made:

I have also done a fair bit of crochet but I haven’t got a lot to show for it as yet as it’s been for a couple of long term projects that still aren’t quite finished. I did however finish 3 children’s poncho’s recently (1 for little miss and 2 ready for Christmas gifts) and earlier in the year I made a baby blanket

I have a few ongoing wipes and lots of projects just waiting to be started.

current wips:

1. A bright squares rainbow 🌈 blanket for Little Miss:

I’m onto joining the rows and hopefully will have it finished in time for her birthday in a couple of weeks.

2. I have a stash of purple grey and white squares just waiting to be joined and made into a blanket. I plan to start joining them as soon as I’ve finished the blanket for Little Miss.

3. As if I needed another big project I felt the need a couple of weeks ago to start making large granny squares out of left over yarn and so a ‘happy scrappy’ blanket is now underway too.

Waiting in the wings to be started I have a bag full of  chunky yarn which I just couldn’t resist a few weeks ago. Im pretty sure that’s going to become a blanket in the near future too but hopefully this one won’t take to long to do as it’s super chunky yarn with a 20mm hook!

At the same time I found the chunky wool, I also found a beautiful bright variegated yarn which I also failed to resist (just when streamlining had been going so well!). I quite fancy making some sort of funky shrug with that but we’ll see.

Just in case all those projects weren’t enough I’ve also got 3 more zenbroidery pictures ready to start and the Autumn Box from craftpod which  hasn’t yet been touched, plus a hundred more ideas floating around in my brain, waiting to come to the forefront. If only there were more hours in the day…

Hopefully I’ll have some more finished projects to show you soon…watch this space!

Karen x x

 

 

Zenbroidery Mandala

I finally finished it…

It has taken me a long, long time to finish, almost a year on and off and has taken a lot of hours but I thoroughly enjoyed it, even the French knots which I’ve never been a huge fan of.

I didn’t start with a colour scheme or particular stitches in mind, I just chose the  colours and stitches as I went along but I think both have worked out well. I love how its bright without being too gaudy.

Dark green is one of my least favourite colours (from having to wear it every day at high school!), so I did surprise myself by choosing it but it fits right in.

I have 3 more zenbroidery waiting in the wings, one of which is another mandala and I’m itching to get started on them. I’ll let you know which one gets picked.

Are you working on any embroidery projects at the moment? If so, I’d love to see them.

 

Karen xx

Easter weekend

This years Easter weekend was truly blissful and already seems like an age ago. The sun shone the whole weekend and all was very good in my world. Friday was spent cleaning the barbecue, and planting and tidying in the garden but I didn’t mind it one bit. On Saturday I had a very proud Mummy moment as little Miss took part in her first ever race with me (1.2km) and was super proud of her medal. Rich also took part in the 5km race and of course I was proud of him too! In the afternoon we made the most of the weather and had friends round for a barbecue. Sunday started with the obligatory Easter egg hunt. Little Miss was so excited that the Easter bunny had left clues around the house for her. I just love her excitement and enthusiasm, just this morning she said to me ‘Mummy, I just cant stop thinking about the Easter bunny still. Bless her heart. Sunday afternoon was another barbecue but this time with my stepson and stepdaughter. It was lovely to have us all together as its not something that happens very often. I don’t have many photos to show of the weekend as they all have people in and I don’t like to put other peoples faces on my blog without their permission. I do however have lots of photos to show in the next few days of this weeks finished projects…I’m so excited to share them.

Anyway,  back to Easter weekend. Monday brought yet more beautiful weather, so after I went out for an early run we set off to bad Wunnenberg, which is about 30 minutes drive away from us. There are a lot of walks around the area, one of them being a 1km ish barefoot trail. I really didn’t know how Little Miss would react to it but I have to say, she amazed me. Its not easy in parts as some of the stones are very prickly and the water was cold enough to make our feet ache. LM did the whole thing without complaining and even went around again with me later. The playground there is fabulous and she spent a good 2 hours playing on the apparatus, paddling in the stream and digging in the sand. Rich and I took turns to watch her whilst the other relaxed in the sunshine. The day was topped off with tea out on the way home, sat in the sunshine. Just perfect!

Even though it was a busy weekend, there was plenty of time for crafting for both LM and I. LM made this chick from a kit, I did me me giggle very childishly!

Her explanation was that the circles are there to hold the wings on, she’s wearing a crown (albeit in a rather strange place) and the egg is on her head because she’s thinking of when her Mummy laid an egg. I just love how little children think!

Together, we also decorated this beautiful jewellery box (one of the many kits left from her birthday last year).

 

I also finished my zenbroidery mandala but so many hours of work went into it, I feel it deserves its own post so, watch this space…

Karen x x

All the jobs and a bit of crafting

The first week of the Easter holiday was all about getting jobs done, in and around the house. Usually, if you asked me if I enjoyed housework, you’d be met with a very emphatic no! We have a cleaner come once a week as we both work long hours and if it was down to me we’d have a window cleaner too but since Mr O bought a window cleaning gadget (that doesn’t smear…honest!!) we have to do it ourselves! As Mr O has been very busy with the garden and putting up another shed for the garden tools, its down to me this time. I’ve been looking at those dirt smeared, streaky windows for a long time and finally set about tackling the worse windows downstairs. It wasn’t that bad to be honest but it does make me very cross when I cant get them perfectly streak free! I needn’t have worried though because, less than a week later, the hall window has marks on it again at cat level, the kitchen window has splatters from the washing up and the back door is once again full of smeary little handprints. Grrr!

As much as I have moaned about doing the jobs, I might actually have enjoyed them a teensy bit. I think its because I’m usually so busy that giving up any precious free time to do housework is quite frankly hateful. Last week though, because little Miss was still in kindergarten and I had a bit of extra time (admittedly, I could have spent it crafting!) doing the jobs weirdly made me feel a bit more connected to the house, like cleaning, tidying it, showing it a bit of love and tending to the garden somehow brought me closer to it. Does that sound bonkers? The whole house was tidied, hoovered and floors steamed. I tidied and sorted the craft room a bit more and finally got around to moving Little Miss into the bigger bedroom that used to be my craft room / spare room. There are more jobs to follow this week, including recleaning those blasted windows and cleaning the ones I hadn’t yet got to, cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom, including all of the kitchen cupboards (I’m not looking forward to this one, I will admit), weeding and cleaning the balcony (another yucky job I keep putting off) and several admin jobs that have been lingering for a few weeks, hovering over me like evil little spiky clawed gremlins!

In amongst all the jobs, there has been a little time for crafting, although not nearly as much as I would have liked.

I finished off this little fella:

I managed to do a little more on the rainbow squares blanket for Little Miss and I love how its taking shape. Joining the squares together is proving to be a labour of love but it will be worth it when its finished. 3 columns down, 10 to go!

I decided to get all the remaining squares off the floor so that I could clean the floor and Mr O suggested putting them onto knitting needles. I love love love the look of them like this, they look like colourful crocheted kebabs. I almost don’t want to use them as they’re adding so much colour to my craft studio lined up like this.

 

I also managed to snatch a bit of time for some  embroidery in the sunshine whilst little Miss played in the garden …

Last week I was a little bit naughty and for the first time this year,  I broke my self imposed ban on purchasing any more crafting goodies.

I ummmed and aaahed but they reminded me so much of the tablecloths my grandma used to embroider and nostalgia got the better of me, I had to have them. I know its yet more embroidery bits to add to my stash but they sparked joy and will continue to do so and bring back happy memories as I sew. I don’t think these will linger in my stash for long though as I am just itching to get started on them.

A fair bit more crafting went on over the Easter weekend but I’ll post about that separately in a day or two.

Happy crafting

 

Karen xx

Craft studio update

Way back in my first post of the year, I mentioned that I was moving from my craft room/ spare room into my new craft studio in the attic. My wonderful hubby painted the room for me at the very start of the year and since then I’ve been on a mission to sort and organise. Its by no means finished as I still need a few more pieces of furniture and to get some pictures and art work up on the walls but its a fabulous space and I LOVE it! Come with me on a little tour…

My shabby chic ‘working’ table in front of the window. This table rarely looks this tidy as its the central part of the room where most crafty exploits take place. On the floor is the blanket I’m currently in the process of joining for little Miss to go in her new bedroom.

 

My sewing and fabric table, where my sewing machine will reside once I get around to setting it back up again (it’s currently sitting on the floor in the old craft room, looking a little sorry for itself!).

I like to call this my cosy corner. I just need one more unit to go on the end to put a tv on so I can watch as I crochet when the mood takes me. Its needs a crocheted blanket and some pictures on the wall to finish off the cozy feel too although its obviously fairly cozy as it as, as one of my cats seems to have claimed it as her own!

With the room being in the attic, it’s full of nooks and crannies, so Little Miss even has a crafty corner too. She doesn’t tend to craft in there at the moment as she prefers to sit at the table with me near the window. It is a little bit dark in the corner too, I’m yet to find the perfect light for her little corner but once I do and get a bit of her artwork on the wall it will be fabulous!

Yarn and fabric storage.

Card making and general crafty stuff. This area still needs another unit and a bit more sorting.

My workspace for when I need to do paperwork at home. My work bag fits inside along with the laptop and can easily be closed away when it’s time to get crafty!

 

My bunting is the only decoration in here at the moment and it does look a little lost up there. Im hoping to add to it very soon and adorn the walls with my crafty makes. It will take time to get the room exactly as I want, especially in terms of the decorations, as  it is such a big space but I count myself so so lucky that I have it. I am one very lucky lady!!

 

Karen x x

 

 

Spot the difference!

 

Did you spot the difference? (apart from the difference in lighting and camera angles)

This is the difference..

520 ends sewn in and cut off. I know lots of people prefer to do it as they go along but I find that bowl full of cut off ends very satisfying indeed once complete.

Most of the squares for this blanket have been hanging around in a box for the best part of a year ( see post from last May   where I first showed the stack of squares ready to be made into a blanket) but as I’m currently on a self imposed craft purchasing ban as part of my crafty challenge,  I’m trying to finish up outstanding projects. I did decide to make this blanket bigger than was originally intended so I have added more squares and had a play about with some of the colours to get the effect I desired. This blanket is now ready for joining and bordering which I’m hoping to get finished over Easter as its to go in Little Miss’ new room once we have swapped rooms and put her in what was the spare room/ craft room. She loves unicorns and rainbows at the moment, hence the very bright blanket. I’m really hoping its something she’ll use and treasure forever.

 

Karen x x

 

 

 

 

Fuerteventura 2019

It has already been a month since we came back from sunny Fuerteventura where we spent a week at half term. It already feels like such a long time ago but I didn’t want to let it go by unrecorded as who doesn’t want to see pictures of sunshine and blue skies when we’re still struggling through  the tail end of winter to serve as a reminder of what’s hopefully just around the corner!

I won’t write a lot about it except to say that we had a lovely time with two old friends (as in length of friendship not age! Lol!) and a great time making memories with Little Miss.

What would valentines day be without a barbecued love sausage?!

A week seemed like hardly enough time away but it was a very welcome break from the winter!

Karen xx

4 blankets in 1

All the way back in May last year I began making a chunky ripple blanket for a good friend of mine. It was going great guns for a while…

Then, a hot summer, other projects and life got in the way but I did manage to finish it in time to give it to her as a combined belated birthday and  Christmas present.

I decided to opt for a simple border as the stripes are so striking I didn’t want to take away from that.

Thankfully the recipient absolutely loved her blanket and tells me that she cosies up with it every night when the weather is cold enough. What better praise than to know that somethings you have spent many hours on is being put to good use! It makes me so happy to bring someone else a little bit of happiness through my  crafting.

Invariably when you set out on a blanket making journey (especially when you’re adapting a pattern and using a different weight of yarn), you’re never sure exactly how much you will need and end up ordering a bit more yarn (several times in this case). So, after finishing the ripple blanket I found myself with a lot of left over yarn, some full balls, some half balls and some odds and ends. Little Miss helped me to wind all the left overs up into balls and I set about making a baby blanket for a friends granddaughter.

Again I felt a delicate border was needed.

Still I had more yarn left and so I made a smaller baby blanket, suitable for a car seat or pram, with a slightly chunkier border…

AND I managed to squeeze out a dolly blanket for Little Miss with all the little odds and ends…

I think they look nice and cosy under there. I just hope baby Eadie likes her 2 new blankets too.

As my main crafty aim this year is to use up crafty resources that I already have, I’m pretty pleased that there has been almost no wastage and absolutely no adding to my stash from making these blankets. Now to work my way through all the yarn I already had in my stash…this could take me some time!

 

Karen xx

A spot of ceramic painting

A few weeks ago my good friend Michelle and I went to our favourite ceramic studio and spent a very relaxing afternoon getting crafty.

Michelle decided to paint a teapot to compliment a cup and saucer she had been given as a present at Christmas and I had decided to do… well to be honest I had no idea what I was going to do as I’m terrible at making decisions and I had sooo many ideas of things I could do as gifts but finally I decided on a vase and small dish…for me! Yes, I know! Maybe I’ll make some gifts next time…maybe!

That moment when they’re finished I always have a bit of a panic that they haven’t quite turned out as I’d hoped or that they look like a childs done them. The lines on these were not meant to be straight as that would have been near impossible on a curved object…for me anyway but I did wonder if they looked a bit sloppy. I’m always a bit disappointed with the colours, as although I’ve done this many times now, they always come out paler than I was expecting before the glazing.

I’m rarely disappointed by the finished article though as once the glaze has been applied and fired, it really does make the colours pop!

I’m still not completely sure I’m happy with the wobbliness of the lines but I enjoyed making them and they serve as a reminder of a well spent afternoon crafting! I do really love the colours though and I’m proud they’re mine, so they now have pride of place on my craft studio table, all I need now is some flowers for the vase and sweets for the bowl!

 

Karen x

 

 

 

Streamlining update and a crafty challenge

As I mentioned in my last post I decided that this was going to be the year of streamlining for me, not a new years resolution as such but more of a long term goal to get things in order to make my life easier. The first thing to be streamlined was my clothes. Now, I’m not one to massively hoard things (except maybe craft stuff but we’ll get to that!) and my drawers and wardrobe weren’t over flowing but things were stuffed into drawers and weren’t as organised as I would have liked. The last few days of the holidays before going back to work were spent sorting and arranging and I am sooo pleased with the result.

This is my new and improved t-shirt drawer and I love it! No more rummaging through a pile of t-shirts to find the one I want. All of my clothes drawers have had the same treatment and all of the shelves in my wardrobe too. It makes life so much simpler choosing clothes in the mornings. Little Miss saw me sorting and arranging my drawers and declared that she wanted hers doing too. She helped me to fold and arrange all of her clothes in her drawers and proudly showed her big brother when he came around to visit. Mr O has since followed suit and rearranged all his drawers too. It really does make me happy seeing things so neat and easy to access.

After the clothes came all of the cupboards and drawers,in the living room, kitchen and hallway. In each of these places we had a sh*t drawer, you know the ones, the ‘open up and shove it in there if you’re not sure where it should belong’ drawers. Well, we no longer have such drawers. All drawers are sorted and organised. I do, however, still have a large carrier bag of bits from said drawers that I still haven’t got round to finding homes for but one things for certain, it will not be going back in those drawers.

Next on the agenda was the craft room. As my stepson moved out a little while ago, Mr O kindly suggested that I could move my craft room from the craft/spare room up into the very spacious loft room upstairs! To say I jumped at the chance was an understatement! Mr O spent a couple of his precious holidays days painting the room and assembling furniture for me and I began the dreaded sorting and moving of craft stuff. Now, I knew I had a lot of craft stuff but pulling it all out of its various hidey holes and moving it all up into the attic room did open up my eyes as to just how much stuff I’ve actually got. I underestimated how much storage furniture I would need and so will need to make another trip to Ikea in the next couple of weeks (much to Mr O’s delight!) before I can completely finish and share pictures of it.

Upon realising just how much stuff I do have and locating wips that I’d almost forgotten about, I decided to set myself a crafty challenge to make no craft purchases for the whole of 2019. That means no wool, no material, no card making supplies. The only things I will allow myself to buy are bias binding for any bunting that I make as I don’t keep any of that in, and sewing machine thread. It really shouldn’t be too difficult as I do have a lot of stuff to keep me going:

3 zenbroidery pictures I was given at Christmas

My huge stash of embroidery threads (I kept finding these in various boxes and really didn’t realise how much I had until I put it all together in my new (for Christmas) sewing box.

This isn’t even half of the material I have, which I’ve been intending to make into bags or bunting for such a long time.

These wool kits had been sat in a trunk for a good few years, patiently waiting to be unearthed and used to create something beautiful.

These photos are just the tip of the iceberg. Once the craft room (or should I say studio!) is finished I will show more photos but already my mind is feeling so much clearer from sorting through it all, seeing exactly what I do have and having it all much more easily accessible.

I’m really excited about seeing what beautiful things I can make out of the resources that I already have, not to mention having a dedicated room in which to do it. This year is going to be very a exciting one for me craft wise, I can feel it!

Karen x x