Kazzybo – Page 2 – A box of allsorts

New Year Reflections

Happy New Year to you all, I sincerely hope that you have had a great time this Christmas celebrating with family and friends and that it was topped off with a smooth ‘slide’ into 2019.

As for a lot of people, the start of a new year finds me in a reflective mood and thinking back over the past year.

2018 wasn’t a bad year for us a family in a lot of ways. There were lots of good times, including holidays, visits from extended family and friends, good health and lots of time spent together as a family. One of the highlights for me has been in watching Little Miss continue to blossom into a quirky, funny, often cheeky but very fun and loveable 5 year old.

Whilst there were lots of good times, like any year, 2018 had its ups and downs. In February I came off the antidepressants I had been on for over a year and with the help of exercise, yoga, meditation and positive thinking (wherever and whenever possible!!) I continue to be antidepressant free. Although no longer reliant on the ‘happy pills’ I am not afraid to admit that I still struggle on a regular basis. I have learned that my brain can no longer cope with multitasking and I get stressed very easily, even by the silliest of things. All it takes is a few minor things to go wrong or for someone to tell me of something else I should have done or need to do and I begin to feel as if I have the weight of the world on my shoulders or an insurmountable mountain to climb. In reality all I need to do is focus on one thing at a time and block out all the other things that can wait or are of less importance. With November and December being such busy months both at work and at home in preparation for Christmas, with the addition of the dark nights drawing in, things did get on top of me, hence the lack of blog posts. I just kept plodding on, one day at a time, working my way through things that needed doing and clinging on to the knowledge that with Christmas comes time with family and time to recharge the batteries.

Over the Christmas period with time to reflect, I got to thinking about how I could make life easier and more pleasurable (for both me and my family…a stressed and anxious Karen is a very snappy and uptight Karen who takes things out on her nearest and dearest) and so that I experience less of these times where I feel as though I am hurtling from one thing to another without time to breathe and without ever truly being ‘in the moment.’

The word that came to me was ‘streamlining.’ I feel that I need to make my life more streamlined, to strip away things that burden me. So for me 2019 is going to be all about streamlining. I’m not sure exactly where this is going to take me but I’m going to start with looking at my finances, possessions and how I spend my time. The first thing I am going to look at is my crafty stuff. At the moment we are in the process of decorating the attic room, which, up until November was my stepsons room but since he has moved out is to become my new craft room or as I like to call it, due to its size… my craft ‘studio.’ Every box that goes into the craft studio is going to be sorted through and anything that I’m not likely to make use of is going to be disposed of or given away. No longer will I keep on to anything ‘just in case’ or simply because someone gave it to me. I will try to keep you posted with regular updates of my streamlining and of course will show you the craft studio once its all up and running.

Wish me luck

Karen x x

Going back to my crafty roots

One of the first crafts I got into as an adult(way before crochet became an obsession), was card making. I don’t make cards all that often any more as I’ve always got other projects on the go that seem to eat up my time. Just recently though I’ve been feeling a pull back to card making. If I’m in the right mood I can totally lose myself for a few hours creating card after card and that is exactly what happened for a couple of evenings in the last few weeks.

A few years ago, I dipped my toe into selling my cards and am considering trying this again. I’d really love to do a stall at a craft fair or Christmas market, its been a dream of mine for the last few years but for some reason I keep holding back. In the back of my mind I think I’m a little bit scared, I’ve got a niggling doubt that maybe they are not good enough and won’t sell or that I wont be able to make enough (in reality I’ve actually got boxes full of them ready to go, so that really shouldn’t be a problem!) I’d love to know what you think, honest opinions and constructive criticism welcome.

Karen x x

A few quick(ish) makes

As always I’ve got a couple of long term crafty projects on the go (my zenbroidery mandala and ripple blanket both of which are taking shape but still need a lot of work to reach completion), so I really fancied doing a few quick (ish) makes to get that feeling of actually having completed something.

Whilst out shopping I found some beautiful glittery wool and decided instantly that it had to be made into a mermaid blanket for little Miss. After a bit of internet searching I found this super, easy video tutorial. I found written patterns really hard to follow unless accompanied by lots of pictures of the process, so this was just perfect as I could pause and replay whenever I needed to. It took me just over a week of picking up, putting down and a little tweaking of the pattern as I went along and here it is…

I am so, so happy with how it turned out and so is little Miss, who put it straight into use now the weather has got a bit cooler…

After deciding that my crochet cotton needed a new home where I could easily see all the colours (it was still being stored in one of the bags it came in and I had to tip it all out each time I wanted to find a specific colour), I remembered the t-shirt yarn I was gifted for Christmas a couple of years ago and the Supersize crochet book which was one of last years Christmas presents. So I set about making a basket. Now, the reason this post is called quick (ish) makes is because of this basket! I set about making the basket, following the pattern perfectly, the rows were whizzing off the hook but then I realised id made it a tad too big, it was very floppy and it was going to be a very shallow basket given the amount of tshirt yarn I had. so, I undid it all thinking, not a problem, it was easy to do, it will be done in no time. HA! Could I get it right the second (3rd, 4th, 5th,or 6th) time around?! No I bloody could not! In the end after much swearing, throwing it on the floor in temper (I’m not proud to admit this) and lamenting that I was crap at following patterns, I decided that it didn’t matter if it didn’t look exactly like the picture, I plugged on and this is the result…

It actually turned out ok even though it didn’t look exactly like the picture. The stitches are somehow much denser and it doesn’t have that basket weave look but it does the job and I’m proud of my first attempt at a basket and my first attempt with t-shirt yarn. Always a glutton for punishment and with some tshirt yarn left, I decided to make another. This time though I opted for a simpler pattern which I found online. I cant link to it though as I totally forgot to save it. This basket did fly off the hook and was done in a matter of hours…

Its a little less sturdy than the first basket but I’m happy with it. Together, they double up well as a display feature in my living room as well as making my crochet cotton easily accessible.

Last weekend, whilst Little Miss was busy creating shapes with her iron beads I just couldn’t resist getting in on the act and making yet another mandala.

It is yet to be ironed but once finished it will join the other 4 mandalas see here in the craft room. At the moment they are stacked in a pile but I’m considering how to display them. I’m thinking of maybe stringing tem together with ribbon and hanging them up as bunting. I’ll probably make a few more first though and then decide but I will be sure to post pictures when I do.

Karen x x

Mad About Mandalas

Another post I’ve been holding on to for the last month or so…

After yesterdays long post and copious photos of our garden shed I thought it would be nice to see some of the crafty stuff I’ve been getting up to over the Summer. Aside from shed building and bunting making this Summer has been all about mandalas. I’m not quite sure why but I just love mandalas and even more so of late. It all started way back in April when I found a mandala iron bead kit and went crazy on making iron bead mandalas see here. In May I bought a Mandala zenbroidery sewing kit see here and then I read all about Lucy of Attic24’s latest crochet mandalas and the seed was firmly planted!

Before we went away in the caravan I started the zenbroidery…

Since these pictures were taken, I’ve done loads more on this but I’ve decided not to show any more until its finished, which shouldn’t be too much longer (just so long as I can stop myself from starting any more projects in the meantime!!)

I took my stash of cotton minis with me on holiday in the caravan and spent a rainy afternoon blissfully playing with colours…

and set about making my first crochet hanging mandala…

It didn’t take as long as I thought it would and kicked myself for only taking one hoop away with me. Nevermind, as soon as I got home I set about making more…

The mandalas didn’t stop there, I found a mandala colouring book and now I’m hooked…

These are just 2 of many that I’ve coloured in, they really are addictive. I find colouring in so therapeutic and it can be picked up in any spare 5 minutes.

I am definitely not done there, I have 3 more hoops at the ready so I’m sure you will be seeing more crochet mandalas soon…just as soon as I’ve finished the 1000 other projects I’ve got on the go!! Hehe!

Karen x x

The story of a shed!

Ive been holding on to this post for so long, I even drafted it out well over a month ago and then life got in the way, August turned into September which then turned into October and I decided to get my backside in gear and stop ignoring my blog. so, here is the tale of what took over our lives over the Summer and beyond…

For years we had been umming and ahhing about what to do about our mismatched sheds. One of them had a fresh coat of paint this year (the other was made of plastic covered boards and corrugated plastic, yuck!) and was looking quite nice (from the side view) with hanging baskets

But, we just weren’t happy with them, they were too big, too open, too mismatched, too ramshackle and in a lovely sunny spot in the garden. So after lots of pondering and internet searching we decided to go for a shed with an attached covered seating area to make the most of the lovely late afternoon sun we get on that part of the garden. We set about ordering it and then the real work began. Once it arrived it needed staining before putting up, so many many hours were spent:

painstakingly painting the panels…

dismantling the old sheds…

digging a bloody great big hole…

levelling the ground,putting in the concrete edging stones and filling bloody great big hole with 7 tonnes of hardcore:

levelling again, then filling with another 5 tonnes of gravel:

levelling again, beginning to lay the flagging stones and realising that the old flagging stones you were hoping to use for part of it, weren’t actually exactly the same size and having to buy yet more stones! Then finally laying the newly purchased flagging stones, brushing sand into the gaps and levelling yet again!

Then deciding that the bit at the back(that no one except us will ever see!) needed stones laying too, cue my groan and another a days painstaking work (we may have fallen out about this slightly but I do have to agree that it does look better now and yes the weeds will have a harder time growing through so may save us work in the long run!)

I’m sure you’ll agree that the finished groundwork/ patio look fabulous! It almost seemed a shame to put a shed on top.

But plough on we must, through several days of shed construction and finally, drum roll please, the finished result…

Doesn’t it look fabulous?! It still needs another coat of stain to ensure it stays weather proof and the feminine touch adding (I’m thinking bunting, seating and hanging mandalas) and then we can finally enjoy begin to enjoy it.

The man hours (and woman hours!) that have gone into this mammoth task have been incredible. Even the neighbours got involved and helped with shed dismantling and shifting piles of bricks. The whole family spent many hours shovelling hardcore and gravel and even little Miss got in on the act with her little wheelbarrows and shovels, as did Dad when over for a visit(not with the mini tools I hasten to add!) But, the meticulous planning, sleepless nights and many many hours of hard work have been down to my lovely hubby. It was all worth it in the end but lets just say woe betide me if I suggest any more home improvements in the near future! I think diy may be a dirty word in our house for a few months, hehe!

Karen x x

Bunting!

A couple of years ago I cut out a load (well over 100) bunting triangles out of wipe clean tablecloth material.

I had every intention of making them into outdoor bunting for the caravan and the garden but just couldn’t quite decide how to join them and so they got left. I did look at them every once in a while but still couldn’t decide how to finish them off. I had thought of maybe using a glue gun (I have to admit I did pinch the outdoor bunting idea and possibility of joining them this way from a friend) but I just wasn’t convinced they would last. So, a few weeks ago I took them out once again, pondered over them for a bit and had a light bulb moment to sew them on the machine. I had thought the needle may not be strong enough but it worked a treat. I spent the last evening before we went away in the caravan, frantically sewing about 70 of the bunting triangles.

Once we arrived at our holiday destination I set about threading the triangles on to washing line (I had considered sewing them on to binding but this way, I can take them on and off the washing line if necessary, if I feel like changing the pattern or if one breaks, it can be replaced quite easily. I had enough to make a string of bunting for both ours and family’s caravan. Stupidly I didn’t take any photographs of ours once up but here is the other caravan bedecked in beautiful bunting…

After a bit of inclement weather causing the bunting to blow around, hubby cleverly thought of clipping on some funky table weights which worked a treat (forgot to take a photo again though, oops!)

I still have quite a few bunting triangles left so I’ve decided that once the new shed and seating area in the garden are finished they shall also be bedecked with bunting…I’m very excited, pics will definitely follow!

Not only have I been making outdoor bunting but I’ve also had a bit of a spurt on making indoor bunting, making 3 sets. I made these purely for the reason that I had never made bunting and wanted to give it a go. One set was gifted to my sister in law and I have yet to decide where the others will go. One is more than likely going to adorn the walls of my craft room, squueeeee!

Anyway, without further ado, here they are, be warned there are A LOT of photos as I was just so darn chuffed with my first (3) attempt(s) at bunting!

Are you still there? I am impressed!

Until next time

Karen x x

Summer 2018!

What a fabulous and sunny summer it has been. I’m not quite sure where the last 5 weeks have gone but the Summer holidays are almost over and its about time I caught up on my poor neglected blog. It has been a busy Summer, hence the lack of posts, but busy in a nice way as opposed to the hectic day to day busyness of the school term, which no doubt will hit me like a train next week! Anyway, with a week left till the madness begins and with little Miss now back at kindergarten I intend to make the most of my time crafting and catch up with blog posts. There has been a fair amount of crafting over the holidays but this post is going to be a pure indulgent look back at the Summer fun we’ve been having, my crafty exploits will follow shortly…expect to be bombarded with crafty posts over the next few days!

The Summer holidays started off with absolutely scorching weather, so hot it was difficult to do an awful lot. Mum and Dad visited and struggled with the heat a little but we managed a few short trips out, including picking flowers, visiting parks and gardens and playing pooh sticks in the river…

We loved having them here, its great for Little miss to spend time with much loved relatives that we don’t get to see often enough.

After Mum and Dad headed off back to blighty, Little Miss and I had a week alone before we all headed off to Holland in the caravan. Again it was a swelteringly hot and Little Miss didn’t want to venture outside much so we kept ourselves busy with dvds and early morning jaunts outside to water the garden (Summer garden post to follow shortly)and the occasional trip to the park when it wasn’t quite so melting hot and of course sorting and packing up the caravan. I love the hot weather and am not one to complain when we have a run of good weather but if I’m honest it was a little too hot and unfortunately not the best week we’ve ever spent together. I would have loved to have had a few days out to the tier park or outdoor pool but it was just a little too hot for us so we mostly stayed in the relative cool of the house.

The following 2 weeks were spent in the caravan in Holland where (thank goodness) we had a mixed bag of weather. I don’t have an awful lot of photos to show as most of the ones I took were of us and family that we went with and I don’t like posting photos of other peoples faces without their permission. We did have a lovely time though and time was spent relaxing, playing, swimming, paddling, bike riding

and a trip to a lovely tier park where little miss delighted at feeding some of the animals. I wont bore you with copious shots of animals but I do need to share this little cutie…

The meerkats were my absolute favourite. What’s not to love about this adorable little fella?

Returning home from the holiday was, as always a bittersweet experience, its always nice to come home but so hard to leave family knowing it’ll be a while before you get to see them again. Last week little miss was back at kindergarten, hubby at work and so I’ve spent the spare time unpacking, sorting and running with a bit of crafting thrown in for good measure! The time has gone so quick though, it does make me wonder how I ever fit everything in when I’m working. Well I wont have to wait too much longer to be reminded of how I do (or sometimes really don’t!) manage to juggle everything when work starts again. But for now, intend to make the most of every last minute of this week, so on that note, I’m off to get the crocheting out. I hope you’re all having a wonderful summer too.

Karen x

Another ceramic pot

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will know that last year I was introduced to a lovely little ceramic studio where you go to decorate premade ceramic items. Last year I decorated 4 pots for my desk to house pens etc. Well, last week I went back and did another one. I had every intention of doing something different but then decided that my crochet hooks could do with a nice new home.

This time I decided to completely freestyle it and go with what the mood took me. So, first I chose the background colour, with no real idea of what I was going to do next. I painted the background a light orange and then decided to drizzle paint around the pot…

Then I chose another colour to drizzle, this time with a slight sparkle to it (unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of this stage). I was going to stop here but the urge took me to add another colour with sparkle, so I went with it…

As you can see from the picture, the paint pooled at the bottom and when I lifted the pot up I was left with big sticky blobs of paint around the edge. So, the next job was to wipe the excess paint away from around the rim. This is how the pot looked when it was finished but preglazed…

The colours always look so pale and insipid pre glazing but the glazing always makes the colours pop. Anyway today I was able to pick the finished pot up and here it is…

Its no masterpiece but I love it, I love that its a complete one off and it wasn’t copied from any step by step instructions, its all my own. You cant see the sparkle in the photos but up close it has a little twinkle.

I love how it looks with my crochet hooks in it…

And I love how it looks on my desk with the other pots. They are all so different and all hand decorated by me…

Being surrounded by handmade things makes me so happy, especially when they are handmade (or in this case decorated) by me.

Karen x

June project review/ July project goals

Yet again, its taken me until the middle of the month to write a review of last months projects but nevermind, better late than never! Here it is:

Spring embroidery sampler: its finished and I actually got round to framing it too, along with my winterberry embroidery…Here’s my version of the spring sampler, compared to the original. Much as I did like the original, I wanted to put my twist on it, there was a little too much green for my liking!

Linen project bag: I did the embroidery on this and was all ready to sew it up when I discovered I’ve lost the velvet ribbon that goes in it for the tie, so its currently all pinned up waiting until I either find the original ribbon or a suitable alternative.

Mystery crochet project: This remains a mystery, I’ve lost steam with it so may put it to the side for a little while.

Zenbbroidery mandala: this is going very well and is largely the reason that I haven’t finished the mystery project as I seem to be wanting to work on this at every available opportunity.

I’m loving the embroidering so much, I find it very therapeutic rather like colouring in.

Ripple blanket: The ripple blanket is going well, albeit slowly as I keep getting sidetracked with the embroidery and machine sewing. I’m just about a third of the way through it now but I’m in no hurry to finish it just yet.

Machine sewing: Yippee, the old bird finally came out of her retirement and I am very very excited about all the things I am planning to make with her! So far I have whipped up lots and lots of bunting triangles. One length of bunting is actually complete, 1 more ones is all pinned up ready to have the binding sewn on and a third is just waiting to be pinned. Here is a sneak preview of the completed one but there will be a full post once all 3 sets are finished…

Itty bitty squares: they still remain in a box, with their itty bitty ends still attached. I think this may well be left for a little while and picked up in the Autumn in blanket making weather.

All in all I’m quite happy with what I achieved in June, especially the bunting. Unfortunately I don’t have an awful lot of spare time at the moment but I can see the sewing machine put into A LOT more use in the near future.

July project goals

Seeing as though we’re already almost half way through July it seems a bit daft to write a separate July goals post so I decided to tag it on to this one. Pretty much my only goal for the next week is to get through the last week at work, the last few weeks at school in the summer term are always a bit manic to say the least. Crafting wise, I’ll be happy if I finish the 3 sets of bunting that I’ve started, finish the linen bag and continue to work on the Zenbroidery mandala. Anything else I manage to get done will be a bonus!

What crafty makes are you up to at the moment?

Karen x

Huxterkids workshop

Life has been very busy here this month with report writing and all manner of other things that had to be done for work and I just haven’t had the time to blog very much. Hence this post about the workshop that actually happened 5 weeks ago!

Over the May half term Little Miss and I went back to England to spend some time with family. Imagine my delight then a few months ago when I saw that the lovely Sophie of Huxterkids was running a sew your own jumper workshop on the Friday, the day after my arrival back in England. For quite some time I’d been planning on getting my sewing machine back out and doing some sewing again, so this was just perfect timing. I scurried away and booked the course just as soon as I had booked the flights and checked that Mum could look after Little Miss for the day. Then I began eagerly counting down the days. Now, I truly believe I was meant to go on this course that day. A few weeks before the course, Sophie messaged me and explained that I was the only one that had booked on the course with it being on a Friday. Initially she was a little perplexed that no one else had booked on it as her courses are usually well visited. It was only then, she realised that she had actually put it on the Friday when she had meant to put it for Saturday. She then couldn’t change it to the Saturday due to other commitments. When Sophie discovered all this she apologised profusely that I would be the only one attending but she was still happy to run it as long as I didn’t feel uncomfortable being the only one there or she would happily refund me the money. To tell you the truth I jumped at the chance of one to one tuition and was so pleased I had been given the option, most companies would have cancelled due to a lack of demand and I’m so grateful that she didn’t.

On the day I set off form my parents and drove the 40 minutes to get to Sophie’s studio. The studio is in a beautiful converted barn in a courtyard of other converted barns housing small business. What a lovely setting, one I’m sure I would have appreciated a little more had it not been a gloomy, grey day and chucking down with rain!

Now, I will admit I was a little bit nervous as it had been a while since I’d touched a sewing machine and I was a little apprehensive about being the only one as I’m not generally very good at small talk and can find conversation difficult if people aren’t on the same wavelength. I really needn’t have worried! Sophie was the perfect host, made me feel totally at ease and we discovered that we had a lot to chat about through a shared love of crochet. She made me a cup of tea and I set about choosing the fabric. Little Miss and I had already had a peruse at the fabrics online(did I mention I was making the jumper for her?) and had chosen the fabric for the main body of the jumper but still needed to choose a co-ordinating fabric for the sleeves, cuffs and waistband. Once the fabric had been chosen, it was on to cutting out the pieces and beginning to assemble the jumper.

This was the bit I was nervous about, having not touched a sewing machine in 2 years. Sophie was very patient and gave me as much or as little help as I needed at each step of the way, showing me some handy hints and tips for working with stretchy fabrics and attaching the pieces together.

We stopped for a yummy ‘picnic’ type lunch, provided by Sophie, of crusty bread, olives, meat and salad and then set back to work. All that was left to do was to add the collar, cuffs and waistband and voila, the jumper was complete…

As you can see from my face, I was pretty pleased with myself…

Thankfully Little Miss loved it too and has been wearing it with pride…

All that is left to say is thankyou to Sophie for a lovely day and for giving me the confidence to get back on the sewing machine. If any of you would like to book on one of Sophie’s huxter workshops, you can find the link here or to see her fabulous range of made to order clothing, follow this link. But beware, once you have started, you may not be able to stop yourself!!

Karen x x