Quiet post

Knitting in minature

Meet Chloe, a new addition to our household.  She joined our happy throng on Flopsy Bunny's 8th Birthday - yes 8th!!  I still can't quite believe where the time has gone . . .!  What Flopsy Bunny wanted more than anything was a doll, so after a lot of research I found this lovely doll.  She was just want I was looking for, still quite girlish, not too big and she has the most wonderful vanilla smell and Flopsy Bunny loves her!!  The upside for me is that she obviously needs a whole new wardrobe.

Luckily Ravelry has a whole group dedicated to these Les Cheries dolls so there are lots and lots of outfits I can make!

This has to be my favourite so far, it is from Kids Tricots, the downside is the pattern is in French so I have spent a lot of time on Google translate and trying to figure out from the picture what I need to do!  Anyway, I'm very happy with the finished result!

Finally a little cardigan!  I've become a little bit obsessed but these little outfits are very quick to make and use up my leftover yarn.  All the pattern details can be found on my Ravelry page!

Crafty Sunday

This Sunday, Flopsy Bunny and I had a lovely quiet craft session.  Little Roo had taken himself off to bed for 40 winks and DH had popped out to run some errands.  The girls were left to their respective tasks.  Flopsy Bunny was trying out some decoupage, she was decorating a shoe box which was to become her new doll's wardrobe.  It was great fun and I had to stop myself joining in as it was her project!!  I did help with the tape round the edges and filling in a few of the gaps!

I had the task of creating a fox tail for the Roald Dhal day at school!!  Little Roo was going to go as the Fantastic Mr Fox, mainly as we had bought a foxes mask last year which meant it was an easy decision.  I just bought him some foxy coloured trousers to wear and a jacket - both of which will get lots of use after.  The fox tail was made out of some fur fabric and polyfil, I put a coat hanger in the middle so that I could shape it upwards a bit.  I added some loops to the top of the tail so that it could be attached to a belt.  I was quite pleased with the result and Little Roo was thrilled with his costume.

Of course while all this crafty foxiness was going on we just had to watch and listen to What Does the Fox Say?, adding a few new lyrics ourselves about foxes tails!!

Finishing

Ah I can't quite believe it is February already.  Christmas has flown by and started to become a distant memory.  January similarly zipped by and now in February I have emerged!!  A very belated Happy New Year to you all!!!

Carrying on from last year I've decided to have a word-of-the-year.  I have to say I had completely forgotten what my word was last year and was surprised to see I'd put Action!  I was quite pleased with it as a word but it did make me wonder how much Action I had done!!  A lot had got done last year, a lot of renovations but not much craft and not much blogging (sorry!).  So this year my word is Finishing!  This has to be the year of finishing things.  I have a very big project that I just have to get finished this year.  We are finishing off our house renovations - yes we are going to decorate our bedroom - hooray!!  But also I have to finish all the projects that I've bought material or wool for and not made - tsk, tsk!!!

So the first finished item of the year are some curtains for the front door.  I've never made curtains before, always felt a bit daunted by the huge amount of fabric and having to cut it and then worrying I might make a mistake and ruin the whole thing.  So this roll of fabric sat propped up on the wall next to the door it was intended for but that was as far as it got.  I wanted to get it done for Christmas and then the cold drafts started to nip my ankles as I walked past and I thought I just HAVE to do it!  So I dug out my faithful Readers Digest Sewing Manual and set to it - I mean how hard can it be?!



As it turns out - not that difficult!  The measuring and cutting was a pain but I did it and they are up and I have to say I am very pleased with the finished effect.

Especially as they go so well with my linen cupboard!  So on to the next project a bench cushion.  Yes I have the fabric, foam padding, piping, buttons and thread . . . Ok I've had them for quite some time now I just have to FINISH it!!

Finished in the nick of time

These stockings were totally inspired by SouleMama.

When I saw the one she did for her youngest I thought what a lovely idea and I would love to have a go at one for my little ones.

I have to say that I was totally hooked on the cross-stitch, despite having to do it by head torch!

The little elf came from Wee Wonderfuls elf pattern.  Which was very easy to make and so cute I thought.  Little Roo chose this for his stocking but when he saw the snowflakes I was sewing on his sister's stocking he had to have some of those too!

The snowflakes came from Modern Folk's through The Bitter Frost and Snow.  Such lovely designs and I have a couple of other ideas for these snowflake crossstitch - watch this space!!

I can't decide what I love about these stockings most, the metallic red embroidery thread I found, the gorgeous patterns and designs or the gold satin I lined the stockings in!  The Little One's are very pleased with their stockings, mainly for the presents they will hold!  Little Roo has informed me that he wants Santa to bring him 10 and I wasn't to worry about them not fitting in as Santa squashes them down apparently!

Well that's it from me for this year!  Have a very Merry Christmas and New Year and I look forward to being back in 2014 with a few more crafty endeavours!

Superhero Party

Little Roo, our little super boy turned 5 on Friday - crikey 5 - doesn't time fly - which means, I've just realised, that this blog must be 5 too - birthdays all round!!  Little Roo, being 5, is very into his superhero's; Spiderman is his personal favourite but he loves superman, ninja turtles, batman, well in fact any superhero, so it wasn't difficult to come up with a theme for his party!  He is also a bit of a groover on the quiet - must take after his mummy! - so a superhero disco party it was!

I really enjoyed organising this party, I did a lot of lovely research, searching the internet for ideas and came across lots of amazing ideas.  I had had this idea that I would make everyone a superhero mask for their party bag and after a bit of searching around came across some gorgeous superhero masks by Slowmama, who had got the templates from Ambrosiagirl.  I loved the shape of the masks and the fact that there was a boy and a girl version.

I also loved the extra detailing of the star that Slowmama had added so I decided to add a star to the girl masks and a lightening bolt to the boy masks.  Luckily when it comes to making 20 superhero masks I didn't need to rush out and buy any supplies - no, being a horder and craft addict I had a whole box of felt - it did make me feel very happy (and virtuous) to be using up my stash!!  I made the masks double thickness and added the details on first before sewing the two sides together, catching in the elastic as I went!

I also found a great idea at Millybee for some superhero capes to add to lollipops and I added these to the party bag as well!  A lovely idea and so great that she has made the download available for everyone to use!  I managed to find some great pop art online too which I used to make some cake toppers for the cake!

Of course being nearly 8 Flopsy Bunny was far too cool for a pretty superhero mask and went for a black version instead which she can use when she is playing spy's!!  Little Roo loved his party, he had a wonderful day and it was lovely to watch my not so little boy and all his friends getting along so well and really enjoying themselves!  Happy Birthday my lovely boy!

Christmas Crossstitch

There's nothing like Christmas to kick start some crafting activity.  I know it has been a bit quiet on this blog on the craft front this year and it is not from a lack of desire or interest it is just that my attentions have been elsewhere.  But with Christmas round the corner my craft to do list has suddenly sprung into action and is growing at an alarming rate.

This is my first attempt at crossstitch and I have to say that I am hooked!!  Although a couple of worrying things have been discovered along the way.  Mainly that I need my eyes tested and I probably need glasses, I did find it difficult to see all the little holes I needed to make my stitch into!  I also discovered that as the lighting in the sitting room is quite low it makes seeing all the more difficult so I have been crossstitching by head torch, much to DH's amusement and despair - luckily he is very accepting of all my various foibles!