Happy 30th Birthday, Roon! (And Happy 1st Birthday, Blog!)

It is my lovely sister-in-law's 30th birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROON!!!  (Roon is a strange nickname I have for her - that kind of evolved from some nonsensical words I used to add to her surname before she married my brother!  She calls me Loon... which probably explains itself!!)  It is possible I went a bit over the top with the present wrapping and decorating...

Yes, mini paper bunting was involved!  I was really pleased how it turned out - I got quite excited when I finished making it!

And a tissue paper flower...

...adorning a wrapped box, filled with more tissue paper...

...and...PRESENTS!!!

OK, maybe I'm bigging myself up a bit now... but I would be so excited to receive a box of presents like this!!!  I'm getting excited just looking at it up on the side now!!  I can't wait for Roon to see it!  She will love it!

Only one of the presents is handmade... and here it is:

What?!  How boring!  But wait!  That was how it started... a boring black notebook.  But now...

Ooooh prettiness!!  A felt notebook cover!  It's removable, so when that notebook is finished, she can use the cover on another A5 notebook (and she better had - she must use it forever, till the end of time!!!)

I want one for myself, but I'm not sure I can be bothered to make another one.  This is where I will never be able to make money out of crafting - I can rarely bring myself to make two of anything, so I'll never have anything to sell!  Not to mention that I somehow seemed to drag this out so it took nearly all day - I don't know how I do it!  I think I spent a lot of time pondering on the design and gazing at it wondering how it was going to look when finished - I find that gazing is not a very productive activity!

Wow - a lot of pictures in this post!  I think I'd better stop now....!!


(Oooh - I just suddenly thought that my blog-iversary must be coming up soon... had a quick check and it turns out my first post was a year ago today!  So there are two birthdays today!  I will have a giveaway to celebrate a year of blogging, and also reaching 100 followers which happened fairly recently.  Not sure what it will include, and when it will be ready as I've not made anything for it yet, but watch this space!)

Transformations!

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the start of my flower crochet blanket, and on the bunting!  We all love bunting!!  :o)


Oh... and I should have mentioned in my last post that the bunting is my March Make No1.  It is also part of my mission to have a pretty, crafty home.  (See 'A Monthly Make' and 'Pretty Crafty Home' in my sidebar).


I have been busy trying to get things decluttered, tidied, organised... and trying to do projects that have been on my list for months on end!


One project involved using this lovely (bit creased!) material:

I started with these two sorry looking fake leather brown footcubes:

I've had these for years, and they are all squished and squashed, and needed their filling topping up.  I've been lightening and brightening my living room over the last 6 months or so, and this dark colour just isn't right anymore!  Not to mention that they barely ever get used and are just taking up space that I don't really have.  I didn't want to get rid of them completely, so I decided to replace these two with...

...this one!!  I made the cube (complete with zip on the bottom for filling) and filled it up using the beans from the horrible brown ones!

Much better!!  This is my March Make No2, and again, part of making a pretty, crafty home!


But... I didn't stop there!  Another job I've been meaning to do is to prettify this cube storage thingy...

Looking dull and dreary... (the fact that it was dark, and I didn't use a flash, didn't help!)


I emptied it ready to get to work:

Then I made backings by cutting out squares of card from cereal boxes, and covering them in lovely wallpaper.  I had a bit of rearrange of my bits and bobs, and here is the result...

I love it!

I've been meaning to do this for so long, and I'm so glad I finally got round to it!


Oh, and if you spotted the little owl and penguin in the top left cube... here they are in more detail:

I made these nearly a year ago.  The owl was inspired by a knitted one made by cupcakejojo, and the penguin then followed!


Right - now I'm off for a girlie afternoon tea with my sister-in-law, at her mum's house.  (Her mum does the BEST afternoon teas, yum yum yum!!!!!)  And I've just realised that my sister-in-law is in every one of the photos in my cube storage thingy!  I do love that girl!!


Bye for now!

Bunting!

Doesn't bunting make you happy?!

The other day I decided that it was crucial that I had some bunting in my living room - so I proceeded with great excitement to make some...

I love it!

I smile every time I look at it!

I just wish a bit more sunshine got into my flat, to show it in better light... but it's my same old moan!!!


In other news, I've been a bit quiet lately as I have been involved in a bit of professional development ready for my pending redundancy... I've been on a PRINCE2 course (PRojects IN a Controlled Environment - bit of a stretch how they got 'PRINCE' from that!)  It's a project management course.  It involved a foundation exam, and a practitioner exam - and I found out yesterday that I passed with flying colours!  It was quite a relief as the practitioner exam was very tricky!!


Now I have more time for crafting!!

New Project!

Oooh, what is this?

A new project!! 


I fell in love with both of these beautiful blankets - this one from Cherry Heart, and this one from Serendipity Patch.  I just had to make one, inspired by the gorgeousness!!

I bought a load of Stylecraft Special DK yarn for it.  It is very reasonably priced, and I've heard lots of good things about it over the blogs.  I thought it was time to give it a go!

I've picked 9 colours, with cream as the border.  I've not worked with so many colours before, so I'm a bit worried they'll not work together.  I wanted it to be pretty and colourful, but we'll see how well it works!
It's going to be a long slow project, the rate at which I crochet (and get distracted!) but I hope to get there in the end!

Thanks for the kind comments about the rabbit from my last post.  My nephew seems to like it - in fact it was the first thing he's ever grabbed and held on to!!!  (That warmed the cockles of my heart!)

February Make 2

Thanks for the nice comments on my last post!  And welcome to new followers!


Here is my second February make... a gift for my baby nephew.  Another homemade gift for the poor boy!!


What is it...?  A bowling pin with arms?!

Hold on...

It's a rabbit!!  But where's his face?!

Here it is!

The knitting part of this all went rather smoothly... but sewing the fabric to the ears and feet I found a bit more tricky.  I sewed them right-sides together on the machine, then had to try to turn them the right way round through a tiny gap - very fiddly!  (Admittedly, I could have just left a bigger gap but then the hand-sewing of the fabric to the knitting was tricky too, and sewing them to the body).  By the time that was all done, I'd had enough - but there was only the face to embroider... surely that wouldn't take long......  hhhmmmmnnnn!!!!!


I just couldn't get it right - I kept embroidering different faces on, and having to unpick them!  This was the 5th face - 2 days after finishing the rest of the rabbit!  I had to keep 'sleeping on it' and approaching it again the next day!  I'm finally pleased with this one!  I think I can safely say this is not going to be a project that I will ever repeat!!!

Mini Blanket... at long last!! Fancy Soap... (and an award!)

Well... I have finally finished a "mini" blanket I've been working on since before I started blogging.  A picture of part of it is even in my bar thingy at the top!  I think I've mentioned it a couple of times, but so long ago I doubt anyone remembers!  (Apart from my friend Anna - here it is at last Anna!!)

When I call it a "mini" blanket - it's basically the size of a baby blanket, just without the baby!  I will put it over my knees like a granny!

I love the colours, although I'm not sure those pictures show them off that well.

Here it is, looking rather uneven, and very small!!  Odd photo!


And as it looks better rolled up... here is another rolled up shot - don't get too excited!!  ;o)

As if I hadn't put enough photos in... here are more of soap, shaped like a cupcake, from the Lumberjack as one of my Valentine's presents.  It's a bit too edible-looking, though - I'm not sure I can trust myself not to take a bite!

All wrapped up prettily... and inside...

How nice is that?!  Can you believe it's soap?!  Amazing... although it's far too nice to use!  (Eating is another matter...!)


He even got it from Folksy (supporting handmade - good work, Lumberjack!)  Click here for the shop.




Now, onto the award...

I have been awarded the Liebster Blog award from Twinkles, Tutorials & Twirls - thank you so much, very sweet of you!  Here are the details:

The Liebster Award is awarded to 200 or less followers in the hope that it will bring new visitors and followers to their blog. If you are happy to accept the award the steps are:

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.

Post the award button on your blog.

Pass the award on to 5 bloggers who inspire you.

Leave a comment on those blogs to let them know.

The five blogs I am going to pass the award onto are:

Gem's Country Life Dream

Muddy Puddle Crafts

Sew Ray Me

The Sewing Boutique

Sew Sweet

I have tried to pick blogs I've not awarded before, as well as my memory serves me!  Sorry if I've nominated you before.  If any of you are not into the whole blog award thing, and want to ignore it, then feel free!!  I won't be offended!

February Make 1

This is February Monthly Make 1 (see Monthly Make 2012 on my sidebar).


Actually - this is the 2nd make of February, but the first one can't be shown yet, as it is for my nephew and I haven't given it yet.  I don't want my sister-in-law seeing it here first!


That one was a right pain in the..... but this one was beautifully simple!

It is a hanging heart/door hanger for a little girl whose name begins with M.  My name also begins with M, and I don't mind saying I'm quite tempted to keep it myself!!!


The flower was crocheted using a pattern from the Cute and Easy Crochet book, with a bright pink mini button sewn in the middle.

It all seemed to come together really well, and I'm really pleased with it.  I like the way the white embroidery thread gives a nice contrast for the blanket stitch.

I love it!  (Even if I do say so myself!)

A Valentine's Win!

Thanks for the lovely comments on my fabric coasters!  It is very funny that my bedside table looks dust-free... trust me, it isn't!!  Probably the only surface without dust in my home is the section of my windowsill that I normally take my blog photos on... and that dusting is achieved by wiping my hand over the surface before I plonk my latest crafty thing on it!  (What a domestic goddess I am!!)


I mentioned that I won a giveaway... here it is!!  It was a Valentine's Giveaway from Marie, of Heartfelt Handmade.  (Check out her blog, it's lovely!)  Thank you so much, Marie!  Such lovely items, I was so excited to unwrap them... and an extra heart I wasn't expecting!


A gorgeous hanging heart with rose...

A beautiful 'LOVE' banner - this is really lovely...

A pretty flower brooch...

... which goes perfectly on the collar of my red coat...!

I love it all, and everything was made so perfectly, and looks so lovely!  Thank you again, Marie, such lovely gifts to win!


Lucky me!!

PCH - Fabric Coasters Ta-Dah!

At the weekend I quickly whipped up these fabric coasters for the bedroom - another step towards having a pretty crafty home (link in sidebar)...

I love the fabric!  I used a plain pink fabric for the back, and wadding in the middle.

I probably should have staged that photo, and found some pretty things to put on the bedside table, other than the ancient alarm clock that lives there!  But it was Monday morning and, as you can see from the time on the clock, I should have been well on my way to work - not faffing around taking photos of coasters!!!


Oh, and here is another shot of the jar-cover from my last post... complete with strawberry bonbons!  Yes, I bought them for the sole reason that I thought they'd look pretty in the jar!  (I'm sure that won't stop me munching on them, though!)

Yum!