Crochet, Gardening and Summer...

I have on my crochet hook a rather large blanket, being made for my eldest son who is 6' 4"...so it needed to be big but as always I may have made it EXTRA BIG!

 14 balls of wool in I'm just waiting for a wooly delivery so I can crack on and get it ready for the Autumn

In the meantime I've started a granny square blanket using up a few of the odds n bods that I've accrued recently...

pretty, bright and girly

In garden news I've finally started on the pallet planting

Sunny summer ahead, plenty of time to sit back and just enjoy it all

Easter Crochet Blanket...

So named as I wanted it finished by the Easter Holidays!

This lovely, bright, totally bonkers little Loopy.

All the colours of the rainbow, thrown randomly into yarn and hooked into a super cute blanket.

I seriously can't think of a better way to spend a super sunny Spring morning than making progress on such a happy blanket...

My Sun Jellies bag also helps keep me motivated, I remember these bags the first time around...I had a white one that I used to take my swim stuff in to the local Lido

*sigh*

Happy Days

Vintage Inspiration in the Garden...

I have a small, chicken ruined garden.  Last year I set about re-seeding it, which went ok-ish but it is still in need of a lot of love.

You will I hope see a theme in my crafty blog, of re-purposing old bits into new bits.  

Or re-jigging things to work.

Mainly painting stuff...it is a joke in the family that if it stands still long enough I will paint it.

Roll on a pot of wood stain later and we have progress on the patio

I've taken the chalk board down and re-housed that down to the grassy area and dumped the shelves that were in the corner as they had rotted.  Just need to re-paint that fence!

The ladder was lingering in the house for far too long, gathering dust and not being at all useful.  

It is now suited and booted, almost finished to hold some pretty plants.

The bench in the back is one of two, sturdy old school benches fished out of a skip a couple of years back.  

We don't have space a proper table and chairs out here so we tend to use the benches as a table or flexible seating if the teens have friends over.

The other one will I hope have tomato plants growing on it shortly {in preparation for chutney making later this year!}

The deckchair is also one of a pair, bought at a dump many years ago.  Stripped back awaiting a new cover {ooo you'll like it when you see it}

The boot rack bought last week at the booty for a wonderful £3, long on my wish list but not being prepared to pay retail I thought it would just stay on the wish list but lucky old me found one!

I got fed up of seeing the pink birdcage waiting for love so have lined it with moss and filled it with a selection of hanging basket flowers!  It looks lovely and is outside the window where I spend many hours washing up!

The strawberries are in old enamel bread bins, planted last year.

Fingers crossed I will beat my youngest kiddos to actually have more than the one strawberry this year!

And tadpoles!

Once again not really a craft but things that keep me busy!

All practical stuff.

Sewing and Such...

I could rather grandly call it 'my desk' but in reality it's the dining/craft table that lives in our dining/play room.

There is a theme with the table, I clear in preparation to work/craft at it and various kiddos will come along and fill said cleared space with their work/craft.

Space in a 3 bed house and 7 people is a thing of rarity!

Recently my eldest, Abba, has been as busy as a Bee, turning gorgeous Liberty fabric into even prettier cushions along with a whole host of other sewing projects!

In a recent break from her sewing I started a new project that has been in the wings for far too long!

My middle daughter, Lolly, has been after a standard lamp for her room for quite a while.  

I had the stand and shade 

{this one}

After a bit of a re-think she decided she would like it all white so I set to work on another stand and stripping the shade of washi tape and pom poms.

I have a selection of lovely linen table cloths and found one with a couple of minor imperfections and set about making her lampshade out of one of them

It was/is going well until we hit this week...

GCSE's start this week and Lolly has taken over the desk for her revision. 

So once again the desk is not mine to play with for a time

I am so very near finishing the shade, it has been a lot easier to make one second time around 

{despite not having the original shade pieces to use as a template}

The first one I did was a labour of love

which after not selling at the last fair is now hanging, 

albeit upside down, 

on my landing!!

And I have a plan for this lovely table cloth, I'll give you a clue...

think window

Vintage Plate Cake Stands...

Crafting has been occurring...not in an organised planned way but in a much more higgledy-piggledy way.

What and when has depended on the weather, space available and what tickles my fancy!

On a recent search for a lost pack of buttons I stumbled by happy accident across the bag of 'bits' needed to drill and convert plates into cake stands.

3 years in a cupboard, put away 'safely' 

So roll onto a chillier day and a little ta- da moment

A very pretty mix of pastel green fine porcelain

The makings of more

*sigh*

Very pretty!

Is it crafting?

I'm not sure I can really call it a craft but it has been keeping me happy!

Wandering into March....

All things considered January was a busy month,  could have done more but on the other hand I could have done a LOT less!!

I rolled into February, dreading the cold that might go hand in hand with February but appreciating that Spring is nearing on the horizon.

I was lucky enough to work again at the Artisan Florist and witnessed the terrible effects of the flooding and gave myself a 'your such a lucky girl' talking to.

Valentines kept the florists busy, very busy...spare a thought next time your order your gorgeous flowers for the talented peeps that make those wonderful floral bouquets...there's a LOT of thorns to trim!

We don't do Valentines here really, this year I put a little floral display in our mini milk bottles 

and popped them on my daughter Lolly's dresser...a simple bunch of paperwhites & hyacinths with a bit of eucalyptus for greenery.
Smelt heavenly
{wish I had the sense to take a photo!}


I finished the paper flower wreath, trimmed with the odd pom pom or two and hung it in the lounge

I played more than a I should have with washi tape

and eventually realised that the next MK Handmade and Vintage Fair is fast approaching so got busy with Priddy Priddy stock and displays

There is possibly nothing nicer to bring a smile to my chubby little cheeks than washi tape and pom poms!!

Cheap daffs from the shops, vintage chockie box and a pretty polka dot jug, all in all a happy little corner of my home.

See you in March or at the MK Handmade and Vintage Fair!
x