Have A Heart

I love these heart garlands that I found on "How About Orange"! They are a great way to use up fabric scraps, an easy sewing project for a beginner and a simple yet effective way to create something beautiful for your home.

A fabric stiffener is used to keep these hearts a fluttering. I looked in my local fabric store this weekend for a fabric stiffener, but they were out. I thought about trying starch but considering I live in a very damp little part of the world, I don't think that is such a good idea.

Alas, I will just have to wait till they get more in stock. In the mean time I can dream of what fabric I will use and how pretty they will look strung along the mantle or on the bannister going up the stairs, or in my cottage window...

For the How-To go here.

Peppermint Twist

I am longing to be crafting. I have a special little project that I need to finish before Christmas.

But with the cottage packed up at the moment, while some work is completed, I can't get to my sewing machine. In catching up with The Purl Bee,  I came across this:

What a fantastic idea it is! And, no sewing, so I can make it, if only I could get to my felt...

Click on the image below to learn how to make a candy cane garland for yourself.

I Dream of Storage Space

We live in a very tiny cottage behind a racing green door and as I have an important visitor coming this weekend, I am dreaming of more storage space to put everything up in as I tidy. Who is this important visitor? He is my Dad! I have not seen my parents since Christmas and for me that is a long time.

These are the moments where I truly feel like a pioneer woman, leaving all she knew behind to journey for months on end to reach her destination and her dreams.

But, through that journey she either never had the opportunity to see her family again or the visits were so few and far between, it could have been years before they laid eyes on each other. Thank goodness this pioneer woman has Skype. I can see their beautiful faces everyday and that is better than nothing, I am lucky.

My Dad has been in Europe on business this last week and is stopping on his way home to stay with us, as this is the first time he shall see our Lilliputian cottage, I want everything in tip-top shape! If only I could wiggle my nose as Bewitched's Samantha and everything I don't need at the moment could magically disappear!

Alas, that is not to be, so as I lay my head down on my pillow tonight, I shall continue to dream of miles and miles of storage space to contain my treasures...

(Image:Anne Taintor)

Leaves

The weather is changing now, as if Mother Nature knows everyone has gone back to school. Summer is slowly but surely dipping into Fall.  We went on a walk over the weekend and the crunch, crunch, crunch of leaves under our feet made a happy sound before it melted into the sludge of wet ones buried underneath on the wooded path. 

The evenings are getting darker sooner, the mornings are taking longer to light and there is a cozyness in that, we are moving into hot chocolate weather! I miss not being home this time of year. I grew up near the prettiest mountains on the face of the earth and I got to watch them evolve with the seasons.

This is the time for hay bales and pumpkins, Indian corn hung on your door in fat bunches, apples dipped in warm ooey gooey melty caramel and harvest moons. The leaves are beginning to crunch under our feet, I feel that it will soon be Fall.

Fairy Mushrooms

While doing a little research for vintage cotton-spun mushrooms, I came across this tutorial for paperclay mushrooms on The Fabled Needle Blog.  I know it is an older post but they were just too cute not to share with you.


On such a cold drizzley morning here in England this brought me a little sunshine happiness.  I can't wait to try making them myself, the possibilities of their uses are endless.

I am already envisioning plans for these little sparkle layered snow kissed mushrooms sprinkled around my miniature zinc Christmas house in December and maybe worked into a wreath with tiny gnomes for some Christmas kitsch cuteness. Oh, now I am getting carried away...

You will find her tutorial here, just click on the polka dotted mushrooms below:

(Mushroom Images from The Fabled Needle Blog, Gnomes from Layer Cake, embellished by Jennifer Michie)

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at the 2009 Christmas Fair that is! The Fair was a great success, for all involved! It has taken me up to today to get my breath back! What a day! Everyone had so much fun and the Charity did really well.

I made 3 more little Christmas bags on Thursday night to bump my table out a bit more and I was going to make another one but my husband said he was unplugging my sewing machine if I didn’t stop, I just needed to rest. So, in fear of being unplugged, I snuggled up on the couch with him instead.

I could not sleep from all the excitement, I was up at 4 and it was a frosty morning when I left the house at 6:30. Everything was quiet and calm and it gave me a chance to collect my thoughts as I walked to the Fair.

The front porch was decorated so sweetly and that immediately put you in the Christmas mood. Upon entering the house, Christmas music was already going and Ella Fitzgerald was crooning you through the doorway. I made 3 Christmas mixer Cd’s a few years ago and that is what plays throughout the day, I was in dreamland getting to listen to Christmas music all day long.

After, putting the finishing touches on my table, I took the chance to look around everyone else’s stall, I oohed and aahed and began to do a little Christmas shopping of my own before the crowds arrived. A beautifully hand painted, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" sign, a vintage green trunk and a vintage school poster with a snowman scene were just a few of the treasures I found.

Lucky for me, my stand was next to the very sweet Penelope of RosaBlue. Everyone’s stall looked splendid! There was such a nice mixture of new things, antiques and homemade items, as a customer you were definitely spoiled for choice.

The day went by too quickly and as we were packing up, it was sad to think that I will not see some of my “fair” friends again until the Summer Fair or even next year’s Christmas Fair; but, to a cozy house we will all march to get warm by the Aga, enjoy a cup of tea, catch up with each other and spend a day of “work” just having fun!

I have a commission for my “Oh What Fun!” blanket, so I am off to cut out hearts and start stitching away in my own little world with some Christmas music in the background of course!

Oh What Fun!

I have spent the morning finishing up sewing together some bags for the Christmas Fair. I am all packed and ready to go now. I made this "Oh what fun!" blanket yesterday, so I hope that it sells.

This is always the hardest part for me, I want to sell things, but I get attached to the things I have made. I really enjoyed making the mittens for my ribbon garland, so I made some extra as ornaments or they could be used as a gift decoration.
I ran out of red thread last night, so all my little bags had to be sewn in green, but they still look Christmassy. I am off to move my bags to the door and get ready to head out of here, I am going to try and set up this afternoon, so there is less work to do in the morning. I can't wait to see everyone, lots of us have not seen each other since the Summer Fair, so there is a lot of catching up to do!

This is it! Here we go....Oh what fun!

Breakfast of Champions

This was my breakfast this morning! I can think of nothing better. Well... maybe if I had some chocolate cake to go with it! I have finished all the little tooth bears and Christmas bears (I know they are happy some have been very patiently waiting to be stitched together), gingerbread wreaths and ribbon garlands. I am now working on a blanket and I plan to make some bags this afternoon.

I am definitely on countdown! The fair is just 2 days away and there still seems like there is so much more to do! But, Shhh! don't tell anyone, I am ahead of schedule, so everything I am doing now are bonus items. I need to begin labeling things and start gathering together my tablecloths and display pieces I plan to use. This is really the exciting part!

Well, I'm off to stitch a little sleigh riding snow bunny onto a heart and maybe make another cup of hot chocolate. What could be better than hot chocolate, Christmas music and sewing cozy things on a sunny but frosty November morning? Right now I can't think of anything else.

Summertime is Calling Me

As summer finally begins to wave her hand over this quaint part of the world, fetes begin to appear all over the countryside. They bring the young and old together to enjoy the festivities. Often outside, they take in the best that the English summer has to offer. Whatever the weather may be the fete soldiers on, oblivious to any thing that will put a damper on the day.

A local friend of mine puts on a fair twice a year to support a nearby charity. The summer fair is soon approaching at the beginning of June and I have been working away at the moment making all kinds of handmade items for my table.

There is a large selection for guests coming to the fair to choose from. Tables spill over with the sellers’ wares. Adorned in pretty tablecloths and vintage quilts, decorated with homemade bunting and tents, the fair is a chance for artists of all genres to come together and sell their goods. Some stalls feature established shop keepers with their tables overflowing with vintage treasures and baked goods; others feature those of us who use this an opportunity to sell items we have worked hard making over the past few months.

I usually have a bake sale table, but this year I am trying my hand at something different. I’m making a variety of items with a mixture of vintage and new materials. It will be a wonderful opportunity for me to see how well my items sell and I am hoping to make a more permanent business of this, selling on Etsy in the future. But, for now I will just have to be content with what opportunities the fair holds for me.