2nd Blogiversary



I've just realised that today is the 2nd anniversary of my entry into blogland .... how the heck did that happen???

I tippy-toed in on this day in 2009 and thought that nobody would want to hear about my boring life and ramblings but here we are still waffling on with new friends made along the way and guess what .... life isn't so boring any more.  It is lovely to come on here and catch up with everybody's news and share ideas on anything from life in general to crafting hints & tips.

To celebrate this special day .... which also happens to be my favourite nephew's 21st birthday .... I would like to offer a mini patchwork quilt to one of you lovely readers.  The winner will be chosen in the traditional manner (names in a hat) on 31st January and they will be able to choose the colour they prefer .... the finished quilt will be 1m x 1m and I am aiming to have it finished by the end of February.

No catches .... just leave a comment here and you will be entered.

Good luck xx

Blog Giveaway and a terrific challenge for 2011

I have just discovered a wonderful blog over at Annie The Felt Fairy and dear Annie is offering this really useful book in a giveaway

take a look at the link on my sidebar too for the Monthly Make Challenge for 2011 xx

Disappointed :-(

Well my little bloggeroos.   Lala is somewhat disappointed at the response to her little giveaway so here are some things I've added to try and tempt you.

some vintage knitting patterns, Ladybird Learning to Sew book, an old wooden cotton reel with pins for French knitting, vintage knitting pins and crochet hook, a pair of hand embroidered napkins

a selection of vintage buttons

some more vintage buttons

an edition of the Home Companion from November 1954

A pair of vintage bunny print children's hankies

Please don't worry if you cannot think of anything for the 6 degrees of separation part ..... I just thought it would be a bit of fun and get you all thinking.

Don't forget that the draw will take place on Bank Holiday Monday 30th August at 8.00 pm

In the meantime I hope you all have a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend and that the sun shines for you whatever you are doing x

Post 200 and the Giveaway

Apologies for being such a slow coach but the past week has been very hectic with the minded children and then the grands at the weekend plus a sewing order to fullfil!

I've been racking my brain cell for something interesting for post number 200 and have come up with this .... I hope you like it :-)

Have you ever heard of the phrase "Six Degrees of Separation"??

Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare. (courtesy of Wikipedia)

In a strange way this has applied to me in blogland ..... I have met (virtually of course) with the daughter of the baby in the gorgeous picture that I use as my Avatar, Julie over at The Cloth Shed.  Another virtual friend who lives miles away from me just happens to have lived a few minutes away from me as a child and attended the primary school where I take my minded children ... take a visit to Dancing on a Blade of Grass ... her photos are just fantastic!

With this thought in mind I would like to lay down a challenge for my 200th post giveaway ...... just leave a comment on this post, place a link to this post with the 6 degrees photo and undertake a post of your own on this subject.

The giveaway prize is a copy of the classic Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework book ... a heavy tome with 504 pages absolutely filled with useful info on anything from Embroidery to Quilting (printed in 1982).  I will also be including some vintage sewing, knitting & crochet items.

It's a very small world after all!!!

OOps forgot to say draw will take place on Bank Holiday Monday 30th August at 8.00 pm

Post 199

I can't believe I've been able to yatter on for 199 posts since January last year! 

The past week has been virtually child free (DD2 forgot that their work shifts clashed on two days so the grands had two sleepovers) but very productive. Following a visit to the nearest Scrapstore last Monday we came home with a car laden with goodies including some paint .... I've been nagging encouraging the OH to do some decorating for ages so what better time.  The whole of the downstairs needs a freshen up so we started with the kitchen .... there's not much money in the kitty at the mo so thriftiness was the word of the day.  I wanted to get rid of the tiles that we put up 15 years ago when the extension was built and you should have seen his face!  Thought we were heading for argument number one just 10 minutes into the work but I left the room, shut my gob and let him get on with it.  We spent just £52 in B & Q on some white emulsion for the ceiling, plain white tiles for the cooker & sink splashbacks (just £6 in the bargain corner), plaster, paintbrushes, a new roller and some more odd bits and I remembered I had a lovely Laura Ashley swag curtain in my stash from the car boot last year which was just £3.  The dresser top has had a coat of LA Linen eggshell, everything has been cleaned and I've had a good de-cluttering and we are feeling rather pleased with ourselves.

These two soppy dates looked on in bewilderment with that 'can we come in yet' look on their faces

and even Zachary Binks had to get in on the act .... once I'd cleared the bottom of the larder cupboard in he got!

I'm just psyching myself up for the return of the children tomorrow and crossing everything for good weather and no more downpours like last week.

At some point during the coming week I will write post 200 and announce the giveaway so keep your eyes peeled x

Whizz of a weekend & a Giveaway

Wow this weekend has certainly disappeared at a rate of knots!  We started on Friday evening with a surprise Silver Wedding Anniversary party for my sister, organised by my nephew, which went off splendidly and she didn't suss anything out.  She was crowing last week that nothing ever gets past her ..... well this one did .....  she was gobsmacked!

I was up early yesterday morning to take DS1 to the railway station for his journey home to Nottingham ... he has been staying with us for 2 weeks so he could be here for the grands birthdays and the party. The rest of the day was spent tidying up but I don't know why I bothered because the grands had a sleepover last night and it was back to square one by this afternoon.  We went off to the car boot with them this morning .... this one has only just started for this season and it was packed but I had to have one eye on them and one on the stalls so I am sure I missed loads of bargains. 

They both did very well .... Ellie is into Roald Dahl stories at the moment and Care Bear soft toys and she found some all by herself .... not bad for a 6 year old (she has her nanny's eye for a deal!).  Charlie found a lovely big megablocks transporter with vehicles and he kept saying he wanted something with a cone in it, then I twigged he wanted an ice cream.

I didn't come away empty handed myself of course and here is my booty

A vintage curtain which has washed up beautifully and will be stashed for a rainy day project

Some FQ of Christmas fabric and there was a whole stall selling fabric to my absolute delight .... Liberty prints at £5 per metre .... well what was a girl to do!

A box of vintage Anchor threads and a wicker basket

We came home via Barton Watermill where we stopped for a coffee & cake.  I was saddened to hear that the Crafty Quilter's shop will be closing down in a couple of weeks but there is an online shop here so please support them if you can.

The postie also brought a nice surprise yesterday morning ..... I won a bag of buttons in a competition from The Button Company via The Sewing Directory  ..... they are both sites that I recommend any crafter to bookmark as a favourite.

I'm planning on visiting my nearest Scrapstore tomorrow morning  .... I have just discovered this via blogland and what a wonderful idea to keep perfectly good arts & craft materials out of landfill ..... I just cannot believe that they would dump this stuff if not for the scrapstores.  I will update on what I find during the week and I'm hoping to get stocked up on lots of bits to keep the children occupied for the remainder of the summer hols.  This week is my week off and I am so looking forward to getting up and slobbing round in my jim jams in the morning .... my day usually starts around 7 am with the first child arriving at 8 am and the last one leaving just before 6 pm.  A massive de-cluttering is called for this week and some painting with a bit of luck.

I have just realised that I am close to my 200th post so a celebration giveaway is called for methinks ..... give me a day or two to get some goodies together and I'll be back xx

Henny Penny is my hero (or should that be heroine???)

 Yesterday morning as I sat in the beautiful sunshine with some embroidery in hand there was a knock at the door. The postie with a box .... a very large box ..... stuffed to the gills with loveliness. Was it a coincidence that as I had been sitting there thinking about our holidays in Dorset and dreaming of visiting that lovely county again that the box had arrived from the very same place.

I had been extemely lucky to have been picked in Ted & Bunny's Very Vintage Giveaway by the gorgeous Henny Penny and you would just not believe the generosity of this lovely blogger and the splendiferousness in the box.  Wow, wow and thrice wow!

 

You are truly a woman after my own heart and I love every single item which was carefully wrapped in tissue paper and gingham ribbon ... I now just have to decide where to place them in this highly disorganised clutterholic's paradise of mine  .... thank you so much Ted & Bunny and of course Henny Penny xx

Nearly didn't make it !!!!

Well of all weekends to have a mishap with the laptop.  Yesterday I foolishly left a part drunk cuppa close to it and puppy came bounding through and you can guess what happened.  I was having palpitations ..... how would I communicate with my virtual world of lovely friends on this my 1st Blogiversary??

Following some drying out I was relieved that it still booted up but the inbuilt mouse was refusing to play.  A quick trip to Argos this morning to purchase a wire free mouse has done the trick and I'm ready to roll again.

On this day exactly one year ago I sat down and contemplated what I should write and wondered whether anyone would want to share my little piece of the planet.  I know there are a few of us who started at the same time with the same thoughts and some of us have since managed to meet in the real world.

I have been listening to the radio a lot this week whilst sitting at my sewing machine putting together the strings for Loft Creations challenge and the station I chose was Gold .... it is amazing that music can stir so many memories stored at the back of our minds.  I was a teenager in the 1970s and my very first music purchase with my pocket money was in 1972 when I bought this

Bit risque I know and I trembled at the thought of what my dad would say.  It was the era of skinheads, reggae and ska and I loved it (wasn't a skinhead myself BTW!)  I used to play it on one of these

A Dansette record player

I still have the old Dansette and LP in the loft along with all my other albums and singles and it is the only thing I have left to play them on.  How we have progressed in 40 years (is it really that long ago????) .... now at the click of a button we can download just about everything.  The only places to buy music in those days was Boots and a little music shop which originally started selling instruments and then progressed to singles and albums.  Off we would trot with our pennies and then you could listen on huge headphones before you purchased.

On this my first blogiversary I am having this giveaway

A mix of handicraft items, some vintage and some new ..... a floral cross stitch that I made last year, some Cath Kidston Oilcloth already cut into bunting size flags, three pretty pink vintage dressing table cloths, one of my handmade heart hangers and a cute print by Faye Whittaker called My Pal ... a gorgeous study of a child and his dog.  I am going to pop them into a vintage look biscuit tin for the lovely winner and the draw shall be at this time next Sunday.

In return I would like to ask you to do a post about what your first album purchase was .... were you a teen of the 60s 70s 80s 90s ...... and will you admit to recording Top of the Pops off the radio at this time on a Sunday afternoon????  It would be lovely if you could place a link to my blog too.

Thank you all for such an enjoyable twelve months and may we all have many more xx

Lovely bib giveaway

Just found this new blog at Sew Scrumptious who is generously having a giveaway of one of her lovely handmade bibs. I know there are lots of us nannies out there with new babies and mums to be so why not take a visit.

Have you ever had one of those days????

Well I have today. Everything started off fine with a little bit of bargain hunting at the only car boot on round here because it's under cover (it has been piddling down on and off all day)

This is a miniature or toy sewing machine made by a company called Grain in Nottingham who produced them in the 1940s and 50s ... it has a very heavy wooden base and is in the original box with cotton reel, instructions and spare needle ..... it's so sweet and I was going to let my Ellie play with it when she sits with her old nan when she is sewing but I'm having second thoughts now.

On our return from booting the heavens opened and it has been coming down heavy for most of the day ..... when I took the photo it was the one and only bright spot of the day. I then had an argument with number two son which rumbled on but hopefully has been resolved now. Then the oven packed up just as I was baking some bread rolls. Then a good friend popped in to say she has to go for a CT scan on her liver on Tuesday as they have found a nodule growing on it ..... needless to say she is worried sick and has the big C word in mind.

They do say bad things come in 3s so I hope that's my lot for a while.

Some good news is that my new grandson who is due to make his appearance in the next week or two may have decided to swing round in his poor mum's tum from the breech position that he has been in for the past few weeks. I hope so because she doesn't want to have a C-section. It was his big sister's 5th birthday last Thursday and the tea party was held at my house ..... I still don't think I've recovered!!!

I am a registered childminder and our lot finish school this coming Wednesday so I have to get thinking about how to entertain them for the 5 weeks that I will be looking after them all full time (some days there will be six children from 3 years to 9 here so wish me luck).

Don't forget my giveaway for this

the lucky winner will be drawn tomorrow evening. Good luck.

I'm having a giveaway .....

No particular reason. It's not my birthday or a blogisversary but it is Monday, the school holidays are fast approaching (stand by your beds mums!), it's my grand-daughter Ellie's 5th birthday this week and her new baby brother is due in two weeks!

Here is what is on offer ..... ....... one of the shoulder bags that I have been making from re-cycled vintage embroidered fabric. This one was a table cover in a previous life ..... I have lined it with Laura Ashley Abbeville fabric and it has a vintage button from the collection sent to me by Mary Poppins in a recent SSC swap.

All you have to do is leave me a comment and pass the word to your bloggy friends. I will get my Ellie to pick a name from a hat this next next Monday the 20th July. Good luck everyone.

A parcel from overseas .............

Today I received my lovely giveaway gift from Marianne at http://www.letempsjadis.blogspot.com/ ...... they are just perfect as I am a collector of blue & white antique china (you would never guess after looking at my header photo would you!)... some lovely coasters with blue and white Dutch houses and a pretty notebook with flower illustrations by Marjolein Bastin. Thanks so much Marianne.

Last year I had a box of cups and saucers with little blue forget-me-nots by Marjolein which I purchased at a local auction house .... I only managed to sell a few and donated the rest to our Hospice Charity Shop .... I wish I had held onto some of them now as she is so talented and they were so pretty.

Good Friday & Happy Easter Everyone

I have been feeling a bit iffy this week .... always the way when I have no children to look after and some time to myself .... so a battery recharge was called for although I have taken advantage of sitting round on my bum and completed some more bits to take to the Delapre Abbey Craft Fair in Northampton in 2 weeks time.
We popped out to do some shopping earlier so I don't have to visit a shop till next week hopefully .... there is a shop that sells everything for 90p and just look at these seeds ... 15 small packets or 4 large packets for just 90p .... that was a bargain I just couldn't resist and Wilko had some onion sets for £1.25 a bag. We are trying to grow more for ourselves this year as money is tight due to short time working and hope to have a plentiful supply of our own salads, veg and herbs . I really miss my dad's allotment ... prior to his stroke he grew everything for years and I don't think we ever had to visit a greengrocers ... there is something about the smell and taste of home grown that the supermarkets can never capture, even with their organic ranges. Strawberry plants were on offer in B & Q this week too so got some of those to plant in a tub on the patio.
Yesterday the postman brought my lovely giveaway prize from Pat at The Sewing Room - this was my first win and I am absolutely delighted. Pat is a very clever and generous lady - the apron and hat are so cute and beautifully made and she had popped in my fave choc too.
Hope to raise the energy to have a de-clutter at the weekend and do my first car boot of the year to turn my trash into cash. Be back soon .....