Nesting

There have been all manner of problems recently with non-blogspot bloggers leaving comments over here. Judging from the last few days, if you don't have a google/blogger account, you've just given up. I don't blame you. But it's sad without you. So over the Christmas break, I'm going to be busy with a little blog nesting.


I'll let you know where to come and find me when I've unpacked. Somewhere a bit more welcoming hopefully.

The wonderful goodies in the photo arrived from Jennifer at Scissors Paper Glue yesterday. The boys were very put out that I was allowed to open my parcel when they have to wait for Christmas! If you want some similar booty of your own, she has an etsy shop. With lots of ephemera. I love that word, don't you?

Migration

Dallas sent me this lovely little embroidered bird recently.
It has nested on my bedroom door handle so I can see it when I wake each morning. It's the little things that make me happy.

Dallas's blog (Sallad.net) is one of the most cheerful places I visit . Do you ever label blogs in your head? My mental tags for you all include talented, funny, thought-provoking, visionary, savvy, self-aware, outrageous, genuine, beautiful, stylish - I could go on and on.

But apparently one of the words which comes to mind when you stop by here is 'nutty'.

Thanks for the award Kitty! And for her advent calendar story alone, I'm passing it on to Laura.

Pinny perfection

The slowness of the post across the pond forced Sarah to spill the beans about there being a little something headed my way, so I've been rushing to the door every time the postman's van appears. And here it is, proof that a watched pot sometimes boils, a perfectly gorgeous apron.

Sarah wouldn't have known that the colours of the flowers pick up the bluey tones of my kitchen cabinets and the tan, the floor tiles. Uncanny though isn't it? She has much better photos than mine - in fact, I had admired the apron when she posted about it, never thinking it was destined for my kitchen. Hell, it even matches my dishes, so I just had to show you.

Thank you friend. The other great thing about it is the enormous pocket, which is just what I need to stuff all my tissues in. I have the most stinking cold and I am cross about it, because I need to have lunch tomorrow. And taste cupcakes. And possibly drink Champagne. And not infect people. Damn. I'm being all secretive, but I am so looking forward to spilling the beans after the event.

Echinacea is my friend. And positive mental attitude. I do not have a cold, my nose is not streaming, I am healthy and not at all infectious.

The 's' word

Today seems an appropriate day for a Euro-centric post (given that our American chums will be far too busy stuffing their faces with turkey and vegging out to read blogs - Happy Thanksgiving though guys).

Now, don't hate me, I know, we're crafting like mad and pledging ourselves to Handmade, but sometimes, shopping just has to be done. I used to try to spend my gift cash at my local independent toy shop. But I obviously didn't spend enough, because it closed down recently. So sad.

In looking further afield, I discovered a little online gem for the under 5 crowd, called Izziwizzi Kids. This contraption had Johnny's name written all over it. Monkey scales (if anyone comes up with a tutorial for handcrafting those, I'll eat my shorts).


The customer experience was great and best of all, they've let me give all my chums £5 off. So if you want a money off code, let me know your e-mail. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you are spending money on illicit manufactured pleasures.

Happy shopping (sorry, the 's' word again).

Traditions

Hello Christmas-lovers! Just wanted to let you know about the amazing swap that's happening over at Montessori by Hand. I am a relative newcomer to Meg's blog, but I am in love with it. And she's hosting a Holiday Traditions Exchange.





Oh yes, decorations, traditions, music, recipes. It's all going on. Sign ups are open until November 10th. Go on, get those festive juices flowing.

I LOVE hearing about other families' Christmas traditions. But it's also a great chance for us to reflect on what makes Christmas special in our house too.

It's a beautiful day-hay-hay

Feeling the Friday joy today. Partly about the lovely goodies which landed on my doorstep from Jen of Swallowfield. I have a quick visit to get some frames for the gorgeous prints (yes, plural) she sent me - my favourite of all is called 'I feel lucky'.



It's very appropriate, since my lucky number is indeed 13 and I came to own it via good fortune in a generous giveaway. If you need a little luck of your own, pop over to etsy.

The colours are reminding me of a little project of my own I've been getting underway this morning.

Inside these babies is a cat toy. Yup - one of those jingle bell inside a plastic mesh ball thingummies. Which should mean I have just made a jingling Christmas decoration. We're still at prototype phase, but I did pick up a good few handfuls of the cat toys at the scrapstore when I last visited. There may be more to come. I love the idea of re-purposed ornaments on our tree this year.

Although perhaps not next week, because it is half term. Which is great in that the level of badgering required to get everyone out of the house on time goes down, but there isn't exactly much free time to spare either. Although perhaps papier mache might just be a great project for the boys. If I can handle the mess.

Running repairs

Moo cards are so very handy. Mine saved me from having to scribble out my details when I ran into a woman's car in Waitrose this morning. Yipes. She was loading her shopping into the boot when I did it, but mercifully she was extraordinarily nice about it. Perhaps it helped that I was grovellingly apologetic. But I like to think the pretty Moo card softened the blow a little.



Hell, if I had had a roll of this cute tape handy, I could have offered instant repairs. So if you're planning on doing any dodgy driving, perhaps you should pop over to paper and string and pick up a roll or two for the glove compartment. Stay safe.

Autumn wonder

"In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf." Eric Carle

Thank you so much Jo for this piece of Autumn wonder. A hand felted leaf brooch of great delicacy and beauty. I am a newcomer to 'The Knitted Blog' but I get the feeling I'm going to be hanging around there for quite a while.

Mark's case conference is this afternoon - it will be fine, it will be fine, it will be fine.

Smile in a jiffy bag

All packages are a fundamentally good thing. Even if they contain nothing more exciting than a replacement for the cracked shelf in the fridge or hubby's contact lens solution. But sometimes a parcel so awesomely wonderful arrives that it turns the whole atmosphere of a day around. Louise told me that her package would cheer me up. She even showed me a sneak peek, but I still wasn't prepared.

Oh, the anticipation...


The joy...

A truly beautifully crafted satchel in brown linen, with owl embroidery, lined in orange 'Katie Jump Rope' spots. My photo doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

The attention to detail...

Inside, the satchel's perfectly proportioned inner pockets were filled with colour co-ordinated notebooks, stationery, and yummies. And another mystery pouch.

The co-incidence...

This really made me marvel at the crazy co-incidences in this crafty world. Because I made a very similar pouch, with rather similar embroidery, featuring orange, for my partner and the organizer of this swap, Heidi. How spooky is that! Almost as spooky as being assigned Louise as a swap partner in the first place. I met her through the miniswap 2 that our offspring did and begged and pleaded with her to start blogging. I'm nothing if not persuasive!

The challenge...

The pouch held a lovely knitted cotton dish with a school house motif and yarn, needles and patterns to have a go at making one of my own. I love hand knit dishcloths and I'm so excited to give my one a try. Do you ever save a little project up for yourself as a treat? Well, this is going to be mine. Just wait until I've got the village craft fair out of the way.

I can tell you're getting envious now, so I won't show you the Sprout Design fabric or amazing woven sort of ric rack. I'm still grinning from ear to ear. Well, wouldn't you be? It's the crafty equivalent of Prozac.

Swap has landed

Phew, the Back To School swap parcel for Heidi at Friday Prize has landed! So finally I get to blab about the contents. It's the hardest part of swapping for me - keeping a lid on it so as not to spoil the surprise.

But as usual, I neglected to take a decent picture of the contents all together. I am always so excited to get my parcels sent off that I forget all about that part. Hopeless.

The thing I had most fun with was the artsy clutch from Bend the Rules Sewing. I did some sashiko style ripples and embroidered goldfish on the outside and found a ripple effect cotton for the lining. I was so so pleased with how it turned out that I think I need to make another one. Pure fun.

Have a great weekend - we're off to the Newbury Show. They have the JCB Dancing Diggers. How could we not?

J is for... Joining in

Johnny is a natural born joiner. Perhaps it's all part and parcel of being a little brother, because face it, if Mark was jumping off a bridge, Johnny would be there, attempting to leap first. It works for jumping off hay bales too I discovered...


But if I'm honest, I've got the younger sibling participation gene too. The latest escapade is the Back to School swap over at Friday Prize. We're exchanging a tote bag and notebook for capturing all those crafty inspirations and if you're me, a hundred ideas for fun things to go in that package are whizzing round my head.

I wonder if excitability and enthusiasm are younger sibling traits too?

Anyway, if it sounds like fun, pop over to get details of the sign up from Heidi. The deadline's Wednesday. Who wants to play?

Giving in (dis)gracefully

Okay, I've officially had enough of flooding. Now we are so much better off than most in that there is no water whatsoever in our house and very little danger of there being any, but the side effects were cheesing me off. The bridges across the Thames are closed to traffic, I'm boiling drinking water, the biggest local supermarket is flooded and everywhere else is full of panic-buyers and empty of food.

So what do you do when the going gets inconvenient? Well, call me a wimp, but the boys and I are at my folks for the rest of the week. In a blissfully un-flooded part of the country.

But we did manage a little draw before we left.

I even stopped by the post office and sent it to you Alice, but I gather the posties are on strike this week (because what's a little extra chaos thrown into the mix) so goodness knows when it'll arrive.

Really thinking of all the poor folks who have truly been hit by the floods. Makes me rather ashamed of my 'little princess hissy fit and flounce off to mama' behaviour.

Rodent

You know the old woman who lived in a shoe?
And had so many children she didn't know what to do?
I think if she lived in a little shoe-house--
That little old woman was surely a mouse!

-Beatrix Potter

Can you believe it, Miss Mouse is less than 3 inches tall? She is absolutely beautiful, with the tiniest most perfect little stitches, leather paws and tail and filament whiskers. The effort and attention to detail take my breath away.

Thank you so so much Louise. Go see the other wonderful things in her etsy store.

Stitchy

One of the highlights of last week was the arrival of a parcel from Alice of Raspberry.



I won a copy of Craft Magazine in her give-away, and when she sent it she included some trim and these rolls of measuring tape packing tape. Aren't they fab!

I am being drawn to sewing motifs at the moment - not least of all, these beautiful ceramics, and these rubber stamps and even my new shoes.

Oh yeah, new shoes - my 'not-buying-it' kick seems to have come to an abrupt end. I'm all, spend-it, have it, you're worth it at the moment - very very dangerous. Shopping anyone?

A great mail day

Some days the postman just brings a smile in an envelope.

From Monica, because she knows I would SO wear a chicken brooch.


And from Samantha - isn't this little Pinocchio tape the cutest? Both before and after telling his porkie pies.




Thank you so much for your kind thoughts and sage advice on tomorrow's appointment. I have a batch of homemade ice-cream in the freezer for afterwards, so one way or another, it's going to be a mighty fine day.

Random 7

I can ignore a nagging conscience about being tagged once, but twice and guilt gets the better of me. So seven random things with 7 photos:

1. I have signed the Official Secrets Act. For real. Sorry, can't tell you why. Classified...

2. Currently, I'm reading 'Special Topics in Calamity Physics' by Marisha Pessl. It's not about Physics at all. I'm a geek, but not that kind of geek.

3. For the duration of my first pregnancy I couldn't bear babies. They frightened me. Even now, I view newborns with the same trepidation as unexploded bombs. And I've had two of them!

4. I wear extraordinarily skanky pyjamas. Two years ago, our neighbour's house burned down. It was a huge fire and we had to evacuate with the kids. The most lasting trauma from the event was the comment from another neighbour who said to me "Global Hypercolor t-shirt? I haven't seen one of those since the 1980's"

5. My family call me Alilou (my middle name is Louise).

6. I like gnawing bones - ribs, the knuckle part of chicken drumsticks, lamb chops - mmmmm (sorry vegans).

7. I am drawn to people with flaws. I'm highly suspicious of anyone whose life appears too perfect. They're probably swigging vodka in a coffee cup on the way to school pick-up. Everyone has a skeleton somewhere!


The photos are seven elements of a wonderful package sent to me by the lovely Megan, who recently got back from a trip to Japan. Oh I was whooping and laughing as I opened this one! Even the paper bags were wonderful Thank you so much Megan. And to think she sent all this, just because I gave her some Tokyo shopping advice!

And speaking of lucky people, Alicia, you've won the June edition of Charlie and Lola! Quick, e-mail me your address.

Pink Milk anyone?

******* Stop! The draw has been done now and the lucky winner is Alicia. ********

Yup - here it is, the new Charlie and Lola crafts magazine! Plenty of stamping, pink milk and Pirates this month!

I promised another give-away, so if you'd like to win this copy, leave me a comment and I'll draw a lucky name in a couple of days.

******* Stop! The draw has been done now and the lucky winner is Alicia. ********

Table for two

In the half hour today when it wasn't drizzling, I went out to do a bit of pruning. All this rain has made my garden go bonkers and I could hardly see out of the kitchen window. The clippings were so pretty I couldn't bear to chuck them on the compost heap, so I popped them in a vase. Now I know it's not exactly Housemartin quality, but they made me smile.

And evidently I'm not the only one. When the boys sat down for their dinner Mark said 'Ooh look, flowers on the table. Can we have candles too?' So why not? Who doesn't like a candlelit dinner every now and again. For my sweet boy, who sometimes really notices the little things.

And my, that was a Charlie and Lola frenzy! Thanks for all the comments - the lucky winner of the C&L giveaway is Louise of Prairie Mouse. I'm so sorry if it wasn't you this time, but don't be too sad. It's a monthly magazine and I'll do another give-away when I see the next issue okay?

Supermarket bounty

I was cruising the aisles today: milk, apples, pasta, washing liquid (2 bottles - potty training seems to have regressed of late), wine, more wine... when what should leap into my trolley, but a new magazine.

Charlie and Lola do crafts! What could be more fun. You can dress Lola, decorate a mermaid,fill your lunchbox, design a dragon, colour and stick on stickers.

So would any of you folks unlikely to find this where you are like a copy? Because I'm kind like that and bought two. Leave me a comment (with an e-mail address attached to it - this is Blogger - you have to help me out a little) and I'll draw a lucky winner to sent it off to early next week.

Now excuse me, because me and the boys have a little cutting, sticking and colouring of our own to attend to.

Brownie points for hubby

It wasn't Mother's Day here in England this weekend, but I got the most wonderful gift anyway - a weekend alone! Yup, read it and weep sisters, hubby took the boys off camping for the weekend (luckily with a mate and his caravan because the weather was truly dreadful!). And me, I had a whole weekend home alone -bliss. I owe that man. It is nice to have them back though - tired, damp and hungry with 63 loads of washing!!

I learned several things this weekend:

1. There's not really very much difference between the things I do normally and the things I choose to do when left to my own devices. The main difference is that I do them without interruption and without feeling that I ought to be doing something else. In the grand scheme of things, I'd say that makes me a pretty lucky person.
   
   
2. If I lived alone, I would hardly cook. I found this quite shocking, because I cook all the time, I like to cook. But for me, cooking is all about showing love - I want to feed you well, make you feel welcome in my home, take care of you. Me alone? I just ate fruit, salami and popcorn! And the kitchen was much cleaner - I've always been deeply suspicious of people with spotless kitchens.
   
   
3. I never really enjoyed my own company until I had children, but the thing I appreciated most this weekend was the silence. No questions to answer, no instructions to issue, no nagging, no negotiating.... Of course, it did also mean no-one to tell when exciting parcels arrived:

From Lisa at U handbag - some Moda fabric and the much awaited Amy Butler Barcelona Skirts pattern!! I have made the prototype-skirt (well, I did have the whole weekend to myself!) which I'll show you soon, now my resident photographer is back home. And now I know the pattern is a good 'un (and it really is!) I can buy the expensive fabric I really wanted for the skirt.



And a totally unexpected goodie parcel from Monica - Amy Butler fabric!



I think she might have noticed that I'm slightly obsessed with Amy Butler at the moment. Is it possible to have a crush on fabric?