Crochet crochet crochet!

Hi all, it seems I have a bug......a crochet bug lol!  I can't stop! I have completed squares, a baby hat, a tiara and I'm now making some granny squares for a table runner.  I love the lacy look the versatility and the speed of which something can be made.  Knitting is lovely and you can make some gorgeous items but it seems to take forever to me.  I will continue to knit inbetween crochet projects though so don't worry I haven't given up on it altogether!  I will post some photos of my completed makes soon.

On a different subject I am getting into the swing of making stock for my Farm House Designs business.  I'm hoping to be ready to do craft stalls from September onwards.  I have at least 2 big events planned for next year - details to follow when everything has been finaslised :-)

Quinn seems to have a wheat sensitivity so I am trying my best to substitute things in his diet so he can still enjoy eating with us without the horrible fall-out in his nappy.  I have made some nice wheat and gluten free bread and today with the children's help some wheat-free brownies and cookies will be produced!  I'm also going to make some pastry and make a pumpkin pie!  Lots of yummies!!!

I hear thunder and I have washing on the line so will go before the storm hits and I have to rescue it all in the pouring rain.
Bye for now!

Have you missed me?

Hi everyone!!!  Sorry I've been absent from blogging for a while but I have been going through some not very nice personal stuff which included both my husband and I losing our jobs, battling severe depression (from before the job loss).
On the positive side I am trying to start my own business from hope selling handmade cards and invitations (made to order mostly) and hair accessories :-) It is called Farm House Designs and at the moment I only have a facebook page www.facebook.com/fhdesigns2013 which shows some of my work so far.  I am busy trying to build up my stock of ribbons as well as my stock of alligator clip bows, snap clip bows, bobbles/pony holders, hairbands etc.  Constantly learning new techniques and developing new ideas too.  Would like to have a lot more products eventually but right now I cannot afford a huge outlay to get ALL of the bits I need!  I would like to make dummy/pacifier clips, toy/drink cup leashes, bag charms......  I have a very LONG list lol!!!

Father's Day!
So it was Father's Day last Sunday.  I hope everyone had a lovely day.  Dave had a bacon and cheese sandwich in bed with a coffee.  The children got him a hamper/basket of american candy which included his favourite - Runts!!!  The hamper came from Lisa's Sweets Galore www.facebook.com/lisas.galore  this lovely lady sells all sorts of sweets and arranges them in lovely baskets, glasses and sweet trees too!!  Party bags are not a problem and favours for weddings etc.  Her trees are a great idea for table centrepieces at parties or receptions!  This is the one we got for Dave:

It has Runts, lemonheads, nerds, laffy taffy among others!

We also got a bit creative and I have to admit that I saw this idea on another blog - http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2010/06/fathers-day-shirt.html  Sugar Bee Crafts is a lovely lady with amazing ideas!!!  She embroidered the logo on the front but as I can't do that I just used fabric paint for all of it!  I have to admit I was worried that the writing would look awful but I don't think I did too bad a job.  What do you think?

Not too shabby eh?  For a first go at it anyway :-)

He loved it needless to say so the effort was at least appreciated.  Had the parents over for lunch then a quiet evening.  All over for another year!

I will try to update on my crafting journey - i have knitting and crochet to share with you all too!  Too much to talk about in one blog!

Signing off for tonight

Claire
xxx

I have re-discovered my love of cardmaking!

I have loved spending time with my 3 children over the Easter Holidays - even if they have driven me slightly more crazy and added a few more grey hairs!  But the best thing about this last fortnight has been my friend.  Not only has she been her usual great self, but she has given me my confidence in my cardmaking skills back and my mojo has returned!  It has been lost somewhere for the last 3 and a half or so years and I'm happy to say that my kitchen table is covered with most of my stash.  I have a very large table and 2/3 of it iss covered! I have re-discovered things that I didn't know I had which is great as it's like the thrill of going shopping for more stuff but without spending money lol!  I have churned out a few cards (one of which has been posted before I took a photo :-( ) which has suprised me and delighted my husband.  He has been trying to suggest to me over the last few months that maybe I should start up again, but I just haven't had any enthusiasm to do it.  Probably down to my depression.   So if you are reading this:

THANK YOU J!!!!

You have helped me more than you know.  Love you loads xxx

And now to the gallery of my (latest) cards:

Badger decoupage

Pyramage

collection

Born to shop die-cut sticker

Foiled/Dufex decoupage

Foiled/Dufex decoupage

Twisted Pyramage

Twisted Pyramage card standing up

Decoupage wine bottle etc

Pyramage (don't know why it uploaded this way!)

   I have also made quite a few toppers for cards over the last 2 weeks, and a congratulations card for my cousin on the birth of her baby boy on Friday early morning. I forgot to take a photo before I posted it unfortunately, but I was very proud of it! I am currently working on some waterfall cards and hoping to get some of my better cards (not all of my cards are pictured here!) into a shop for sale.  Here's hoping!  I also made my own wedding and evening invitations and save the date cards last year.  There are some photos of these in the wedding photo folder on my facebook profile, I'll try to remember to blog about them sometime.....

Anyway, hope these have been interesting to you and if you want to leave any comments, please do so.  Constructive criticism is welcome but nasty comments are not!

Thanks for reading!

Claire

x

T-Shirt art!

I saw a pin on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago about how someone had used sports shirts/jerseys and covered canvas frames with them to decorate a wall in her son's room.  It'll be on one of my boards somewhere I forget probably great ideas one - Anyhoo there is a t-shirt of Zacks that I just couldn't bear to get rid of that he got when we went to Disneyland Paris in 2007 and one of Anya's that she loves that doesn't fit her anymore either with Rapunzel from the Disney film Tangled on it.  I've been wanting to do something with them for ages and I had an AHA! moment when in The Works shop the other weekend.  Bought a pack of 4 of these canvas frames for £3.99 I think and was determined to try and do as this other mum had.  We already had a staple gun and some staples hidden away in one of the sheds (I sent Dave on a mission) so I was all set.  Well what with all of the illness last week I didn't get chance to do it but 2 nights ago I FINALLY sat down with everything and had a go. 
THE KIDS LOVE THEM!!!!!  They and Dave were a bit skeptical to begin with but when they were finished agreed that it was a great idea.

close-up

she wanted to cover her face!

can't believe he fitted into that t-shirt once!

So the photos above show what I did.  I know there's a big space at the bottom of Zack's one but that's because the motif was at the top of the t-shirt nearer to the neck-line.  Rapunzel covered the whole t-shirt so looks much better.  At least they get to keep them now and they will be on the wall and out of the way!

What a half term!!!

I hate this but I've got to do it:
O - M - G!!!!
Was that half term?  What happened? Where'd it go? Who stole it from me?  I'll tell you WHAT stole it from this family and that was a nasty sickness bug.  Saturday and Sunday nice start to the week but then came Monday......Dave in and out of the bathroom ALL DAY!  Quinn seems to be off colour and off food with not very nice nappies but otherwise ok.  Then Tuesday comes along and Dave feels crappy but not actually sick or anything, baby Q still off food a bit and nappies were horrible, I was a little off colour and a few more trips to the toilet that I would've liked but not sick.  Anya and Zack perfectly fine so far......
Uh oh!  Hear Anya crying at about 4am Wednesday, Dave goes to investigate as I think she has just wet the bed (only her 5th dry night so expecting some accidents) and I hear him react in the wrong way to a wet bed....not angry or anything just a lot more concern in his voice (can't hear exactly what is being said, just the tone) so I get up to investigate too and was faced with a little girl insisting that it was "just an accident" covered head to toe in puke and all over her bed too bless her!  I'm not great with vomit but I jump in to help, taking Anya to the bathroom to bathe her and wash her hair etc while Dave strips the bed, assesses the cuddlies for splatter and takes all downstairs to wash.  Little Q woke up a bit with all the commotion (A was whimpering a bit as I washed and dried her) but settled again ok and Z was dead to the world as usual.  Clean bed, clean Anya job done.
Working Wednesday so knackered when we get up, get kiddies sorted and on the road.  Zack then says he's not feeling well.  Here we go, I thought but all he had all day was eggy burps!  We're supposed to be having the step-kids tomorrow and I begin to panic!  We can't let them down again, in the past SOMETHING has always happened to stop us having them over.  We decide to go ahead unless we are up to our knees in vomit, or something close. 
So Mel brings the children over Thursday pm as discussed and they settle down.  Dave gets the beds sorted, we have tea, all 5 (Q being too young) watch a DVD then bed.  All going very well.....
Friday goes well, shopping, cooking, computers, TV etc.  Take-away Pizza for tea with ice-cream then popcorn and movie night - heaven for them!  Anya and Jack go to bed and the oldest 3 pick another movie to settle and watch.  they go up and all is great until......
Jack pukes all over himself and the sleepingbag and air-bed!!  ANOTHER bath and bed change (complete bed in this case!) and the poor little thing had to sleep downstairs as when he moved he puked!
Jack not well all day saturday, Mum and Dad visited, cakes baked in afternoon, THEN Rose gets sick after tea with Holly shortly after!  Worried now as Holly is diabetic - I mean SERIOUSLY diabetic with a pump etc - so needed to make sure all was ok.  Rose was being a trooper taking care of herself mostly bless her and sleeping on the sofa (where she was when she first fell ill), Holly had Anya's room to herself because as soon as she was ill we took Anya to our room.  What a night!
So long story short: the only people who weren't vomiting in our house last week was Zack and me!  So glad I have my Scentsy warmers to take away the smells :-)  FML!  Please can I have a better easter break?

I actually have a blister!

A blister on my hand from overuse of scissors!  They have comfy rubber-type handles too and are very sharp so aren't difficult to use.  Will have to give it a rest for now, let my hand heal a bit before cutting more material up.
My lovely friend brought up a bagful of goodies for me this weekend.  There's a couple of shirts that I can make dresses for Anya from, some jeans that I can use to make a rug/mat for the entranceway as it will be hard-wearing and some other bits that I can incorporate into other projects.  There was also a little bag hidden amongst this bounty and when Anya and I opened it the squeals of delight could be heard in Downham I'm sure!  Ribbons!!!  Lots and lots of loverly ribbons!!!!!  Shiny and glittery and all sorts of colours and lengths - I am so going to enjoy finding uses for them!  Anya immediately put some round her head and in her hair!  So thank you Jo, you really made our day and as promised I will keep you posted on the progress of any project I use the items in.  I am slowly gathering the bits and pieces that I need.  I need to get some trim for the top and bottoms of the shirt/dresses and some edging and elastic for the shoulder straps.  I think that's it.  Then got to spend some time cutting the shirts up (I'll probably tackle both at the same time) and reassembling them, measuring the squirming 3 year old, trying to get time to sew it all back together without going wrong!!!  It'll be a challenge but I WILL get them done though maybe not for a few weeks yet. 
Got a busy few weeks coming up.  Zack's birthday in 2 1/2 weeks and party too.  Got his birthday cake and some smaller cakes to make and ice for that not to mention the party food and party bags!  The there's his present which I haven't even thought about yet! 
I'm hoping to make a Lego figure head for his main cake and some smaller cakes in the shape of little bricks.  NO CUPCAKES!!! Not for a lego party.  Love cupcakes but I don't think they'll fit in very well.....
It hasn't been very nice at home today as Dave has had a nasty bug so has spent his time either sleeping or in the bathroom!!!  Quinn has had a bit of a bug too as he's had diarrhoea today and been off his food a bit for the past couple of days. Anya has been her usual energetic self so been trying to keep her entertained as well as look after Dave and Quinn.  Zachary has been out on his bicycle most of the day in the nice weather so out of the way of all the germs!  Not pleasant but comes with the territory.
Oh well I hope they're better tomorrow and none of the rest of us come down with it.  Dave wants to go to Barry L Hawkins auction viewing tomorrow afternoon but if he's anything like he is today, he won't make it out the front door!

Ouch!

My right hand is sore from cutting material up :-(  Right at the base of my thumb.  And I have a LOT more to do!  It will be really worth it in the end though.  I now have a HUGE crochet hook so I'll be able to start my rug as soon as I have all the preparation done.  The t-shirts are for a standard type rag rug so I will be going from having hardly any rugs in the house to rug overload!
Anyway the experimental slow cooked breakfast turned out ok.....not a resounding success but not a complete failure either.  It could do with some fine-tuning for my family's particular tastes but I quite liked it.  It was a lovely smell of apples and cinnamon to come downstairs to.  Even Zack had 2 helpings so it couldn't have been THAT bad!!!  Anya refuses to eat anything but chocolate porridge (porridge with a bit of cocoa powder/drinking chocolate in) so was unimpressed, Dave said it was missing something but it was nice anyway.  Oh well, I'm sure the more I make it, the more I'll put my individual twist on it.  It probably didn't help that I couldn't find any ground flaxseed for it as stated in the recipe.  I added extra oats to help soak up the liquids which helped a bit but I'm not sure what the ground flaxseed adds to it?  I've never used it and don't really know what it is!  Answers on a postcard.....
Dave is still working on his project, disappears into the garden room occassionally for an hour or so.....
Haven't done any more knitting recently, bought a row counter to help so I don't have to keep going back and counting rows - it drove me mad!  Just couldn't remember how many I'd done and forgot to write it down somewhere! 
I tried one of these home-made recipes for Mod Podge yesterday.  Looked ok.  Decided to brighten up a flower pot with Anya's help.  Had some crepe paper laying about from Xmas so thought we could cover the pot with it.  Had yellow, purple and blue.  It seems to have worked.  The podge went on ok (maybe get one of those sponge brushes though for future) and did another coat after first one dried.  Looks ok kinds of "old-paint" look.  The terracotta shows through the paper a bit but I like it and so does Anya so that's what matters!  We're going to plant some flower seeds in it :-)  I'll put a picture on later.  Got to go out and meet mum for lunch now or we'll be late!!!

Valentines...a day late!

Hi hope you all had a nice V-day yesterday?  I spent most trying to finish off a cushion I started to make for Dave for V-day 3 years ago!  While I'm in a sewing mood I thought it would be a good time to finish it and give it to him.  He started a project for me too but I'll be waiting a little while for it.  It's a lovely idea though and will look great when finished - I'll show you when he's done.
We didn't want to spend money on silly little things or flowers etc.  He even made me a card (his first ever!) which was really lovely and sweet.  I think I'm rubbing off on him!
Anyway this is the cushion I made

The hearts are felt and sewn on with white zig-zag stitch (admittedly very wonky - I'm not the best with a sewing machine), the D was sewn with red thread in zig-zag and the cushion is stuffed with normal toy stuffing.  The main part of it is a black furry fabric which is very cuddly.  Dave really likes it and it has pride of place on his armchair.  The downside is that it's so comfy he falls asleep on it!  Oh and Anya wants me to make her a pink mini-cushion to cuddle now......
I've actually spent a lot of today being not very well with my vertigo.  When my tablets took hold I was able to get downstairs and spent some of the morning cutting up t-shirts and other items of clothing ready for a future project.  Got some more car stuff sorted out thanks to my wonderful hubby - they might have found the master key at last!  Well tomorrow will be a full day of shopping and moaning children so I'd better get the breakfast put on ready for the morning....
Overnight cinnamon-apple-oatmeal





Fingers crossed it turns out ok!

Scentsy

Can't wait for the new Spring/Summer 2013 Scentsy catalogue!  Not only have they got some lovely new scents and warmers but they also have new buddies, one of which is a HEDGEHOG!!!!  Now that probably doesn't excite most of you but for anyone who knows me personally you will all understand how unimaginably excited that makes me!!!  I am hedgehog OBSESSED! I have ornaments, fluffies, slippers, windchimes, frames, pens, Oh goodness LOTS and LOTS of different things with hedgehogs on them, so you see this is quite a big deal to me.  His name is Havi and I have GOT to have him!  There are 5 other new ones too which I will no doubt mention eventually but eeeeekkkk!!! I'm still bouncing up and down about it!

Here he is, how cute?
Now whilst looking at the new warmers I came across these ones.  They are adorable!!!

The blue one is called Peek-a-blue and the pink one is Pink-a-boo!  Even the names are cute!  Perfect baby shower or christening gifts!  And with the Newborn Nursery scent bar you just can't go wrong!  Here are a couple of close-up pictures of them:

Peek-a-blue

Pink-a-boo

So sweet, aren't they?
Anyways time for bed I think.  No knitting done today I felt so rubbish that I actually fell asleep on the sofa after the kiddies went to bed.  Only woke up when Anya got up not feeling well.  Off to bed methinks..

A new discovery

Thanks to a friend I have discovered www.lakenheath.bookoo.com, an online yard sale site that a lot of americans based in and around Lakenheath in Suffolk use to sell their unwanted items.  I thought I'd check it out will let you all know how I get on.
Dave is still wearing the earring I made him yesterday!  I will make him a proper one at some point and also get a photo but he's being camera shy right now!
Anya is still screaming and crying every time I leave her at Playgroup even though she's upbeat before I am about to go.  Any ideas about this?  I've tried bribery, getting her attention taken away by distraction, staying for a few minutes and starting an activity with her, I'm totally at a loss now. I feel like a really mean mummy when I leave and can hear her still crying as I walk out of the gates and back to the car.  I know she's ok while she's there when she has calmed down and has a lot of fun but it is little comfort when my baby girl is sobbing cos she doesn't want me to go.  All the ladies that work there are lovely people and I have friends who's children have been there and are going there so nothing odd going on. I'm just baffled and frustrated by her behaviour.  I hope that someone can give me some advice before I break and stop taking her.

component jewellery???

Ooh not feeling to well today but at work anyway.  Caught a bit of D & V I think but it'll pass so I'm not signing my will just yet!
Dave's been on and on about some jewellery he has seen online that people have made out of electrical components such as resistors.  I had a moment of inspiration today and made an earring for him with 3 different coloured resistors.  I will post a pic later when we are at home and I have the camera.  Quite proud of myself as I only used the resistors and some hot glue.  Obviously if I were to do it properly and not on the spur of the moment the piece that goes through his ear would be a proper silver-plated earring piece and not one of the legs of the resistors that I cut off pinched and glued to the back and then bent into a hook shape to hold in!!!!
well better get back to work...

Starting to get the hang of this

Cardigan....sort of!

This knitting lark isn't so bad really, the picture is of Anya's cardigan so far.  Sorry about the lighting I only had the lamp on.  It's a weird shape I know but hopefully when sewn together it will look lovely.....

It's a pale purple colour, not exactly lilac but I can't think of the colour right now at 1 in the morning!  I'm very proud of myself as the last time I was knitting was when I was about 10!  so 22 years of not knitting and I'm having to re-learn the basics as well as learning to read patterns and new techniques like the wrapping and turning I had to do on this to shape it on the bottom right.  I am finding myself thinking more and more about crochet though....will have to try a simple square and then maybe a flower sometime soon.
Anyhow, my other knitting project as I mentioned before is my scarf:

Scarf....

Again sorry for the dark photo, the bottom colour is a kind of grass green and the next colour I have started is a deep crimson with purple flecks in it.  They look great against each other and I have a third colour to add which is a dark purple and I'm going to keep alternating colours until I've used them all up or I get some more that will fit in with these colours :-)  This is just an in-between project for when I get fed up with following a pattern and just want something that I don't have to think to hard about lol!
Tomorrow I will be at work but when I next get some free time I'll be turfing out all of Dave's and my clothes that no longer fit or are a bit shabby and I'll be mostly cutting them into strips to make rag rugs, If Dave has any shirts that no longer fit they will find themselved turned into dresses for Anya (see my Sewing board on pinterest for a link to the tutorial for this).
Anyhoo I'd better get to bed, got kids to get ready and work to go to in the morning.  Just hope I can stop thinking about crafting long enough to drift off......Oh and have I mentioned Mod Podge and the home-made versions of it yet??? Well.....
Oops!  Off I go up the wooden hill to bedfordshire....here I come pillow soon to be without pillowcase as I'll probably turn it into a dress for Anya as well in the near future......

Pinterest!!!!

Right, well, car probs have calmed down a little so other than to say I love the space  and driving it, I'm not going to mention the car in this post today.
Knitting.....trying to knit at least!  Going much better than previous attempts I have about half of the first part of Anya's cardigan done with very little trouble apart from when it came to shaping under the sleeve holes.  I had to watch 3 tutorials on you tube before I got wrap and turn down.  So got a delivery of some chunky wool from ebay and started knitting a scarf for myself with it.  first time I have changed colours but it seems ok so far.  Only started it so I had an easy(ish) project to go to when I got frustrated with the cardigan ;-)
I will post pictures on here when I get a bit of time (and piece and quiet!) to do it.  I am very proud of my work so far.  Also trying to learn crochet - never one thing at a time eh?
Found a great tutorial on pinterest (look on my knitting and crochet board) on how to make a rag rug using single crochet.  It is a very clear and very easy to follow tutorial for a round and an oval rug.  I will be on the search for old sheets, curtains etc that I can rip into strips and use for that.  Watch out everyone I will be digging through your laundry lol!!
Another thing I found on pinterest was a very elegant and rustic looking wall mounted shelving unit made from a wooden pallet!  Look out work - Dave and I will be upcycling a couple of the pallets you have laying about outside not being used.....
I cannot believe that I have only just found out about pinterest - how have I managed to exist without it?  The hints, tips and ideas on there are amazing.  It is full of a wealth of knowledge from all over the world.

Anyway have to go now as got food to prepare and Anya trashing my non-toy space with toys because daddy doesn't tell her not to so that makes it ok. Grrrr!!!

Why me?

Car developed a horrible noise when leaving work.  Got as far as Waterbeach before it got really bad.  RAC towed car home.  Calling garage and Warranty peeps tomorrow.  Clutch f****d.  Not a happy bunny.
Really lovely couple invited us into their home (we were in waterbeach to buy a radio for Dave that we had won from ebay - was supposed to be a 5 min stop on way home as we'd left work a little early especially) gave us coffee and kept the 3 of us warm while we waited.  There are some genuinely lovely people still left in the world.  As RAC guy (Ben) couldn't fit us in his van, Terry (radio man) offered to drive us all the way home!  How unbelievably kind! 
I need to make a special mention too for my super childminder Jessica and her husband Arron for hanging onto our other 2 until we got back and I could run the other car over to collect them.  So glad we didn't part-ex the Brava!
Now got to battle on phone tomorrow to get it fixed.  So going to have nightmares about this tonight.  Oh well here's to a restless nights sleep and a terrible morning.

New Year New Car!

Hi everyone it's me again!  Well I found the christmas spirit eventually, it was hiding in a tin of Roses chocolates lol!!!  Seriously, we did have a lovely christmas and new year with Mum and Dad and my sister and her family.  Presents were great - none that I even slightly considered exchanging!!!  Dave will tell you all that I am extremely difficult to buy for and very hard to surprise but he managed it this year!  Must be something about being married now but not only did I love all of my gifts from him, I actually had no idea what any of them were! Well ok, maybe a sneaking suspicion about a couple but normally I definitely know what most of them are but not this time!  Children loved all of their gifts too (I assume Quinn did anyway he didn't actually say much.....) and have played with ALL of them and are still playing with them.  None are left forgotten and cast aside in the corners of the living room or bedroom as is the case occassionally with some children (I have heard tales....) so needless to say I am very happy with the way things went.  Then out of the blue we get a phone call from someone who shall remain nameless (some of you reading this will already know who this is but they have asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal) saying that they would like to give us some money (GIVE not LEND) to get another car as the one we have is unreliable and a bit too small for our growing family!  OMG!!!  I'm not speechless often but this time I actually was - so much so that this person had to ask if I was still there and if I'd heard what they had said!  Then the thank you's and the tears flowed.  After the call the shock and disbelief set in.  The next day we were sure it was a weird dream that we had both somehow had at the same time but no, it was very real.  We are the luckiest people and very very grateful.  The hunt for a suitable car began in earnest but there wasn't really that much about (and still isn't) with our criteria.  Now all we wanted was a car that was newer than out current one and had either 3 separate back seats or an MPV (7 seater).  Dave has a thing against most French cars so that was a no-no.  We decided a while ago that we liked the Fiat Ulysse MPV's and so with that in mind we trawled the internet and car sales places.  At last we found one in Peterborough and one just north of Bradford.  We decided to look at the one in P'boro as it's closest.  Very Long story short, we liked it, got the cheque, banked it, waited for it to clear, went back today in the snow and bought it!!!  I feel very lucky and very happy right now.  Even though I have a stonking headache as I'm writing this.  I am fed, I am warm, I am loved an awful lot by my family and friends and we have an 8 SEATER CAR!!!  I ask you - How lucky can one person be?