The Joyful things

As the New Year starts something happened today which made me want to record all the small joyful things of 2013.

More later of the joyful thing that happened today. First a think back at the risk of sounding like Pollyanna ..all the things that have made me glad so far.

The first joyful thing was to be in the company of good friends as the New Year came in.

The next morning I felt a little worse for wear and took Hetty for a walk in the mist. Great lungsful of fresh winter air rejuvenated me and made me feel fantastic and glad to be alive.

Later in the week I treated myself to a new watch with my christmas money. A small joy, choosing, selecting, trying and deciding, having had a very cheap one with  a broken strap for quite some time.

The joy of Friday was being able to help my Mum sort out her tripped out electricity circuit...she was so relieved.
Of course Hetty always makes me glad especially when she sits with her legs out like this.

 And now for the thing that happened today and started it off.
I was in church at the Epiphany mass.
We had just had communion and were all sitting quietly for a few moments meditation when little Annie-Rose Perkins the almost 3 year old daughter of a couple started to sing. No one had put her up to it.  She just began.
Her little piping voice went through two verses of 'Away in a manger' almost perfectly.
Its a very small church and everyone was listening with bated breath (including the priest) and when she finished there was a collective almost audible smile of joy.
Its something I'll remember for a long time.

Christmas is over, and the tree comes down tonight. Its been a nice tree and I'm sad to take it out.

 Here are two fine fellows new to my Christmas story.
Would you like two the same?
I got them from Homecrafts direct who asked me to review the product in return for a pair of my own and a pair to giveaway. Do click the link and have a look at their website, there's tons of useful stuff there, its amazing. They are papier mache and are meant to be decorated but I didn't have time to do anything with them before christmas so they just stood in the window in their birthday suits and I think they look lovely from inside...

 and from outside.

If you would like to win a pair for yourself just leave a comment here with some sort of related message. Perhaps you have some ideas of what to do with them? I might paint mine white and add some decoration.

You might have better ideas. There's a whole twelve months to get them ready for next Christmas!
Over to you.

Hetty here

She's been at it again in that room..this time she kept calling me to sit and have this thing fastened on..I wouldn't mind but she whipped it off me again when I'd just got it warm.

 Then it was the photos. 

Sit still...not that way..this way...

 just got warm again when she whips it off and tries another. 

I was so fed up I turned my back on her.

 Oh come on I said..enough's enough.

 I'll think about it.

 Alright then. 

Then she pinches them off me and says they're for someone else.

 Then there was the party. We had a great time. 

Here's a picture of us playing musical mats. See that fat black dog? I had the best fun walking round behind him with my nose stuck to his rear end. 

He had NO TAIL!

I don't think he noticed.

 The only bad bit was having to wear this lot again. Still we won third prize in the fancy dress.

 Don't you think I look angelic? 

That was Tuesday.

Look at me now! I feel like a turkey. I've had me  hair cut..there's nothing on me legs!

Its bloomin' freezing.

 And to top it all...she took the coat away and gave it to another dog.Missy.

 And she sent the other one to Betsy.

 Where's mine? 

Oh she didn't get a picture of that did she?

So here's me as an angel again. 

With short hair.

Brrrrrrr! 

Merry bloomin' Christmas.

Corsages and two ladies

Well, the last post had a single corsage but now I have a grand total of five.

 They are a bit experimental, having a centre in my usual technique..velvet appliqued to felt, and the spiky bits are stitched on a separate piee of felt and cut out, along with a few extras, and then its all assembled and glued in place onto a very lovely antique bronzed suersize pin.

 They are perfect for adding to woollen things such as shrugs or shawls or cardigans. I have a felt coat which fastens with a pin, so I'll be using one of these from now on.

This one is more oval in outline which I thought someone might like.

 I have also started the smaller brooch trail with this red heart...

 I thought I'd show the difference in size, and I love photographing piles of things!

Here's something I started ages ago. I have wanted to make a mirror in felt for a long time but wasn't quite sure where to start. 

I did start with this piece of felt quite a while ago. The little blobs were added pre-felts and were just placed roughly in a 'growy' sort of way.....you see I don't really know what I'm doing?

So I just started stitching and chopping until I had this.

 I like the colours and they remind me of pre-Raphaelite paintings. From there I leapt to The Lady of Shalott. She viewed the world through a mirror from a tower and wove her tapestry until Sir Lancelot came trotting by and she was smitten, and....

Well you'll have to read it for yourself. Its quite mesmeric so I added a few scene-setting words that I liked.

You may guess the word River would be in the next lines.

'Thro the wave that runs forever

By the island in the river

Flowing down to Camelot'

Perhaps I should make a companion piece with the rest of the verse!

 Here it is standing on a rather grubby island in the river of untidiness that is my workroom.

And here is not...the Lady of Shalott.

But here is my little Lady in relaxed mode after her op.

I'm happy to say she is much better now. The collar is off but we have to keep our eyes on her for stitch biting.

Hearty Cheers

Valentines Day and the Chorley Contemporary Crafters big Crafty Takeover at Astley Hall approacheth.

And I'm ready!

Reddy I should say...reddy reddy red red.

Not only that but I have resurrected the leaves I made a very few of two or maybe even three years ago.

They are a bit fiddly to make but I do like them.

This is my favourite.I used lots of snips of velvet in colours I'd almost run out of.

The same with greens and yellows.

More hearts in other subtler colours.

There's got to be purple hasn't there?

Caramel anyone?

Paisley?

On my stall there'll be Tweets and Tweed bags and silk cuffs and tweed brooches..and then there are all the other lovely stalls and lovely people....come and see for yourselves.

Its good to sit at the sewing machine when the weather is bitter outside, and then go out and find little works of nature's art in the garden.

This why we have to go in the garden...often! (And not always in time)

We had such fun at puppy training last night. A room full of baby doggies? Its the best thing ever.

Hetty was very good and had especial fun when Ferdinand,  a little Laso apso decide to practice his humping skills on her! 

    We were wondering what we might call the offspring, 

you know, like cockerpoo, and Labradoodle.

   'Schnapso' was the best we could do. 

Fortunately we won't have to worry about that due to their age. 

Ferdinand didn't really know what he was doing!

Loving and Living

February is nearly here and for the first time ever I am actually going to have some luvverly hearts ready for the big day. 

(I say 'the big day' but in our household it goes largely..in fact completely ..unnoticed. 

Ah its a good job love is more than hearts and flowers isn't it?)

But for those who like a bit of romance, there are some heart brooches here.

 As with all my restarts, it takes a time to get going again. (I've made something else this year but thats under wraps as its a gift. I'll show it later.) Here's a first purple one..with whirly bits.

 Talking of love....I love where I live. The North West of England.  My actual village is pretty wonderful for walks, but we are also in such a good spot for getting to other places! Less than an hours drive took us the village of Staveley near Kendal, where we had a walk along the river with Hetty and then a drink and a sticky bun in the dog friendly Wilf's cafe. Then a drive home via Arnside, which, by the time we arrived, was a picture glowing in the late afternoon sun.

 With the sea on our right we drove along the coast road looking for flocks of starlings (which we missed by 5 minutes) and watching the sun set over the bay.
Really lovely, and home in time for tea.

I was having a root through some old things that came from my in-laws- house. In a box I found this little wooden turned tube.

 On unscrewing the top I discovered these. The one on the right is easy to identify,

 a vey fine crochet hook which sits inside its own handle.

 But the other thing took a bit of experimentation to work out what it is. There is a large tube, with a shorter tube and it contains three small crochet hooks, with a sort of pin head on each one.

 After fiddling about with each one, I've discovered that you put the pinheaded hooks through the short tube (the pinhead bit stops them falling out)

 then you put the short tube into the large tube and give it a little turn to lock it into place. 

I can only wonder who used these precious items before I found them . We absorbed all the bits and pieces that came from my mother in laws, and her parents' home. These include a basket made from an armadillo, several carpet beaters and a device for making an ice cream sandwich! 

I'm so sentimental. I can't bear to throw stuff away. (but I might draw the line at the armadillo. Its got hairs!)

Anyway I thought I'd share the crochet hooks. 

I'm busy collecting my own heirlooms of the future and two more arrived last week.

I was contacted by Al from 'All Tea Towels.' before Christmas asking me to review some tea towels. I said yes then forgot all about it, but have been in touch again and have received two fantastic tea towels of my choice. 

And talking of choice..it was really hard to decide. There are so many lovely ones to choose from. Just click the link on the name to go and have a look for yourself.

 Nice and big, great quality fabrics and really well printed. 

Nice enough to go in frames even!

First I chose this iconic 'Tunnocks teacakes' wrapper design. 

I love the graphic and it takes me back. I never liked the things..but I loved squashing all the tops in the packet! 

As I'm a very big fan of tea I just had to choose this one

 I love 'monkey' and thought it was a bit of fun. 

 I love his grey face 

 but I wonder if I have been influenced by someone?

 Who was really non-plussed by having to sit on my sewing room table and be photographed in monkey mode.

Look at the eyelashes!