Little houses and cockatiel catchup

There has been an echo in here for quite a few months. Oh dear! Still here I am with some updated makes.
First of all I had a rummage in the wood pile again, much to  Head Honcho's displeasure as it's located in his shed/garage and he is always afraid that I will stray of the beaten path and go rummaging around his shelves and disturbing his dust!

Even a little shoe brush didn't escape my attention and had a little house popped on top.

I havn't done too much on the knitting front at all. This used to be my all time love (along with embroidery) now it gets picked up very rarely. Oh well, what is a girl to do with so many other crafty things to try out. Here is a little knitted cockatiel that I made and he is happily swinging on his branch, cheeping to himself.

Isn't he just the cutest with his little topknot of 'feathers' and rosy cheeks.

The boys (Bobby and Archie) are still happy and cheerful this is them in the spring time admiring the flowers.

I will try and get posting again but certainly can't promise anything but if you are interested in following my craft work, I'm over on Facebook at Quirky Houses and hopefully I will 'see' you over there.

Linky parties are at chicken-chick blog and .sumoftheirstories.

Budgie cushion

After a bit of thought as to whether the budgie would look best as a cushion or picture, I made it into a cushion. From start to finish.......

                     

                                                   Wasn't keen on this frame...

                                               

                                                     Looks much better as a plump cushion  

                                                 
                                                    Very comfy on the chair, but no longer on my chair as somebody took a fancy to it and away it flew without a backward glance!!

Now for something completely different.......Cake! My daughter made this for a party after seeing one on Pinterest. A Cocoa cola bottle chocolate cake. Who'd have thought eh.

Swiss roll mixture on the inside. We don't drink coke ourselves so had to wait until a visitor turned up with a bottle! Apparently you can also make them with milk bottles....any plastic bottles I guess. Daughter said it was a bit of a faff making it but it tasted good and went down well at the party. Recipes can be found on Pinterest/google if you want a go yourselves.

Bobby and Archie modelling my new summer scarves for me. They look lovely in real life, and the doggies thought they were super posh.                                                                                                       Well, that's all for now folks, see you again soon.

                                                                                                                                                               

Dogs on wheels

I expect you thought I had given up my blog and left you all, well, I do admit it has been rather a long time but I'm here now and with an update on what I've been upto.

This was a simple project to do, blocks of wood were saved from the wood pile, sawn to size and then painted and a little house popped on top with some jolly bunting attached to the 'chimneys' Wouldn't it be nice to live in a house that has a heart over the door! It now sits on our mantlepiece.

I used to have a dog on wheels, many moons ago. Which I loved so much it was soon threadbare! I have wanted to try and create a similar one with a vintage look. So here it is, made from a cushion cover and then set on a platform with wooden wheels. He has the vintage feel I was after, so really pleased with that effort.

Soooo not stopping there I made a row of them!

Why have one when you can have a little row all sporting smart collars with little heart tags.

Hmmm, someone is trying to get in on the act, can you spot the odd one out?

Little Mr Foxy doesn't want to be left out and he has a set of wheels as well. This one was made from cotton fabric and then hand painted. Cute eh!

At our Home Sweet Home the flowers have taken a bit longer to bloom due to the unseasonable cold weather up here in Scotland.....even for our part of the world it is a tad chilly for June. The polytunnel strawberries took a nose dive and all that survived were some new plants that we bought...so far about 3 strawberries have been eaten, this doesn't compare favourably to last years bumper crop. Last year the raspberries were overflowing, not this year tho, rhubarb we do have plenty of really need to think of some recipes other than crumbles.

The one thing I was pleased about was bottling our bumper apple crop late last year and what a success. I used kilner jars and making sure the fruit was hot (with added sugar) the apple was ladled into the hot jars and sealed and then put into simmering hot water for 20 mins I think. As it was a bit of an experiment we were pleasantly suprised at how well it had kept (in a dark cupboard) and was delicious in a pie. That is 6 months from preserved to eating and kept the freezer freed up for other things. So that is one experiment that will be worth repeating come apple picking time.

Gosh that was a long post, lots more to catch up on so see you soon I hope xx

Bats in the belfry!

I don't think I've seen a real life bat....ever. To remedy that, on my todo list was a 'fake' one. My daughter beat me to it and made me a super duper bat of my own! Here she is hanging onto the curtain pole while eyeing up everyone.

Now, doesn't that look real! This gorgeous bat has leather ears, wire and material wings so they can be closed or opened and the body has been needle felted.

The dogs were rather scared of her at first but as she is very friendly they overcome their initial fears and had a good sniff, sensing no danger they were pleased to welcome Gertrude into the family!

Here Gertrude is with her wings closed and trying out this shelf to see how comfy it is.

    The fireplace was next...in the end she decided on settling on the bookshelf and that is where she waits for unsuspecting visitors and makes them jump....not because she says booo but they think we have a real bat in the house!!
(My daughter does make them similar to order)

At last Flo has been lifted off the shelf (after being there for a couple of years) and joined by a friend...you never know they might get finished some time soon! I just get sidetracked by other crafty bits and bobs.

We were very lucky to have about 3 days of continual sunshine (yes, we were amazed as well!) and although cold, it was a good opportunity to go out and about and breath in some fresh air. This is going to be the dogs best walk in the summer as they will have their own swimming pool!

See you again soon.
Party at;-
lucyblossomcrafts.
.the-chicken-chick.com/

Budgie picture and K9 jacket

Greetings folks. I have just about finished the budgie mixed media picture that I've been working on off and on for the last couple of weeks.

Here she is getting her crown made to measure and adding some applique flowers to make her perch pretty.

Not the best of photos unfortunately cos of the light being pretty dismal at this time of year.
I've added a little inspirational quote which reads; Put on your crown, take a deep breath, and step outside. Today is a New day. (not by anybody famous, just little ole me!)
I've put applique flowers with lace middles cascading down the side and added some more applique flowers to the perch and then embroidered the middles. If you notice the last one hanging down is a heart.
Few more bits of antique lace added and there you have it....a budgie with a crown! What more could you want in your life!!

Here is Bobby with another coat for chilly days. Made once again from my old raincoat and the backing is cut from a some old pyjamas, recyling at its best lol.

We can now be assured that our little hamlet is safe and secure in the knowledge that Bobby has passed his exams to be a K9 and he takes his duties very seriously barking at anything that moves from his (and Archies) table perch in the porchway. We can now all sleep soundly!! haha

I am at Lucy Blossoms blog this week .lucyblossomcrafts. and the-chicken-chick.com

Cosy, stripey blanket

Hi there folks from a rather icy far north. I had to clean out the freezer and as it was bitterly cold outside I just put the food outside! I tell you, all the food froze even some more and came back inside to a nice warm freezer in comparison haha.
The dogs think its excellent fun all the crunching and leaving little footprints in the snow/ice. We have lots of wood so we are nice and cosy and I'm on the last leg of knitting my rather large stripey blanket.

It had to be knitted into three sections as there was so many stitches on the needle. Just knitting the last edging and then I will see whats what. I think it's probably single bed size.

Look at all those ends but as I weaved in as I went along it was just snip, snip and all those ends were gone.

These stripes make your eyes pop open don't they haha.

This is the same pattern used to make a scarf, just right for those dark, winter days. Archie thinks its pretty comfy!

                         

                                                                                                                                                                  Thats all for this week folks, stay warm!

This weeks linky parties: clever-chicks-blog and .lucyblossomcrafts.co.uk/blog

Knitted Budgie Budgerigars

Let me introduce you to Chips the budgie. He is busy having a swing on his perch and chirping merrily away, whilst admiring the flowers that bedeck his driftwood perch. This is a no mess pet, double bonus....no clearing up!

 Now, have you ever seen a pink budgie....I've got news for you, Chips has a lady love who is pink, oh yes, indeedy!

This is Trixie, who as you can see, has a flower be-decked perch as well. They have flown off to their new home now and are living happily together with their new owners.

Still on the budgie front. I have started this embroidery, now I'm not sure which way this is going to go, maybe a picture, or maybe part of a cushion. Hmmm decisions, decisions!

We are keeping cosy here as you can see during the winter months when the days seem to be so dark. As usual the doggies hog the best place when its howling a gale outside. Nikki is on guard in case there are some treats going around so she can alert the others!

That's it for now folks, will try to keep the updates a bit more regular.

Linky party: .lucyblossomcrafts.blog
clever-chicks-blog-hop
.thededicatedhouse.com