Little Scottish Harbour and more tea cup coasters.

Hello everyone from a very cold Scotland. We don't have any snow but the wind is so cold it cuts through me like butter. So different from a couple of weeks ago when it was almost spring like.....come back sun we miss you! I have trays of seedlings slowly growing on the window sills and I want to plant them up in the poly tunnel but I fear it will be too cold for the little things to survive. I just hope they don't get to leggy and fall over!

I have at last finished a little wooden Scottish Harbour. Wood rescued from the fire. The harbour measures approx 17" long by 2 and quarter inches tall. And nestling on top of a nice curvey piece of wood are a row of darling little cottages.

All the little houses were tiny bits of wood with the roof shaped and chimneys added.

                                              Some close ups.

                                     Little sailing boat made from some balsa wood.
Can you see the little street lamps? They are a whittled down matchsticks with a paper clay ball painted white on the top.

                                        The tree trunks are thickish wire sandwiched between two pieces of green paper.

You can almost hear the waves crashing against the harbour wall! It now sits on the bathroom windowsill and makes me smile. I have done another harbour scene but will let you see that another time.

Also this week I have been making some more tea cup coasters.

This time with different coloured 'rims'

This weeks linky parties are;
Sunday;
handmadeharbour.blogspot
the-chicken-chick.
Tuesday;
thediydreamer
hewellcraftedhome
Wednesday;
finecraftguild.
Thursday;
thebusybhive.blogspot.
craftionary.net/2013/04/friday-link-party-59.html

Friday;
hededicatedhouse.

Teacup Coasters, Teapot Tess and crochet.

This last couple of weeks I have been finishing off some of the unfinished projects that have been around for ages, so made my mind over and fixed them!

First up here are some tea/coffee cup coasters.

                                                         sold

A little collection.....

                                                   Now all sold.
 Made from linen and cotton. Place a teabag or two and send to a friend, who can then use it as a coaster while they sip there tea (or coffee) and think of you!

And here is little Teapot Tess....

you guessed it another sock monkey lol. She has teapots and teacups as decoration.

With her best friend Gertie. They like to chat and whisper secrets. (although Gertie's leg looks rather elongated in this photo they are both the same length!

                                               Having a cuddle together.

The lace that I unpicked from this embroidered tablecloth which is here was waiting for me to do something with.So at last got the iron out and re-shaped it and it's now ready to go...

Now added to my little dresser.

                                                    Close UP

I stuck it down with double sided sellotape. I do have quite a bit more of the crochet....hmm where to put it!
(the dresser was originally a display unit for my jugs, somehow or other a lot of red bits have crept it.....can't think how. lol.

Making some progress on some wooden bits I'm putting together and hopefully will be able to show next time.

Linky parties are here;
Sunday;
handmadeharbour.blogspot.
#michellestastycreations
Monday;
the-chicken-chick.
thededicatedhouse
Tuesday;
thededicatedhouse.blogspot.
thediydreamer.
Wednesday;
thewellcraftedhome
Thursday;
thebusybhive.blogspot.
finecraftguild.
craftionary

Not much going on....labels and a card.

It's been a slow couple of weeks. Not got my crafting mo-jo going at all :0(
I seem to have taken 2 steps forward and 6 back so a lot of frustration with things being binned or put away in disgust!

I did make these tho that came out OK. Little linen tags or labels for that extra special gift.

And a card for my m.i.l. and that's about it. I wont show the failures as they are long gone!!

Last but not least, Nikki ,looking so sweet after she has done a puddle on the floor haha.

This fortnight's linky parties are;
Saturday;
michellestastycreations.
Sunday;
handmadeharbour.
Monday;
the-chicken-chick.
thededicatedhouse.blogspot.
Tuesday;
thediydreamer.
Wednesday;
flusterbuster.
Thursday;
thebusybhive.
finecraftguild
Friday;
craftionary.net/
dianarambles.com

Framed Embroidery & more coats for Nikki. 2 happy bunnies

 Here we are again. My fortnightly update....

I have my embroidery sampler framed at last. It is a plain wooden frame so it doesn't detract from the picture. The before photo is here  with the embroidery finished. It is now up on the wall.

We have not had any snow to speak of just a dusting, but the wind is very cold and it has been wet. Nikki needs some waterpoofs as her other coats were getting quite wet from our walks and runs on the grass.

Another recyled outfit! The brown fabric is an old bean bag that was past it's best and so was useful for the waterproofing. There was a discarded furry, soft ,water bottle cover that was no longer needed and that is underneath. Very cosy. Finished off with some green bias binding. A friend said she needed some leg warmers to complete the outfit, but I think that is a step too far. lol

All ready to go! Her little tail going nineteen to the dozen. She has worn it quite a bit and it certainly does the job properly. No more wet tummy. She is putting on weight around her middle (bit like me) so this coat is a bit bigger than the others. I did make her two coats with the bean bag plasticy material, the other one has red binding and an old woollen blanket for reverse. Fastened together with velcro. A good way to upcycle discarded materials.

These little rabbits are the last of the fluffies. Only 2 left now from this particular yarn. One happy chappy with his red heart jumper and matching scarf.....

.....and his little friend Daphne who sports a pink jumper with a white heart and matching scarf. They both are approx 8£ tall.I you would like to purchase one just email me.


This week linky parties are;
Sunday
handmadeharbour.blogspot.
Monday
the-chicken-chick.
thededicatedhouse.blogspot.
Tuesday
thediydreamer.com/from-dream-to-reality
Wednesday
finecraftguild.com/linky-party-52/
Thursday
craftionary.net
Friday
dianarambles.com

Nikki Modelling her coats.

My little girl has certainly been keeping me on my toes. I've lost a 1lb in a week running after her!!

Can you guess what this is?

It look like a swanky fire side rug don't you think? But no animal was hurt in the making of this as it's fake fur. My daughter made Nikki a little going out coat to keep her cosy when she does the rounds of our hamlet. The fur is the reverse of this little red number.

Her she is modelling it, her little tail is wagging so furiously that it's a blur! Of course she shares my love of things red. (and pink) haha. The coat fastens underneath with velcro and around the front. She did have a shop bought one but she kept stepping out of it and didn't like the way it went over her head like a polo neck. (she also had a halter lead which was too big so she has a lead for now) She has her name down for puppy lessons next month so we both will learn what's what with dog training.

Waiting patiently so she can go for a walk. Out and about she saw two huge horses going for a canter with their owners and hardly miffed, was also interested in a couple of chickens but looked at them with distain!

As I thought she needed even a warmer coat to cope with the cold I made her one out of a bit of discarded blue fur, which was thicker.  Another fireside rug....

                                                  Reverse side....

I had a nice homemade pink brooch which I wear but I thought it looked really nice on this piece of fabric, which has green frogs running up it. (In real life it's a bright pink)

Another modelling picture, taken outside Pets@home where she has a micro chip inserted. What was a 5 min job took about 20 mins due to everybody wanting to hold or stroke her!

I used the pattern that my dd made but lengthened it a little bit. I ran out of pink bias binding so had to add a little bit of red to finish it off. I think she is going to have an outfit for everyday soon, made out of scraps of fabric. Maybe even a quirky house mini quilt cover lol.
As my time is taken up such a lot with Nikki I will be posting every two weeks from now on.





This weeks linky parties are;
Sunday;
handmadeharbour.blogspot.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/
Monday;
thededicatedhouse.blogspot.
Tuesday;
thediydreamer.
Wednesday;
thewellcraftedhome.
inecraftguild.com/party-51/

 Thursday;
lavendergardencottage.blogspot
michellestastycreations.bi-weekly-link-party
Friday;
craftionary.net/
thebusybhive.blogspot.
dianarambles

Little puppy and cupboard.

Not to much to report this week as I have been adopted by this little puppy.

Nikki who is 3/4 chihuahua and 1/4 jack russell. Potty training at the moment, takes me back to babies! She seems to be catching on tho and is pretty intelligent so we hope she will settle down well.

In between running around after her, this is my project that I'm working on. I forgot to take a proper before photo.

Here is is without the shelves, drawers and back. Probably will be painting it creamy colour as it's a small room and I don't want it to be overbearing in there.

And last but not least, is little Stripey Sam

who is for sale. (sold now) He's wearing his winter warmers just in time for the snow!!

Forgot to add the wine book that somebody wanted for home made wines. The one I use has very simple recipes and with no added chemicals.
'A drop o'wine' The Mollie Harris Book of Country Wine. I don't think it's being printed anymore but there might be one on Ebay or Amazon.

This weeks linky parties are;
Sunday;
sewmanyways.
Monday;
the-chicken-chick.com/
watchoutmartha.
Tuesday;

thediydreamer.
Wednesday;
hewellcraftedhome.
avendergardencottage
Friday;
craftionary.

Yet another quilt for daughter!

I have a confession to make, the recent quilt I made for my daughter which is here (and the other one here) never got to her house as after it was finished.... I had an eureka moment!!

When she got married 15 years ago, at the reception I went around with a sheet and asked the guests to sign their names onto it, afterwards the names were all embroidered (approx 100) and a crochet edging was added, and thus a tablecloth was born.

 

It was bought out on anniversary occasions a couple of times and then popped back in a drawer and forgot about.
So the eureka moment was, why don't I make her a quilt with this as a backing. Daughter thought it was a great idea as the embroidered cloth would be used instead of laying in a drawer doing nothing.

So off I went again, with the same pattern (she still wanted a pale colour) with a pop of colour in the middle.

 The first time using the walking foot and extension table. I have to confess that when I was sewing it together first time it cobbled up something horrid so it all had to be undone. I think it was because I had nearly run out of spray glue and so used it sparingly, which didn't hold the 3 layers together properly. Anyhow got some more glue and made sure it was all stuck down and away I went again. (I didn't use a walking foot with the other quilts and it didn't cobble) This one is a bit bigger than the others.

I was really pleased how it turned out. Lots of happy memories and some of the children on there are now married with kids of their own!

Bit of fancy embroidery. I got it finished in time for their lst anniversary!

Daughter also wanted it to look more puffy with an eiderdown effect, so, instead of an all over quilting I just sewed around the square blocks and put a few love hearts in the banding. The binding was lots of different red fabric joined together, as I'd run out of anything else suitable.

This one DID go home with her! One very happy daughter, who, I'm sure will make full use of it. It will be nice to snuggle into as we are expecting a very cold spell soon. In the warmer weather it could be used as a throw for the bottom of the bed. As for the crochet that was around the edges. It was carefully unpicked and now in a drawer waiting for another suitable project to come along.

And all done in front of my cosy log fire. Hmmm need a cuppa now and perhaps a biccy or.....cake would be nice....decisions, decisions lol.

This weeks linky parties;
Sunday;
flamingotoes
navywifeypeters.blogspot.
handmadeharbour.blogspot
the-chicken-chick
watchoutmartha.
sewingbarefoot.blogspot.
Tuesday;
thewellcraftedhome.
thediydreamer
Wednesday;
finecraftguild.
Thursday;
michellestastycreations.

wine labels & Rodders Rabbit

Hello again and welcome to my little blog.
Are we missing winter and gone straight to spring as it has been, I'll whisper.... sunny and mild? lol I bet we'll get snow in April or something daft like that.

I  thought I would do a more fancier label on my homemade plonk bottles as they usually end up as presents. Here is the old label, just a boring old sticker slapped on....

beetroot 2008.....we arn't quick drinkers haha.

The rhubarb just bottled up at the end of the year so makes the 2012 vintage!
I had to put on one of my 'quirky' houses didn't I ;0) and then Head Honcho did the computer whizard stuff to make it fit on the label.

As you can see no added chemicals! Also syphoned off this week was pea pod wine, which falls into the catorgory of 2013 vintage.  Had lots of peas last year and it seemed a waste to compost all those pods without using them first. (afterwards they went in the compost)

 I have a nice wine book with all the old fashioned wine recipes and no added chemicals and so, used the recipe that was in there. No ideal what it will taste like as it is rather young at the mo. This lot will probably be ready when the next lot of rhubarb is growing.

This is the triplet bunny rabbits that have been living with me.

This little guy is still available is you are interested in purchasing him my email is tartantribe@live.co.uk

This one has gone to his new owner who has a liking for music, so Rodder's bought along his own guitar to make melody!!

This weeks linky parties are;
Sunday;
handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/
flamingotoes.co
Monday;
the-chicken-chick.com/
Tuesday;
thediydreamer
Wednesday;
/finecraftguild
handymancraftywoman

no post week

Hello everyone, no post this week but back next week as usual.

Thank you to all those that have commented over this last year it has really helped me to keep motivated.  All those lurkers, don't be shy...I don't bite honest!

Sid Rabbit. Bits and bobs.

I think the decorating has at last finished and the paintbrush and rollers will be put away till the next time. (which, I hope, wont be anytime soon)

This week we have Sid Rabbit who will be going to his new home very soon. He has on his nice warm winter scarf and stripey leggings. I have done the eyes a little bit differently with tiny boot buttons. (he is going to live with a grown-up so no danger of littlies pulling them out!)

He's been featured on;

This is just a peek at something that I am working on. This is going to be for the back....have I got your interest?

Clue.... it was a sort of tablecloth. But you will have to wait till next week, sorry!

And here is another sneek peek.....a little cat on a red roof. This project is one that has been picked up and put down,  just like Mr.Postlethwaite in a couple of posts down. So has/is been a long time getting anywhere with it.

The kitty cat looks like he's poking his tongue out but he's yowling!

And finally a handbag, which was made entirely out of re-cycled fabrics and metal clasps, by my daughter, for her sister, who loves it.

Fully lined and with a zip compartment and little pocket. Just the right size for a purse/mobile/hankies.

This weeks linky parties;
Sunday;
flamingotoes.com/
navywifeypeters.blogspot.
Monday;
the-chicken-chick.com/
sewingbarefoot.blogspot.
watchoutmartha.
.alderberryhill.