DIY Paper Garland

As I've mentioned before, my lovely little sister Lulu is getting married. The wedding is going to be brilliant, we are super excited! 

I've been helping to make a couple of decorations and thought I'd share this paper garland I have made. it was pretty simple (I fought a little with my sewing machine on a couple of occasions but it seems to have turned out ok!).

For a Garland measuring approx 3 metres...

You will need: 

10 sheets of A4 paper, I used 5 different shades - 2 sheets of each, including 3 solid colours: pink marble, dove grey, light blue, tracing paper and a pearlised white.

Sewing machine

Co-ordinating thread

Cutting board - useful but not essential

Craft knife  - useful but not essential

Scissors

Begin by cutting each sheet of paper in half lengthways (if the paper is portrait from top to bottom), so you are left with 2 narrow strips. Then cut each of the strips into inch wide strips (as per the first image). They will now measure approx 4inches by 1 inch. Separate each into piles of colour. If you want to have a continual pattern I suggest placing the strips in the order you want to use them carefully next to your machine. 

Spread out as many runs of the layout as you can - this will really speed up the process. 

Carefully begin by stitching your first strip down the centre and sew a few extra stitches after you have sewn the paper, to create the gap, then start by stitching the next strip. Repeat this process until you have used up all of the cut strips. 

Its pretty slow going as the paper is so delicate, so do take your time.

Ta da! You have a garland!

Happy days Lulu and aB, cannot wait until Saturday x

The Sock Project

I have always wanted to try making a pair of socks. I don't have much patience (time), so I like the type of project that has a quick result, so I don't loose interest! This is why big super chunky wool is my friend. However, this year I really want to accomplish a number of things that I have always thought I'd like to do. One of these things is socks. I bought this gorgeous pattern for cable knitted socks from the lovely Yiskah Knits. It is beautiful and as soon as I have mastered a plain pair I can't wait to make Jessica's fun pattern. I wanted to share the beginnings here:

I'll keep you posted on the progress...

Boot Cuff PDF Crochet Pattern

So, finally got round to creating a PDF pattern for my boot cuffs. Now in the shop. I've got a few more crochet patterns that I've been doing, so just a little bit more tweaking to do on them and they'll be there too.

Crochet Cowl crazy indeed...

Mustard Chunky Cowl

Olive Chunky Infinity Cowl

Spring Green Knitted Cowl

Olive Chunky Mini Cowl

As i said, I've gone a little crazy on the cowl front! Here are the contenders so far, they're all in the shop now... I'm half way through a navy version of the mustard one and started a denim blue version of the Olive infinity cowl (I think its my favourite so far)...

The boy and I got busy planting more bulbs in the garden today, he loves digging for worms, watering things and pottering about, another thing ticked of the to-do (plant bulbs that have been hanging around for AGES)...

I'm off to London this week to say farewell to my lovely sister Lulu who is moving to Berlin on Thursday...I'm mega proud of her  and her lovely man and I know they are going to have the most AMAZING times in Germany, but I am going to miss her like CRAZY!! Thank goodness for living in an age of Face Time and Skype :) I am so looking forward to some girlie time seeing her and my other sister and my mum - its going to be mani's and blow-dries galore :)

Papernstich, crisp weather & the cowl project..

Its been such crisp chilly weather today, I love days like this. Bright sunshine and the cold. Winter days like this are my favourite, especially living in a place where its often wet and rains...ALOT. I like days like today.

This month Lumi features on this brilliant website called Papernstitch.com . Its run by this fantastic lady called Brittni, who is so lovely and helpful. It features designers, makers, artists and crafters etc and runs monthly exhibitions of their work and shops. Yesterday was the first day and it so exciting to have my Mustard Headband on the front page as one of the daily favourites - what a great start to the month :) There are loads of lovely things to look through by some amazing artists and makers and the website looks really good and has a wonderful blog too. Fantastic stuff.

And finally, the Cowl project, as I have decided to call it. I am knitting and crocheting my way to find the perfect creation of a snuggly cowl. Yesterday I designed a lovely moss knit snug one, whilst today's is slightly more ambitious mega cowl using 3 separate balls of wool concurrently...so far so..tangly! The finished articles will be in the shop this weekend, we'll have to see which one fares the best...

Crochet, Pinterest & Sleeping Children!

1. Crochet - The shop is being loaded up with more items daily, my boot cuffs were even mentioned on the Crochet Confections Daily over the weekend - yey!

2. Pinterest - the British Sellser on Etsy Pinterest Boards have some lovely things on them, as well as a couple of my items, yippee.

3. Mega sleep had by all - at last, proper rest, its quite remarkable how one good night's sleep can utterly change the way you feel - ahhhh :)

Bloomin' marvellous!

1.  In-spite of having a poorly little boy today, which is horrid for poor little Charlie, a little bit of happiness in seeing my bloomers as the lead image on the Babies & Children section on Folksy - yippee...baby steps

2. Its sunny - which always makes one smile :)

3. Cooking up a storm - as we're homebound with the poorly boy, a perfect opportunity to make lots of meals for the week has arisen, a little organisational gem!

Happy Saturday!

1. Blustery beach walks - we had a proper blow out on the beach today - kids LOVED it, especially Edie - there were loads of dogs (she loves them) and she just ran around woofing away - such a joy to watch!

2. It's the simple things that make you happy - I had a rare and cheeky lie in today - slept until 8am - now that is what I call bliss!

3. Stocking my Etsy shop - I am determined this year to give it my all, added more items today, some little girls crocheted headbands. Looking forward to adding the boot cuffs I'm currently trying to perfect the pattern for over the next couple of days.

Happy Days :)

2012 - Week one, nearly done!

1. Resolutions...running (so far so good), not sweating the small stuff (because that's not what is important in life) and reaching for the stars...why not?

2. Amazing DiY'd Honey, Brown Sugar and milk face mask. I stumbled upon this delicious recipe for the mask here, it's divine. My face feels utterly lovely, like I've scrubbed 20 layers of winter away.. Easy, cheap, homemade goodness :)

3. Weekend fun - looking forward to a nice quite bit of weekend fun with the family, gardening, baking, a nice long walk and happy times with the babies! Perfection.

Monday January 2nd 2012 - New Year Brilliantness!

Today's Three:

1. Start as you mean to go on - LOVELY (?!) morning run, got to get the fitness thing sussed this year! It was so worth it after I had done it! Felt great - brilliant start to the day, now just to make sure I continue with the sentiment...

2. Crocheting - simply addictive, that is all!

3. Christmas - last mention, I'm sure its still ok to, (the tree is still up) has been such wonderful Family time. I'm back to work tomorrow and can't believe how quickly the time has flown(!) it has been so amazing to have time off to spend with the children doing nice things, beach walks, the zoo, the aquarium, long woodland walks etc... Rather sad to wipe the message from Father Christmas off the Blackboard wall though...

Thursday December 29th 2011 - fun stuff

Todays Three!

1. Family day at last -  Such fun had with the babes, took them to the local aquarium - which they TOTALLY LOVED  -  especially Charlie, who spent the whole time trailing a stool step that he was given to see inside the taller tanks - LOVE

2. Loving crocheting these brilliant Uggs for Edie - great pattern from monpetitviolon LOVE!]

3. Finally a lovely and very rare night out with my besets friend V, so rare but zoo precious - how lucky I am to have her x

Saturday 24th December 2011 - It's the most wonderful time....

Todays Three:

1. The tent is finally finished, hope they love it!

2. Lovely Christmas Eve Beach Walk - weather was lovely, charlie had such fun running in and out of the sea, throwing pebbles and being chased by my dad...ahh!

3. Loving the Christmas Spreadsheets. Some time ago I mentioned my Christmas Geeky Spreadsheets. Well, so far so good, and they appear to be making the festivities go swimmingly so far! I am pleased to say that as it stands presents are bought, some wrapped, food planned and ordered without any further trips to the supermarket! Fingers crossed...EDITED...the ultimate quest for organisational nirvana has hit a couple of pre Christmas bumps that could have ended disastrously! So, I ordered all food online to avoid crazy supermarket shopping with millions of people. For the last couple of weeks I have thought gleefully about it all arriving on 23rd Dec between 6pm and 9pm. Turkey, veg from a local place and a big supermarket shop. Turkey email confirmation lost, and credit card used to pay for massive online shop had expired. All rectified, but dangerously close to time! Those were a couple of dicy moments...lessons learnt though and all the mega panic thoughts that I'd ruined Christmas a distant memory after a couple of glasses of mulled wine :)

Tuesday December 20th 2011 - 5 more sleeps

Today's Three!

1. DIYed Tent - Really excited about starting the tent we're planning on making for the kids for christmas. Found this lovely tutorial for an indoor A-Frame tent on mycakies.

2. Crochet Heart Decorations - I made a load of these for the tree this weekend - so easy - tutorial here...

3. The Planner - finally finished it. The first few days have been brilliant - such a massive time saver :). I love a good printable!

Thursday 15th December 2011 - how to be a domestic...goddess isn't that what Nigella says?

Today's Three:




1. Brilliant baking - have really enjoyed baking for christmas coffee tomorrow. Nigella's Christmas was the go to recipe book, with some Chocolate Christmas Cookies and Spiced Christmas Tree Biscuit Decorations!





2. More organising - the planner is almost done thanks to some brilliant printables found via a brilliant round up of free printables...ahhh

3. Christmas is coming - almost ready, well not really... cards to post, presents to wrap and so much more, but I can't begin to say how lucky I feel right now, something quite magical about this time of year that really makes you appreciate what you have!

- Happy Days!

Wednesday December 14th 2011 - Today's Three Things!

Today's Three:



A little bit of DIY decoration making...

1. 'Tis the season - getting so excited about Christmas, lots to be very thankful for, happiness and health and a wonderful family.




2. Gingerbread House - I'm planning on a bigger version this weekend, so this was the trial one. Looking forward to making a bigger one this weekend, just hope I can perfect the recipe by then!

The finished trial version:



3. Organisational Nirvana - the quest continues to make life as simple as possible through mega planning, and for the latest phase I'm putting together a home planner...I just LOVE lists!

- Happy Days!

Saturday 10th December 2011 - Sunny Saturday stuff.

Today's Three:

1. Beautiful sunny day with a lovely long walk and lunch on my brother in laws boat - the children loved it!

2. DIYed Christmas decorations - cutting out reindeers and trees from felt to assemble for some dangling tree decs.

3. Baking - made some of Mrs Beetons tea brac. Super easy and super yummy. Love classic and simple baked.

BELATED - Thursday November 10th - Pickles, Poseys & Plates...

1. Neighborly love - yet again my adorable neighbors have given us treats, dearest Roland arrived yesterday with a pot of marrow chutney and pickled onions which will be ready for Christmas - human kindness is a remarkable thing...

2. Bloomin' marvelous flowers - My lovely grandparents popped over last night with a lovely pot of Hyacinths - my favourite bulbs, I keep meaning to pland some in the garden, so this is a wonderful treat to brighten up the house.

3. DIYed Plate - I've been making some decorative plates for people as gifts for special occasions (weddings, children's birthdays etc..) and I've just finished one for my grandparents. The family home that my mum and her 5 siblings grew up in, and the subsequent 13 grandchildren and now 2 great grandchildren have known all our lives, was 100 years old this year and they organised a big family party to celebrate family life in the home. Unfortunately they had to cancel it for various reasons and I know they were so disappointed, so I thought I'd give them a plate to keep and remember :)

Meet Herman

Herman is my new friend. He is a sourdough cake. My lovely friend at work gave me a Herman starter. It was a very odd thing. In a ziplock bag he arrived. Pale and creamy and bubbling away. I looked after him, by stirring and feeding him. After 10 days he was ready to be split into 5 portions and given away apart from one, which was fed again and lovingly baked into a delicious cake!

Above is Herman #2. I posted a portion of the first to my mama in London...and 10 days later she sent me another one back, he is DELicious and filled with apples and pears...and there is another batch bubbling away in my kitchen.

Sunday November 6th 2011 - Organise-Mania - Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!

I have high expectations of what I want to be achieve. Sometimes my ideas are unrealistic. I'd rather be this way than not though...

One of my best friends once dropped the phrase "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" into our conversation. I liked it alot. So much so infact, that I think about this phrase all the time and try to apply it to to my daily rumblings of a routine. I know that I'm not always going to be able to do EVERYTHING I want to do, time is very precious and in short supply, but if I don't give it my best shot, then that I will regret.

1. My Love of Lists - In the spirit or trying to be super dooper organised, I've started a mega Christmas TO-DO list. This has been arranged in spreadsheet form (what a geek I am), including separate tabs for Presents, Food, Decorating, Cards. This is the first attempt and I'm sure it may need revising ALOT, but I hope that I may be able to use this as a basis each year and take a little stress out of the happy time!

2. Christmas Cake Bake-Off - I decided that this year, as the whole clan aren't going to be together, that I wanted to make a Mini-Christmas Cake for everyone from the same batch, so that we can all share a piece of Christmas cake on the day, even though we aren't all together. Today was the day, turned out rather nice, now time to feed the cake...pass the brandy :)

3. Mega Meal Planning - I am in love with the life is messy planner by mayi carles. ESPECIALLY the meal planning. I really believe that you will not use something that you don't like the look of. However I love the look of these and have found that I am using it to the letter, wonderful to find things that make life that little easier :)

Happy Days

Saturday November 5th 2011 - Bonfire Night, Baking and Cloud Dough?!

Yippee its the weekend! A long old week, this week, so so glad to have a couple of days off work to enjoy the best things...

1. Fireworks Fun - watched a firework display at a friends house last night, Charlie surprisingly liked the spectacular views and noises, while little Edie was not convinced!

2. Bumper baking - some River Cottage Booster Bars today (click for the adapted recipe), rather de-lish looking, honey, oats, peanut butter, dried apricots...mmmm...Charlie has just help dig a couple of potatoes from the garden("they're very tiny potatoes mummy")and its rather chilly outside, so we're looking forward to them cooling down before we tuck in!

3. Cloud Dough - saw this lovely idea on pinterest which mixes flour and baby oil to make a lovely sensory dough. Charlie and I made it today and he absolutely LOVES it. He's been hiding dinosaurs all day - so adorable!