Some Vintage frippery....

 I had collected one or two (or three....) new old bits over the past few weeks

and it is only fair to share.

Two stunning new cookery pots which i am thrilled to pieces with.

Who knew that pots would be soooo pretty, they never go in the cupboard!?

 Vintage enamel (oh Lordy, i do love my enamel) WITH lids!

In proper good condition. I applaud the older generation any persons! who know how to Make Do & Mend.

A retro red and flower power deep blue - boil me happy :)

£7 each, one from the Brackley Antiques Centre and t'other from ebay....

(ebay being harder to buy from and find a bargain me feels)

 The JOY of Spring Tulips in a Syrup tin. 2 large bunches for £5.00 so mixed and matched 2 lots in 2 different rooms in the home. They lasted a good week and yes! "i'm worth it" xxx

(who else is going to buy me flowers?)

 So Bloomin chuffed to find this GIANT bread bin on ebay too.

In RED

with huge stencilled letters

it is a giant!!

And i got it for a song £8 there is stilll ebay joy to be found... sometimes.

 And (MrsB) i have found the only chair that is EVER going to fit in my tiny kitchen.

A retro stool in yummy Bloomsbury Green - it is a hit with all the kids (young and old) who find themselves pulled into the kitchen with a Tea Mug thrust in their hand and a tale to tell.... coz it spins round too and goes up and down (but don't tell my 7yr old it goes up and down, she has yet to discover this and is still obsessing with the amusing spin facility, pity please to my fraying nerves)

Aaaaaahhhh,

and with all this crazy training i am doing - the need to cook and EAT is intense.

I might kill another human being who happend to come between me and my morning pancakes right now.

p.s. i have the BIG SALE DAY coming up soon!!!

so plenty of posts about, what will be available and all the offers to get excited about.

: D

Embroidery Hoop Decoration detail

 I had a mad 20 minutes last week when i decided to make this set of co-ordinating hoop decorations.

I have a box of these pretty hoops sat waiting for some various tasks...

and i also had a bag of scraps from my bunting making session and always i have little baskets filled with bits n pieces and scraps and ribbons and stuff i made or stuff i bought.... STASH! you know how it is.

 So, they are 3 different sizes and i hung mine as above, getting smaller. You can hang them anyway you like though but i like the 3 different sizes.

The first was so easy. I literally sewed up some long strips of leftover Christmas fabrics. I have used these fabrics and colours elsewhere in my Xmas Decorations so i knew they would fit in with the general home decor theme (if i have such a thing)

 The second two, i then stretched over with matching / co-ordinating scraps.

I have sewn the back of these like you would if you were making a yo-yo / suffolk puff thing. Whipped it round the edge and pulled it in tight - i can do you proper tutorial for some Spring versions after Christmas? Give you some real notes amd photos on exactly "how to" ?

 Anyway, the moral of this semi-tutorial is thus:

1. I decorated the hoops AFTER with the embellishments as they were easier to sew on once stretched in the hoop.

2. i did not plan it at all and just saw whatever happend. I like to work this way

3. it took about 20mins- seriously. 30 mins to hang it too.

4. it is dead easy and you can even take these out and change them if you want.

5. hang yours thus or differently or make a set of 5 or just a few small ones... whatever, it'll look good :)

 I am going to list these exact sets of 3 in the shop (hopefully both etsy and LPF by the end of today)

 But it is a bit close to Christmas now so, prod and remind me we can do this again in detail ready for Spring / Easter. I will be having a sale around February time so i may chuck even more hoop sizes into the mix ready for February...

 If you already have a hoop or 3 hanging around at home, why not use some cute Christmas Ribbons to embellish? My Artisan Bunting below is just an example of different bits and pieces you can add to your hoops.

Merry Front Doors

and

Happy Last Minute Crafting

and Annie.... THANKYOU x x x

Inside Out Days...

If you are a UK blog reader - you will KNOW how I'm feeling...
Sunshine!?*!
There are 2 major lovely things that can happen during our rare days of sunshine...
#1 My house goes Inside Out:

#2 White dresses are suddenly appropriate, where as when it's raining....

they look ridiculous ...why is that?? Happy Sunshine my darling friends x x x

Working on SmallFish's New Room...

"Mummy, am I a grown-up now?" ....
"ummmm, sort of darling" (as the Crafty Fish wipes a tear from her eye)
Why do they have to grow??? sigh.... Look at the advantages Mrs Fish:
No more potty training.... Bribes for pocket Money.... decorating the new 'big girls' bedroom!
A satisying mixture of Cath Kidston treats (guilty gulp) IKEA's finest (and cheapest) and the handmade and thrifty that i love so much....
I couldn't resist photographing this precious Noahs Ark sitting in the bookshelf.

Amazing shelving stack, sourced for a song at IKEA - the benefits of owning a big 4x4 truck is that we can ransack the ready made furniture in the 'Bargain Section' and put all 'finds' in the back of the vehicle. This is not possible when shopping at IKEA in a mini...

OOoohhh - those fantastic huge toy tubs - bought for 'pennies' when my sister had her staff discount at GLTC childrens catalogue company.

The pretty, pretty, oh so pretty, Big Girls bed: IKEA, dressed charmingly in Cath Kidston Circus duvet set, IKEA and handmade cushions, thrifted quilt, dog earred soft toys...

Anyone recognise this cushion? My sister found it a few years ago at Covent Garden... or somewhere London-y, on a designer / handmade stall... it has no tag... ?

Thrifted gorgeousness: The vintage double school lift top desk. Apple pot (30p from the tip, yum yum) Owl Pot (also from the local tip) Jar of beads we played with and Dr Seuss - Essential reading....

I am working on the framed pictures of 'Big Girls' handiwork and photos of her favourite family members.

There is a new curtain to hang, and the 'work-in-progress' notice board.

Yes, she is getting bigger, but i can handle it if she continues to be this adorable x

House of Poodle...

Loving Handmade: I have long since adored the work of House of Poodle. I met them in December 2007 at a Craft Fair, but a year prior to that I travelled to Birmingham for the day to a thrift / handmade market where i knew they had a stall... i wasn't disappointed. They are professional and Tweedy and fun and colourful - very unique and..... friendly! The dress below is a sort of A-line / 40s style? but in a thick red tweedy fabric. Short sleeves and sits above the knee. I adore it and i have worn it sooooo many times.

Zip up the back... I WILL try to make one of these for myself one day (ha ha) but it is finding the time!?! ... and i admit to never having had a sewing lesson or followed a pattern in my life :(

The Grey flower is something i wear alllllll the time. It suits every jacket, every dress, every cardigan... i have worn it many times on my evening party dresses. I always wear it on this capped sleeve grey wool felt jacket.... I even wore it on my funeral outfit this week as it added a cheery of 'life celebration' without giving out too much 'party vibe'. A gorgeous item i cannot live without it (okay, i exaggerate that)

And, i repeat, you only get this sort of joy from unique handmade items! Designed, made, sold here in the UK by fellow crafty peeps x

Colour Fix

Needing a colour fix!!! However the sun did not show it's cheeky little face this day, so they aren't as bright as i would like. I was up and working at 5.30am and as i watched the sun 'rise' i realised it was getting later and later... and was lighter.... but there was no distinguishable 'rise' of any sun :( MMMMmmm new GREEN shoes from a trip to the "sales" (this is the third pair i have bought in this same design, ,,,,, creature of habit? Moi?) i also bought them in red (hangs head in shame of post-christmas excess)

Learning our numbers through Hopscotch FUN on the floor in the snug.... i was much better at hopscotch than my daughter..... sorry? It wasn't a competition? oh.....

Dressed for a cold Winter walk with dog and child. FAVOURITE red Pea Coat x

Oooh and these... New Dish Cloths. An Impulse buy from an FP etsy treasury x could not resist this pack of 3. I dare not use them

cocoabeans.etsy.com if you want your own.

I L O V E to shop handmade too!!! x

I *had* to Blog a bit of Christmas...

CheeseFish!!! check that smile - very proud of her advent calender (all handmade and Mummy wrapped gifts each day x) Fluffy Balls - my favourite...

My windows - i love white and silver with red and white ribbons... my whole tree is white, silver and red, mmmmm x

Welcome! As it says at my back door (you know a good friend when they come straight to your back door) Still in love with my Christmas mini-bunting x it dresses the house so easily and quickly AND you get decorations 'inside' and 'outside' if they are hung in windows.

Not handmade, but grandma bought it for ToddleFish and we added the ribbon (mmm red polka dots)

To me - THIS is Christmas x Chubby hand of a 4yr old holding the silver wrapper of her chocolate coins gobbled from this mornings advent calender. It is so much more fun with children (as KIRSTY WISEMAN might agree)

OOOhhhh i LUFFS my santa man x bought last year from Kirsty Southam - before her great etsy shop >>>> gets your HERE x

SO ...... Merry Christmas, from my house to yours x

MrsB - so wish you were coming over for fine food and wine x

Jingle Bells and Stash

Pretty Bells from Paperchase
(High Street addiction, forgive me? i need a regular fix of Borders bookshop with it's Cafe and Paperchase and late night opening...)
More Matroyshka for Brooches and needlebooks...
More Tea Cup fabric this time in Hot Chocolate...
New curious vintage button linen...
THE cutest blue-bird fabric...

More bells...

And THIS photo, I love! i might get made into Christmas postcards for next year.

Why am I planning Christmas 2009 already??? >>>>>

A comfortable Sunday...

Off to HobbyCraft then Sainsburys...
The weather?.... hideous, damp, dank, grey, cold, miserable.... JUST the weather for the red beret! And it worked because other people smiled at the redness of the beret too (it has magic qualities and brings much joy)
One Gentleman even started singing to me "where did you get that hat, lalala..."
Unfortunately he was a homeless alcoholic who was trying to distract me whilst his friend attempted to steal the newly purchased bottle of Brandy from my shopping trolley. Ah well, i told him off and we all had a laugh about it, the Brandy made it home with me and so did the child and the beret.

Hobbycraft!? i know, i didn't mean to swear in my own Blog but... i needed some embroidery skeins very quickly x
On our return from the commercial abyss ... i got out my Gorgon Ramsey cookbook.... SEE? notice? and i quote "To Kirsty, Love Gordon" The photograph is my sister getting it signed for me in Selfridges. How cute is she? She knows i live in a fantasy world, in which Gordon and I are blissfully married...


NO, i didn't cook from that book. That is just for dreamy smugness and a quick 'Gordon fix' in my heart, no.... The Smaller Fish and I made chocolate FUDGE from Nigella's recipie (she's my best friend you know, in my fantasy world)
We 'improved' the recipie, like all good crafters should, and added the BRANDY (see, the beret story had relevance) and extra sugar.

And we made them in this heart shaped ice tray so we had HEART shaped fudge, how cute is that?
Then i invited my Mum and Dad for Sunday lunch. Brandy glazed and Bacon stuffed Chicken (Brandy again!) with dauphinoise Pots and carrots and Leeks in white sauce. Then followed by Vanilla ice-cream (the only thing my dad and daugter will eat for dessert) and Brandy Fudge.
It was, on reflection, a comfortable Sunday x