A Good Kind of Day

 I was up early this morning so made myself a cup of tea and finished a little project that's been hanging around for a while.  This is inspired by a similar one at Heartmade: she makes really beautiful stuff.  I thought this might look nice hanging from the door handle of my French bathroom.

I gave my deck pots their annual spray of colour.  This year I chose bright blue with a mixture of flowers.  The deck is looking good - if only it would warm up/stop raining we could spend more than ten minutes out there.

I baked some lemon-cranberry scones.

I admired my garden and decided to cut the grass to make it all look good.  The peach iris are truly gorgeous.  The next batch set to bloom are light purple I think, and they should be out any day now.

I gave this thrift store clock a make-over.  I found it last week on a stellar thrifting trip.  How could I pass it up for $5.99?  Unfortunately whoever had it last was a smoker, so it was pretty stinky.  I removed the cross stitch (after a heart stopping moment when I realized I would have to break the frame apart to get it out) and soaked it in OxyClean for a few hours.  I scrubbed everything else that wasn't fabric and used up my last bit of baby blue spray paint for the frame.  I am totally in love with it and it looks perfect in my craft space.

I had no intention of being so productive today and yet I was.  I even managed to get four loads of laundry done and make a roast chicken for dinner!  

Maybe that's the key: have no expectations and just let the day unfold.  Oh to have days like this everyday.  Bliss.  Domestic Bliss.

April and May

Tonight I'm stuck home with a lousy cold bug while the family gets to eat with good friends.  I figured I could catch up here, instead of rattling around the empty house wondering what to do.  This spring seemed to go by remarkably fast; I'm not sure if it was because it felt so busy (it was) or if because we hardly seemed to have any spring like weather so we just sort of missed the whole thing by waiting for it to come.
I bumped around a lot these past two months and managed to fit some crafting time in between packing suitcases and tying up last minute details.  Back in February I started on a spring flower crocheted tea cozy and finally got it off the hook in April.  Unfortunately with all of my 'busyness' I didn't get around to taking a finished photo of it.  Here it is as a work in progess:  you can see it's made up of spring flowers.

I also added some purple bluebell type flowers to it that I designed myself.  I ended up being quite proud of it, but it didn't stay in my hands long as it was a gift for my Mum.

I decided to stretch my crochet capabilities and make a little baby cardigan.  I used Debbie Bliss yarn and it was such a treat to work with.  Here it is just waiting for some little buttons.  I found out that our neighbours across the road who are expecting a baby this month just found out they are having a little girl.  Perfect!

I made myself some crocheted Mary Jane slippers too.  I put leather on the bottom so these should last longer than the last pair did.  I love that they look like ballet slippers: sadly my own ballet slippers have become quite neglected and I'm getting the waistline to prove it:(

The slippers came in really handy on all three trips I took this spring, but they were especially welcome on the tile floors at the house in France we went to for three weeks!

(This isn't actually the house we stayed in, but we did visit it!)

For a couple of years I have been on the look-out for a crocheted purse that I could personalize with flowers.  I finally found this navy blue one, and in between trips I added a new lining to brighten it up and added some roses to the side.  I'm still deciding when to step out with it.

I didn't realize what a crochet heavy post this would be!  My cross stitching has been sadly neglected of late, but hopefully not for too long.

Last night I made a new decoration for our front door.  I wanted a lavender wreath but could only find two small bushes of it at the craft store.  It's a bit sparse, but it's simple like I wanted and reminds me of France.

I am liking these new smaller door decorations; not only because they are lighter, but they are much easier to store.
 I am currently all into things that store well as I have been cleaning and organizing like mad since we got back from France.  I have been away for so much this spring that it makes me so happy every day to be home and just be a domestic.  Everything about being here makes me happy: getting the carpets cleaned; baking something nice for everybody; hanging my laundry outside... It really is the best place on earth.

They're Mulitplying!

Just before Easter I got the bug to start making bunnies.  Last year I cut out the pieces to make a bunny from the book Crafting Springtime Gifts by Tone Finnanger, but never finished it off.  It was a pleasure to have the pieces all cut out already, so my newest hare was finished in a leisurely crafting day this weekend.  I even crocheted a little shawl for her, because this has been a really cold spring so far!  She has pink and white toile inside her ears, so I am going to call her Fleur.

I just loved the spring time bunny wreath in Helen's Bustle and Sew magazine.  I finally got it completed today after searching high and low for a wooden embroidery hoop.  It's nice and light and will brighten my front door for the next little while.

And finally, a little bunny brooch to put on my jacket next Easter.  Hopefully it will grace my spring jacket and not my winter one like this year!

We had a lovely Easter weekend with a great egg hunt and lots of lovely treats.  Today it is snowing again and we will have left over lamb in some lamb and barley soup and try to choose just one of the four left over desserts:)

March Makes

I finished off a few more works in progress the last part of March.  I still have a fair pile of WIP's mind you, but I'm happy to have something to show.

These needlebooks were a long time coming.  I have been working on these forever!  I have since added a running stitch down the side of the spine, but this picture is much better.  It also took me forever to decide which one I wanted to keep: in the end I opted for the purple and yellow one because they are my favourite colours.

Next up is a little hedgehog from Helen's Bustle and Sew newsletter.  I have been subscribing for a couple of years now, but this is the first thing I have made.  He is made from a thrifted sweater and wool sport coat that I felted.  His eyes are agate beads.

And finally I crocheted the Windowpane scarf  - a free pattern available on Ravelry - with some pretty Malabrigo yarn.  I have never crocheted with such a fine yarn so it was a bit of a challenge at first.  It wasn't so bad and now I have two more scarves in the works using lace-weight fibres.

I have done no cross stitch this year for Easter at all.  This time last year I remember I was stitching up a storm.  I think the fact that March has been so cold and Easter is early this year is the reason I have no  real excitement for the holiday.  Usually it's my favourite time of year but this year I don't even have the decorations up yet!  I did put a wreath on the door a couple of weeks ago, but it fell off and broke and since then nothing has replaced it. If Time would just slow down a little bit I would really appreciate it:)

Next week I'm celebrating a birthday:  one of those "Big ___-0" ones.  I'm excited!  Birthdays are like my New Year and I get all ambitious and eager for things to come.  Hopefully by then Spring will have decided to arrive and then there will be extra good feelings all around.

Have a wonderful Easter - I hope the Easter Bunny is good to you:)

March Break

We are having a slow and lovely March break from school this week.  There have been sleep-overs, and swimming at the public pool, and crafts and lots of Playmobil and Lego creations being made.
Yesterday was the ultimate though:  it was cold and sunny so pyjamas were worn well until after lunch.  No one was planning on going outside if they didn't have to. The kids and I snuggled in my bed in the morning looking over the latest Playmobil catalogue and telling our favourites. I spontaneously decided to make a cake, much to everyone's delight.  Spontaneous baking really is the best.  Chocolate marble bundt cake - yum!

My Favourite Girl has been wanting some time just with me; for us to create or do something without little brother wanting to as well.  I suggested some easy soap making and bath fizzers and that fit the bill for her quite nicely.  

My Favourite Boy wanted to make some too, so I said he and I would make it after his big sister was finished hers.  No one had any problem with that so we set about making dinosaur soap too.

Later on I sat at the kitchen table in the sun and hooked away with some bright colours of yarn.  It was one of those moments when your heart gets all full-feeling: seeing the kids happy creations and hearing their little happy noises around the house; the smell of something good and homemade in the air and the bright sun making everyone feel so positive and hopeful for spring.

Today is a different sort of day.  There are errands to be run, and school projects to think about.  There has already been some friction between two people and the sun is not shining.  Workdays are again looming up and Things Need To Be Done.  I am always so grateful for days like yesterday; those ones that feel like they are encapsulated in a magic bubble of domestic and family happiness.  Those are the days to keep in our hearts until the next one comes along.

Patching

Last night I stayed up late (10pm!!) to finish some things.  As I have said many times before, I am trying to work on this enormous fabric stash of mine and get it down before I buy anything else.  The problem is I am bored, bored, bored with most of it.  Some of it I have had for years and years; other bits are left-overs from previous projects that just keep turning up like bad pennies.  I might attempt that scrappy, round the world quilt everyone is going so crazy for these days, but truthfully I can never seem to get my seams to match up properly.  Every morning while on the treadmill I go through all my quilting/crafting magazines and try to find projects that will use up all those bits and pieces.  In an older issue of Quilts and Things I found a pattern for baby bibs that uses charm squares.  Perfect!  I used up 42 squares to make these baby bibs:

Truthfully I could easily make another seven but I did get bored by the end of it.  They are just waiting for some snap closures and they can be put away.  Hopefully someone I know will have a baby soon?

While looking through my fabric I found an enormous pile of red and white fabric strips.  My memory tickled a bit and I can vaguely remember laying them out last year to see how they should go together, but for the life of me I cannot remember what I was going to use them for!
I pieced them together in what I think is a rail fence pattern, and hoped to have enough for a lap quilt.  The frustrating part was that I only ended up with five blocks, not six like I would have preferred.  Since it was close to Valentine's Day I decided to just make a table runner by sewing the blocks together in a single row.

This matches nothing in my kitchen, so it will have to be relegated to the Valentine's or Christmas decorations box.  I do like its scrappy charm though, and it reminds me of my Grammie who always quilted and favourite colour is red.

Today I have the morning at home so I hope to get a few more unfinished projects out of the way.  Some of them are spring-ish which is much needed today with our freezing cold temps outside.

Stay warm,
Jenn

Catch Up

Here are a few things I have completed in the past few weeks.  Now that Lent has started and I am severely limiting my computer time I am getting quite a few things done!  That's the whole idea:)

I finally used up this Valentine's day fabric that has been sitting in my fabric stash forever.  Like over  15 years forever.  Yup.  Placemats for Valentine's Day dinner, made on the big day itself.  We used them for two more days and then I felt OK about putting them away for next year.

I am trying to work on lots of quilty type projects to use up some fabric.  I used up a lot of gingham fabric for the backing which helps; but really only a little so far!

After posting about my hearts sampler, Sandra suggested turning it into a needle roll.  It worked perfectly Sandra; thank you for the suggestion!

This is a piece I stitched a couple of years ago and have since waffled on how to finish it .  I got tired of all the indecision so I just finished it into a small cushion.  I used a leftover piece of the placemat fabric for the back.





















I also crocheted this ruffle scarf for My Favourite Girl.  We saw a similar one at a church sale before Christmas, and commented how it looks like sea foam.  I found the yarn at the craft store and worked it up for her.  I have to say it was the worst stuff I have ever worked with, but it did come together quickly.  I thought it would be longer, but after looking at the instructions I see the length is bang on.  My Favourite Girl is happy (especially to have it while it's still scarf season!), and we have named it the Mermaid Scarf.

Currently on my crochet hook is a shawl made out of a really pretty variegated yarn.  I like the yarn, but I don't know if the completed project is going to look so great.  I'll use up a ball and then see how I like it.

I still have lots on the go; mostly sewing things at the moment in order to use up some fabric.  I'll post those when I finish them.  The kids and I also completed a 500 piece puzzle over the long weekend.  Actually I should say 499 piece puzzle because the dog gummed up a piece so badly that we could not use it.
I am really wanting to get lots done on my ripple blanket and start some more cross stitch, but we will see.  February is quickly winding down and I'm sure March will zip by just as quickly.

Thanks for visiting!

Jenn