Two Very Happy Children!

I hope you all had a great christmas....as you can see my two certainly did!

Wishing all my blogging friends a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year from all the 'Darlings'. Thank you for all your lovely comments throughout the year.....I hope to hear from you all in 2010 xx

Fashion Update Christmas '09

I thought I had better update you lovely ladies about what every girl should be wearing this christmas..its seems that paper crowns just dont cut the mustard anymore..you need a woolly hat on top plus a t-shirt and dressing gown.....have a great christmas eve!

Long time no blog...

Hello everyone I'm afraid I've been neglecting my blog duties of late..I have no excuse I'm afraid other than I seem to have been busy busy busy! I've been doing some more crochet including some decorations (thanks to the royal sisters blog http://http//theroyalsisters.blogspot.com/ and attic24 http://http//attic24.typepad.com/weblog/birdie-decoration.html) and a bear hat for my smallest and my nephew, putting up the tree, making christmas chutney, settling in the new kitten (called Pixie despite my shouts for Violet or Mabel!) and visiting the wonderful bath vintage fashion and textiles fair where I bumped into the lovely Niki and the wonderful washerwoman and found a lovely print showing a very glamorous and calm lady carrying her christmas presents. I hope you are all well and eating plenty of mince pies and drinking copious amounts of mulled wine ( the recipe to keep me sane over Christmas!) All the present buying is done or made so all I have to do is organise a pre/post christmas party and do the wrapping, luckily we are spending Christmas day with my mother in law and the children are very excited about that especially my eldest who has the panto to go to too. Christmas cheer to you all!

Hooked

The weather has been awful by us but on the plus side I have been able to curl up by the fire with my crochet and dare I say it... a mince pie!! I've finished a buggy blanket for my little one but as you can see it seems to have been adopted by our Purdy cat who has been a real home bird since our other cat died. I've also made a scarf for my eldest using some lovely soft yarn and am now making some crochet robins thanks to Attic24's tutorial (the best crochet blog ever...thanks so much!). I attended a crochet course at Marmalade Yarns in Frome and I can highly recommend it, even if you know crochet already they have the best selection of tempting yarns I've ever seen so do pop along if you're around. Hope its not too rainy and wild outside by you.....perhaps I should have a mulled wine to go with the mince pie?

Puss in Boots and a Sad Farewell

A few weeks ago we lost our beloved pusscat Milton and we have been looking for another kitten that we can bestow our affection on and spoil. Here is our new little fluff who we are collecting on Friday. She is a blue and cream british shorthair from a lovely lady in Salisbury and we are all very excited about it..but we haven't decided on a name yet..any ideas welcomed!!Have a good week everyone.

'The' Fair!

What a day!

The stalls were set up beautifully with all sorts of tempting things as you can see from the pictures (apologies for some blurriness...some were taken by my excited daughter!). We had a lovely and profitable day so thanks so much to the wonderful organisers and the tearoom helpers who kept me supplied with caffeine! Here's to the next one!

Just a quick reminder (as if you need it!) about 'The Vintage and Handmade Fair' tomorrow in Chipping Sodbury from 10-4. Entrance is free and there will be tons of wonderful stuff to buy! I'll take some pics for those of you who can't make it. I've had a mad rush to get everything done but I think its all sorted now!

Neighbours with Cath K!

If you get 'Homes and Antiques' magazine this month you will find my work sitting alongside Cath Kidston's little sewing box!! There's allsorts of lovely christmas present ideas in this issue, I'll have to start saving my pennies...yeah like thats going to happen! Have a good bonfire night tomorrow.

Whahahahaha!

Well Halloween has been and gone for another year. I was working in Bea and Evie yesterday on the hill and later we all ventured into the crowds outside. It was so busy with all the shops packed with trick and treaters but we managed to procure some sweets, enter our pumpkins into the competition and have a couple of mulled wines (hence the dodgy photos!). Hope you all enjoyed the festivities.....

The Big Smoke

Last weekend we visited my sister in London for my nephews christening which was a lovely day. My sister had created the most elaborate cake based on Noah's ark complete with a very effeminate lion. Matthew my lovely nephew was very well behaved although he didn't much like the whole cold font water episode. The next day we pondered over visiting Northcote road as it looks so tempting on Hens blog but instead we settled on Libertys and the British Museum. Libertys was a joy as always and dare I say it there was the christmas shop open and ready for buyers! We managed to see the Aztec exhibition at TBM where my youngest nearly destroyed some artifacts by chucking her half eaten apple at it...the guards were not amused! and we had to visit the Egyptian exhibits too. The only horrid part was getting back onto the M4 to come home at rush hour...not a sensible idea! I enjoy visiting London but I'm always glad to get home, everyone seems in such a rush there and there's rarely any good will or manners especially on the tube. Strangely its not the young but rather the middle aged businessmen who avoid your glance when they push past or don't give up their seats to the elderly...I'm sure the decline of civilisation will start on the victoria line tube!!! Whinge finished....have a great week x

Bottom of the crochet class!

Well thats the title I've given myself as I obviously was not born to crochet! I've been taking classes with the wonderful and very patient ladies of Marmalade Yarns in Frome and they have helped me considerably to grasp the granny square. I have a couple more lessons left so I hope to be able to remember everything I've learnt and maybe even follow a simple pattern at some point in the future.

I've also been preparing for the Vintage and Handmade Fair which seems to be fast approaching and finding a few lovelies at the Shepton Mallet flea Market. A lovely fabric covered box, a set of french tins, a super eiderdown and a barbola mirror from 'Susannahs' in Bath. We have a visit to the big smoke planned ths weekend to become godparents to my gorgeous little nephew and maybe squeeze in some shops too! Hope you all have a lovely week

Get Ahead Get A Hat!

Well, last week I promised you a taster of some of the adult designs I'm working on for the V and H fair in November....hope you like them.

As promised www.misshavishamsattic.com do have a look Victoria is a talented lady!

What a washout!

Oh dear the Kilver Court 'Feastival' on Saturday was very disappointing...hardly anyone turned up (we were told 5-10,000 were expected, no more than a couple of hundred must have been there) and I spent the whole morning chasing after hats which had blown away in the strong wind! On the up side I did meet some wonderful people including the very talented lady from 'Miss Havishams Attic' whose website I'll post up when its finished and the gardens are fabulous there. Today was the last Frome Artizan Market and as always it was bustling with people and interesting stalls. 'Bea and Evie' was busy all day and has new stock....if you haven't been you should really try to before things sell out! Have a good week.

Etsy is a dangerous place

I feel sure I am preaching to the converted here but for those of you who haven't discovered Etsy yet you should really check it out (but hide your cards first). The site is filled with delicious and innovative items that I 'need'. I recently purchased two prints from the wonderful Corid which I've pictured here.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5132530

Stroud Vintage

Today was the Stroud Vintage Fair. It was a lovely venue and although it took us a while to get there it was worth it. There were some beautiful things for sale from small mop butttons to original 40's high heels (and some delicious chocolate cake). The fair is run by the lovely couple who own the vintage shop in Stroud (Vintage on High) which is well worth a visit even when the fair isn't on! 'Betty and Violet' (message in a teacup blog) were there with some wonderful things as you can see in the pictures. I managed to restrain myself from buying too much and my daughter spent her pocket money on some pretty little clip on earrings...on the understanding they would just be worn on her birthday! Last week I visited Sue at Dairy House to see the finished 'Cheese room'. It's a real transformation and with Lizzie's stuff now upstairs it was a real feast for the eyes. I bought a lovely french child mannequin while I was there which I'm setting up to use as display...pics to come later.This week is a busy one, I'm preparing for the V and H fair in November and I'm at the Kilve court feastival on Saturday and working at Bea and Evie on Sunday for the artizan fair..if anyones about do pop in and say hello!

Bride and Groom Magazine

Hurray! 'Daisy Darling' is in print in Bride and Groom magazine! As you can imagine I'm chuffed to bits.

Bath Textiles Fair

Today was the Ashley Hall textile fair in Bath. It's a beautiful site as it's held in the assembly rooms, home of the Costume Museum. There's always beautiful things to look at here although it can be quite pricey. It was lovely to see familiar blog faces (Lizzie and Niki) there and to meet a new one(Message in a Teacup). After a quick circuit round the stalls I sat with a coffee and a cheese scone (yum) pondering what I REALLY needed. My husband commented that my fair tactics were like a meal out, firstly the small amuse bouche, the quick look to assess the loveliness, then the main course where I am usually tempted to purchase something and then the dessert, a last look to check I haven't missed anything! It's not usual for my daughter to request 'No dessert please mummy!' but today was the exception. Well, I bought some lovely trims for my adult hats for the V and H (more of those in another post!) from Lizzie. A pair of super cushions for our sofa and lastly a beautiful doll from around the 20's I think. Have a great week.

Childrens Things

Well, I've have been papering the 'baby' (I use the word loosely as she's two!) room. The last time we attempted this sort of DIYwas about 8 years ago and it nearly ended up in the divorce courts... so we've obviously mellowed in our old age as this went smoothly. I've had my eye on some circus paper from CK for a while so I bit the bullet and bought a roll to cover just one wall (it's too expensive to do a whole room!!) and it actually looks good....celebratory wine tonight I think. I also bought some of the fabric to make a cover/cushion too but that task will have to wait for another day. I found this lovely fabric in CK too but I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet, I just thought the colours were beautiful. I've been looking at old childrens books recently, there were such wonderful illustrations. I picked up a couple of them recently at a boot fair. One of the illustrations reminded me of last weekend.....I bet you can guess which one! have a lovely weekend..remember the fashion and textiles fair is on in Bath on Sunday...

I've just read this back and it sounds like I've been papering the baby! I haven't, honestly although there is a large bump on the wall and I haven't seen her for a while!