Daisy Tops, Snow Suits And Favours

Well, we awoke this morning to the sound of Elizabeth barking, very bad cough indeed! We had only been asleep for an hour or so as Nathaniel had cried most of the night or coughed. I hate the lurgy! I feel naff and my lips look as if they may completely flake away at any moment.

My mood was greatly improved when shopping for bread and milk and fruit when I found this delightful daisy top for just £4;



And round the corner a knitted pink dress for Francesca that cost a mere £2.50;



Even though we are feeling so lousy we are not letting our germs spoil the planned outing to Blackpool tonight to see the illuminations! We go every October half-term and have our tea out and get the tram through Blackpool and 'ooh' and 'aah' at the lights. I must say that in recent years it has been the reactions of the children that make the evening so special.

In preparation I have hauled out Nathaniel's snow suit to keep him warm;




As you can see from the photo, he's not impressed!

Not as impressed as he was when he wore this scarf like pink hair;



And not forgetting the favour I mentioned last night......

My friend Julie is very ill at the moment, she has leukemia and is currently undergoing chemo therapy. When I asked her if there was anything I could do she said that I should shout from the roof tops and get as many people as I could to register on the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Donor List. Feeling small and quite useless I enlisted the help of the wonderful Mia at our local children's centre and we have arranged to hold our own recruitment clinic. We will be hosting the event on December 4th and I have made a book for people to sign for Julie, there will be many people there simply because they know her! I ask of my dear blog land friends that you send a card for Julie. None of this will make her better but I think she will find comfort and courage from knowing that so many people wish her well. If you would like to please email me (details on blogger profile) and I will send you my mailing address. My plan is to deliver a box of cards and goodies to her the weekend after the event and let her know how many more people are on the list!

For those not wanting to send card, there will be an e-flyer (soonish) about the event that I would love you to post on your blog until the event, you may not be near but some of your readers might be!

Thanking you all in advance, Daisie xxx

18?!

Happy Birthday Charlotte!!!

I can't quite believe that my baby sister is 18 but she is (we're all getting older......)

I made her this cute little felt badge;



And knitted her some buttercup coloured (as requested) beads;



And delivered them in this cute little gift box;






With matching tag;

And continuing this yellow theme, a ladybug card;

Bit blurry but cute!

We all went over for birthday tea and had cake!!

I had a great day out on Monday with my pal Gil and treated myself to some new scissors and she treated me to lunch! Very nice indeed!! Thanks Gil!

Yesterday saw an afternoon of making cards, eating cake and watching HSM 1 and 2 with some friends in preparation for today. 17 of us went to see HSM 3 at the cinema, it was heaving and there were a few squeals when Troy removed his shirt (not from the children but from pervy Mums, not me, I might add!). I really enjoyed it even though my nose was runny and my head was sore. Bloody cold virus!!!

Come back again tomorrow, I have a favour to ask you....

Daisie xxx

All Packed Up

Well, with my design skills (don't laugh) and Simon's technological skills (no, really, don't laugh) we tweaked the brooch card design and printed lots off. After a while with the guillotine and some sticky stuff my brooches looked like this;




Impressive or what?! Sadly though I hadn't yet read the comment that Ruth left on my last post so the pic is a little hazy. But after reading her comment and packing my little bottles of Christmas Cheer and some little bottles of Love and wiping my lens I took a much clearer picture;



A big thanks to Simon for being patient with me and a big thank you to Ruth for her photographic expertise (again, don't laugh!).

Today I am off out with my friend Gil and am leaving all the children with their Daddy! I am so excited, can't wait! And I have had a long time to wait as the clocks went back yesterday (bloody daylight savings, what a nightmare) and although it seemed like half past seven to three small body clocks it was only in fact half past six! Argh! But it gives me lots of time to get ready.....

Daisie xxx

Bargains And Brooches

Hello, blimey, what a lovely day we had yesterday. The children and I got up early, leaving Simon in bed (See what a good wife I am?) and made breakfast. For some reason we didn't hear the post man when he knocked to deliver these rather marvelous Jeremy Strong books that I won on eBay for Elizabeth. With a bit of luck they may last her until the end of the week, I have never known such a veracious reader at only seven years old!



So because we missed the postman and I am going out on Monday (with no children, woo-hoo) we decided to leave Simon in bed and venture into town and then along to the sorting office.

I have been on a hunt for black leggings all week to wear with my knitted boots and big jumper. So we went into all the cheapie clothes shops and at first I could find no leggings but I did find this beautiful skirt;



For only a single pound, how good is that?!

Really rather summery but I may wear it over my leggings and boots with a big black jumper? I did manage, eventually, to find some leggings, they are few and far between. They were everywhere last year, look at me being a fashion follower, ha ha!

After lunch Lynsey came to call to give us one of her beautiful invitations and also to give me some of her amazing 'freecycle' envelope stash! What a great pal!

Then Simon's Mum came and joined us for a cup of coffee and a catch up.

I spent the rest of the afternoon knitting a lacy scarf for me (yes, for me!) with some brownie- purple yarn that I picked up last year with the intention of knitting something for me. The time has arrived. I am making nothing more for the fair until it is finished!

While I knitted Simon made the card backs for my brooches;

I used a free printable backing paper pattern I got from my Artymiss subscription but printed it out at A4 and then printed the text over the top. Because I did it like this and not smaller blocks of the same patter it means that every one is slightly different depending where it was on the sheet and where I cut it.

I think they look really good;

The photos are a bit bad as the flash is now insisting on going off for all photos as we enter the dreaded British Summertime!

Daisie xxx

Hurrah!!!!!

It's Friday, it's after 4pm and all my children are here with me. We have all hugged together and jumped up and down and squealed because it's the holidays!!!!!!! They are delighted because we have so many lovely adventures planned for the coming week and I am pleased to not have to pack lunches! The cries of "I said get your knickers on!" and "Where did you put it?!" (when asked where kit bag/reading book/lunch box/spelling book is) and "We are going to be late for school!" will not be heard in this house until 8am on Tuesday November 4th! Woo-hooooooo!!!!!!!!


And due to my busy-ness yesterday morning (before going for a lovely play at school with Francesca, we had a great time, she introduced me to all her friends, showed me all her books, around her classroom etc. Nathaniel had fun too, his favourite was definately climbing in the yard on the climbing frame and going down the slide!) of chickens and stuff I managed to sit down last night and knit these lovely rosettes;



The beads and sequins are ready to go on them tonight!


And here are my babies post celebration squeeze;

Daisie xxx

A Quick Update (and cup of tea)

One taggy blanket. Super fluffy egg yolk fleece on one side and a soft white cotton filled with flying kites on the other;



There are twenty ribbon tags, sadly not each one is different but there are not many repeats. I seem to have (on closer inspection) a wonky ribbon but hey, for a first attempt, I'm very pleased!




A family of chicken hotties, complete with bottles;



And a red dragon pie ready to go in the oven on our return from school;

Veg peeled, chopped and loaded into the steamer.

Floor vaccuumed but not mopped but it's not that dirty.

Nathaniel had an early lunch and has gone for a snooze.

I am now going to sit with my cup of tea and log into my browser and see what the rest of you have been up to!

Daisie xxx

The Death Of The Chicken Hottie

The death of the chicken hottie (not The Death Of A Disco Dancer!), how sad. I have cut my last piece of yellow fleece with amazing scalloped edging (an IKEA bargain) into four chickens (2 small, 2 full size). I am very sad as I love these little fellows. Here they are waiting for faces and wings;


They will go to the fair with me. May have to have a trip to Ikea and See if I can get another but I haven't been lucky on that front for quite a while :-(

There were a few off cuts that are on their way to becoming taggy blankets for the soon to be arriving babies. Here's one I pinned last night;

Just need to find a nice gender neutral cotton for the back and hey presto!

I have a busy day ahead. I have been invited into Francesca's class this afternoon (in lieu of a parents' evening meeting) to see how the class works and to watch Francesca in her school environment. I am quite excited about it really. There will be time for a one on one chat with her class teacher too. I just hope that it's not like Elizabeth's first parents' evening when I came home in tears! Long story. The only sad thing is that because it's so early in the day Simon can't come too.

Then I am collecting Simon from college at half past three as we have an appointment with Elizabeth's class teacher just before 4. Then we can collect the girls from their sports clubs (Elizabeth is doing dance and Francesca is cheer leading!) and come home all together and eat together and maybe Simon will listen to reading books and read stories at bedtime. I am very excited and pleased as punch to have him home on a week night!

In between all this school/parent activity I need to make a red dragon pie, wash the floors, sew four chickens and try and get Nathaniel to have a snooze before we go to school and maybe even have time for a cup of tea!!

Daisie xxx

Fluff and Tag

Well, I managed to sew on the red beads to the silver fluffy flower/rosette type knitted thingie.

Then today, after a disappointing trip out for some leggings (to wear with my knitted boots and big jumper) and accidentally buying two new outfits and a stripy sweat top for Nathaniel (only came to £6.50, I love sales) I have knitted some more. I am really loving these, they are dead easy and look really professional (always good).

Here are today's creations;



Cream eye lash yarn with a huge (bigger than a £2 coin) antique mother-of-pearl button centre;

Silver fluffy yarn with red glass beads;

Chunky multi coloured autumn type colours with poundland (yes, poundland) wooden beads in orange and pink, a perfect match;

This is Nathaniel's fave (not because it's pink, although that does help), made with fluffy pink yarn and little silver bells that really jingle (you can just see then nestled in the centre);

And I have been tagged by the lovely Pixiedust over at Faerie Nuff.


1.Link to the person who tagged you.
2.Post the rules on your blog.
3.Write six random things about yourself.
4.Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5.Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6.Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I did one of these not so long ago but not wanting to be a party pooper, I'll see if I can find six more things.......

1. I like to read in the bath, it is probably my favourite thing to do (especially when I am cold/tired/poorly/menstrual) but sadly only happens a half dozen times a year and then usually someone has to come in and poo!

2. I leave little notes for my family reminding them of my love in their pockets and lunch boxes. Simon is already truly embarrassed by it and it won't be long before the girls find it a bit naff too. I have already had the conversation with Elizabeth that "Soon I will be too big to kiss you at school, Mum" bu was reassured that she would kiss me everyday at home before we left!

3. The first present Simon bought for me was a pair of bottle green Doc Martens, they were (and still are) the only pair I ever had that was new and complete. I had had several pairs of pre-owned or seconds due to lack of monies. I loved them and they are still in a box on top of my wardrobe with holes in the soles where I wore them to death!

4.I like the smell of laundry!

5. I didn't go to primary school. Well, I did, for a term but became so ill and withdrawn that my parents removed me. My brother and I were home educated until 11 when we decided that we should go to school and make some friends (we relocated from Essex to Lancashire some years before). I still hated school and it still made me ill but I got out the other end in one piece and am here to tell the tale so it's ok really. Fortunately my children love school. They hate being parted from me for long parts of the day but they love learning and have friends and it makes me really happy for them. I often wonder if I missed something.

6. I made a very large toasted cheese and tomato sandwich that Nathaniel and I shared at lunchtime. It was very good as we were feeling cold but I now feel greasy and slightly sick!

And I would hereby like to tag Julie, Juicyfig as she has been very quiet of late, Hannah as she is a newbie and we really should know more about her, Lynn as her daughter tidies in much the same fashion as I do, Ethel so she can give us six random facts about being poorly and finally Tales From The Crib as the blog name makes me laugh out loud and the photos are brill!!

Phew!!

Daisie xxx

Fluff

Nataniel much brighter today and has had a good time at playgroup. While he was off playing I chatted and made a tree dangle and a heart brooch (that is in need of further embellishment).

After lunch while he slept I did a little washing; my never ending laundry, woe-woe, woe-woe, woe-woe (which must be sung to this tune with a mournful expression)! When he woke he was cheerful but snugly so we sat on the sofa together. He hugged my leg and I knitted. Lots and lots of little beads and a huge big fluffy thing!



The yellow beads are to be made up into jewelry for my sister's up and coming 18th (oh my god, I am now so old) birthday! When Simon and I were first together we used to collect her from nursery school and take her out for a 'treat'. People always assumed she was our child! Blimey (that word again!). The light blue beads are also to be turned into a jewelry set for the fair and there are lost of extra beads. When I make a set I knit one extra bead, the plan being that I will string them all together and wear them to the fair. An eclectic mix of colours, textures and sizes. The big silver sparkle is on it's way to becoming a very beautiful brooch, I will be adding some red beads when the children are all in bed.

I will not be long behind them, I have pulled a muscle in my right shoulder and the pain has got worse and worse all day. Knitting is hard so I won't do much more. Maybe I'll watch 'enders with a hottie!

Daisie xxx

Poorly Boy And Knitted Flowers

This afternoon Simon took lots and lots of photos (as only a man could) while Nathaniel had a calpol-wearing-off-growing-canines-snotty-nose-temperature-tired induced strop. This is one towards the end of the screaming when he was beginning to calm down. He looks so poorly, poor bunny!


I spent last evening knitting flowers. These were a suggestion from Jenny (cast on 10, knit arow, purl a row, knit each stitch twice, purl, knit each stitch twice, purl, cast off);

I have made spirals like this by not purling, just knitting, they look flatter but I couldn't find any to photograph (and couldn't be bothered to knit another).

I made some of these;

And some of these;

The red one and the small white one were made following the pattern. The larger one on the left I made by casting on in pink then changing to white and knitting a row and purling a row before casting off as the pattern. The other I made by following the pattern but casting on in pink and casting off in white.

I also made a petal following this pattern but it was very big (even on a smaller needle). Not really what I wanted although if I can find some bright red yarn and some yellow beads I may make a ponsettia type flower brooch for my Mum's Christmas present, shhhhhhhhh!

Right, leek and potato soup and early nights all round me thinks!!

Daisie xxx

Small Gifts And Big Smiles

I must firstly say a big hello to the lovely Mo who bought a card from my folksy shop this week and left me the most wonderful feedback and then came here to say hello too (see last post's comments). Hello!

Simon has been working exceptionally long hours this week and is tired and grumpy and we have all missed him like mad. When he returned home at nearly 10pm on Thursday he was really low but brought a huge smile to my face when he said that he had a present for me. Ooh, says I. A big button that he found;



Anyone who truly loves me would bring me a stray button knowing that I would love it!!

Nathaniel I think is suffering from sore teeth and a bit of a cold (but he is training to be a man so more like flu) and has been very difficult indeed (good job I love him!) so not much has got done. I did manage to make the decoupage daisy toppers for the cards I have planned for the fair;

And I made some more felt tree decorations;

These photos are really hazy, don't know why?

We had lots of fun last night (being all together again) when the girls unearthed a wig in the style of a black bob. I bought the wig for Elizabeth when Francesca was very small, she dressed up as Zoe from Doctor Who (one of her favourite companions) to go to see the singing kettle. It is in dire need of a good combing but it looked rather cool on Nathaniel;

He'd make a very pretty girl! Nathaniel has a bit of a thing for wigs (or I have a bit of a thing for putting him in wigs), we have a brilliant pic of him in my Mum's post-chemo wig when he was just a few months old. The wig is a sandy colour and he did have the look of Rod Stewart. Mum laughed and laughed, the first time for a long while.

And we laughed so much it hurt when Simon put it on;

He doesn't make such a pretty girl but he'd be great as a stand in for Maureen or Barbara!! And in true spirit of the BBC; "Other kitchen towels are available!"

Have a lovely Saturday, Daisie xxx

Knitting And Stuff

I made a sale on folksy yesterday! Sorry, the excitement still hasn't left me, maybe when I have sold more it'll be less thrilling but I hope not! I love to check my mail in the morning and find an 'instant payment' notice from paypal, it sets me up for the day!

I completed Elizabeth's costume and gave her a crash course in tying the ring sling (am so glad she's not taking a real baby)! I also made a linen shawl and tried to recreate a Celtic pattern with fabric paint but it wasn't great. Kae-Lei loved it though so she's going to wear it today to liven up her costume. I made her an embroidered felt brooch last night to pin it shut. No pictures at the moment but I have an insider at school so there may be some 'action' shots later!!!

I sat up very late last night knitting beads with Simon at my side surfing for 'old' songs. We sang along to this and Simon yet again told me that he wants this playing at his funeral when the coffin slips behind the curtain! I remembered wanting to look like this, I so wanted that lipstick!! And we found this (it does have a rude word in so don't look if you're easily offended) that made us laugh out loud!! And we listened to this because I love it and we listened to this because when I said search for Fuzzbox I think Simon had something else on his mind.....you know who I mean though, don't you, you can admit to knowing all the words, you are amongst friends!

And I managed (whilst singing) to complete all the beads for an order and have strung them together this morning. It's not very sunny though so the pics are not great;



I am really loving the black bracelet with just one striped bead, will be making one for me when I get time!! The other set is purple mohair and the colour is stunning (can't really see it though) but I had forgotten what a pig it is to knit with mohair, especially on this small scale, too fluffy and fiddly! Pleased with the end result though.

Today's crafty tasks are to make a dozen or so ice skate cards (another fiddly job, sewing laces into paper boots!) for the fair, do some layered daisy cards and sew some more tree decorations (these are cut out and ready to go). Not sure how much I'll get done though as Nathaniel has the runniest nose and the foulest temper this morning and it is very cold and I am very tempted to just go and get into bed with him and snuggle because that is all he really wants. We'll see....

Daisie xxx

Quick update; Tigerlily, if you're reading I have listed the items, just click on the folksy button to the right and they are ready and waiting for you!!

Competitive Mum

Who?

Me?

Elizabeth came home from school yesterday with a letter explaining that the children would be reenacting a Celtic Battle (as this is the period of history they are studying at the moment) this Thursday and would need a 'costume' of some sort.

We rummaged in my stash and found this wonderful John Lewis fabric called; Celtic Scroll;




Last night I found her school t-shirt and took a basic bodice shape from it. I cut out the pieces and then left them as I was busy being a star (apparently).

After playgroup today while Nathaniel snoozed in his pram (it's hard work playing) I pinned them together and ran them through the machine;

I decided against trying to recreate an iron age zip so have sewn in some ribbon loops and will add two buttons tonight;

The bottom hem needs doing but I didn't want to do it until I have tried it on Elizabeth and made sure it all fits as it should.

I was going to knit her a shawl but won't have time to do it for Thursday as I have a very special order to fill for this lovely lady so am mostly knitting beads!!

Will she be the best Celtic princess of all or what?! She also wants to borrow the ring sling and attach baby Annabell to her. May or may not have time to make a miniature Celtic outfit!!

Daisie xxx

Ugh And 'Oh No!'

It's walk to school week and guess what, it's raining! Ugh, bit wet but Francesca will have loads of points, hurrah!! That's the ugh over with.

Now onto the 'oh no'

I told you about wrestling a big sheet and some patchwork daisies. Well here it is, my table covering for the up and coming fair;

I very enthusiastically chopped up lots of petals from the fabrics that were easily to hand and promptly pinned them all onto the sheet on Friday. After a couple of hours on Saturday and then sitting up with the sewing machine until very late last night. It's really hard to turn such a big piece of fabric :-( or maybe I just need more practice?! I placed it on the dining room table (slightly bigger then the table I'll be using but you get the idea). I summoned Simon to come and admire my handiwork. He said; 'very nice. OK' in a very unexcited tone. 'What?' say I. 'Well, it would look better if all the flowers were different and not the petals.' And 'OH NO!!!!!!' I think my husband may be right! Do I need to (get Simon to) unpick it all and start again? Should I have a flower in each of the fabrics so it doesn't look quite as busy? Oh no!!!!!!!!! Argh!!!!!!!!!!!! What is a girl to do? Please help ( not like last time I asked for advice and only the lovely Jenny came to the rescue) tell me what you think and I'll count up and see what to do at the weekend.

Thanking you, Daisie xxx

Boots And A Dilemma

Well I spent some time this morning making an apron for my craft fair (big pockets for change) with some tea towels that I bought for 30p at IKEA ages ago. I have already used some for a present and made this one for me;


I made one for Elizabeth too as she will be coming to keep me company. Really looking forward to it. Girl bonding! We rarely get much time to ourselves and we'll have all day. There will be a big flask of peppermint tea (biscuits?) and some good books going with us too!!

I also spent an age wrestling with a big sheet and some patch work daisies, nightmare. I gave up and put that little project aside to do the ironing (yes, it was that difficult). Will go back to it in a little while when I have read all the new posts in my blog reader.................

Then after lunch my very lovely friend Claire asked if I'd like to go shoe shopping. Well, that is a bit like asking if I wanted to breathe in and out!! How could I say no?! We left our respective children with their respective fathers and off we went into the wild blue yonder (well up the road a bit) and I bought these beautiful knitted boots! Squeal! There're not genuine Uggs (as if!) but I love them and they are snug and cosy and knitted and ooooh! I could only love them more if they were purple!

The dilemma is.........excusing terrible photographs (tis hard to photograph your foot!)............do I wear them like this;

Or like this;

Or one of each as I did for the pics?! I must also appologise for my frighteningly white legs! At least because of the flash going off you can only see the white and not the hair! Haha!

Daisie xxx

Too Tired?

Blimey Swirly, what a wuss!

We have been out together today buying many fabulous things! We started off the day when we met up at Tumble Tots with Nathaniel and Tara, they had a lovely play, we layed on crash mats and chatted (we haven't done that in ages)! We were going to have a browse in the charity shops and then we decided to venture to Accrington instead. What a good idea.

I bought a book for Simon, a Sesame Street video for the children so they can see what Bert and Ernie look like (we refer to Simon and his friend Anthony as Bert and Ernie), a lovely knitted wrap around top for just £3 (there would have been a pic but the camera battery is flat), a number of lovely goodies for the children for Christmas, some size 13 knitting needles for an up and coming project, some balls of lovely wool, some Christmas tree decorations, a book for me to read at bedtimes and three amazing paper punches (heart, star and flower) that I found in the pound shop! Can you even believe it?! We couldn't either and I think that Swirly and I upset some of the locals with our squealing!

All this and a huge bag of fruit from the super cheap veg shop for little over £16, how good is that! And I'm not too tired, unlike my husband was out partying last night (yes, on a school night too) and is quite fragile today, ah, but not too big an ah!

Daisie xxx

I've Had An Idea

I had an idea (if you listen carefully you can here Simon's blood run cold) he hates it when I say that! And while I was fiddling around Nathaniel made some beautiful art work;



Admittedly most of the drawing was on his hands but he had such good fun!

I have two craft fairs coming up in November and panic is beginning to take root; will I have enough stuff, will people buy it, will it be good fun, will I meet some lovely people, will it all be a complete disaster, will I ever be ready?! And in preparation and to help ease my unrest I have decided to make something beautiful for my stall;



This is just a small sneaky peek and I'll show you some better pics when it's finished, quite excited about it. It seems to be going how I thought (wanted) it to (so far......).

Swirly has warned me about the 'three Ps' at craft fairs (Pick up, Put down, Piss off) and I am not pinning any hopes onto making a million, if I just cover the stall and petrol and have a good day out that'll do me!

Daisie xxx