A Boy Project?

Firstly have a quick look at these beauties that were given to me by the lovely Jenny at playgroup on Tuesday, mmmmm;



Now the other day when I went on a mammoth spending spree with my friend Gil I bought some fabric with a boy project in mind.

Well, it ended up being a boy project;



And a unisex project;

And a decidedly girlie project also;

Quite pleased with what I managed out of a seven pound piece of fabric and some plain cotton t-shirts! There are also the coloured circles left and the cream circles with coloured borders that were interspersed with the picture circles. I am thinking that I may cut some flowers from scraps left over from bag and hat making and sew those to the circles and then put them onto t-shirts too? If the weather is fine at the next fair (so we'll be outside and not in) I have been promised to have my stall between two trees so I can rig up a washing line to hang them from! I have been looking for a child size dummy/mannequin and will have to sell a kidney (or an awful lot of t-shirts) if I'd like to own one :-( But this afternoon at Boobie Club (yes, we have moved day and time, just to confuse people, mainly me) I discovered the dolls used for baby massage training and they are yummy. Soft bodied, about the size of an 18month old, there are different skin tones too. I am hoping I will be allowed to borrow at least one (maybe two) to dress in my t-shirts or dresses and sit them at either end of my stall. The children, of course, will be head to toe Daisie Davies too!

Anyway, I best get back to sewing the labels into the t-shirts and tie off all the ends!

Daisie xxx

Fabulous!

I have had a wonderful day today. I have been out with my dear friend Gil, we went to a nearby town to check out a fabric shop that had been recommended by a woman in B&Q (of all places). We were not disappointed. I bought these beautiful bright cottons (more smocking planned) there is a metre of each on the left and 3 metres of the one on the right;


I found this amazing fabric for a boy project I have planned;



And this;

I got a whole bag of goodies for only £17!! And I was very pleased because I saw several fabrics that I have had from SAMS (in my £5 basket) that are priced between £18.99 and £22 a metre!!

I also recieved a parcel in the post today from the wonderful Emma;

This is a terrible picture of the bag (am sure Emma will have taken some better ones). It is absolutely beautiful. It is purple and it has buttons so is perfect for little old me!

There were fabulous specially picked goodies inside too.

This little felt purse;

Some beautiful ribbons and papers and a little trinket box full of sparkles;

Thank you so much Emma, I hope your swap arrives soon and makes you as happy as you have made me!

There were also lots of charity shop finds but I'll share them with you tomorrow.

The may fayre is tomorrow from 3.30 til 5.30 at Ightenhill Primary School, Alder Street, Burnley if anyone is near and fancies coming and saying hi?

Do hope I have enough stock!!

Daisie xxx

Flat Battery

Just a quick one tonight as I am still very tired but it was great to be in my own bed last night. Thanks for all your kind thoughts and wishes. Nathaniel is a little brighter and has eaten today, good sign.

I wanted to show you my completed sewing project for Cara's birthday on Saturday;

Francesca really liked the hat, may have to make some more of those!!

I wanted to show you the wonderful things I received in the post today from the beautiful Jenny but the camera battery is flat so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow. Thanks Jen, you made my day!!

Bed again now, mmmmmmmmm sleep!!

Daisie xxx

A Bit Of Excitement On A Wednesday Night!

Blimey, there I was cooking pie for tea, Nathaniel at my feet not being helpful, Francesca soaking in a tub filled with raspberry flavoured bubbles, Elizabeth practicing her spellings when the phone rang. OMG who the bloody hell is ringing a mother of three at this time in the evening!? T'was Swirly! Oh my, she is poorly, poor pumpkin. Could I take her to the hospital? Of course I could!!

An hour later after shovelling tea down three small people and clearing away the dishes and after much yelling of "brush your teeth!" "have you had a wee?" "Get in here NOW if you want a story!" all the babies were tucked up in bed. Simon came through the door, I pointed him in the direction of his tea and went to the car (the car that I am trying not to use this week, that's friendship for you!). Off to get the patient. Then off to Blackburn to find the hospital, it's all got terribly complicated since they closed most of Burnley's Hospital. We were so used to having it all on the doorstep :-(

I collected her and her bag and off we drove into the sunset (well sort of) with no children in the car!! That never happens! Out at night time with no off spring! Not quite the jolly jaunt one would hope for but probably the best either of us are going to get for the foreseeable future! Ha ha!

Didn't get lost, hurrah! We found her room and were greeted not too warmly by a grumpy staff nurse who was about to go off shift. Maybe she'd had a hard day? I felt very sad leaving her, she can't have anything to eat or drink until they have decided what it is she's got and what they're going to do about it. I gave her a big hug before I left and am sure you all are sending big cyber hugs too. I will keep you all posted!

The crafting I had planned (and walked a long way to get fabric for) for tonight will have to wait until tomorrow now but nevermind!

Daisie xxx

Ever Had One Of Those Days...?

Ever had one of those days where you seem to be breaking your back doing stuff and nothing goes right? Today has been one of those, it I was that way inclined it would drive me to drink!!

It started very early with a terrible smell, one of our cats, Hercule, has had a bit of an upset tummy, he is a very old man so we will forgive him but I was not impressed to venture downstairs and find very smelly, very runny cat poo all over my house! Argh! Thankful, yet again, that we don't have fitted carpets :-) Went flying round with the kitchen roll, a box of anti-bac wipes and a carrier bag before the girls came down and started to complain. OK, got it all, I think? Took everyone to school. Went to get some veggies and some sewing machine needles. Came home, opened the door and.....SMELL! No cats in, I booted them all out after their breakfast. Where was it coming from? Found a bit of a stain on the throw on the sofa so put that in the wash, febreezed the sofa and mopped the floors. Washed dishes (still there from breakfast, bad house wife!!) and set off to nursery to collect Francesca.

Came home, boiled an egg for Francesca, warmed pasta stuff from the other night for Nathaniel, had a quick sandwich. Checked email and had a look at my etsy shop; 21 people heart me :-)

Got sewing machine out to complete Heather's birthday handbag (nearly completed last night until mishap, that's why I had to go get needles). Not entirely happy with it;




but don't have any more of this fabric to try again, she'll love it anyway but I felt it wasn't up to my usual standard. To ease my conscience I made this little kilt pin brooch to go on it;




It has a small string of 'pearls', a string of red coloured wooden beads, a large wooden bead on an organza ribbon and a fabby mother of pearl antique button. Quite pleased with it, may try some more when I have time...

Then, after feeding Nathaniel, answering some questions from a very nice lady who came round to discuss post office closures in our area, long story, I turned this.....



into this.....

Then tried to make a dress for a little girl out of this fabby Laura Ashley fabric (I love it, I may turn some of it into a skirt for me) but it just didn't work. I reached the point when you start to think; 'who am I trying to kid, I can't do this?!'

Then it was time to go and collect Elizabeth from school, Nathaniel fell asleep in the pram, Francesca and I had a very strange conversation about electricity pylons (don't ask) and the sun was shining. Elizabeth was cheerful and lovely company when she came out into the playground, which is not always a given. We went to the park and had a swing and a slide, we saw some friends from playgroup who had come out for a walk in the sun. We strolled home picking daisies and dandelions from the grass and put them in our hair (no dog wee comments please!). Did spellings, I heard Elizabeth read while Francesca wore my one and only pair of heels. The children had tea and on the way up the stairs Elizabeth spotted the dress that went horribly wrong and asked if there was any of that fabric left as she really liked it, I said I'd see what I could do and then she said she'd have that dress "'cos it's just lovely, Mum". Made everything alright again, thanks darling!!!

Daisie xxx

Holidays

Blimey, can't believe it's been so long! Bad, bad blogger!!
The children are all at home, that's my excuse!
Simon is away now for a few days so there will be lots of creative happenings here and we won't be tutted at when we leave our stuff all over the place! The girls have already started doing things with CDs, pics will follow soon, I have no doubt!
Need to have a sort of my fabrics later as Elizabeth and I visited SAMS (a local organisation that recycles things from industry that would otherwise end up in land-fill sites) this morning and came back with lots of things; three huge cushions (in crap covers but that can soon be rectified), a pile of fabrics for handbags, dresses and anything else I feel inspired to make, some fancy paper, some black felt, some picture frames, some wool, felt circles, a phone charger (?) and far too many things to list......

Here are some of my most exciting fabric finds;

The prints are quite big as they are designed for children's soft furnishings so I may just use images from them to embellish garments instead of using them as my main fabric, we'll see!

As I said the girls are on holiday. We don't seem to have done very much but it's good just to have all my babies here with me.

We have, however, had fun in a tent;

And turned our tongues blue drinking slushies with our friends at a local play centre;

That's all for now folks!

Daisie xxx

Feeling Much Better

You know you have almost fully recovered from an illness when you start to make things again!

I completed an order of ten assorted children's birthday cards and delivered it today, very pleased with myself. Got some new stencils recently and have just started to use them to make toppers for cards; this is the first attempt with the flowers, thought they'd do nicely for a Mum and Mum-In-Law next Sunday, what do you think?!

And I just love what I did with the dogs, Simon says it's a bit sick making but the girls think they're fab! Definitely cute, whether that's a good thing or not is a different matter.

Francesca and I visited my fabulous fabric supplier today and we've acquired some wonderful new floral prints so keep watching and I'll show you how they can become beautiful things to wear. Been working on getting the clothes I already have onto the site too. Hopefully now I don't feel quite so poorly things will get back on track again. Francesca has volunteered everyone for an early night tonight because she chose some fabric for herself and I have strict instructions to turn it into a dress with a matching hat and a handbag (she doesn't ask for much). Don't think it'll all be made tonight as the ironing pile is perilously high, I fear for my safety every time I pass it, maybe get that done first!!

Hopefully some pics of fabric tomorrow, not to mention the beautiful sparlky wool I got too!!!

Daisie xxx