Wafflings (For Want Of A Better Title!!)....

I have a spare 15 minutes so thought I would do a quick blog post, I really must try and post more regularly.

So, what have I been up to?

Last week I went to visit my dear friend Ashley from Country Rose to meet her gorgeous new baby:

How gorgeous is he? Made me very broody!!

I too the opportunity to take few little gifts over:

After a few false starts I settled on this little stripey cardigan, which is the first ever garment I have knitted that I am happy with!!

The colour way was inspired by the movie Labyrinth - the baby in that wears a lovely red and white striped babygro:

When my boys were little I wanted a babygro like this for them but could never find one....

Of course I couldn't leave Ashley's daughter Rose out and so I made her a little rabbit following a pattern from Mary Janes Tearoom:

I highly recommend these patterns, they are so easy to follow - in fact one of these rabbits was the first pattern I followed after learning to knit.

I made Ashley a little vintage style felt brooch among other things:

I've also found time to knit Milo a festive jumper:

I have been working on my first ever paid embroidery "commission":

And of course there is always time for cake!!:

I always find December tricky, on the one hand I love Christmas but on the other I often find that my anxiety is bad. You may remember I have emetophobia (fear of vomiting).

It is so bad that I had to give up work because I was so fearful of coming into contact with "germs" that might make me ill and as such all these horror stories about bugs are freaking me out!!

I then become so worried about being sick that I start to feel nauseas and then don't know whether its real or my imagination!! The mind is a powerful thing and its not good when, sometimes, it doesn't seem to be on your side!!

So, I'm giving myself lots of "talking to's" and downing the old Rescue Remedy in the hopes of keeping things in check!!

Hugs,

S x

 

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By The Sea....

Hello my lovely ladies!! How've you been?

Much of this week has been quiet and a lot of knitting (and frogging) has gone on but yesterday I ventured out to meet up with some of my good friends that I have met through the power of the www.

I went via Ashley's from Country Rose to collect her & Rose and then we headed across to Gem's (of Treasures From The Cherry Tree fame) new house.

We were given a warm welcome with tea and homemade cake and I was finally able to give Gem the housewarming gift I had made:

One of my free motion embroidery pictures of her house.

I have these for sale in my Etsy shop - I can do custom embroideries of your house or a friend or relatives, they would make great gifts!!

After the grand tour of Gem's new home (which is EXACTLY like the kind of house I would love, complete with Downton Abbeyesque doorbell!!) we pottered along to a lovely cafe on the seafront to meet Sarah from Annaboo's House and her little daughter for lunch.

Naturally, having already had cake I fell completely off the wagon:

Mmmmm, I could just eat it again!!

After lunch we went for a wander on the beach and Rose entertained us no end by splashing in the rock pools and more than once sitting down fully clothed in them!! Luckily, Ashley had a change of clothes so it was decided to let Rose get on with it and she and little A had a whale of a time:

We posed for silly group portraits:

Could I look anymore like Lisa Riley?!!

I prefer this one which we took whilst Ashley was fishing Rose out of another rock pool (sorry, Ashley, how rubbish are we? She was sooooo funny and cute though!!):

All too soon (after more tea and cake at Gem's) it was time to come home. We had such a lovely day and promises were made to meet up again soon.

I must add that it was one of those days where one truly marvels at the power of a blog - without which I would have never met these lovely ladies that I have so much in common with....

Hugs,

S x

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The Instagrannies Big Day Out....

Last Saturday the lovely Ashley from Country Rose and I set out on a road trip to Alexandra Palace for The Knitting and Stitching Show and to meet up with some of the lovely ladies we have met online via our blogs and Instagram.

Ashley is now glowingly pregnant and so naturally we had to stop en route which suited me as there was a Starbucks and I got to have a huge Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Dear Ashley looking radiant....

It took a couple of hours to get to Ally Pally and then a while to find a parking space, we thought for a moment we were going to have no luck, but we eventually managed to find a spot in a side street.

We hiked up the hill, and I was glad Ashley was preggers as it meant I could have a rest now and again too - I am soooooo unfit!!

The view over London from the top is spectacular:

You could see the Gherkin and the Shard....

We all met in the foyer and there were hugs all round before we headed into the show - it was huge, really busy and hot!! I didn't take many pics inside as we kept getting split up and there was a huge urge to just stand about and natter.

We did all manage to get together at lunchtime:

And afterwards, we nabbed a passerby to take a group photo of us all:

Please ignore my Johnny Vegas-esque chin(s)....

Kate from Adventures From A City Girl Country Girl; Ashley from Country Rose; Nicki from Homebird; LissyLou from Lissy Lou & The Two Little Boys; Gemma from Little Gem's Diary; Gemma from Musings Of A Gem; Gemma from Gem's Country Life Dream; Julie from Pretty Little Jewels; Cuckoo from Tales From Cuckoo Land; Kmmms from Things Learnt The Hard Way

I couldn't miss the opportunity to join Cuckoo in one of her trademark silly face photos:

What do we look like?!!

In actual fact Cuckoo is every bit as gorgeous IRL as I knew she would be:

I, however, am not....lol....

We all parted feeling even more like old friends with plans afoot to meet up again soon for a whole day of crafting and nattering.

Naturally a few purchases were made, which I must show you:

Sock yarn and Alpaca DK that was going to be for a shawl - indeed since Saturday I have crocheted 3/4 of it, and realised that:

a. I thought it was a bit prickly (I detest prickly wool/garments as my Mum used to make us wear horrid itchy jumpers in the '70's).

b. I didn't have enough yarn.

So it's been frogged.

I also got some pretty ribbons and trimmings:

I also got some cute stitch markers:

It was a really, really good day - some of the ladies had felt a bit nervous about meeting up with people they had met over the Internet but I can honestly say it was very successful indeed - we truly all got along as though we had known each other for years - and not one of us turned out to be a 50 year old fella, eh Cuckoo?!!....

Hugs,

S x

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A Crafty Catch Up....

As I have managed to drag the tale of my birthday weekend out over three weeks I have missed out on showing you the latest things I have been creating and so I thought a catch post was in order!!

After having the frames for ages, I got around to displaying the boys very first baby grows:

I can't hardly believe they were ever that small!!

I also framed the embroidery I did whilst we were in Zakynthos this summer:

One afternoon I made a little sign using my Annie Sloan paints and a quote from our wedding song (which was "Endless Love"):

With some of my birthday money I bought two lovely lamps for the bedroom, but they came with really dull shades and so I made some patchwork fabric to cover them then I added some crochet trim:

A little fabric bird:

A little machine embroidery for the kitchen:

And a little birds nest made with beads and silver wire:

You may wonder how I get the time for all this crafting it I am very lucky in that I don't work and H and W are usually glued to their various electronic devices when they get home from school!! So that means in an afternoon, when all the chores and errands are done I often retreat into my girl cave to play for a couple of hours....

I'm off tomorrow to The Knit and Stitch Show at Ally Pally so I hoping next week I will have some bargains to show you!!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend....

Hugs,

S x

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Boiling Frogs....

Hello again!! Two posts in two days, blimey!!

Mr G has flown to Geneva for a meeting and I've been bored and lonely so I just wanted to show you a couple of things I finished yesterday.

I made myself a new sign for my girl cave:

I also gave a mirror my Stepdad had given me a makeover - he kindly gave it to me to sell, but yet again I've ended up keeping the thing he's given me to sell on.

It was dark, dingy wood and had a rusty chain so I set about giving it a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and then a layer of Duck Egg. I soaked the chain in some vinegar and then scrubbed it to remove the tarnish and after sanding and distressing I added some gold Rub And Buff:

I love how it's turned out!! Because it was to be hung by the chain, I used an idea I had seen in "Period Homes" magazine (that I buy even though we live in a 1970's semi!!) where you drill a hole, insert a rawl plug and then screw in a drawer pull or knob to use as a hook.

I must tell you what Mr G said after her hung it for me, I was saying how nice it looked and he agreed and then he mused "It's like boiling a frog isn't it?"

"What is?" says I....

"All the shabby chic/vintage/floral decor we now have spread around the whole house, if you'd tried to add it all at once I wouldn't have had any of it. But you kind of sneaked it in, gradually" he said "You couldn't add a frog to boiling water as it would jump out, but put it in cold and gently heat it up and it'll hardly notice what's going on"....

I must admit I laughed my head off at this as it's EXACTLY what I've done!! I started off with a bit of Cath Kidston and shabby chic in the bedroom and then gradually spread it around the rest of the house too!!

"I can't remember what it looked like before it was all shabby chic can you?" I said

"Yeah" Mr G said "It looked crap!!"

I think you could say the assimilation is complete!!

Hugs,

S x


 

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Sweltering and Crafting!!

Phew!! How are you enjoying the heat? Isn't the British weather so mad? Last week I was curled up on the sofa with my quilt and fleecy dressing gown and this week I am roasting and have the fan on!!

I am not good in the heat. Mr G and I once went to Singapore and I spent the whole 10 days moaning about the heat in the manner of Karl Pilkington!!

Yesterday, I made myself a little haven in the garden:

I sat there all day, listening to catch-up TV on my iPad and crocheting granny hearts:

Naturally, they are going to be made into bunting. I used a pattern I found on Ravelry here  if you fancy a go yourself.

We were delighted to see that our peony has at last flowered - we got it off Freecycle three years ago and in previous years it has budded, but they've never opened before now. But, wow they were worth waiting for!!:

I've remembered to take pics of the embroidered cardi, I've finished it - here's Dolly (my duct tape dummy) modelling it for you:

Many thanks to the lovely Cuckoo for the inspiration....

I have also been painting roses on anything that stands still long enough!! The reason I wanted to learn was to be able to paint some roses on my Fugly-To-Fabulous furniture so I tried a few on a cute nest of tables:

And I've made a sign for one of my Instagram friends:

And I did one for us:

I'm toying with the idea of selling these, as I really enjoy making them.

A couple of weeks ago the lovely LissyLou gave me an award:

Unforgivably, I keep forgetting to mention it - I have to answer a 10 questions:

Favourite colour: Pink of course!!

Favourite number: 8

Favourite animal: Horse

Favourite non alcholic drink: Diet Coke, I drink way too much. I'm also partial to a "Muddy Puddle" - OJ + Coke, the name comes from the colour!!

Facebook or Twitter: Facebook, though I've just joined Twitter @shabbychicsarah - please follow me!! I love Instagram best.

Recieving or giving: Oooooh, tricky!! Both!! I love giving something I know the recipient is going to love, but I love, love, love presents too!!

Favourite pattern: Floral, Cath Kidston style, gorgeous!!

Favourite day of the week: Friday, I love the anticipation of the weekend to come.

Favourite flower: Stargazer lilies - I had them in my wedding bouquet and the smell takes me there instantly. I also love wildflowers, and roses, and peonies, and spring flowers, and, and, and....

I'm meant to pass this on, but I really couldn't choose five as I love so many so I am going to be rubbish and politely decline to pass it on!!

hugs,

S x

Unsettling News And A Couple Of Ta Dahs....

Hello, my dears - I've stolen Mr G's laptop to post as I find blogging on my iPad a bit "painful" - I can't figure out how to add links and it's all just a whole lot slower. My laptop was OK just for blogging until I dripped tea on the keyboard and now the "M" and "N" keys don't work *rollseyes*

We had a bit of unsettling news this week, Mr G has been working hard on a project for work which is now all coming to a head (he's normally so laidback he's horizontal but has been stressed and a bit snippy of late). 

Mr G was updating his boss on the phone and at the end of the conversation his boss said "BTW messaging will be operated out of Cairo or Paris only by the end of the year so your job will no longer exist. If you have other opportunities I advise you to explore them".

Mr G has worked for the company for ten years and is highly thought of, so the boss said he didn't want to lose him - he hopes a role can be found within the company. 

I asked Mr G if I should be worried, and he said no something would come up. Ironically, he was asked to apply for something else just after Christmas but it was then put on hold and Mr G hasn't chased it as he is happy in his job as it is.

At best it probably means the working from home every day will be a thing of the past which will be a shame as it suits us very well - I guess I knew it wouldn't last forever though....

Anyway, onto more cheery things - I had a go at making some vintage style signs:

I thought I had originally seen the method I used on Pinterest, but a quick search of my boards and I can't find it to link for you so I shall tell you what I did.

First of all, I got a two scrap bits of wood and gave them a couple of coats of my Annie Sloan paint. The "Keep Calm" had Provence under my own Duck Egg mix (I find AS's duck egg a bit too green so I add a touch of white & blue to it) and the "Coca-Cola" had Paris Grey under Emperors Silk.

Now for the text, I used the Keep Calm app for my iPad (69p from the App Store) which allows you to create the iconic poster using whatever words you like. I then emailed the completed "poster" to myself so I could pick it up on my laptop.

I opened the poster (which comes over as a .jpg photo) in Photoshop and zoomed in until it was the size I wanted. I then placed some regular paper up to the screen and traced it off (the laptop screen acts as a lightbox). 

The Coca-Cola text was done the same, having Googled for the logo.

Of course, you could use your printer, but some of the words were bigger than A4 and I have to wait for Mr G to muck about with ours as it makes you jump through hoops before it works - have you seen this about Why Printers Are Sent From Hell To Make Us Miserable? It's hilarious because it is sooooo true....

I then positioned the paper on top of the painted wood and using a ballpoint pen and with quite heavy force traced around the lettering - this kind of etched the text into the wood and I was then able to fill in using AS's Old White and a small artists brush.

After it dried I began with a light sanding and then went a bit heavier to get the scratchy look and some of the under-colour showing through:

They took all afternoon but I so loved doing them, I am on the lookout for more wood so I can do some more!! 

What would you put on a sign if you were to make one? I thought a "Hovis" one might be nice....

I also finished my little stool:

I had been hankering after a wooden stool to crochet a top for and was doing a search of eBay when I came across the perfect one - I peered at the picture thinking the kitchen looked rather familiar and realised it was my Mum selling the stool!! Needless to say she gave it to me for nothing!!

That's all I have to report today, so I will love you and leave you with warm Easter wishes....

hugs,

S x