Weekend Washout....

Hello my lovely ladies!!

Hasn't this weekend been a wash out? There are all sorts of things we wanted to do but haven't because of the rain - my sweet peas and dahlias need to go out; the field and fencing at the stables needs sorting and there are car boot sales on that are no fun in the rain.

On Friday I popped to the market for more fresh flowers - this time I got bluebells, I didn't know you could buy them!! I remember picking them as a little girl but I don't think you're allowed now so it was lovely to find some I could bring into the house:

Here you can also see my current favourite beverage - cinnamon latte with half fat squirty cream!!

Yesterday, we just nipped up to the stables fed the ponies and dropped off a load of free garden furniture we got from my Stepdad - we often have BBQ's at the yard in the summer and have been lacking a table but now we're all kitted out - there are even two sun loungers. We just have to hope we get a half decent summer so we can enjoy them.

Crafty-wise, I started embroidering a cardigan with Cath Kidston birds and flowers copied from inspired by the lovely Cuckoo from Tales From Cuckoo Land - the pattern is out of Cath Kidstons "Make" book.

I didn't have high hopes to be honest as my satin stitch is very poor, but I bought some proper DMC embroidery thread (I usually use the the cheap multipack stuff) and the difference is incredible. I *can* do satin stitch, who knew?!!:

Being influenced by Cuckoo has been something of a theme this week as I also bought some lovely cotton yarn and a pattern following posts from Cuckoo on IG and Pinterest (thinking about it, it makes me look a bit like Jennifer Jason Leigh's character in "Single White Female"!!):

Isn't the pinny lovely? I want to have it as a pinafore over another top of some sort - not sure what though as being rather voluptuous I can't wear anything too fitted, but with the dress over it can't be too voluminous either *scratcheschinthoughtfully*

Today we had an extra long lay in as listening to the rain hammering down gave us no incentive to get up and then this afternoon Mr G and I popped over to Chesapeake Mill for a mooch and found an antique fair too.

I bought some vintage buttons and found this bag full of Anchor embroidery thread for just £3.00:

I must confess Mr G and I did have a chuckle at some of the patrons of Chesapeake Mill as they really brought to mind Harry Enfield's sketch with the posh Chelsea "antique" shop called I Saw You Coming.

So, nothing much else to report for now - I hope you're all having good weekends and have managed to stay dry....

hugs,

S x

Monday Mutterings (with a Ta Dah!!)....

Hello my lovelies!! Are you all wet and windswept?

It's very soggy indeed here in Hampshire this morning, the showers have set in and become a permanent torrential downpour. I have a little set of nested tables waiting to be sanded but its a no go this weather!!

So, what have I been up to? On Friday I stopped by the market to treat myself to some fresh flowers:

My Nanna used to buy herself flowers every Friday from Doncaster market, she'd shop the old-fashioned way going to one stall for cheese, one for bread, another for eggs - *sigh* I absolutely l-o-v-e-d staying with her and my beloved Granddad....

They began to open and revealed the daffs to be gorgeous frilly affairs:

I then made a trip to Hobbycraft as I was inspired by a lady I am following on Instagram (she has a blog - My Three Of Hearts) to buy some of these smashing markers:

They are currently half price so a bargain too!! 

I couldn't resist this Kilner type jar to hold my modest collection of vintage threads, when I got home I added the rose decal:

Friday afternoon was spent playing with my new pens, I'm rubbish at drawing but had seen someone do some lovely childlike sketches of houses so had a go doing our house:

I'd like to turn it into a free motion embroidery....

Over the weekend I finished Little E's birthday present, so this is the official Ta Dah!!:

 I painted this vintage crib for her and made the bedding....

Mum crocheted a blanket for it and I made the quilt using this pattern - although I ended up making the squares a bit bigger as I just couldn't get the tiny ones to line up!!:

The pillow is a funny square "doily" that I put a backing on and stuffed, the sheet is a vintage traycloth....

The quilt has little sleepy animals embroidered on it:

It's Little E's birthday on Wednesday - she'll be 6, so I hope she likes it....

For the first time in ages I have nothing to sew for anybody and can make something for myself - recently I've been sewing for Mother's Day, Mum's b'day and Little E's - I've cut out a pattern I have for a dress but I'm not too confident with clothes as I've too often spent ages on things only to try them on and discover they make me look like a "bag of sh*t tied up" as my lovely Yorkshire Mum would say!!

Until next time....

hugs,

S x

A New Toy (and I'm Loving It Already!!)....

Yesterday we took delivery of our first ever proper camera:

It's a Canon EOS 550D - an entry level DSLR but by far the fanciest camera we've ever had. Of course I spent a lot of time playing with it so you may find this post a wee bit picture heavy!!

Chico - our (very noisy) orange-winged Amazon - who has started shouting the cat this week!!

Milo, who hates having his photo taken....

Daisy, eating her hide rugby ball on the sofa!!

Yesterday I had a look online to try and learn a bit about aperture/shutter speed/ISO and today had another play - I really like that lovely blur you get in the background of a good shot:

I love this one of my Trollbeads which I collected before I had horses (can't afford both!!)

Mr G is chuffed with it as it can do HD video too (I kinda sold him on the idea with that - you know you have to make them think it's their idea!!)

I'd love to do a photography course but finding one during the day that I don't need a mortgage for is proving difficult, although I have found a 3hr tutorial locally for a good price so I'm going to start with that.

So hopefully this means that here at Shabby Chic Sarah the photo quality will improve - I do love a blog with good photos....

Hugs,

S x

Mothers Day....

Hello my lovelies, did you have a lovely Mothers Day with your children and/or Mums?
I was treated to some lovely cards:

A chocolate pizza:

And some Sass And Belle ribbons on gorgeous wooden spools:

Mr G's Mum and Dad along with my Mum, Sis and niece were due for lunch and I was very lucky as for the third year Mr G cooked - in fact he did everything, including set a pretty table:

I wore a dress/tunic that I made using a pattern from the book Sew Serendipity.

I'm not over keen on the fabric, but I used it as a test run really, as I lost interest in making clothes after having so many that I'd work on, get to the point where I try them on and then look dreadful in them - like a bag of sh1t tied up as my Mum would so eloquently put it!!

My Mum brought me some lovely flowers as has been the tradition for years (up until Christmas Mum was a florist):

 Stargazer lilies, my favourite.

In other news, after signing up I am already addicted to Instagram!! It's so fab, not only can I nosey at everyone's pics but it encourages you to take photos of ordinary moments during the day which will be lovely to look back on.

If you want to follow me I'm shabbychicsarah on there.

I am trying out the Blogsy app for iPad so I can blog without having to having to fire up the laptop, so if this post looks a hot mess then that'll be why - so far I am in two minds, it's taken ages to post this and the photos are tiny. I'm having trouble getting it to do links consistently too....

Any way, nothing much else to report....

Hugs,

S x

Snowdrops....

Hello my lovelies - are you having a good weekend?


Grandma and Granddad have taken the boys out to Pizza Hut and the cinema and so Mr G and I have been enjoying a bit of peace and quiet.


We went up to the stables and on the way back past the farmhouse I made Mr G stop so I could hop out and take some pics of the snowdrops in the front garden - they are soooooo pretty:

I'm hoping they might be around next month when we (hopefully)  get our fancy pants DSLR camera so I can take some better pictures.


I remember last year about this time Country Living magazine had a list of gardens and stately homes where you could go to see carpets of snowdrops, crocuses and other spring flowers - I've had a Google and not found that but did find this list of snowdrop walks, none near us though.


What have you been up to this week? Did you have pancakes?


My sister, niece and nephew came round and we had a pancake-fest:

E particularly enjoyed hers I think!!

I had melted dark chocolate, banana, coconut and squirty cream in my two pancake. Weightwatchers or no Weightwatchers I wasn't missing out (and ironically even after indulging today's weigh showed I lost 1lb for the first time in 3 weeks!!)

I've been getting on with the patriotic quilts for H & W - you'll recall I had gone off doing them because I couldn't get the seams to line up perfectly, but I took all your comments on board (thanks so much, blogging rocks!!)  and totally agree that it's better for the boys to have wonky quilts handmade by their mother than none at all!! Will wait until they're finished to show you, I got the wadding yesterday and have about four more blocks to do before I can start assembling the tops.


Did anyone see The One Show yesterday? There was a piece about the Clandestine Cake Club - basically these are clubs around the country where cake lovers meet once a month or so - each person brings a cake (it must be a large homemade cake, no pies, tarts or cupcakes allowed) and these are shared with tea or coffee and at the end of the afternoon everyone takes a piece of each cake home. 


When the clubs are smallish (say up to six members or so) they meet in each others homes, but if they get bigger they arrange to meet in coffee shops at quiet times on the basis that the cafe will earn from the drinks you buy.


It sounds fab, but having had a look at the website there are none in Hampshire so I am going to email them about starting one - if anyone nearby wants to join in (I thought you might Ashley?) then drop me a line.


Anyway, that's all for now - I'm sat here thinking I've gone deaf because the boys are still at the pictures!!


hugs,


S x

Wanties - Fulfilled and Created....

Hello all, have you been having a nice weekend?


I've been playing with my new toy which I love, love, love already!!:

My laptop has been playing up and so I sold everything that wasn't nailed down on eBay to raise money for an iPad and found a new one for a bargain price (with full Apple warranty) and so didn't have to wait too long at all. 


Mr G bought me the pink cover as an early Valentines gift- it's a Tuff-Luv and you are meant to be able to throw your iPad out of a second floor window (there's a video of them doing so on their website) and not damage it!! Great for people with "slapdash-a-rea" like me.


Of course, me being me no sooner than one wantie is fulfilled than another one takes it's place - thanks to Homebird I am now hankering after a polka dot retro leather satchel from Zatchels *rollseyes*


As you can also see from the piccie above my daffs are now in full bloom:

They smell lovely too, subtle, but very much the scent of spring.


I thought I would show you my current crochet WiP too, a giant granny square which I hoping will get big enough to be a blanket (it's too big to be turned into a cushion now!!):

It's just done in good old Stylecraft DK and I am trying to do a couple of rounds each evening in front of the TV.


I'm sat here smelling like a bonfire because we had a go at the garden today. We are not gardeners, but in the last few years have become a little more interested and this is the time of year that we pull the dead stuff out of the front garden and borders.


Mr G did his caveman thing and lit a bonfire in our bin thingy hence the smell - it so remind me of my late Dad, he had a big tweedy pink "gardening jumper" that my Nanna had knit him and it (and he) often smelt of woodsmoke on winter weekends as he spent much of his time in the large garden of the house I grew up in. Smells are soooo evocative....


What have you been up to this weekend?


hugs,


S x

Daffodils!! And more Fugly-To-Fabulous....

Hello my lovely ladies (and gentlemen if there are any of you reading)!!


I have treated myself (with Mr G's money) to my first daffs of the year:

Milo looking shifty in the background....

Also in the background you can see my new crochet cushion - it was another WIP that was meant to be a blanket but as always I got bored and turned it into a cushion. I'd love a pile of gorgeous crochet blankets but alas I don't have the staying power!!

I've now started a giant granny square in the hopes that if I do at least one round a day in a couple of months or so I'll have a blanket!!

I was also busy on Sunday and Monday Fugly-To-Fabulous-ing - remember this dated headboard?

Here she is now:

Then there was the side table/trolley thingy:

And now:

I used vintage decal transfers from eBay to add a bit of interest to the corners.

And finally,  a little bow-fronted chest of drawers which had the "Paris Grey" treatment:

Please ignore the painty floor!! The beauty of this paint is it cleans up so easily which is just as well as I paint in the house - I hope to have a big shed in my future!!

My other news is I have ordered an iPad, so hopefully I will be back to commenting on your blogs soon - I am still reading, but commenting on my phone is hopeless!!

Enjoy the rest of the week....

hugs,

S x

Giveaway Winner, Flowers, Fabrics and Randomness....

I hope you're all having a good week?


First of all I have the results of my little Blogiversary giveaway - I used the random number generator thingy and it came up with 11, which means Sharon has won. Now I don't have any contact details for her so I am hoping she'll check back soon and drop me a line.


My spring bulbs from Lidl have burst into bloom this week.


Narcissus:

Hyacinths (not scented though):

And I couldn't resist taking pics of this pretty little orchid:

A while ago we rescued it and two of it's companions from the discount trolley at B&Q where they looked very sorry for themselves, they were £2.50 for the three of them and so far they've all flowered.

My stepdad got me a little footstool to refurbish but I haven't had chance yet as everyone has taken a shine to it:

You see that mucky looking line on the floor? That's from rug tape, the type that stops your rugs from sliding about. The rug has now gone but we can't get the blasted tape off the floor - so far we have tried white spirit, nail varnish remover and two types of sticky stuff remover. If anyone has any ideas how to get rid if it they will be gratefully received?!!

I finished another tea trolley for Fugly-To-Fabulous yesterday:

See, more glue on the floor? I usually Photoshop it off!!

I went to my quilting group on Friday and Wendy helped me make my quilt sandwich (quilt top, wadding and backing) and over the weekend I hand tacked it. I am now ready to quilt it!! Hope fully I'll have it completed to show you next week.

In the meantime, I ordered some fabric to make quilts for our boys:

Their room has a Union Jack theme so we went patriotic with the fabric!! I now have to choose patterns....

W is off school with a cold and so I am going to curl up on the sofa with him and watch "Flight Of The Navigator"....

hugs,

S x