Making stuff whilst the snow falls!

Good morning

Oh joy another morning when the world looks likes its been covered in icing sugar - last weeks spring warmth seems a distant memory. The thought of wearing sandals soon has been pushed to the back of my mind and I am firmly staying in my long stripey socks and boots for a while longer.

This is the view that greeted me yesterday morning when I peaked out the front door;

My spring flowers were hiding under a blanket of snow - by the time I got home from work last night they were uncovered but this morning they are hiding again. Hoping they are tough enough to survive all this.

I ought to show you a couple of makes from the past week - when its cold outside nothing is better than being indoors making things.

Firstly a little extra something for my Mum for Mothers Day;

Now I've found the stash of hoops I picked up in the CS, I feel another make or two coming on soon.

Secondly, sometime last year I was given a t-shirt by a sister and asked if I could turn it into a cushion. The t-shirt had shrunk in the wash but she loved the print and wanted to save it some how.

Oh the fab four - such a big part of my early childhood music listening experience.

 Take one shrunken t-shirt - cut off the sleeves and neck.

 Put wrong sides together and sew round three sides.

Turn right way, insert cushion pad and sew up hem - easy peasy lemon squeezy.

One t-shirt re-purposed and one happy sister.

Right I suppose I ought to get some jobs done around the house before I have to head off to work again.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

The answer to the question is?

Good evening

Well it depends on the question but according to little son its not 42 but bacon!!

Anyhow - I've been asked several questions in the past few posts and rather than try and email people individually its easier for the less techie of us to do a blog post with some answers!!

Firstly my frocks - I make most of them myself and I use a really simple pattern - here's the last frock I made modelled by myself;

 Looks maybe more clever than it is - here is my pattern;

 2 pieces - one front and one back - the skirt measurements are 2 metres of fabric wide by 55(ish)cm long!!

My notes in my best scrawl - please note the title of the dress - the pattern is loosely based on a CK dress I bought several years ago in the sales - except the top part of mine is longer. I can do another variation with a tiered skirt - again the measurements are on there. The ties of the back are never the same each time - it depends on the fabric I have!!

The next question - the Photo Scavenger Hunt - its being run by Greenthumb @ Made With Love - all you need to do it find the current months list - take you pics and then post them at the end of each month. There is a linky on her page for you to add to if you wish. Anyone is welcome to join - the more the merrier :)

Well its been a good week - we had 2 1/2 days of spring! Tuesday was utterly gorgeous here - the sun shone - it was warm and everyone seemed to be smiling. I spent the day visiting various members of my family - starting with my Grandma, then lunch with 2 sisters, a cuppa with another and then I went and collected my eldest niece from school (won't get many more chances as she's off to High School this year). I ended the day with a couple of phone calls to friends and family! I love having so many sisters (and my little brother)- there's always one to chat to and catch up with :)

Two last things - I've found via Twitter a couple of new blogs that people might like;

One couple are attempting to buy British for a year here.

Another are shunning supermarkets here.

Both worth a read I think.

I think that's all for now - see you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

I've actually made something!!!

Good evening

How has your week been so far? The weather here in Suffolk has been mostly kind and I've been plodding on with my late for 2012/early for 2013 'spring' cleaning!  Blooming spiders they been so busy.

As well as the boring stuff, I've found time to do some making - first I've really done since May;

 I went back to my S&B group last night for the first time in ages - a combination of the weather, apathy and lack of mojo meant I'd not been for a couple of months. Was lovely to see friends again and have a good catch up - new babies, graduations and other news. I quickly made this little felt owl as a pressie for one of the groups birthdays as I knew she was an owl fan.

 As the weather was kind, I took photos of some of my other makes in the ivy on the side of the house. All of these are destined for a fair next month.

 I love making felt gingerbread men - must have made over a 100 in the past few years.

When I was in town the other day I went past one of the charity shops and something colourful caught my eye. I remember these books from my childhood - we had a vast Ladybird collection (wish we'd keep them all). The collage pictures of paper & wool brought back many happy memories - of reading these to myself and later on to my younger siblings.

Who else has been watching this on BBC2? Whilst I've enjoyed the other programmes in this series this one is my favourite. My Grandmas family lived in the countryside and she's often spoken about wartime life on the farm. I've ordered the free booklet that accompanies the series and I've added the official book to my online wish in case someone wants to be buy me something for the event in December that we must not mention yet!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

The Tale of 3 Frocks

Good evening

Can't believe its been 7 days since my last post. No exciting excuses - just life getting in the way. 

I've been continuing with the ongoing spring cleaning, doing extra shifts in the charity shop and just doing everyday family stuff too - oh and avoiding the rain. We've had rather a lot of that this past week and this week looks set to be another of rain shower dodging.

However back to the post title - in the last week or so there's been lots of this too;

Frock making :)

Firstly one for a sister - part of her not-so-secret-santa pressie was a voucher which for for a dress for her - she just needed to choose the fabric (I'd pay and make it up for her). It took a while to get the fabric bought and given to me but it got finished the other week, in time for her holidays;

I've had 2 lengths of fabric to make frocks for me, hanging around my sewing room for a while - this weekend whilst the menfolk were busy working/revising/marching I spent time creating 2 new frocks for me - one is the standard 3 tier design I've made before;

The other is slightly different - I'd seen a dress in the CK shop in Cambridge I liked - a simple vest style top with a gathered drapey skirt - it was £90 so it stayed on the rails. However the other week I was lucky enough to find some gorgeous drapey fabric in the CS - and there was enough for a frock - the CS gods were shining down on me that day. This got turned into my version of the CK dress this weekend and I love it - the fabric is just lovely;

Each dress has ties at the back so it can be more fitted - the ties get hand sewn on and as an extra pretty buttons get sewn on too;

I used 2 of the gorgeous buttons free in the last Molliemakes magazine on this dress.

and 2 cheerful polka-dot ones of this one - I think I used these buttons also on my sisters dress.

This just leaves the bargain £1 tea dress to alter - I just keep forgetting to get someone to mark where I need to cut when I have visitors I trust - if I don't remember soon, I may have to ask one of the males to help!

The record from the last post has been handed over and my sister was thrilled - I'll tell you more once she's had a chance to blog about it ;)

Right - off for a wander around blogland - I've been very slack in this in the past week and when I have visited blogger seems to not want to let me comment :(

See you soon 

xxx Vicki xxx

Vintage Easter Swap - The Results

Good evening

Thought it about time I shared with you the lovely parcel that was waiting for me when I got back from Cambridge last weekend. It was my Vintage Easter Swap parcel - this was organised by LissyLou back at the beginning of the year. I was partnered with the lovely Twinkles, Tutorials and Twirls.

After exchanging emails and stalking each others blogs the time came to post parcels.

Here's what I received;

 Lots of pretty parcels in birdy paper

Inside were;

 2 Easter decorations which are now hanging on my dresser and the most gorgeous bird house with its one bird - I love this - it is so very me :)

 A vintage style tin with chocolate bunnies inside, mini eggs, a bunny egg cozy and an easter bunny of my own.

 And there more - some spring bunting and a pretty posy containing new sewing needles :)

 Last but not least - a lovely easter book and a pretty card too.

Thank you Twinkle very much for my parcel, I love it all and will think about you each easter when the items come out. My dresser is looking very seasonal at the moment, thanks to you :)

Here's what I sent;

 A Tilda easter bunny - just wish I'd had time to make more of these - I know my little nieces would have loved one each too - perhaps next year.

A jar with a crocheted cover containing mini eggs, a vintage Laura Ashley spring fabric heart, vintage spring themed napkins, spring buttons & brooch and a very Jemima Puddleduck egg cup.

I think that's me all swapped & PIF'd up-to-date :) I've even finished the birthday pressies I need for S&B group. I think the next items that come off my sewing machine will be for me - I've 2 lots of fabric waiting to be turned into dresses for me plus a great CS find frock which needs altering so its less Granny-chic and more veryVicki ;)

Right I'd best be off - my workers have just called to say they are on their way home from a busy day in the warehouse!!

xxx Vicki xxx

Celebrations and making

Good evening

Now where did we leave off last time? Oh yes, the early start and someones 16th birthday. He had a lovely day out in London - got called up on stage and the over 300 students sang Happy Birthday to him - I think he went the same deep red as his school jumper! Oh and his teacher bought him a muffin and put a candle in it!!

As he was stuffed full of junk food and too tired Friday night, we saved the birthday cake till the next day. He wasn't too stuffed full of that to enjoy a meal out Saturday night and his first legal with a meal pint!

Now I was a big gutted when I found out the other week that the picture editing site (Piknic) I use is closing in April. I'd started to wonder what I could use instead and was happy when someone else suggested looking at Pixlr. I did and I think I could learn to like it and use it. There are some limitations but I think I've worked round those. First I loaded the 2 pictures into MosaicMaker and then put that collage into Pixlr to add the effects - not as quick as before but I'm happy with the results. Might even find time to make a new header sometime soon.

Now the weather this weekend was pretty pants - cold & very frosty on Saturday and then more snow yesterday morning. We eventually got out for a walk yesterday and most of the ice had washed away and it was fairly safe underfoot. All the indoor time meant apart from watching the rugby, I could catch up on some making;

Mini-raggies to come to Southwold with me later this month.

Teeny Tiny Hearts and Flowers courtesy of Lucy's blog - I shall put these together as a garland - just a hint of tradition towards Valentines Day tomorrow - don't expect anything else - we are not doing that this year! Instead we ordered each other a CD each and have agreed no cards!

Its half term here (I think it is just about everywhere??) and of course my growing boys are constantly hungry - coupled with little visitors tomorrow it could only mean one thing - baking time. Chocolate fudge cookies - so tasty - should still be some left for tomorrow!!

The week is filling up nicely - seems to involve me handing over money to the boys for various things as well as catching up with my family.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Marooned!

Good morning

Have been marooned indoors now since Sunday - the snow started to melt and then refroze - its done this 3 times now and as a consequence the drive and lane are like a skating rink and far too slippery for me to venture out. I watched one neighbour slide sideways down the road this morning in her little car and that made my mind up - another day indoors for me!

The conservatory roof keeps starting to clear and then it freezes again - leaving slabs of snow hanging waiting for someone to stand under there and get covered comedy style. There's also been some lovely icicles hanging from there too;

At least it means I've caught up with domestic stuff and have had a chance to catch up on some making too. Firstly upcycling a skirt I made years ago into a dress with the addition of some fabric I bought many moons ago as I just liked the feel of it. Both parts are a brushed cotton and oh so soft. The skirt part was made from a vintage Laura Ashley dress I bought a sister when she was pregnant 10 years ago. The deal was she got to wear it and when she'd finished I'd get it back as I loved the material. It was made into a skirt for me and other bits of the fabric have appeared in quilts and makes since. The skirt hasn't been worn for a while so I decided to make it into something I would wear - I cut the top part off and made the top of the dress yesterday afternoon. This morning to the 2 parts got put together and the moment of truth dawned - would it fit and would I like it? Yes and yes;

 Now getting a picture of me wearing it was tricky - there's no-one here to take a photo and the light is bad and obviously if you are taking a pic in the mirror you can't use a flash - so here's the best of many attempts;

I've also finished 3 cushions towards next weekends stall;

My sewing space was tidy when I started working - however it doesn't take long to get messed up and won't get another tidy until I've finished making stuff;

I've been rather lucky this last week - I've acquired not one but two new cameras! The first one was a reward sent to MrVV for being the top seller on an auction site he uses. He had no use for it as he's got a rather nice digi-SLR he treated himself to last year - so he gave it to me. Its a Nikon Coolpix S610 and is a better spec than the Pentax Optio I have been using for the past 18 months. So I gave the old camera to little son as he wanted a small point and shoot camera that he can take out and about. In turn it seemed that he had MrVV's old camera and wasn't planning to use that anymore so he gave that one to me - and I am rather taken with it. I'd forgotten how simple it is to use and its been my camera of choice this week;

 One new toy

and another one!!

It meant when the Green Woodpecker visited the garden the other day to trash the snow in search of a good meal, I was able to capture him with no problems at all;

Had to laugh at him throwing snow out of the way so he could find a patch of grass - he spent ages there so I assume he found what he was looking for!!

Right I'd best be off - want to make a cuppa before I have a wander around blogland to see what you've all been up too.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Freewheeling :)

Good afternoon

I saw the physio yesterday and as you can see from the next photo - he said YES :)

So once I'd had a quick practise around the garden and down the drive this morning, it was time to load up my basket and head out into the big wide world - carefully. The old wives saying is right - riding a bicycle isn't something you forget. I headed across town to visit my Grandma - thought I'd surprise her. It was lovely to be able to visit under my own steam. I was there for ages having a coffee and good natter. I'm going back next week to start helping her with her housework again and also to have our weekly put the world to rights session.

Next stop, the yarn shop - I've starting making towards a craft fair and I needed desperately to replenish my yarn supplies further - once I got the new stuff home and put it into my basket, I couldn't resist taking a photo - so colourful;

I also called into all the charity shops including the one I help in. I'm starting back tomorrow to do a short shift - building up gradually as I get stronger again - can't wait. I found something in one of the other shops but I'll show you that next time - it needs a good clean up first.

The teacup candles I showed you in the last post came out really well - I'm very pleased with them. I think I'll be making more of these in the coming months. Just need to find some interesting containers as not everyone I know is a teacup sort of girl!

Lastly for today (am blogging whilst I wait for MrVV's birthday cake to cook - he reaches the grand old age of 45 tomorrow!), here's something I've been working on this week - felt owls. These are proving rather addictive to make - again more stock towards next months fair - however the dark blue & red one belongs to big son - he saw me making these and asked for one for himself - apparently owls are cool.

Right best go and check this cake and then possibly hook up a few more pieces of bunting with my new yarns.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas

Good Morning

I know there are still 6 days left but looking at my diary there doesn't seem to be many blogging gaps left! The trouble when you are finally able to get out into the big wide world after almost 4 months is - you want to do it lots and fill the final week before Christmas up!! As well as the boring essentials - Doctors, opticians and physio theres the exciting things too. Off out tonight with my 2 best friends from school - one I've kept in contact with ever since and one I only got back in contact with this year (the miracle of Facebook). They've not seen each other for over 20 years now. We're off to the pub for drinks and catching up - can't wait :) 

Anyhow it does mean that blogging is unlikely to happen anymore before the weekend - so here's one final slightly picture heavy post so I can tidy everything up.

Firstly, I was one of the lucky 3 ladies to receive a parcel from Anne @ Andamento as part of an ongoing PIF (Pay It Forward). Here's what I got;

 A pretty brown paper package tied up with string - with the addition of a very festive smelling dried orange slice. Inside - such pretties;

 The tiny nativity scene fits into its own matchbox, a wooden dove, felt mushroom, glass pebble magnet and bracelet (all made by Anne), a festive Phoenix card, a crocheted snowflake, chocolate coins and a mulled wine sachet. All lovely and all very much appreciated. Thank you once again Anne xx

Now the exciting bit - I now have to prepare parcels for 3 lovely people. So if you'd like to receive something lovely through the post sometime in the next 12 months (mostly likely by springtime) then leave me a comment on this post and tell me your 3 favourite colours and I'll choose 3 names on January 15th. I'll try and add a button to my sidebar later as a reminder too.

The final festive making has finished - just need to start on my collection of January birthdays now - and I've booked a fair for the end of February too :) I finished this fairy the other day - I don't think I'll be able to part with her - she is my favourite so far;

Even her wings got a little extra detail;

I made a final batch of christmas cards most of which have been delivered to family and friends now;

Two of my photos from my blog - tweaked with Picnik and then the photos were printed by Photobox - my task was to paste them onto card and then write them! I don't normally do this but I did have lots of extra spare time this year!

When the postie brought my PIF parcel the other day, he also handed me another one. I wasn't sure what it was but as it had my name on it, I opened it. Inside, a surprise pressie from a friend from another internet forum - this pretty coloured and jingly bag charm - isn't it just stunning - can you see all the knitting/sewing charms on there?

Right, I'd best be off - need to wake those sleeping boys of mine - I need to take one into town to get his glasses tweaked after they, his head and the car boot collided the other night!!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas - be good, keep safe and just enjoy yourselves. 

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx