52 Weeks of Happy (7/52)

 

Goodness I don't know where the time is going at the moment. Life is very full and I'm not doing at all well at taking photos of it as it happens. So apologies that two of the photos this week are of my work. It seems to be the thing that I am photographing at the moment mainly because I'm starting to get pretty busy with it. I always feel a little awkward sharing my work on here because I don't want to feel like I'm doing a sales pitch! Anyway, as well as lots of time spent in the garden, playing in the paddling pool and generally enjoying the gorgeous weather here are four other things making me happy this week ~

:: A hoop decoration made for my little H. I've been wanting to make something like this for ages and as I'm now selling these to order I decided to make one for H as an example. I'm so happy with how it turned out. Got to get it on the wall now. 

:: A gorgeous day out on Sunday with some good friends at Chartwell in Kent. I've been wanting to go here for ages and it was worth the wait. Unfortunately we had to slightly speed through the house as Little F wasn't especially interested but the grounds and gardens were beautiful. A lovely day out. 

::The yummy Christening cake made for my Niece's Christening. To be honest this just falls into the previous week so I'm cheating a little by sharing it here. It was delicious and looked as amazing on the inside as the outside as it had about 5 layers of sponge, each one a different colour. It was made for my Sis by a friend but she created the gorgeous bunting decorating the top. 

:: This is a little decoration I made for my Niece as part of her present. She's just had her bedroom done in lots of lovely bright colours so I made this to go in it. One of her walls is a fantastic pea green and she has deckchair stripe blinds in these sort of colours. My Sister also bought a sort of 1970s cabinet on ebay for 99p which she has painted with Annie Sloan paints to match. It looks fab. 

Sorry for the Linen & Roses creations heavy post. I am determined to take more photos in the coming week so I can share a little more of life on here. 

See you again soon. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A little gift

Hello. It's been a long while since a did a little giveaway on my blog. In fact I think the lasts time was actually on my previous blog. So as I recently reached over 100 posts here and over 200 likers over on my facebook page, I decided the time had come to give a little gift back to one of my lovely followers/likers.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning these the brooch, egg cosy and lavender sachet is leave me a comment here. If you'd like another couple of chances then pop over to my facebook page and comment on the giveaway post there too. I'll draw a winner at the beginning of next week.

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52 Weeks of Happy (4/52)

My happy things this week :

:: Stitching some new brooches which are now available on my Facebook page.

:: A first peaceful cup of tea in the sunshine before the boys awake. 

:: My lovely garden coming into bloom. I am beginning to realise why people become obsessed with their garden. I'm loving mine as it slowly starts to take shape. I promise a full post soon to show you just how much it's changed since my last garden update. 

:: Working on a custom order of lavender filled linen hearts for a very lovely customer of mine. 

So many other things making me happy this last week. Lots of sunshine here in Buckinghamshire has seen us spending lots of time in the garden. Little H learning how to use his balance bike, digging in the soil, finding worms, lots of imaginary games. Little H discovering the garden, rolling and trying so hard to crawl, feeling the grass under his cute little fat feet, seeing the blue sky,  the fluffy clouds and birds for the first time. Lots of cuddles. A barbeque with neighbours. Yummy Sunday lunch with my in-laws. Lots of sewing and working on ideas for Linen & Roses. I love Summer. 

Have a lovely week. See you again soon. 

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A bit of stitching and a little break

Over the last few weeks I've managed to find an odd moment here and there to do a bit of 'proper' sewing. I've opened up a second Etsy Shop to sell larger Home items. There will be lots of lovely cushions, bunting and table linen eventually with the odd vintage item as well. I decided to open the second shop so that I can keep my home items separate from all the little felt things I've been making lately and which I intend to keep on with.

 

I really loved doing some patchwork again after so long and I'm really happy with how the cushion turned out. I'm selling it as a cover only so that I can keep the postage costs down and make the item more affordable. 

 

I've decided to take a mini break here. To be honest I'm finding it really hard to keep on top of everything at the moment. My boys are adorable but such hard work. Little H is still waking a lot during the night and it is making me exhausted! I need to find a bit of time for sewing as to be perfectly honest I need the money I make from selling my work. So something has to go for the time being and unfortunately that's the blog. I intend instead to post more regularly on my Linen and Roses Facebook page as I can do short quick pieces over there. If you're a facebook user please come and say hi. Hopefully I'll be back here in a few weeks when my littlest boy lets me have a full nights sleep. 

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Twit Twoo

Hello, happy Monday to you all. How is everyone today? Another dull and cold day here but this little chap is cheering me up. I finished stitching him yesterday afternoon while all my men/boys slept! Yes, all three of them had a snooze in the afternoon. It was bliss. I sat in front of the fire stitching little owl while watching the film version of 'All Creatures Great and Small' (with Simon Ward) which I love and munching from a very large box of Belgian choccies that Lovely S bought back from a School trip last week. He's now in the Etsy shop(the owl not Lovely S!) and don't worry, there is not a speck of chocolate on him!

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Little Stitches

Finally I've got some time for a quick update here. Life is pretty hectic around here with my two little boys keeping me very busy. I'm longing for Spring as we're getting a bit fed up with being stuck in the house. I need sunshine and blue sky and my little people being able to run around barefoot on the grass.

To cheer myself up I have been finding a little time in the evenings for re-stocking my Etsy shop. There are some little sets of felt hearts that can be used for all manner of crafty projects.

Then there are a few Easter Decorations

These are all in my Etsy shop or in the process of going in. I love doing this tiny stitching. It's theraputic and just what I need after my busy days filled with Fireman Sam and a teething baby!

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Bright and Cheerful

Hello. Ok, so I just couldn't resist. I know I said I was going to wait until after baby arrives but I changed my mind.

I've popped all the new items I've stitched recently into myEtsy Shop. 

I've been loving making some little felt and button brooches and I had an idea to make some felt tissue holders. It is tissue time of year after all and something pretty is nicer than the plastic wrapper they come in. 

I've got some more things on the go in the making tin and I'm also going to list a few of my older items over the next few days. 

Today we're mostly hanging out on the sofa as little F has some sort of bug. Occasionally being sick and just not really himself. Luckily Fireman Sam helps to make my little boy feel better. That and lots of snuggles from Mummy. Hopefully see you later in the week. 

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Sorting

Hello, hello. How is everyone on this lovely sunny Autumn day? I'm still here, getting bigger by the minute! Just two weeks to go until my official due date but I'm hoping it will come sooner. I am trying to keep really active, cleaning and polishing everything in sight! 

I've also been doing a lot of sorting and organising. On Saturday I decided that my sewing things needed a major sort out. I had stuff all over the place in lots of different boxes and containers. All my large fabric pieces are fairly organised in big bags so they didn't need dealing with, but it was all the small stuff that needed attention. Buttons, fabrics, ribbons and accessories were in a state of disarray.

As well as starting work in the evenings on new items for my etsy shop, I also really really wanted to get back to my little hexie project that has been on hold for longer than I care to admit. I was inspired my Mrs Bun's mobile making box and decided to make one of my own for hexie making. Sorting through everything I realised I had about three tins all of which were filled with very little so I emptied them all out and began again. I decided to use this pretty blue one for the hexies. I went through the fabrics I'm using for the project and cut a load into squares then cut a lot of paper bits too. I added some thread and a needle as well as a small pair of scissors and now it's ready to go. It's pretty small so will fit into the baby change bag. I actually couldn't resist starting on a few last night while watching Downton(so sad it's over) and they're so quick to do. I've enough now to start adding to the patch shown in the last picture. 

A second  slightly larger tin has been filled with small scraps of felt and some bits I started but didn't finish and which now may become part of something else. 

The third tin is for current projects. So it's sort of like the hexie tin but for items I am making to sell. I'm really loving the idea of having everything organised like this. I know that once baby arrives time for me is going to be in short supply so knowing that I have everything handy is a wonderful feeling. I know that even if I get just 10 minutes to myself suddenly I can open up one of my little tins and get on with some stitching. 

You'll notice that there is a lot of felt in these pictures. It really is my favourite thing to work with at the moment  and a lot of my new products are going to be using it. It's so lovely to work with and it means a lot of hand sewing which to be honest is going to be the best way for me to work in the coming months. Despite being a stay-at-home Mummy and very soon having two small people to look after, I do have the need to be creative and I do have the need to make just a little bit of money. Being able to work on small hand stitched projects is perfect for this. 

Little F has gone for a nap now so I'm going to put my feet up and open one of my tins right away. Hopefully I'll be back again in a few days to share with you pictures of the nursery. But if I go a bit quiet you'll know little munchkin has come early due to all my manic cleaning activity! 

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