French Knots

Winter flakes

Doesn't the house look bigger and emptier once the decorations come down? And it shows the bits that need dusting!

What better than an afternoon spent snipping bits of paper all over the floor making snowflakes to add a wintry touch

some recycled scraps of paper and the twigs that held my Sarah Lugg Christmas decoration and the play room looks more crafty.

I have been playing with my new machine and yes you are all right I am very lucky! I've worked out most of the functions now but there are still some buttons that are a mystery! I also got a lot of lovely extras with it -scissors, thread, a holder for a big cone of thread, lots of different feet and a large bag on wheels to keep it in. I'd like one of those wooden holders for reels of cotton to hang on the wall, wonder if Mr FK fancies making me one?!

I didn't make these but they were so cute ( and in the sale) I had to bring them home with me to replenish my present box

Don't tell me I'm the only one who like to have a box filled with gifts to hand?? Invariably I don't have chance to find/make something suitable when the children are invited to parties so a box with a great selection of presents takes the pressure off.

Right, the sun's come out so in line with my walking goal I'm off for a brisk walk before school pick up....hope it's sunny where you are

I know it's not about the presents but....

look what I got for Christmas

It does about a gazillion different stitches, letters and all sorts of things I've not even discovered yet! I'm hoping it'll do the ironing and help The Big Sister learn her times tables.

Sadly it's not been properly light here for days so the photos are pants.

So far I've sewn lots of rows trying out the different stitches and a fleecey little bag to keep my MP3 player in. It's like learning all over again as I go to push the reverse button and it's not in the right place, the hi tech nature of the automatic needle threader has me sticking my tongue out of the side of my mouth in concentration and it's a bit like going from driving a Reliant Robin to Ferrari   in one jump! I love it!

I was also really lucky in the Secret Santa swap as my partner Toni sent me some wonderful surprises

patchwork squares, a button filled pincushion, floral and gingham bias binding, sweeties......oh my goodness and the most amazing runner. I've not got the colours right here so sorry Toni, but it is a lovely selection of icy, wintry fabrics. Thanks so much! 

2008

I can't quite believe how quickly last year passed by, my first year as a stay at home Mum. A year of adjusting to a different pace of life, looking for a new rhythm to my days and finding a more contented life for me and my family.

This time last year I had a few goals in mind -

• Learn to Knit
• Take better photos (and not just on the automatic setting on the camera!)
• Take an evening course at the local college to learn something new
• Improve my repertoire of recipes and cook better quality food for the family
• Take more exercise, even if it's only walking more instead of using the car

Well still can't knit, camera skills are still poor and I never did sign up to a course. I've really enjoyed cooking from scratch and hopefully we are all healthier for it. I have a folder of recipes and plan the main meals each week so I know what I need to buy when I go shopping. This has helped me budget too and control spending. Sounds a bit anal I know, but I like to know where we are up to money wise in our new single salary life.

Lucy has a list of goal for 2008 which is very similar to mine, but if I try for too much change I know I'll give up. So drinking more water and walking more ( heard that one before?!) are on the list for January.

Now what could this lovely parcel be?

A package of treats from Suzie some great fabric and the pincushion is gorgeous. It's a good size, mine is a bit thin and quite often I get pricked when I pick it up as the pins stick out of the bottom. So Thanks Suzie, it was a great start to 2008!

Christmas

the church illuminated with candlelight at Christingle

baubles sparkling in the tree lights

the tempting smell of roasting turkey wafting through the house

scrunchy piles of wrapping paper

PJ days

nowhere to go and no jobs to do

'he's been!'

children giggling over Christmas cracker jokes

a visit to Cotebrook to see the shire horses

family time, relaxation and conversation

a whole year blogging, new friends and inspiration

'a meteor hit my gingerbread house Mummy!'

Hope your Christmas was wonderful too

one more sleep!

Thank you for all your comments and support this year.Discovering blogging has been wonderful, connecting with so many like minded and inspiring people. I'm so glad I leapt in and joined the fun.

Wishing you and your family a peaceful Christmas filled with joy.xx

Carols and presents

So what do you do when cards need posting, presents need wrapping and food needs buying?

well first you repurpose an old hand embroidered table cloth into a new apron, make sure to spend plenty of time rummaging around for the old flannelette sheet to back it with. 

Such lovely handiwork I wonder who made it? I shall enjoy wearing it. Then of course you need to make a little Christmas patchwork mat for the table, to make the sewing room more welcoming to guests over Christmas

hummm what else to prevaricate a little longer? No ideas....better wrap some presents. I settled down with The Holiday, some wrapping paper, ribbon and of course a glass of wine. What a sweet film, very schmaltzy but sweet.

And when you are on the phone and your daughter comes in trying to tell you something do not wave her away, as she might be trying to tell you something important.........

and indeed there was!!

Can I just add that it was the dog that had a wee!

How many?

I logged into Bloglines the other day to find I had 5685 unread posts! What? I know I subscribe to 196 blogs and that's a lot of lovely posts to read but good grief. I assumed that the Bloglines people had been out for their Christmas do and were suffering from over indulging in alcohol! Sure enough later on things were back to normal.

I've had some lovely Etsy deliveries, a porcelain bracelet from Round Rabbit , some crayon rolls from Mamadama Designs and three wonderful prints from Swallowfield. The bracelet and crayon rolls have been wrapped and some posted to reach their recipients in time for Christmas (fingers crossed). The prints are for me and have been whisked away before I even got to open the envelope. Gotta love Etsy!

My Secret Santa Swap parcel arrived today from Maryland

Lots of interesting packages and a rather rakish looking pirate duck. With unusual self control the parcels went under the tree for Christmas Day.

We had some lovely sunshine this afternoon, it was a crisp and very cold day. Perfect when bundled up in hat, gloves and scarf. Wonder if it will snow??

Getting there

I've nearly finished my orders and only have an apron and a string of bunting to make, phew!

Delivered this recycled jeans draught excluder today and posted off some hotties so it feels like the end is in sight. Need to make a couple of secret things for family Christmas presents and I've not forgotten the PIF presents either.

The house is looking festive

and the tree is up

I love this time of year, glass of mulled wine,snuggling under a throw in front of the fire and listening to it crackling, assuming I can hear it above the sound of over excited children arguing!

I've been out a couple of times this week once with the reception class Mums and then with the other members of the PTA for a curry as you can peak too early with the turkey dinners. I bought some new trousers to wear but when I came to put them on ( 5 minutes before leaving the house) I found the large plastic security tag had been left on! Argh not the accessory I was planning, luckily Mr FK is handy with a hacksaw and soon managed to cut through the metal bit and so the tag came off.

Hope you have a peaceful weekend...

Feeling hot, hot, hot

Well I wasn't actually - yesterday I had a stall at a Christmas Craft Fair in a local school hall and it was freezing! In fact I thought about getting some hot water from the kitchen and filling one of my hotties to prevent hypothermia! There were very few customers and but at least I covered the cost of the stall. The parties went really well and I think that in the New Year I'm going to focus on selling via Mother and Toddler Groups and parties as I seem to get the best results that way.And get the sodding website up and running.

Thanks for the sympathy ,my ankle has stood up well to the busy week - the purple bruising is weird as it's in a really straight line along the length of my ankle.I've still got some orders to finish and then perhaps get around to tidying up my sewing room as the entire room is covered in projects and piles of fabric. The bed needs to be accessible over Christmas as the mounds of fabric might not be the best place to spend the night!

I've got some Christmas Hearts and Hotties left if anyone wants them, I'm planning to list them on Etsy later if I get a minute or you can drop me an email. Hotties are £6 ( $12) plus £1.50 ($3) postage and the hearts are £2.50 ($5) including postage. Just let me know which colour you'd like.

We put the tree and decorations up this weekend which makes me feel much more festive, I love the smell of the Christmas Tree it takes me right back to childhood Christmases. I remember Mum had a little silver tree which went in the dining room and some little carriages and lantern lights that hung in the bay window, Crisp and Hearty and little fir cone cakes made out of chocolate buttons. The year my brother got a cowboy dressing up outfit complete with rifle and the knitted Father Christmas she made which still sits on my window sill every Christmas. Would I treasure these memories so much if she were still here I wonder? Yes. Christmas is such an evocative memory of childhood, like the everlasting sunny summer holidays, fishing in the brook for sticklebacks and the scratchy feel of my royal blue woollen school skirt.

Right , back to the sewing machine as the fairy tutus wont stitch themseleves!

Ouch!

Blogging is amazing, so many lovely people out there - focus on you not the yucky people!Thanks so much for all the hugs, support and kind comments, much better now and back to normal.

Well not exactly normal as I managed to sprain my ankle this week so it is now a lovely swollen, blue and purple mess and my ankle bone has vanished. I didn't have slender ankles before but now it's elephantine! At some point last month I thought it would be a good idea to book two French Knots parties and a Christmas Craft Fair in a three day period - what was I thinking!?! Not only am I shuffling along but it's my sewing machine pedal foot too ! Fortunately Mr FK has been working away this week so hasn't had to listen to my moaning!

Anyway.....I had a lovely dream the other night about a sewing machine that sewed lines of pretty flowers, perhaps thoughts of Suzie Sews and her wonderful machine were swimming around in my subconscious. I shuffled into the Singer Sewing Shop and had a look at a couple of machines, the one I liked best did about 20 different stitches, including a row of little flowers and many other fancy stitches.Any recommendations dear friends? I don't really need anything that will run a small country when programmed and tend to do embroidery by hand. But I suppose it would be good to invest in something that gives my extra choices in the future, most of all it has to be reliable. My current one was Mum's, I remember her making a matching nightie and dressing gown for me out of a pretty floral cotton with pearly buttons about 30 years ago. Wish I still had the nightie as well as the sewing machine. It's a New Home which I think is now part of Janome and it has been trouble free and totally reliable, even over the last few months when it has done so much work for me.

Picked up this lovely ( obviously unironed!) floral fabric in the 50p bin and might turn it into a couple of peg bags.

The Big Sister really enjoyed herself in the Drama Club play yesterday and the green cloak with stand up collar ( 'baddies always have stand up collars!') looked good.She has been helping me this week and even put her little brother to bed, might have to string the sore ankle thing out for a while!