A really sweet gift arrived today, all the way from Australia and Rose's first 'proper' word!

We had a really brilliant morning today. I was feeling 100% back to normal (I managed to catch the tail end of Ray's bug he was suffering with over the weekend, so felt really lousy for a day or two) and we had a lovely time at our usual Wednesday toddler playgroup we go to every week. 

Rose said her first 'proper' word!

As usual, as soon as we entered the playgroup I didn't see Rose for about 15 minutes... she's definitely not a shy one that's for sure! She potters over just to check I'm still there every now and then but then loses interest and goes to play over the opposite end of the room again.

I was holding my friends little baby Fabian who's a few months old and after a while Rose appeared next to me, she never seems to get jealous when I hold another baby...  just becomes intrigued and tries to touch their little feet! She stood there looking very interested before babbling a bit and then saying 'baby'! It was repeated continuously a few times so wasn't as clear after a while.. but she still said it! Eeeeee! :-) 

Did anyone else get this excited about their babies first words?!

Anyway, after we got home after the group I realised I had received a parcel in the post. I almost missed it because it had been pushed behind the door when I came in the house.. For a moment I couldn't think what it could be until I saw the Australian post mark! I was sent the most lovely thoughtful gift by the lovely Ann and I am soooo thankful for it.

Ann has sent me a whole load of fabric, mainly Tilda fabric's... am I not the luckiest person!? 

It is so so kind of her as it must have cost her so much to post all the way from the other side of the world! 

I don't think I've actually ever received any post from Australia before, so it was rather exciting knowing it had come all that distance to now be included in my quite modest (now growing) fabric stash! :-)

Of course I just Had to take about a hundred photo's of all my favourites together..!

Thank you so so much Ann xx

I thought I would include a photo I took of Rose and myself this afternoon... obviously, she's trying to perfect her fake cheesy grin pose for the camera! haha (Please excuse the bags under my eye's... Rose was up twice during the night.. and for quite a long time!)

I've managed to list two new items on my Etsy, two sets of my pretty fabric coasters. I now have a grand total of Three (Wow!) items in my shop... it is gradually increasing though..!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week, only two more day's until the weekend! ...This doesn't actually make that big a difference to my usual day but it does mean that Ray's not at work, happy and relaxed at home instead. :-)

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Giveaway Winner!! and a few other things...!

We've had a couple of strangely warm day's recently in this part of the world, so we've been venturing out into the garden a lot more often these day's. Although it wouldn't be possible for me to actually Do any gardening out there, as Rose is just determined to try and eat as many things as possible from out there! 

When does it get to the stage that they can play happily outside without eating all the earth from the flower beds!?

There are a few signs that spring is on it's way, it's so exciting to look out the french doors and see that the crocuses have flowered. It's been really boring and dull out there for sooo many months now!

Rose and I had a lovely morning at one of the playgroups we go to this morning, it's a bit of a walk to this one in particular but feels good to give my legs a good stretch! I haven't been doing nearly enough exercise lately... I have a Hen do which I have a gorgeous LBD to wear to and our friend's wedding the weekend after to go to at the end of April and I still haven't lost my Christmas weight. I really need a kick up the backside so will be going to Slimming World tomorrow evening.. (Say's me that's just bought not one but TWO creme eggs from the corer shop!!)

Rose having a good feel of the plant pots... or maybe just pointing out the dead plants that really need to be removed at some point!

I used the random generator website to find the winner of my giveaway but I'm a bit of a techno-phobe and couldn't figure out how to show you the page. 

But after counting through the comments on my giveaway post, the lucky winner was....

 Heather at Pink Milk!!

I'll be sending you a message in a second Heather to let you know that you've won! :-)

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Granny square blocks & some Etsy bits.

The other night when I was browsing through my Twitter on my phone I came across a link to this tutorial, it's been a while since I've come across a tutorial and just though 'I Have to make this!' but the blocks are so pretty and apparently quite simple, so I thought why not!? I might as well give it a shot!

The next evening I began cutting my 2.5inch square's... I'm rubbish at using a rotary cutter and it took me a longgg time and I managed to slice into the side of my wrist which also slowed down the process! *Ouch!*

I really liked the look of the green and red together, as they could be for either a girl or boy but now I'm looking at the photo's, they look far too Christmassy! This was not the look I was going for.. but I put So much effort into making them that I'm going to finish what I started. My plan is to make a baby quilt for my Etsy shop, even though no one might want to buy it until December!!

I've sewn two sets of fabric coasters also for my Etsy shop, hopefully I'll get them in the shop this evening if all goes well. I'm feeling all motivated now that I have 1 item actually for sale!

We've had a busy day so far today, we've been to the NCT nearly new sale and got a big load of bargains for Rose. She's over the moon with her new toys, she grows bored of toys so quickly but if we bought all of her toy's brand new it would cost a fortune! Why are toy's So expensive!? 

We've got quite a few new pieces of clothing for her as well. I found a gorgeous rose print Cath Kids dress age 2-3yrs and it was only £4! It's a few months before she can wear it but it's definitely a bargain!

*Just a reminder that my Giveaway finishes tomorrow evening at 8pm, so if you haven't already entered follow this link and have your chance at winning some goodies! :-)*

Right, off to carry on with my knitting. I've knitted the main body of one tea cosy, now onto the next one!

xxxxxxxxxx

I can show you now they've received them..

I made a little something for my best friend. She lives in a rural area in Wales and loves getting post so I thought it would be nice for her to get a little present in the postbox. 

She has to walk quite a distance to get her post from their postbox so it's nice if there's something waiting for her in there! :-) It's not 100% perfect as I'm still quite new to sewing but I think I'm definitely improving the more I practise on the sewing machine. 

I would definitely miss my sewing machine a Lot if it was taken away from me now.. Crochet used to be my favourite craft, now knitting and sewing have both taken over and I love them just as much as one another. I still love crochet though,

It's mums birthday today and as well as giving her a lovely knitting pattern book and a ball of  Noro yarn, I made her this embroidery hoop art. 

I haven't done a lot of embroidery before so it was all very 'make it up as you go along...'.

The stitches Definitely aren't perfect but I think it turned out quite nicely... and anyway, she's my Mum so she has to like everything I make her! :-)

Happy Birthday Mum xXx

I'm busy knitting at the moment... A lovely lady has asked me to knit her two tea cosies similar to my one. I can't believe it, I've almost sold my first items! haha.. So easily pleased...

xxxxxxxxxxxx

2 in one day! Sorry about that!

We've been spending a lot of time in the park recently...

Rose loves the swings and I've taken her to them on a regular basis but it was a lovely sunny day on Sunday so we went out into the main big grass area of the park to let her have a wander around. 

She loved it!

She was so excited by the huge expanse of grass around her that she kept attempting to run (running for Rose means a lot of falling over and getting muddy knee's!). I suppose it can't have helped that she was wearing her big marshmallow suit!

We go out into our garden all the time at home but as it's a small-ish courtyard garden, she doesn't get to run around and play on the grass. So the park must have been incredibly exciting for her!

Ray was having to work on Sunday but had a short period of no phone-calls so was able to come to the park with us. It was a really lovely day, one of those day's where you just feel so incredibly lucky to have everything that you've got in this life.

I was up at 5am with Rose this morning so I decided to be pro-active and get lots done. I'd made a little something for my friend Vicky who lives in Wales, so I wrote her a little letter to go with it ready to be posted.

I only just finished Mum's homemade part of her present late last night, so that all got wrapped up ready to be taken to the post office this afternoon. Recorded delivery was so expensive! That'll teach me to leave it all to the last minute!

And... just to finish off. 

A photo of the little angel... not!

Somehow she's figured out how to un-do the double zips on the changing bag and the contents are emptied over and over again. I kept putting the bag up on the side but then forgetting to keep it off the ground after getting things out of it.. 

Out of all the toy's she has at her fingertips, she prefers to do this. It just doesn't make any sense! 

I'm on my own this evening as Ray found out today he passed a really important exam, so he's off out to celebrate with the others that also passed. Sooo I'm going to watch whatever I want on the TV and enjoy some solid knitting time. :-)

xxxxxxxxxxx

It arrived yesterday and I haven't been able to put it down since!

I had seen quite a bit of Chloe Owen's work around recently and I love it.

She uses her sewing machine to create some beautiful pieces of artwork using vintage fabric's to 'colour in' her drawing's. She also sews some gorgeous accessories and makes beautiful things to have around the home...

So when I saw in a craft mag that she had a book coming out, I just Had to pre-order it here and I am Sooo glad I did. The book is completely gorgeous just to look at, let alone all of the brilliant projects she has within the book.

The photo's are really lovely and I can't wait to try out some of the projects myself. I definitely want to make this owl cushion and try out the freehand embroidered tea cosy.

There's also a really sweet pom-pom skirt that would look incredibly cute on Rose.. sooo much to do, but so little time though!

It was discounted on Amazon and I think it was a complete bargain as theres just so much to look at in the book and unlike some craft books, as soon as I got to the last page... I just wanted to start from the beginning all over again!

I'm going to go now and catch a few minutes of reading time before Rose needs her dinner.. See you later!

xxxxxxxxxx

100th post Giveaway!! Okay... maybe it is a little late...

I'm having a giveaway to celebrate having reached my 100th post... I was a  bit un-organised and life kind of got in the way and now it's a few posts on but still a reason to celebrate! :-)

I've been gradually collecting a couple of things over the last few weeks and I've also made a couple of items too to add to the prize.

Included in the giveaway prize is:

* A pack of mini Cath Kidston notecards.

* A pack of 6 Cath Kidston fabric covered buttons.

* A handmade crochet flower brooch.

* A Paperchase notepad.

* A very sweet pair of painted strawberry salt and pepper pots.

* A handmade pencil case. I say pencil case... but you could use it for anything like pens, crochet hooks, make up, or any other crafty bits and bobs...

*Also, the current Cath Kidston magazine.

(The pink pot of Narcissus bulbs aren't included though!)

To enter the giveaway you must:

* Be a follower of my blog.

* For one entry, leave a comment on this post.

* For a second entry, mention this giveaway somewhere or blog about it on your own blog. Please leave a seperate comment letting me know that you have done this though.

* Anyone is welcome to enter, I don't mind posting it anywhere. :-)

* Please make sure you are not a no-reply blogger or leave me your email address so that I can definitely get hold of you if you win!

* The giveaway will end on Sunday the 26th of February at 8pm (GMT - UK timezone).

Good luck!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Rose and I went to London on a very busy train!

Rose and I went up to London by train on Thursday to see my cousin Josie who's at college there, I hadn't seen her since Christmas so it was lovely to have a good catch up and for her to see Rose now that she's up and walking. 

However... when I booked my train tickets I hadn't realised that it was the half term holiday's for the schools and so it was absolutely jam-packed there and back (I'm not down with the holiday dates yet! It's a few years before Rose will be home for the holiday's...) I luckily had a seat with Rose next to me in the buggy on the way there but I had to stand for the whole journey home which was very annoying... the journey was 1hr and 40mins long!  

I've been dying to go and visit The Make Lounge up in London for aggess but last time Rose and I travelled up to see Jose it was a Sunday, so sadly the shop wasn't open but on Thursday it was! It was lovvelllyy in there, So many beautiful fabrics to take in. I had thought there would be many more crafty things around the shop though but there were only a couple of baskets of wool and a lot of craft books spread out on the table, most of the books were for sewing clothes which I'm not really that interested in... for the moment anyway!

I was really impressed with the fabric section of the shop though, the bolts were arranged on a whole wall of  white shelves and I was able to buy as smaller cut of the fabric as I wanted which was great as it meant I could get a selection of different prints. We don't really have the money for me to be buying more crafty bits at the moment, but I just couldn't resist. I just Had to get some of the gorgeous fabric whilst I was there though! (Is it obvious I'm trying to justify myself right now...haha)

Rose coped brilliantly with all of the travelling and being in the buggy for a large section of the day, I thought she would have been more frustrated being strapped in now that she's Very mobile but she was happy to just take it all in really. The only really annoying thing about being in London though is 'Where do you go to change a nappy?!'  I suppose we could have gone and bought something in a cafe/restaurant to be able to use the loo but at that moment we had limited time and couldn't really do that... I have to say, I do love living in a Much smaller city where I know where everything is!

About a 15 minute walk from The Make Lounge was this shop and it was gorgeous inside. I didn't buy anything though as like I said before we don't really have the money at the moment and for one 50g ball of wool the average price was at least £15... Ouch!

I'm going to go and try to finish my Mum's birthday present now as I have to send it on Monday and I'm no where near finished yet! :S

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Gorgeous gifts!

My friend Sarah came over for lunch on Wednesday and I just have to show you what she gave me. 

Of course I didn't need to be given anything at all! But it was a lovely surprise to receive this gorgeous pink pot of spring bulbs and this beautiful broach!

It'd made out of felt and is perfect, the back of it is so neat! I've worn it all of today and I got quite few compliments on it. :-) So thank you very much Sarah xXx

I've got a few other things to show you but the weather has been miserable and cloudy ALL of today, so I haven't been able to take any good photo's.. I will try and take some photo's tomorrow before our friends that are visiting arrive and get a post written up soon.

xxxxxxxxxxx

PS- I'm almost ready to host my giveaway for reaching 100 posts... almost but not quite! Anyway, it's better late than never though!?

Happy Valentines Day everyone.. xxx

This is what was sat waiting for me when I arrived back at the house from a stressful shopping trip in Sainsburys... Ray had given me a card this morning but this beautiful red rose was a really lovely surprise. :-)

I love Valentines Day now that I know I'll have someone to spend it with every year... I used to dread it slightly before Ray and I were together!

 

He was up baking yesterday morning at 7am to bake me this cake. It's very multi-coloured! Hundreds and thousands anyone!? The sponge is delicious though, much better than my Victoria sandwich!

I've spent the last couple of evenings organising all of my embroidery threads. They were all stuffed into various containers and so I couldn't actually see what I had to work with!

I bought this organiser box months and months ago but never actually go around to sorting them out. It's taken bl**dy hours though! Strangely it's quite therapeutic though...

A pair of pink booties finished and ready to go in my shop, I just need to get on and finish the other things that I have half done at the moment...

I nearly forgot to take a photo before but I thought I would show you what my lovely friend made for Rose's birthday present. Isn't this little felt gnome gorgeous!? (I don't know what I should be calling it...)

She lives a couple of doors away and we now have a regular cup of tea and a catch-up but she's just told me they're having to more which is realllyy annoying! Not too far which is a relief but it was so lovely to have a really good friend that only lived two doors away... :-(

Rose is having a rather late afternoon nap at the moment, so I'm going to make the most of it and get on with  Mum's birthday present.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx