easily distracted

I am so easily distracted these days and i have so much on my to do list, like...

*redesign our website in time for book launch, including taking and cropping new photographs

*buy eldest daughter's new school shoes and other extra bits of school stuff

*make youngest a P.E. bag for her new school

*tidy up house and prepare for a special visitor on Thursday

*make some stock for the Vintage and Handmade Fair

*not to mention the general household, wifely, motherly duties... and numerous other itty bits of paperwork etc...


So what have i been doing? ... well i have been learning to crochet... like you do when you have nothing more pressing to do!

I love learning new skills...
this weekend my sister in law retaught me a few basic stitches (forgot what she had previously shown me) and now i am making at least 2 basic grannie squares a day as i am determined to get the processes involved to sink in.
I had bought some yarn earlier in the year in the sale when i caught the knitting bug so had some to nice colours to practice with.




I am now addicted but boy do my fingers ache. i think i need to relax my hands more and slow down a bit.


I have now completed 10 squares, so nearly a cushion cover. i am hoping to try and change the colours and try some variations when i get more proficient.
I'd be interested in hearing what new skills you are hoping to learn before the year is out and of course any crocheting advice for an enthusiastic beginner.

Hope your bank holidays were good.
ginny x

thank you's and moving on...

The school term has now finished for the Summer and brings the mixed emotions of the excitement of lazy days and holidays but also the sadness of saying goodbye to special teachers and of the anticipation of moving on to the next stage.

My youngest will be moving on to a different school in September so it was a final goodbye to the fantastic infant school which has nurtured her for the past three years and her sister for three years before that. It was also time for me to say goodbye as a parent. We are all ready to move on but will remember this very special school with such gratitute and warmth as it truly has given both my girls the most amazing start to their school lives.

On the whole I believe that a School Education is a good thing but feel that it is so important for schools to give each individual child the freedom to experience and develop in their own special ways. I base less emphasis on the academic results but in nurturing a child's spirit and desire to embrace the world and everything around them. I do not agree with the testing as i know many teachers do not either, especially with such little ones!

I wish for my children to have a good all round experience at school, to be inspired by the wonder of nature, to learn by doing, to build their confidence and excitement about life, to follow their dreams and to be sensitive and caring to others. This school has provided the tools to inspire learning and really has complemented the philosophies that i hold and that we practice at home.....except the large amounts of homework!... i do like my girls to have lots of unstructured down time when they drift off into the most amazing imaginative play.

My youngest who loves to sew wanted to make some thank you gifts. She had a clear idea of what she wanted to do and designed some lavender cushions with each of her teachers in mind choosing the colours that she thought they would like. She stitched and stuffed them herself and i just helped when instructed.



My eldest also made a gift for her teachers (sadly no photo). It was a lovely fimo plaque with the words 'the best teachers' on it. She said that they really liked it and were going to put it up in the class. Her teachers have been fantastic too and she has grown so much this year.

All the teachers got some 'divine' chocolate too... it felt mad buying so many bars at once and if you are wondering... yes we couldn't resist getting a bar for us to enjoy too! Some special teachers received green and blacks mint or orange chocolate instead. And the caretaker even got some dark chocolate accompanied by a hand written card thanking him for , 'cleaning up my sick'! Not a nice job and definately deserved some chocolate don't you think?



So today is the first day of our holiday... the girls are playing in the garden, the collared doves are cooing, the sun is out , i am just about to hang out my washing, which is one of my favourite household jobs. What bliss.
Have an appointment to sort through fabrics later as i am finally moving into the new space... will be back later in the week with more on that.
Happy days and happy holidays to you all!
g x

a special commission

Yesterday when i picked up our smallest person from school she was full of beans and very excited. She couldn't wait to tell me that she and 2 of her friends had come up with an idea for a competition to run in her class.

They had created a character called Shiny the Star with their idea being to ask their friends to place Shiny in a scene, ie colour a picture of Shiny in an interesting place. The prize, they had concocted was to be a star shaped Shiny softie, which my little one had volunteered that she would organise with her mummy, as her mummy 'did sewing'.
She was eager that we must do it straight away... so we set about making Shiny come to life.

First she drew a picture of Shiny.

Then she chose the fabric.

A pattern was drawn by her, complete with scaled up face, was pinned to the fabric and 2 star shaped pieces were then cut out, by me.


She transferred the face on to the top piece of fabric ready for me to hand embroider to her specifications.


Then with right sides together Shiny was stitched up, clipped, turned through and stuffed.





My small person, who is also a budding photographer, decided she would like to take lots of photos of Shiny. Here are a few of the ones that she styled and took.



Boy racer Shiny on scooter.


Gardener Shiny.



Shiny on bike.



and finally Shiny having fun on Hoppy.

She had so much fun playing with Shiny that i think she may be sad to give him to the winner.
I expect we shall be making a Shiny mark 2 soon!

Gx

More blue...

It does seem that i am drawn to the colour blue at the moment. I don't feel 'blue', but i do feel somewhat reflective lately. I suppose January always is a bit like this for me..... and this year things are changing. I have started my new job and after an intensive first week filled with a full on but extremely informative induction course, i can now gently ease myself in to the day to day practicalities of the job and get to know some of the new faces about on the campus.

Alice and i are still meeting up regularly at the studio and are into first layout stage of the book. We have just seen the mock up for the cover design, so all very very exciting. It really does seem real now, although i know i will still have to keep pinching myself when i see a finished copy!

Thank you for all the bed sock love.. a banal question i know but so happy i got your feedback. I do suffer from cold extremities and often try and warm my feet up on my husband' lovely toasty ones but i usually get kicked off (my feet are very icy). So socks in bed for me. The ones my grandmother used to knit were of the lacey variety with tie cords and pom poms, she probably had a matching bed jacket pattern too. So you see, if worn with a 60's style 'baby doll' nighty and matching bed jacket, i'm sure bed socks can be sexy after all.??

The above photo shows a little brooch i knitted for my sister. It is taken from a kids how to knit book (usbourne) which was a present to my youngest at Christmas. .. yes and i've knicked it! As i have said before i am the least knit one, in my family but i have recently found a renewed interest so any good knitting sites or book suggestions would be gratefully received.
Roll on the weekend.. nearly there. Enjoy.
g
x

Apples and pumpkins..

We took part in an amazing event this weekend at RHS Wisley in Surrey.

The event was a Taste of Autumn, which was a celebration of Autumn and local produce. The event also included a display of competition fruit from the National Fruit show held last week in Kent. I've never seen so many different varieties of apples. Apple tasting and lots of local produce sampling was in full swing all throughout the weekend, even local WI groups were there serving homemade soup and preserves.
The weather was glorious and visitor numbers exceeded all expectations.

apples

...and more apples.

Our stall was just opposite the display garden for the Wisley trials which showed a small shed and vegetable plot, with lots of perfect picked produce. Check out these pumpkins...




The display was so charming, and it even came with a resident robin. He flew in whilst they were setting up on Wednesday and came back everyday. He had definately marked his territory. He also liked to swoop up to the other end of the marque to feast on the berries on the Woody Plants display (much to their annoyance!)

If you look carefully you can just make him out on the shed door.

It was a great family event, with pumpkin carving and Autumn craft activities. Here is a small friend with his fab 'Shrek' pumpkin!



Our stall fitted in well with all our fruit, vegetable and flower designs. We met some lovely customers and made very good sales. We only have three of our shopper bags left in stock now!
The RHS staff are fantastic and were all so helpful. After a week with a sick child, and a school craft fair on Thursday evening, i was extremely tired, but it was such a pleasure to be involved in and i really enjoyed the whole experience. The only sad thing was that we didn't get to meet alice c... we almost did.. but it wasn't to be. Maybe another time.

Here is our stall..

The t.shirts which we designed for Hampton Court with either a strawberry or apple on proved popular. We have apples left in all sizes and strawberries in the large only.

small age 3-4, medium age 5-6 and large age 7-8.

They are a transfer print from taken from our original appliques. They are £5 each .. please email if you would like to buy one. They are not on the website yet but i do hope to add them soon.

This week is half term for us... We have already had a day out with Alice and the boys ending with seeing the film Ratatouille.. great fun. We are also hoping to create some more Autumnal pics and make our Hallowean costumes this week!
I'll leave you with a picture my youngest did after collecting some leaves a few weeks ago... This is for Louise at thisismypatch.

owl, moon and tree.

Have a great week.
g
x

Rain rain....

What a rainy few days.

I rather like the rain, but for the kids on half term holiday it's always a shame if it goes on too long. But rain can be fun...we had a very wet walk to the post office yesterday and the kids loved splashing through the puddles on their scooters. Also its a good chance to do all those crafty things inside. The girls always get great crafty type birthday presents, there are some brilliant kits available to buy. Yesterday we did clickkits and paper coiling and this was the sight on our table on that wet soggy Bank Holiday Monday....( poor daddy had to work.. so we had a girlie day)

and the results...


decorated boxes with glittter inside, ontop , on the floor...pretty much everywhere.


and my eldest made this box and bracelet for her friends birthday.

I am pleased the sun is out as my smallest one has her friends' Garden party ' today....hope the weather holds. We have bought her friend some Charlie and Lola books. We love Charlie and Lola, created by Lauren Childs. Beautifully observed with great illustrations.

I should be tidying the house now as we have a family party later as my eldest turns 9 on Friday. We are taking a small group of girls to the cinema tomorrow, for a birthday treat... all a new thing for us as we usually do the traditional party thing but i have to accept that she is wanting more ' grown up ' parties. She does still want a pass the parcel though with forfeits!
Well i have put off that house cleaning for long enough so had better go and get on with it. Think i will recruit my 2 small helpers and hopefully make it a fun thing.
G x