Friday, December 30, 2011

a little gift for you (I hope)


Hi all did you have a nice Christmas?

I am slowly getting back to work , slowly , slowly.

Over the holidays I have been trying to work out
how to do PDFs as in the new year I am
hoping to offer some new patterns as PDFs as well as paper.

So you are probably wondering why I have a photo
of the crosswords in the paper here.

I love crosswords and wordgames and thought you
may like a crossword too .

I designed a crafty crossword in PDF for you to print out.

It is all craft related so if you would like to print out
extras for your craft group , go for it !

It does have a couple of swear words in the puzzle
so if you can't handle swearing don't download it .

This is my very first attempt at a PDF ~ I hope it works!

I'd love for you to let me know if you download it
and also what you think.


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

this time last year


This time last year my family gathered together
and said goodbye to our Mum .

It feels like so long ago.

It feels like yesterday.

We have all missed her every day since.

Love you Mum xxx

Thursday, December 22, 2011

a big ho


Told you there was a big ho here .


Wishing all my readers a fantastic Christmas
please, please travel safely .

I will be back here after Christmas but
then in the New Year I will tell you all
my exciting plans for 2012 weeeeee!

This year has been a great one for my little business
and yes it has been a lot of hard work
but I think I have been given heaps of help
from you and others in the webby world .
Thanks so very much .

If you are looking for me you can find me
most days on facebook come on over
the Christmas tree is up and the kettle's on .

HO HO HO

Friday, December 16, 2011

the point is



Hello there !
I've been making poinsettia brooches and thought
if you had a spare few minutes you might like
to make some too .



First I made a template from cardboard in a sort of
poinsettia petal shape .
Mine is about 1" along the base tapering to the top
and about 3" high .
Trace 6 petals on doubled Christmasy fabric .
Stitch around the sides leaving the base open
for turning through .
Cut around the petal with pinking shears
and trim the point .
Turn right side out and press .


Use a double thread and tacking stitch to join the petals.
Pull the thread to gather the petals into a flower shape.


Use little , teeny stitches to stitch the flower securely .

Add some pretty matching buttons to the centre .

I can hardly call this a tutorial (but I will anyway) these are so easy !


These can be used as brooches , gift toppers or Christmas
 decorations maybe you'd like to wear one in your hair!

I hope you get a chance to make some of these .


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Quick coasters


Tick tock Christmas is coming quickly .

I have heaps of quick Christmas ideas if you're interested.
Yes by quick I mean really lazy and hardly any effort.

To get some pretty coasters to match your Christmas
theme just use a gluestick to glue some wrapping
paper to small paper doilies .

Easy enough for the kids to help with and when
they're finished with they can just go
into the recyle bin .

Not the kids the coasters.


Friday, December 9, 2011

be seated


I've been having a bit of a fiddle with place settings
for my family Christmas dinner .


I finally got myself organised and did teeny tiny
stitches on my dyed doily rounds and turned
them all into a very festive runner .


So , so lucky my oilcloth and doily runner
match my button tree .

I am a hopeless cook so it's just as well
the table will look beautiful as it might distract them .

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

it's all about the money


Every Christmas a chocolate coin is placed under
every plate at the dinner table .

My kids don't think it's "just like magic " anymore
but it really isn't the same Christmas unless I do it .

Last Christmas was a very traumatic one and I was
so distracted I didn't manage to get any coins .
The week or so before Christmas day I had
so many people hunting all the shops for me and
I was even ringing nearby towns looking for them .

This year it's going to be different .
I have so many gold coins they can all eat the
chocolate and maybe I won't have to cook !

Do you have your own little traditions?
Please tell about them , I love hearing nice stories.



Thursday, December 1, 2011

on the...


first day of Christmas


my true love sent to me


lots and lots of buttons


so I made a tree .