flea market finds

You may or may not be surprised to know that I can barely walk past this little wooden telephone without picking up the receiver and putting it to my ear... even when my daughter's gone to bed. I think I need to accept that I buy toys as much for me as her!

For more finds visit Sophie...

cushion swap - in and out

I was really nervous when I signed up for Vic's cushion swap - what if I stuff up my project and send my swap recipient a dud, or end up being really late sending it, and getting in trouble with Vic?

or... what if I really don't like the cushion I receive?

I think I've been lucky on both counts...

Here's the cushion I received - from the lovely Melissa. Isn't it amazing - and it fits our place perfectly. The big question is - do I add it to our vintage sheet bedding plans for our daughter's "big bed" - or do I keep it for myself? I'm keeping it for myself for a while as I make up my mind...

I was lucky with my swap recipient too - I got to spend some time "researching" on her lovely blog and checking out her Pinterest pics, and working out what she might like. I discovered that she loves books (and is fond of books arranged by colour order), likes flowers, and likes a bit of vintage...

so I made her a rainbow vintage floral bookshelf cushion! I really loved the process of making it, and found myself racing to finish it in excitement (instead of my normal hurrying to meet a deadline). I really hope she likes it too.

Thanks, Vic - this swap was fun!

something for zac (my creative space)

Zac is my husband's good friend.

He is a blogger and a knitter, but not a knitting blogger - his blog is of the literary kind.

He was the first real-life person I knew outside our house to learn about my blog, and helped me enormously when I was just starting out.

It was his birthday this week, and it was my very great pleasure to make him something (and to do my first bit of not-just-garter-stitch-knitting in quite a while!).

I hope you liked it, Zac! Happy Birthday, and thank you x

More creative spaces here.

PS: pattern for TARDIS dishcloth found here, with slight modifications by me

surprise giveaway winner

Drawing the winner of my little giveaway was harder than I'd originally planned, after Blogger had a crisis and lost some comments... luckily I hadn't deleted (or, I'm afraid, replied to) my email notifications.

So, after a quick cross-check, and a visit to random.org, I found a winner....

Cathie!

Please email me your address, and I'll pop a little pressie in the mail for you.

Wishing you all a happy week

xx

my creative space

This week I have four different little knitting projects on the go, and I'm loving it!

What are you doing? I might see you over here, in this new "spaces" place... (but first we're going away for a couple of days - yay!).

PS: giveaway here (of the surprise kind - my guess is there will be something knitted in the prize!)

flea market finds

I could pretend this was a selfless purchase bought entirely for my daughter's benefit...

but when she looked at it, she said "But Mum, we already have a cash register!"

She's right, we do have a plastic, battery operated, beeping thing (also thrifted) ... but now we also have a vintage metal one with pop up numbers, and a little knob on the side that you wind up to make a lovely "brrring" every time you open or close the drawer... I am a happy mum!

(Now if only I could actually get rid of the plastic one - that could take a while...)

Visit Sophie for lovely finds by the blogload!

PS: Happy Mother's Day!

PPS: I have a little giveaway over here!

unexpected

(this photo has nothing to do with the post, but I thought you may like to see what we wore at our "Royal Wetting Party")

I started my blog a year ago today (timed so I could visit Jodie at her stand at the Stitches and Craft show and tell her I was a blogger too - which I did, after hours of loitering in her presence...).

When I started blogging, I expected to do a lot more "making" than I have actually done, and to live up to my blog title in a way... so on first glance, this year hasn't lived up to expectations.

On the other hand, I hadn't expected:

• to make connections (and in some cases get to meet and become real life friends) with incredible, smart, creative and warm-hearted women

• to experience the incredible generosity of so many people, and to begin to give back too (though I think I really have received more than I have given so far...)

• to share snippets of our own life and home, and my own thoughts and values, and in doing so, to begin to feel more comfortable in my own skin (thanks, Cath)...

• and... well I could go on, but I'd like you to reach the end of this blog post!

In celebration of a year of NOT living up to expectations, and being pretty happy about it, I'd like to offer a surprise giveaway (at this stage, not even I know what it will be, which scares me a bit, but I will try very hard to make it good!).

Just leave a comment on this post (about anything you like - maybe even something unexpected that has happened to you that you were happy about?), and I'll draw a winner on Sunday May 16, at 12 noon.

Thank you so much for making this year unexpectedly good xx

back to work

This week, I'm returning to some jobs started and abandoned years ago, with new confidence and a surprising amount of excitement and enthusiasm...



I do in fact love a bit of handyperson work, and we are well and truly ready for a "new" laundry (and a few other things too)...

it might take a while, but I'll pop back in with "after" pics one day...

(and in case you're worried, I do wear shoes when I'm working!)