WOYWW 433

BURN, BABY, BURN....

I haven't done a huge amount of crafting again this week as it's been rather full of life events! But as I promised to make a few little bits and pieces for my Weight Watchers class Macmillan coffee morning, I'd better get cracking....

So, the table is full of lovely bright coloured fabric - how gorgeous is that?!  I sorted out all my Christmas materials and am going to leave them out so I can pick and choose as the fancy takes me.

I took a couple of samples along to class to see if they were appropriate for sale. I'm down to the very last bit of that Orla Keily type leaf pattern, maybe two more tissue holders and then it's done. I've had that particular fabric for ages and have made a fair few bits and pieces out of it. Same with that hearts material, which is particularly suited to making glasses cases I think :-D

Another project was inspired by Pinterest:

I'm having a go at painting pebbles - after all, there is a rather good source locally! I put a base coat on using a tester pot and it's worked quite well - the pebbles were scrubbed really well beforehand and left to dry thoroughly. We'll see, it may a glorious success or be doomed to disaster!

I was away at the wedding of my niece this weekend (the second in a fortnight). Clare and Darren had got legally hitched a couple of days before so this was a blessing ceremony. They asked me to lead the proceedings, so with knees knocking, I did:

It was outside set in a woods and was completely magical. It all went well and my niece was so beautiful - a wonderful day. They're a great couple and I know will have an amazing life together xxxx

Outside the hall was a metal globe that had been laser cut with trees and animals - after the sun had gone down, it was filled with blazing logs..

We sat around for ages just watching the flames flicker, quite magical....

I fancy one of these for our garden!

Hope you all have a great week - keeeeeeep crafting :-D

WOYWW 432

ONE KIND FAVOUR...

Actually, this week isn't about asking favours, it's all about friends surprising each other with RAKs :-D  The best sort of week, don't you think?

But first, the desk:

The scraps box is out again!  I've got a tutorial on the ipad on how to make cathedral window pin cushions - the last one I made was for Shoshi and that was a good while ago. I'd forgotten how to do the folding and ironing fabric origami bit so had to refresh my memory. You can also see the C*&%^$%£*s stockings I'm making for the Knit Stitch and B*tch charity stall - they're all sewn up but now comes the tedious bit of seam clipping and turning out the right way.....

Halfway through! This is for my mate Helen who needed a new pincushion as her cat Molly ate the last one (bet THAT litter tray was interesting!!). Helen loves spots so these scraps were my choice. It was nice to be able to surprise her with this...

as Helen had given me some jars of chutney, spiced jelly, lemon curd and carrot cake which she'd entered for a local show. I love getting cast offs if they're like that, lol!!

Some other lovely unexpected things that arrived this week were:

These beautiful roses from Sandra, a friend who came to stay recently. Gorgeous colour!

And a card and some buttons from Julia! She'd noted that my button stash had diminished and so shared a few of hers - thanks mate, they will definitely be used! It was just fab to receive these unexpected gifts :-D

Do you remember that I'd been dragged to a new shop last week? Well, I did buy a few things, it would have been rude not to....

Some more buttons for bunting and two pieces of quilting cotton. I thought they could be used for Christmas/Hogmanay double sided doggy bandannas! Or something else, see where my fancy takes me....

In the shop (which was very good btw) were a few quilts displayed on the wall - I loved this one and could think of a few deskers who would like to take this home:

It was the first ever quilt made by this lady - I think she's found her talent, don't you? The central panel was bought in the US and the other colours bought to match from this little shop. Brilliant isn't it? I wish I possessed the necessary patience.....

Have a great week everyone - I hope that any deskers in Florida are safe and well xx

WOYWW 431

                                       COME BACK AND FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED....

Hello! Sorry there was no post last week but I couldn't join in as (a) I hadn't made anything and (b) was away and couldn't return comments. But I'm back and raring to go :-D

Yep, it's bunting-time again. It's for friends of mine whose beautiful new granddaughter made an appearance a few weeks back. There's an a and an h...could be so many names but it is:

Pretty name, huh?  I decided to go all pink and girly as Charlotte has two older brothers and I thought her mum would like a bit of frivolousnessness.

I got all my buttons out to pick a few and have noticed that I'm definitely down on the spotty ones - oh dear, I may have to go shopping ;-)  My mate Helen was telling me about a new shop that sells yarn and fabrics - ooops, a double whammy!

I've been away at my niece's wedding up in Stratford upon Avon - it was a lovely family event. On the way up, we stopped off in Tewkesbury - it was the first time we'd been there and we loved walking around. There were lots of ancient buildings and charming shops but the thing that made me hoot was this:

Lolol - telling it like it is, huh?

We were walking down the beach a few days back and saw something a little way off... we thought at first it may be a whale or dolphin carcasse that had been washed up but when we got closer, found it was a tree trunk about 20' long, absolutely smothered in these:

They're Goose Neck Barnacles and are not normally found off our coast so goodness knows where this came from! They were interesting but obviously starting to die off unfortunately as the air was quite pungent.

It was an amazing sight - you just never know what's going to get washed up on our beaches. One of the perks of facing out to the Gulf Stream coming across the Atlantic, I guess!

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WOYWW 429

YOU KNOW THIS PATTERN..PATCHWORK OF ANY DIRECTION

COBBLED TOGETHER IN ODD SHAPE AND SIZE.

Hello lovely deskers - I hope you've had a good week! Thanks for the fab comments about the pics of Julia and I last week. I would like you to know that there is still some gin left in Wales as I write :-D

This was the desk yesterday - a member of the Knit Stitch and B*tch group was asking if anyone had some small items that could be sold at a MacMillan Coffee Morning to be held soon. The offer of some tissue holders was readily accepted and after a quick furtle through the stash, I got some suitable fabrics. They only take a few minutes to make :-D

I made about 14 so hope they help raise a bit of cash!

This is actually my desk from last Thursday.

It wasn't the best of weather so a little light crafting was in order. I'd decided to enter the craft section of my local village show - nothing like a bit of forward planning eh? Lol  Anyhow, I took some of the fabric masterboards made a couple of weeks back and some spotty lining from my stash...

I didn't have enough of the spot to make internal pockets so used another scrap - it sort of worked in a mish-mashy way!

Imagine my delight when we turned up at the show to find this:

2nd place - woohoo!! I was really pleased as there were (to my eyes anyway) far more complex pieces in the category...maybe mine was just a bit different as the patchwork itself was extremely basic.

Yay, happy dance!

The only quandary is what to spend my winnings on - yep, £2  *grin*  All suggestions gratefully received :-D

My mate Helen is a seasoned competitor at many shows in the region and this time was no different - she had a slew of firsts, seconds and thirds in a variety of categories including a clean sweep in one class:

This knitted tea cosy of hers just made me smile - a gift from Wales :-)

I have a friend staying and am playing with the band this afternoon so replies and visits may be a little late......

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WOYWW 428

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE, SWEET LOVE...

also:

A GIN AND A TONIC - AH, THAT SHOULD DO THE TRICK!

Two lyrics for the the price of one this week - a wordy BOGOF :-D  The first to counteract some of the craziness going on at the moment and the second, well...you may just recognise a theme.

WARNING - PICTURE HEAVY POST!!!

I shall start with my desk..to be honest, no crafting has taken place here at all this week, it's a dumping ground. I've been trying to finish off those ornaments and am seeing blanket stitch in my sleep - the pack of yarn was bought by Julia and left here so I can make that jacket for her. 

As you may have gathered, Julia came back to Wales with us after we'd been to Winchester. It was fab to see her, I don't think we drew breath for four days :-D

On Thursday, we went to Llandeilo - a visit to the GinHaus was a must! The weather was glorious so sitting outside with a cocktail just had to be done....

Rhubarb and orange for me and blackberry waterfall for Julia!

They didn't last long!! We sat there for a while and then had a happy two hours stroll around the very funky shops and galleries in the town.

My mate!

Llandeilo is full of old buildings and little snickets and alleyways - this one just HAD to be explored. Isn't that doorway great?!

We did some tasting of the gin I'd bought when we got home (this was only our second of the day, don't panic!!) and I did some crafting as we sat there nattering away.

Slowly but surely getting through them!  The gin we were trying was this....

Rhubarb gin - very delicious indeed, especially with a slice of orange rather than lemon.

We went to Carmarthen for a mooch the next day and were amazed by the quality of the art in the galleries we went in. I could have bought three things and Julia loved a really colourful work. We found out the the Welsh Arts Council run an art purchasing scheme, where you can pay a deposit and then have 12 months interest free credit in order to buy art. The only stipulation is that it must be by a living artist - the English Arts Council runs a separate but similar scheme.

We went down to the beach on Saturday, to do a little beachcombing....

Rhys and Julia mooching along the harbour shoreline...

You can find all sorts of interesting things there!

The breakwater was created out of large boulders of industrial waste from the tin and copper works that were here in 200 odd years ago - you can still see evidence of it....

The bright green of copper was everywhere...

... and plants are amazing at colonising inhospitable spaces. I read the other day that Wales has the largest number of different lichen species anywhere in the world...there was a good variety down there on the rocks!

Julia's hubby, Mr Dunnit, came down to fetch her but before they left, we managed a beach walk and blackberry picking!

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed catching up with my mate, I do so miss her now we've moved.  Still, it won't be long before we meet up again at the Crop in Llandudno - she'll be getting bored with me soon, lol!!

I'll leave you with this pic taken by Mr LLJ - it makes me smile :-D

What a belter (and the pic's not bad either!!)

Well done if you've made it to the end - it was a bit self indulgent today but I don't care!

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WOYWW 427

MAE HEN WLAD FY NHADAU YN ANNWYL I MI...

Blimey, it's been a crazy week - even more than normal. A short (ish) post today as I'm out, so replies to comments will be tardy. The good news is that Julia is coming back to Wales with me for a couple of days - WOOHOO! I feel a visit to the Ginhaus is in order :-D

The JanCave desk is pretty much the same - still using up fabric squares to make masterboards... and they were cut out by this mob:

The WI ladies! We had a great two hours with lots of chat, tea and cake (great banana loaf, Helen!) They enjoyed the cutting out session very much, finding it quite therapeutic as one lady said. We enjoyed it so much, there's a repeat session in late August!

And the downstairs desk looks like this - I'm sewing on beads whilst watching telly.

And the reason for the lack of crafting? I was away all weekend in North Wales, playing at the National Eisteddfod with the band.  I'd never been to one before, there was lots to see!

We stayed in Caernarfon, just around the corner from the castle:

and had to cross over the Menai straits to get to Anglesey - and we did have a stop at the village of LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGILLGOGERYCHWERNDROBWYLLLLANTISILIOGOGOGOCH !!

(ooh, spellcheck didn't like that one, lol!)

The Eisteddfod takes up a huge area - this was the outside performance stage...

We were so lucky with the weather!

King Arthur would have to be massive to draw this sword eh?!

My band Crwbin won the Second section contest with 189/190 marks and great comments from the adjudicator. There was a nice big cup to take home - this was filled with fizzy wine later in the evening for us all to have a drink :-D Hic..... Everyone was thrilled!

This is the final note, grabbed from the Welsh tv service - I'm standing at the back, second from right in the tubas!  What an experience, it was amazing - happy days :-D

Have fun this week, I suspect there may be a few pics of Julia and I in next week's post, lol!!