WOYWW 757

 THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND...

In the style of TV Listings magazines, it's a bumper double issue this week, lol!  The Internet Gods just weren't playing ball when I was up in Shrewsbury last week so it's all on show today (now then Twiglet....)

The main reason for visiting Shrewsbury was, of course, to go and see those naughty sisters - ooh, we did have a good time!

I bought three snowflake Christmas tree decorations for us all!

We talked for nearly two hours and Annie reminded us that we'd better get a shift on if we were going to do any crafting *grin*  I'd been having a lovely sort through a box of fabric that Annie had brought over, she was happy for me to take whatever I wanted:

I did have a lovely time! After a delicious lunch courtesy of Jo, we got to do some sewing....still chatting away of course!

I'm useless at taking selfies but this shows the set up...

The girls had the idea of free motion sewing flowers and holly leaves to make a wreath. Annie very kindly sourced some wire florists wreath bases. Now I've not really free machined before so Jo took me through some basics and I had a little practise. It is NOT NORMAL to sew sideways!!! But once I relaxed a bit, I really enjoyed myself...thank you so much for everything, Jo and Annie, we all had a wonderful time - I'm blessed to have you as my friends xxxx

My menfolk and I spent a lot of time walking around this pretty town, I think we looked at every old building:

and we spotted this:

which looks ancient but Annie's hubby told us it was quite recent, covering up a building steel or something. Looks can be deceiving eh?

We went along every snicket/alley/ginnel/passage (whatever you call them), there were beautiful buildings at every turn:

and of course, the shops were all gussied up for Christmas:

I bought the snowflakes from this one! The town was looking really festive and ever so pretty. We loved it and had a really good time. I might have gone into a fabric shop or two...cough...

though I was quite restrained in my purchases, honest!  This wall made a pleasing pattern I thought:

That would make a good jigsaw eh?!

Back home, I thought that I really should crack on with what I'd learned so I ferreted out my free machining foot and just had a go:

I love the scribbly style of sewing and it doesn't matter one jot if the lines are wibbly wobbly, it adds to the character..that's my excuse anyway.

Just placed in a rough design, I think I need to make some twigs or mistletoe, will see what I can find and get it finished for next week.  But I wouldn't have had the courage to do this before so thank you Wipso and Twiglet for a really great tutorial xxxx

I may have had a fabric delivery *grin*  PiliPala fabrics were having a cyber week sale:

The pic's not great as I took this at night, the colours really pop so much more. Lots of fun to be had there!

and it was my turn to host a crafty get together with my mates Kim and Sue:

We'd made each other fun little prezzies - I'm holding a decorated bottle with lights and a handpainted decoration from Kim, who is herself holding a fab little snowman made by Sue.

His hat came off to reveal a choccy bear inside, then his head came off and a little flickering tea light was in the bottom, so clever! I loved both my gifts girls, thank you xxxx

The girls made gnomes and had fun raiding my fabric and embellishments stash and before you know it, two more little gnomes had invaded our house:

Their two are the ones with the red noses! They joined in for a group photo with my other gnomes and trees - we had a lot of fun xx

Well done for sticking with me to the end, it's been a busy couple of weeks and that doesn't look like changing much either, all good though!

Hope you have a good week and enjoy whatever it is you're up to! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

WOYWW 755

 ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING...

It's been a week of getting things done and having some fun as well! I've finished off a few WiPs, used up some gifted fabric and been to a ball, just another humdrum week at LLJ Towers *grin*

So, in no particular order comes this week's roll call:

Tote bags using some doggy fabric which always goes well down the cafe...

This lovely fabric was gifted to me by Denise, a friend from band - I already had the orangey yellow spot which works well.

I made some more gnomes as nearly all the second lot had sold....

And I wrangled 9 metres of red netting into a three layered tutu for my friend who is the Red Fairy in the local panto!! You know, just the everyday sort of thing you get asked to help with, lol!

I gathered together some knitted squares that some RNLI friends and I have been making over the past couple of months in order to make blankets for the Family Centre in town:

By chance everyone used the same tones...that worked out well!

And I had a happy couple of hours with glue and paper making some more C cards:

Using some of the gorgeous die cuts that Diana sent plus some papers that I found in my stash. Nothing exotic but I enjoyed the making.

It hasn't all been crafting, as mentioned G and I attended the 50th Anniversary Ball of the Burry Port RNLI station that was restarted in 1973. It was a lovely evening spent with friends celebrating the achievements of many people:

And good to have a chance to dress up as well!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post next week but you might see some pics of me with those naughty crafting sisters in Shrewsbury, lol!!

Have a great week xxxx

WOYWW 754

GOTTA FINISH WHAT WE STARTED..

Seriously, where is the time going? The weeks are whizzing by but if someone asked me what I did a few days ago I'd be hard pushed to remember! Apart from this:

Another craft fair last Saturday! It was in the glass atrium of a local sheltered housing complex and there was a lovely atmosphere there. Like the previous event the footfall wasn't massive but I still made £150 for the RNLI! I've got used to setting up a stall by now and the best bit of kit are a set of shelves (in the middle at the back) which G knocked up out of spare bits of decking timber! They're great for giving a bit of height to the display.  Once again the gnomes sold well and I've sent quite a few out to friends as well. This is what's left:

You have to keep them corralled else they'll cause mayhem, lol!

I've done some other sewing for orders and to replace some stock for the cafe:

Some daisy fabrics which both work well with a medium pink lining. I also started on this blue floral which I like much more than anticipated:

I got a couple more metres from PoundFabrics:

The doggy one goes very well round here as the cafe is a dog friendly establishment so there's a steady turnover of these. I just thought the ducks pattern was fun!

And the tartan is for a Christmas tablecloth for us, the red spotty is for bags etc:

So more sewing fun to be had! The weather has been 'interesting' to say the least so the best thing to do is hole up in the JanCave and do something profitable!

Short and sweet today, hope you're all well and happy - enjoy your crafting!

WOYWW 753

 GNOME, GNOME ON THE RANGE....

Sorry about the lyric today, the little blighters have taken over my life this week! I sold the first lot at the fair and then to friends (thanks Twiglet, Caro and Ali) then decided to do another fair this Saturday so it's been all systems go.

Never mind Elf on a Shelf, it's Gnome in the Home at the moment! (thanks Kim for that inspiration xx)  There are a few awaiting hats/noses/embellishments:

and others that are finished:

They'll make a fun display on the stall, that's for sure!

Other crafting took place at my mate Kim's on Monday - we were decorating wooden bauble blanks..

Our other friend Sue was also there, I think we talked for half an hour before any crafting got done, lol!!  But we did have a lot of fun rummaging through Kim's extensive collection of embellishments.

I cut out that poinsettia from the ribbon and glued it down, it was very effective and as much as I wanted to use those purple Stickles, it never happened, we ran out of time!

We had a cracking morning, good mates having a natter and making something to boot! 

Hope you have a good week as well, may your crafting go smoothly xxxx  Linking up with lovely deskers around the world for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday xx

WOYWW 752

 THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE GNOME....

To those of you who guessed last week that I wasn't making a carrot coat but a gnome hat, well you were nearly right, it was a body! I found a really easy tutorial which only used four pieces and decided to make a few little friends for the craft fair!

It was carnage on the workdesk, that blooming fur fabric got everywhere! Perfect for little beards though you had to make sure the nap of the fabric was going the right way or else they'd look like a wind had turned them upside down. You also had to cut with tiny little snips to get a 'natural' effect rather than going the full Brazilian!!

 A bag of pompoms in Christmassy colours arrived and I set to.

My friend Kim lent me this metal stand which was awesome for displaying them well:

Fun huh?  I thought I'd make a couple with Welsh flag hats as a Gnome is for Life, not just Christmas!

They just make me smile - they have definite characters too.

And this is what the stall looked like on the day:

The shonky weather meant the footfall could have been better but I took £152 so was pleased with that - all for the RNLI of course. I made three sales afterwards as well so that's gone up to £167.

But once you have the gnomes, they're hard to escape entirely:

The few that are left are now on a shelf in the JanCave - I feel as if I'm being judged, lolol!! Hopefully some more will find homes before long xx

I have done other bits and pieces after sorting out and putting away all the fair stuff:

I cut into one of the new fabrics and paired it with this cheerful apple green.

It's cute fabric - there are storybook characters in the design and I really love the bright and cheerful colourway. I don't know if this one will be popular but I don't care really, I got 4 each of folding shopping bags, purses and glasses case out of £4 worth of fabric. Result!

I'll try to stay away from anything gnome related next week - hope you have a good one!!

WOYWW 751

 OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN...

How are you all today? I hope that your crafting is going well with the minimum of cussing *grin*  It was lovely to catch up on No 750 last week though I didn't manage everyone's desks, sorry. Another week of carlessness meant that we didn't venture far, combined with some more bad weather (though we got off lightly compared to many) it all adds up to a full sewing week.

I put on my Big Girl Pants and ventured to the Dark Side of my stash and found:

Christmas!! There wasn't a huge amount of any of the pieces so I had fun working out what could be made.

I thought I'd go green and make resusable gift bags - if they don't sell at the craft fair (this Sunday) then we'll use them for our presents!

I also found the remains of this:

I made some more turban twist headbands with it and was wondering about small cross body bags...mmm, not sure.

Then I got sidetracked by a YouTube tutorial and had a go at this:

A cover for a carrot maybe? Note I'm using pins again, for the second week running, must be a record ;-)

I'm not sure at this moment whether the experiment is working or not!! I'll let you know next week.

I succumbed to a bit more fabric from PoundFabrics after getting an email...

The daisies and print on top right were £2 a metre for cotton fabric, bargain! Hearts always go down well. And I got a couple more prints, a bit less in your face maybe:

But I do try to appeal to all tastes - again these were very cheap. I've got some more items to make for the fair first but am certain that these beauties will be chopped up fairly soon. Laura and I want to crack the £5k fundraising goal by the New Year!

We got the car back yesterday, woohoo, so it's off into the hills for us, lol!

Have a great week xxxxx