WOYWW 316


I'm a knight, I'm a knight and I'm a knight
And our only aim in life is to fight
I'm a knight, I'm a knight and I'm a knight
We are fighters and our armour's always tight
And these swords aren't light!
(Horrible Histories)

Jeez...where has THAT week gone?  I swear that time has sped up...sigh. I haven't done that much at my desk this week...too busy oompahing, mending stuff, catching up with friends.  But I did do a little bit yesterday....
I'm making some raggedy heart lavender bags to sell on a fundraising stall for my band in Devizes this Friday.  It's mostly junk/preloved goods donated by people, but it's amazing how much has been raised for band funds over the past couple of years. When a complete set of music is £80 a pop, plus upkeep of instruments/insurance etc, every little bit of extra cash comes in handy. So I thought I'd stash-bust and see if these will sell.
Using up odd and sods of stash is seriously satisfying........

...and they smell really lovely!

Right then...craft time over. But just time to say that the winner of the little zippy make up bag is:  My Name is Cindy. I think I might still have your addy, so will get it in the post pronto!!

The next part is seriously photo heavy - proceed at your own peril :-)

We had an early Father's Day in our house, as I had to be out playing on the Sunday. So, last Friday we went to Salisbury, in order to have a mooch and follow the Baron's Trail.  You may or may not know that this year is the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta, when English law changed irrevocably, after King John was forced to limit royal powers by disgruntled Barons and Knights, thus laying the foundations for the English Justice System; also many of the central tenets were followed in the writing of the American Constitution. Amazing huh?! To celebrate this, there is a trail of sculpture all around Salisbury featuring knights that have been decorated by artists.
It was a glorious day - Salisbury Cathedral was looking particularly amazing, having had the scaffolding for its renovations removed recently.











I liked the graphics and font on the back of this Baron - he was on the Cathedral Green....










....as was this chap, with his illustrations of the workers involved in the construction of the Cathedral.
This beautiful Demoiselle was on the back, weaving vestments or an altar cloth possibly....perfect to show on WOYWW!

But the one that we'd gone specifically to see didn't disappoint.  The tribute to the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett (my favourite author) by the artist Paul Kidby, who illustrated many of the Discworld series. I would have put it in my handbag and brought it home if I could, it was that good......










We spent ages playing Spot the Character....all our favourites were featured......

The Librarian....OOOOOOK!

Death......












His sword was filled with Nac Mac Feegles.....fairy folk unlike anything you've ever read about before!!











The Baron was a portrait of Sir Terry himself...I love the image of the Discworld turtle on his chest....
And also on his shield.  I got a little bit teary because it was all so completely fantastic....

However, I leave you with......




The inimitable Nanny Ogg - she's my heroine!  I'm aiming to grow old disreputably, following in her footsteps....likes a rude joke, is partial to a drink or two, can talk a lot and is full of life, lolol! I've started already :-)

It really was the most wonderful day with my menfolk, rounded off by a lovely lunch. I might have bought some new stash too...cough....but I might have to show you that next week!!!

xxxx

WOYWW 315

BECAUSE YOU KNOW I'M ALL ABOUT THAT BASS......

First things first.....it's a notice to Save the Date.  Saturday 31st October to be precise. Yep, a date for the second WOYWW Crop of 2015 has been pencilled in the diary.  A spookily crafty Halloween feast-a-rama awaits those daring enough to join Julia and I for the day. Same place as usual :-)  Who's up for it? Julia will be doing a new Crop page at some point....sign up there!

Right....it's been a busy week and I haven't made that much.
I was playing around with the gorgeous new fabrics that Sally gave me a couple of weeks back. I liked the combination of floral and stars - that lavender spot was in my stash already. Whenever I'm in Fabricland, I tend to stock up on spotty polycottons as they're incredibly useful and only £3.99 a metre.

I left a raggedy edge to the heart.....





And the finished beach/shopping bag. 

A bit of fun to brighten up someone's day :-)  Dunno what I'm going to do with it yet though!

I used the offcuts to make a small zipped bag but instead of the usual rectangles of fabric, found a different pattern to try. It looks really odd at this point, all splayed out like that.....
But this way gives a wider base and a more triangular prism sort of shape, which I rather like. It's more funky somehow.  I'm going to give this bag away...let me know in the comments if you'd like a chance to win :-) I think it needs some buttons or other embellishment to fancy it up a little, so it may well change again, lol!!

Two more fab ATCs landed on my doormat as well, from Jill (left) to Sylvia (right). The pretty card in the middle was given to me by my friend Helen, to say thank you for all the little bits and pieces I made for her charity stall.

I said I've been busy....it was with my brass band. Our Musical Director has been involved in bands for 70 years and unbeknownst to him, a trip was arranged to go to Harwich, in Essex, where he was born and first picked up a cornet. The local band wanted to come and join in as well.....
David had no idea this had been arranged - the first he knew of it was when he walked around the corner and there we all were!  It was very emotional and quite wonderful - I was honoured to have been part of it. (I'm at the back in the bandstand, btw - if you peer closely, you might spot me!)

So, that's why I picked today's lyric....I play the Bass and I chose a different base for the make up bag. My mind works in strange and mysterious ways.......grin!

Have a good week!

WOYWW 314

AND I'M FEELING...GLAD ALL OVER!

There's been more stashbusting going on at my desk this week!  I've really enjoyed using up scraps and odds&sods to make some more things for the charity stall. It's a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned :-)

But this is the bit I detest doing. Not the ironing itself per se, but the fusing of the fleece onto the fabric. A psychologist could have a field day, I suspect, pondering why it is I hate standing at the ironing board, resenting the time it takes for the wadding to fuse. I know, I'm weird..but there it is - you're getting to know my little foibles over the years, lol!  I rather think that we all have a crafting Pet Hate - what's yours?

And it's worth doing the dreaded fusing because it makes little make up bags or pencil cases so much nicer.....
This is officially the neatest zip I've ever managed, lol!   #Proud  :-)

I was given this stripy canvas fabric a while back and never really knew what to do with it, but it's great for making into a beach/shopping bag with a few doggy embellishments!

The little lavender bags turned out quite well.....

Maggie Silvercrafter asked me to knit her a silver Hooter and then wondered if I could have a go at a Penguin. Well, I like a challenge and while there is a proper pattern, I didn't like it at all, so I did a Knitting MashUp  and adapted the Hooter instructions. I think it worked out ok...hope Maggie's happy!

And three more lovely ATCs popped through the letterbox this week - happy dance!  From L-R, Robyn O, Lisa M and Robyn....all different in style and equally gorgeous. I love some of the sentiments that people use on their cards. That Friendship one on the card that RobynO sent, for example - but inside was my favourite:

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun 
(Katharine Hepburn)

I like it - watch out world!!!....................grin :-)




WOYWW 313

HUSH LITTLE BABY, DON'T SAY A WORD.
PAPA'S GONNA BUY YOU A MOCKINGBIRD......

Well, after all the excitement and hullaballoo from last week's WOYWW6 celebrations, my desk and this post is a little quieter...a tad more genteel.....you know, just like me ;-)

All the scraps were tidied up (ish) but I've got some back out again because of the arrival of a new baby boy, a grandson for a friend in my brass band. Cue the Tessellating Triangles again!

I've gone for muted colours this time, playing safe colourwise, as I don't know the new parents that well. But I hope that this will be appropriate for little Ethan's room :-)

What else have I been up to? Well, I'm still trying to Bust my Scraps, making small things for my friend Helen's fundraiser.....

I've been having fun making little zipped bags - nowt special, but hopefully they'll go for a couple of quid!

The fabric on the right was left over after making a tote for someone..it's the most gorgeous quality, really heavyweight furnishing fabric that isn't too thick. At £17 a metre, I made the most of the 60cms worth I bought, cutting very carefully indeed!!

And then I had a lovely time when Sally, whom I met at one of Rhys' Uni Open Days, came over for lunch. She does read this blog, so was quite interested to see the Sewing Den!  I was showing her all the beautiful ATCs that I've received and then she had a good riffle through my boxes of fabric. Sally is very good at sewing, making far more complex items that I've ever attempted!

And she's a naughty girl because she brought me 4 lots of half metres of these gorgeous fabrics. They tone really well, don't they? I'm going to have fun making patchwork bags with those beauties!!

I mentioned the ATCs - well, here are the ones I've been lucky enough to get so far....
Aren't they wonderful?  I'm so grateful to have been part of the celebration of friendship and crafting.  I got one from Sandra De In Australia and enclosed in the envelope was this.....

Brisk and full bodied eh? Dunno if that refers to the tea or me!! LOL :-)  Thanks Sandra, I'm going to enjoy that!

Have a great week everyone xxxx

WOYWW 769

 WE'LL MEET AGAIN.... I'm going to take a break from blogging for a while - please don't worry, all is ok! - think I just need a...