WOYWW 384

IT'S THE SAME OLD SONG...

I feel as if I ought to apologise as I've shown you pretty much the same desk for the past three weeks! But there's been quite a bit to do as I want to send the things off to two different charities and want a goodly amount to put in each package.

It's a great pile of mess on my desk...felt, stuffing, embroidery floss, ribbons, bead box, finished items and an upturned orange plastic cup that I used as a circle template!

The pile is growing :-)

and a pudding is taking shape!

and the second type of bunting is finished - yay!  I also finished a crochet blanket and sent it off to Lilian B for something she's involved with, but forgot to take a photo before mailing it. Doh!  

But it hasn't been all nose-to-the-grindstone crafting. There have been some beautiful bright and cold sunny days here and on Sunday, Mr LLJ and I visited Mottisfont Abbey, a lovely NT property near Winchester. There was lots to see in the house but we concentrated on the gardens as the weather was so lovely....

I've decided that I'd rather like a Shepherd's Hut for my next garden - it was all lovely and snug inside, perfect for curling up with a book when you want to hide away....

A place for everything and everything in its place :-)  It was really atmospheric in there, I loved it.

The autumn colours haven't really got going yet but there were some beautiful things to stop and stare at:

The bark of this tree was like burnished copper, it was gleaming in the sunshine....

...and in the dark Winter garden, this tree almost pulsated with bright yellow...I spent ages standing underneath being surrounded by the amazing colour.

There were mermaid tresses undulating in the fast flowing chalk stream....

...and just a hint that the season is changing. We really did have a bit of a recharge of spirits there.

I may make something different for next week's desk but don't hold me to that as I'm really enjoying the felt/thread technology!!

Have a great week everyone xxxxx

WOYWW 383

I'LL SEW ON MY SHADOW ONE STITCH AT A TIME

There's been quite a lot of stitchery going on this week, in between the house hunting and celebrating the imminent early retirement of Mr LLJ!

Last Saturday was grim weather wise and so I felt no guilt whatsoever in spending most of the day playing nicely.  I'd seen some ideas on Pinterest for felt Christmas decorations and thought I'd have a go. Now I haven't done any embroidery or cross stitch for a VERY long time but do you know what? I have really enjoyed it!  I sort of winged the snowflake being good at eyeballing symmetrical patterns. Last time Shaz and Doug came to stay, they passed on some yarn and bead stash - so I dug a few little pearls out and:

...this was the result! Some of you saw this on FB but I'm sneaking it in today :-D

And here's the start of some different colourways with a nascent Christmas pud top right! That's going to have some holly leaves and red button berries by the time I've finished with it.  The grey seems a bit sombre at the moment but hopefully it'll look better by the time I've blinged it up and blanket stitched it. All these will end up in a charity parcel :-)

And finally, I bought another 20cms of Christmas wreath fabric to go with the spotty blue from my stash to make another couple of sets of bunting (I was trying to match the colours of the snowmen's scarves - it's as near as I could get!)

Hope you all have a great week!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

WOYWW 382

SO YOU HOLD ME CLOSE TO YOUR HEART

RED IN THE GREY...

You'd better sit down...I don't want you to have a shock.

There's been a whole heap of crafting going on this week - woohoo!!  It's the thought of trying to get some stuff done for a charity Christmas event that has spurred me into action. The poor old sewing machine doesn't know what's hit it!

The fabric from last week has been transformed into flags...this is the ONLY sort of ironing I enjoy :-D

I made four lots of these. I like the red and grey combo a lot - very Scandi!

Then I took the left over scraps and joined them in strips. then cut these into squares and joined them together in a mini patchwork, backed them with red felt and zigzag topstitched them to make some Christmas coasters...

All tied up with some festive ribbon from my stash.  And that's not all!

I'd seen some great ideas for felt ornaments on Pinterest and decided that I need to have a go - a bit of a challenge in fact. All the above came from the Range and was stupidly cheap. Look at that rainbowy gorgeousnessness *squee*

Now it's cooled down a bit, the conservatory is more pleasant to work in - great light for old eyes! I freehanded the pattern...

...and had a go at making this little bird, I need to add a ribbon hanger, stuff it and complete the stab stitching. I'm quite pleased with it!  I've been inspired by all the gorgeous embroidery that Sandy Leigh Johnson's been doing. There will hopefully be more on this theme to show you - I've got rather a lot of embroidery floss to use up!!!

Have a great week everyone xxx

WOYWW 381

STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT

STRAIGHTEN UP AND STAY RIGHT....

There's been many strange things on my workdesk recently, but this must be one of the weirdest.....

That's right, two heavy floor tiles that we found in the garage of our rental place.

Here you are - a bit of a hint!

I tried to fix my cutting mat, which was warped into a banana shape by the heat in the conservatory! I consulted the Interwebs on how to rectify the situation and so put a sopping wet towel over the mat, then steam ironed it for ten minutes until it was floppy and then put heavy weights on it overnight. It's not perfect but it's a lot better than it was and will do ok for my needs!

I was in a fabric shop and bought a few 25cms worth of cotton to make some Christmas bunting for a charity thing.

The conservatory has cooled down a lot now the temps have decreased so I spent a happy couple of hours cutting out flags while the rain poured down outside. I shall do a grey/red selection of the five in the front and a jolly snowman one with the green fabric. That should keep me quiet for a while!!

I've been busy playing with my band too (those lights from last week have already earned their keep!)  and was in Pewsey on Sunday eve for the close of carnival service. The river Avon had been taken over by these characters:

Someone had done a lot of hard work there!  Apparently it was a Pokestop too. For a small village they do really well in Carnival fortnight - it was good to be a part of it :-D

Have a great crafty week! xxxx

WOYWW 380

                                  SHINE A LIGHT ON EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD...

Thanks for all the well wishes last week! We still feel as if we are in a permanent holiday home at the moment - having decided to unpack as little as possible, it is amazing how few items you actually need for daily living. Hmmmm, when we eventually buy a house, I think I'm going to have a major prune of our stuff. 

I played in a church service last week (this IS craft related, fear not!) and as usual was at the back in the dim light. Well, even with reading glasses. I couldn't see the tiny notes in the hymn book. Look.....

See how tiny they are compared to the other piece and the cream paper doesn't help either. A quick search of a well known interwebs site revealed the Mighty Bright Music stand light.

As demonstrated here on my stand - it looks like some mutant alien insect doesn't it??! If you're wondering what those small things that look like chess pieces are, they are very powerful little magnets that hold your music onto the stand - the merest breeze can whip your music away faster than you can say Accelerando. 

My music case has loads of stuff in, the stand, music folder, small towel (for catching drips!), bass stand, mouthpiece, valve oil, vaseline (for the slides). It weighs a blooming ton and that's before you consider the 2 stone weight of the instrument itself - anyhow I digress. I wanted a case to carry and protect the lights in (plus some spare batteries too) and so I made this:

Not the best bit of sewing I've ever done, but it was quick, easy and made from scraps, the little pocket on the front will hold three triple A batteries.  See, there was some crafting to show (eventually!!)

And they are in action at the outdoors church service I played in as part of the Pewsey Carnival fortnight:

This was before we started - they really helped when the sun set later. Yay - no more blind-as-a-bat peering at the music for me. Woohoo.

There you are, you got to the end, hopefully unscathed. I will try to show a bit more actual craft next week, but that may well be a rash promise :-D

WOYWW 379

I WANNA BRAND NEW HOUSE WITH AN OLD BROWN JUG...

Helloooooooo *waves madly*....I'm back. The magic of Interwebs means I can once more join in the weekly mayhem that is WOYWW!

It's been a frenetic fortnight but thanks to sterling efforts by family, friends and some very nice removal men, we are now ensconced in our temporary home. It's a comfy place, very close to Julia and we are extremely happy here - it's like being in a permanent holiday home. Most of our boxes remain unpacked and stored but I did keep some of my crafting kit out (otherwise I'd be showing a blank desk for the next six months and I think my numbers would tail off a bit....)

Anyway, the Jan Cave has relocated here:

I am going to have to move this stuff, it's way too hot in the conservatory - my cutting mat has warped in the heat.

I've made a start - this is the dining/craft room! It's a bit cooler here :-D

Some new stash bought with a birthday voucher - it's going to be another blanket as I'm quite enjoying the mindlessness of zipping along the rows.

And I've enjoyed using my gorgeous pencils too, they make shading so easy. Gordon has made me a playlist on the iPod and I was enjoying listening to it on random selection. Some real golden oldies appeared! I shall take my time with this colouring and really explore the tones...

If you are kind enough to comment, I may be late in replying as today is a busy one. But I will get back to you!!

Have a great crafty week - it's good to be back :-)
xxxxxxxx

WOYWW 377

OUR HOUSE IS A VERY VERY VERY FINE HOUSE...

Well, this is the last post I'm writing from my lovely house - everything happened rather quickly and La Famille Appleton are moving lock, stock and barrel to a rental property just around the corner from Julia! I shall be Interweb-less for a while so no blogs from me..maybe I can post vicariously through Julia :-D I don't know if I'll be able to return many comments either, sorry!

This was the last shot of my desk a couple of days ago, piled up with the stuff that I'm sending to Misteejay.

It was a useful exercise in stash busting!

And that's what the Jan-cave looks like now - I wasn't in there very long but did enjoy the space and luxury of leaving half finished work out on the desk.

And here's the stash all ready to go. 4 plastic boxes, two cardboard boxes and a bag of yarn. See, I really don't have that much! And someone else can corroborate that fact.....

Lisa (of Lisa's Craft Garden fame) and her lovely family dropped in en route from t'North to Cornwall. It was so lovely to meet someone who I've got to know rather well over the last five years. It was just fab to meet you, Lisa, I think that neither of us drew breath the whole time you were here. Thanks to your family for putting up with us too, LOL!! Hope you're having a great holiday :-)

And we're not the only ones who are packing up and moving on:

We found this absolutely gorgeous little nest constructed in our wood store. it's perfectly circular, made out of smooth mud with dried grass and a couple of plant labels too!! No sign of eggs anymore so hopefully the little family enjoyed their time there and found it was time to move on. A bit like us really, except our time here lasted 19 wonderful years.

Goodness I shall miss it.....but a new adventure awaits. It's all rather exciting.

See you all in a few weeks xxxx