Christmas Sparkly Shells

I was on babysitting duty yesterday...although I shouldn't really use the word duty as I love having my 3 year old nephew, Billy and one year old niece, Rose. They are so much fun and have me in fits of laughter all day. 

Whilst Rose took a nap me and Billy decided to paint some shells to make them look christmassy.  I already had a bag full so we chose some nice big ones and got to work....

We used gold paint (Tip: Never let a 3 year old squeeze paint from a  tube!!!)

and painted the shells all over...

then we sprinkled them with gold glitter ....

It was so much fun...

and nice and messy....

Once they dry we are going to wrap them up in a box for Mummy for Christmas! I think they will look lovely scattered around the Christmas table or maybe we could tie them onto the napkins with string? either way I know she'll love them!

x

Little Fabric Hearts!

I've been making little fabric hearts for my Christmas tree. They look so effective and are really quick to make (which is a good thing as I have had to make 20 to get the look I wanted!!)

Here's how...

You need: Fabric, scissors, a couple of pins, needle and thread some stuffing,  half a heart shape cut out of cardboard and some string

Fold over your fabric and cut around the cardboard to make your heart shape

Open up your heart (for it is Christmas after all!) and pin it onto the back of another piece of fabric

Take a piece of string and make a loop, tying a knot at the bottom of it

Place your string in between both pieces of fabric

Starting from the top of your heart (and placing the knot of your string just below your first stitch) stitch evenly around the heart making sure you leave a big enough gap to be able to put your stuffing in.  I have hand stitched my hearts but you could use a sewing machine to speed up the process.

Once the stitching is completed, stuff the heart (I have used Polyester stuffing but you could use old scraps of material or cotton wool if you don't have any)

Once the heart is nicely stuffed, finish off the stitching

It really doesn't matter if your stitching is not perfect (as you can see from the one above) these little hearts look great a little shabby...

Holding your string against the heart so that you do not accidentally cut it off (I'm talking from experience here) cut around the outside of your stitching...again this doesn't have to be perfect.

And there you have it! 

I have kept my ones quite plain, but you could always add a ribbon around the top of the string, or use a different coloured fabric for the back... the options are endless!

Have fun!
x

Feeling Christmassy and A Little Christmas Creation!

I have to say, what with me being English and all  that I was really quite worried about how I would feel spending Christmas in the sunshine.

Christmas for me is all about knitted jumpers and gloves, the weak wintery sun disappearing by 3.30pm, ducking into small cosy pubs for a swift half to avoid the bitterly cold winds and battling through the crowds to buy  presents. 

Christmas could not be more different in NZ. Its the start of summer so the days are long and hot, there are never really crowds in any of the malls and people are walking about in shorts, T-shirts and summer dresses!

However, I am pleased to announce that surprisingly, I do feel very Christmassy!  Christmas is very big over here and everyone seems to be getting into the spirit nicely. 
Tom and I put our tree up last Saturday (I did take a photo to show you but it didn't do it justice, so I will have to take another photo and post it next time)

We opened a bottle of wine and put on my favourite Christmas CD...

and sang along as we decorated the tree.

Here are a couple of new decorations that I bought this year...

A gorgeous knitted little chubby robin (I've had to place him on 2 branches because he is so heavy!)

and this lovely little silver robin...

 

I'll be posting more Christmassy pictures soon...I've got some pine-cones to spray with snow and some Christmas bunting to make and hang, but for now I'll leave you with this little Christmas character I created a few years ago...

 

Happy Friday !
x
PS Dont' tell Tom, but I just had to show you what we wore whilst putting up our tree. I received a lovely parcel from one of my oldest friends Lee. It was so unexpected. I opened up the box to find lots of lovely things to get us through the Christmas period.... a small luxury Christmas pudding from good old Marks & Sparks, some chocolate money, tree decorations, a Christmas CD, a bag of my favourite sweets and these 2 fabulous headpieces... we put them on right away and didn't take them off until bedtime... Katy Perry eat your heart out!??!

Lunch At The Art Gallery

I had a work lunch today at Auckland Art Gallery  it is such a beautiful place.  Look at this gorgeous display that's situated at the front of the gallery.

The reflection of the flowers in the running water is so pretty...

This little bird decided to take advantage of the cool water on such a hot day...what a fabulous place to have a bath (typically the bird ducked it's head under the water just as I took the shot)

This huge flower display hangs form the ceiling in the main entrance. It's so pretty and the flowers sway gently in the breeze...

Sadly, I didn't have much time to look around but I will definitely be going back to have a proper look at all the collections of artwork soon.  The building itself is just lovely to look at...

Especially with that gorgeous blue sky as a backdrop.   Not a bad place for a spot of lunch is it?
x

Latest Picture!

Here is my latest picture, 'Purple Fairy' available from my website soon!

Learning to Crochet and New Books

I have always loved the idea of knitting but sadly I have a bit of a funny thing about wool. I can't stand it when wool squeaks together, do you know what I mean?
I remember my lovely old Nan teaching me to knit when I was about 9, everything was going so well until the needles kind of rubbed against the wool (I must of been knitting quite tightly?) and it made this squeaky noise and my teeth went on edge and it made me feel all funny so I threw the needles down and announced I would never knit again.  I had hoped that it was a passing phase but sadly not.
I still can't stand the sound of wool being rubbed together and I would rather put pins in my eyes then hand wash a woolly jumper (ooooooh my teeth are clamping together now just thinking about it!!)
Anyway, recently I have been pondering over the idea of crochet...seeing as it's only one needle, or to be more precise one hook...surely the risk of the sound of squeaky wool would be limited?  Its a risk I was willing to take. 
So, off I skipped to buy some wool and a 'Learn to Crochet ' magazine, which to my delight came with 5 free hooks! (can you believe it!!)
I made a start as soon as I got home but found the instructions very hard to understand from the magazine, so I went straight on to YouTube and low an behold half an hour later I was happily crocheting away!

This was my first attempt (using some old wool I found laying about)

After a short while and being the impatient person that I am, I decided to stop wasting time messing about and decided to dive right in and start to make something worthwhile... a nice cosy blanket (as you do!)

So here are the colours I chose...

And here is my blanket so far...

I thought I would do a thin grey stripe, a thicker green stripe, another thin grey stripe then some white then repeat the pattern (or something along those lines - depending on my mood!)

I'm quite pleased with it so far.  The ends are a bit of a concern though...

This end is ok (as long as I don't keep on making it wider as I go :0)

But goodness me, this end is a bit of a shambles!!! 

Oh well, I guess i have to keep reminding myself that it is my first attempt and it isn't going to be perfect.  It doesn't help when I stumble across blogs such as this one Attic 24 where there is so much gorgeous Crochetness (is that a word??) going on!  I'm very jealous... but like all things I guess practise makes perfect. 

On another note, I've been very naughty and treated myself to 3, yes 3!!!!! new books today.

'Mudbound' by Hilary Jordan, 'The Witch's Trinity' by Erika Mailman and 'Gran's Kitchen Cookbook' from the notebooks of Dulcie May Booker. I don't normally buy cookbooks as I never use them but I had to get this one as the photos of sweet little Dulcie remind me so much of my own Grandma! Especially this photo on the back of the book...

I know, I know,  I'm an advertisers dream!

Right, I'm off  to do a few more rows of my blanket...wish me luck!
x

Latest Commission!

I hope Isla likes it.... x