kcwc day 2

Well my good intentions of altering the pattern and cutting the fabric on Sunday, ready for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge didn't happen. So day 1 (yesterday) was spent doing the boring bits and finding suitable pocket fabric.

Today the fun started, I didn't quite manage an hour - but the day isn't over yet. So here's the pocket, well it's a start....

I also received a little bit of happy in the post, you may remember the great big stitched postcard swap,  well my card finally arrived today - it's had quite a journey, came some of the way, went back and now has managed to find it's new home. I love it, it's from Stella at food art love. Her inspiration was the Robert Indiana LOVE statue in Philadelphia. 

Lucky me. Thanks Stella.

my creative space

Finishing off Little Missy's skirt, so now they both have one, and they twirl enough. Funny how that's always their first concern.

Very happy that one of the endless 'practice' crochet flowers was the perfect colour for the pocket.

Wishing I'd made these pockets a little smaller - they are a bit overpowering.

 

Loving that they love to wear them.

And there's a whole lot of planing, mostly in my head. It the Kids Clothes Week Challenge next week, which is just the kick up the pants I need as Missy Big has grown out of just about evertything and is in desperate need of some everyday dresses. 

She chose some fabric last summer, so it's about time I made something. If only I could find the patterns I made last year - where, oh where are they? 

Signing up for more swaps too - I just love brooches and wear them all the time - so this swap at Flowerpress sounds perfect. 


What are you up to? 
More creative people over at Kootoyoo.

London Town

Isn't it surprising how quickly we come to rely on technology? I'm very glad to have the computer back, and working. But without it, I did manage to get things 'done', lots of half finished jobs got finished, I read articles that have been hanging around for ages and I didn't lose hours on the web. Of course now I have way too many photos to upload, too many e-mails to write and so many blogs to catch up on, but first I do need to share our fab day out...


Another visit to the Museum of London, such a great place, so much to see and do and tons of really interesting stuff. 

These models really caught my attention, whole streets of houses and shops in the most incredible detail. Rubbish spewing out of dustbins, the inside of someones bedroom, broken walls, tiny trees - amazing and fascinating, and based on real communities.  

We also saw the new exhibitions - London Street Photography a visual history of the city, it shows so many similarities between the social problems of then and now, fascinating. And Hand-drawn London, a small exhibition of maps hand-drawn by ordinary Londoners based on their experiences and memories of the city with a little imagination thrown in, they are so charming and quirky I could have gazed for hours, but little ones were getting fed up...   
If you're nearby - pop in - they are well worth the visit. 

On our way out we stopped at the gates of some gardens, the girls wanted to go in, it was Postman's Park. I was delighted and moved, it's somewhere I've wanted to visit for a long time.

The small area includes a Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, such a moving tribute to those who gave their lives whilst attempting to save someone else's. A series of tiled plaques name the individuals and how they gave their lives, men, women and a surprising number of children trying to save siblings and friends. It certainly reminds you just how precious life is, and how quickly it can be taken.

After taking in such moving tributes we walked towards the river past St Paul's Cathedral and over the Millennium Bridge, pausing to take in the views and characters. 

This man was sketching outside the Tate. I was immediately taken in by his work - line drawings of architecture - a favourite of mine, as we looked he pulled out a selection of his other work. £10 each. I felt like I was robbing him as I handed over the cash. Thank you Robbie MacGregor, I will treasure this and add it to my small collection of work I have bought from artists selling their work on the streets, in the countries I have visited.

A great day, finished off with a pub dinner. Perfect. 
(if you don't include the thunder and lightning and the tube delays on the way home)

rested

Still here - battling with a computer that is playing up, partly working for now - but heading to hospital for an overhaul next week. I hate it when technology goes wrong and Mr talks about things and it sounds like a foreign language. I like simple.

 a photo by Colette Moscrop on Flickr.

I love the school holidays, time to rest, play, visit, recharge.
I plan to savour the remaining few days and squeeze in as much crafting with the girls as possible. The picture is an old one, I can't upload / download anything right now. Grrrrr. Deep breath. Time to sew and calm down.


The Kids Clothes Week Challenge is back. Sewing for children, one hour everyday for a week. Sounds good to me.


Hope to be back next week, with a proper update.
Happy weekend. x

sunshine and the new landlady (winner)

We have had the most glorious sun filled days lately which has meant many hours planting seeds and new fruit bushes at the allotment and pottering around the garden hoping to get a few more flowers growing and plenty of tidying.

The only trouble with this allotment business is that it is so addictive. I could spend all day weeding and planting and pottering around in the soil. It's so peaceful there and what we're doing will give us plenty of delicious meals over the coming months - it's so consuming. 

Nobody tells you this when you sign up, you will want to grow everything and abandon the supermarkets completely. These days I'm critical of all the fresh foods I buy now - it's all so tasteless in comparison. 

And it's contagious too, we got the bug from friends and we've passed it on, two families we know have patiently added their names to waiting lists.

All this sunshine is wonderful, but I'm seeing plenty of plants flowering far earlier that usual - the strawberries are flowering already - too soon surely? 

The plum tree that had nine flowers last year and gave us six delicious fruits is clearly happy in it's new home - it's bursting with blossom, I'm tingling with excitement at the thought of how many juicy fruits we'll get this year.


Now onto the winner of the giveaway, a day early I know, but it's the school holidays (hooray) and something has come up, thank you all for entering the fun. Missy Big did the honours....

and the winner is...

H at Roses Over The Door congratulations H, Mr and Mrs will be packed in a flash and coming to move in. I hope you have their room ready.

thrifty storage

It's been a little lacking on the thrifty front lately, but I my heart skipped a beat when I found this lovely suitcase. 

It's in excellent condition, and I love the flashy red lining. I couldn't resist teaming it with Little Missy's shoes. 

Storage and general tidiness is not my thing, but I keep trying. This lovely treasure will hold all the clothes Missy Big has grown out of while we wait for the little one to grow into them. 
Phase one of 'the big tidy' which is on my to do list. 

More thrifty goodness over at Her Library Adventures and Apron Thrift Girl.

my creative space

Ah-Ha me hearties...

it's been a piratey week around here, the school topic has been pirates and this is the final week, today they had to dress up as pirate for school, which didn't go down too well. Missy Big cried at the thought of being a pirate and asked if she could just go in wearing her uniform. 

I did manage to persuade her, with a compromise of her own clothes and just a pirate waistcoat that I said I'd make. She asked for a heart on the back instead of a skull and cross bones, but we got there in the end. 

I ran out of time to add something pirate-ish on the pocket, ooops.

And this morning, she wanted to be a pirate, yay! 

And the life sized paper pirates they had to make, she's very dainty with the pink heels on her boots, pink sword and pretty dress.

 

It's been a fun week, slightly manic. Glad it's only a week until the holidays.

More creative spaces over at Kootoyoo. 

Thanks for all joining in on the giveaway - there's still time to put your name in the hat. Don't be shy, even if you've never left a comment before...  x

room wanted... giveaway

read in a 1940's english accent

the giveaway - the rules

to enter - leave a comment and tell me your favourite old film

(just being nosey)

for a second entry - add the button to your sidebar or mention the giveaway with a picture in a post on your blog, leave a second comment and tell me you've done this.

Mr and Mrs have up to date passports and don't get travel sick.

I give them a mostly good reference, she talks, and talks, and talks, and he has an eye for the ladies.

I'll draw a winner on 12th April 2pm, UK time.

If you can't wait until then, you can buy their neighbours here.

x

* giveaway now closed - a day early, sorry, something has come up!
- thanks for entering *

my creative space

What do you do when your 'to do' list is so enormous and unachievable, and you don't know where to start, and you don't want to do any of it, and none of it is fun, and the really important deadlines are creeping up on you?

Start something new, something you meant to do last summer, something that is fun, something that will make you breathe, something that will give you some joy.

I didn't get it finished like I'd hoped, the bobbin ran out of thread, I managed to unthread the overlocker by accident, the phone kept ringing (and even more annoying - there was no-one there) the breadmaker beeped, the the needle needed changing and then my time was up. 
But I get to add something fun onto my 'to do' list.

I can also share my stitched postcard for the swap, the theme this time was 'love'. 
I really enjoyed doing this.

The slow hand stitching, the choosing of colours, the feel of the linen, the time it gave me to sit still, the doing it with my actual hands, thinking of all the things I love, feeling loved.
And of course, Miss Parker helped me out with the words, which never fails to please me.

 

This travelled over to America to live with Mama Bear. Hoping mine will get here soon, it's nice to get happy post.
Being creative is so good for my sanity.



You can still join in on the book review - anyone?

book review - My Sister's Keeper

I know, it's been a little book bonkers over here lately - I will calm down soon, I promise. 
So here's my first book review, I hope you'll join in and add your review to the Link too, spread the word - it'll be more fun if lots of us play along.

This is the first book I've read this year, (I don't find much time to read so I'm feeling chuffed I've managed a whole book by March!)

'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult. 

This is the story of a family and how their lives are centered around the middle daughter, Kate, who has leukemia. 
To save her life a younger daughter is conceived to be a bone marrow donor. But it doesn't end there. 
By the age of 13 the younger sister, Anna, has had countless procedures to save Kate's life. She is then expected to donate a kidney, this is when she proceeds with a lawsuit to sue her parents for rights over her own body.

This is a heartbreaking book, as a mother of two I kept trying to put myself in the parents shoes and wonder what I would do. I couldn't. 
Most mothers would donate any body part to save their own childs life - but is it fair, is it right, is it immoral to expect a young sibling to do so? 
It had me in tears many times and wondering just what is the right answer. The book is written from all the characters points of view, so you really feel their turmoil. They are all making difficult choices with the best of intentions. Who could chose one child over another, who's doing the right thing?
 
As the book progressed I found it hard not to side with Anna a little. Her whole life was defined by being a donor, having a sick sister, spending their lives at the hospital and a childhood overshadowed by sorrow. But as the court case unfolds it becomes clear where her heart really lies. 

The ending is not what I expected, it's bittersweet and it's a shock. I don't want to give it away but it came back to me day after day and made me appreciate how lucky we all are to be healthy.


This is a sad story, but it gripped me, I just had to get to the end. If you're up for an emotional journey, this is a good one.

Now it's your turn, you can review any book - a cookbook your family would starve without, a pattern book you've made things from (share some pictures please!), a novel you hated,  a children's book your little ones love... anything goes!

I'll leave the link open for a couple of weeks so you have plenty of time. 
Can't wait to read what you're reading...