Friday, December 1, 2017

A Catch-Up Post

Friday Greetings dear friends & readers,
 
The Mr asks me every morning what are my plans for the day .... this morning was no different.
"I hope to finish up a couple of orders & then I am going to do a blog post before the month ends" I said
"Well I hate to burst your bubble" he replied "but today IS the 1st of December"
No!!  Surely Not!! Where on earth did November disappear to ?? 
 
The past almost-three-weeks have gone in the blink of an eye !!
Mum came up for her sister's funeral along with my brother & his wife - Mum stayed on a few extra days to catch up with grandsons & great grandsons .  .  .  .
Mum with her great-grandson Alec
 
Mum with her great grandson Sid

.  .  .  .  & then I took her home again & stayed on for a few days.

 Although we were only 10 days out from the official first week of summer - there was snow on Mt Taranaki & I was glad I tossed in a pair of sweatpants to take with me.

My sister-in-law bought a chair squab up with her & asked me to cover it in anything blue please
Miss Pippi very kindly assisted me by falling asleep on it to give it a good press & save me the bother of having to iron the fabric !!

There have been several Orders crossed off on my list but still more are appearing .... 
My sister in law has 2 young friends having babies & asked me for a pink & a blue wool blanket softie to gift to them
 I embroider their faces so there is nothing chewable on them & they are fully machine washable

 These felt mice in stockings were for an order to be sent to the U.K. before the overseas post closed at the end of November.
I took them to Mums & managed to finish them - they are 100% handstitched, & I am now working on another 6 for the Cottage.

 My friend Pru was cleaning out a cupboard & found this piece of raw silk that she had done some silk ribbon embroidery on many years ago ... she asked if I could make it into something to gift to her daughters in law

 I was able to stitch up a decent size lavender bag for each girl & fill it with my homegrown lavender.

Last December Carol inquired whether I could make her a Santa the same as her niece had bought from me.
 The pattern is called Prim Olde Santa & is a design by Kerry Daly of Primitive Country Treasures
 Unfortunately, as it was mid December, I simply ran out of time but I remembered about her request & rang recently to inquire if she would still like one?
He is a beautiful Santa & one of my all-time favourites - I just love every single thing about him & even though he is alot of work, next year I hope to actually make one for myself !!

 I was pleased to be able to give it to Carol early so she could enjoy him for the whole of the festive season.

When my neighbour Leah gifted me all the junk treasures left over from her Garage Sale a plastic bag of candles was in amongst it all.
I wanted to do something with the candles as they were still in new condition.

 I found some old music pages in my sleepout & wrapped this around them, then added some cotton lace to each set.

 I tucked a vintage image into each candle bundle, then tied them up securely with some cream tulle, lace & pearl trim


I had a customer yesterday say to me "these are just gorgeous .... what do you do with them ??!!  
So I told her .................... you sit them there & they look pretty & you enjoy them! 😉 
Or you can burn them ...... or you could gift them !!

Lastly dear friends, I have recently joined Instagram.
A couple of  local makers & myself are having a little giveaway which will be drawn this Sunday evening
The prize consists of a Christmas top, a NZ print & my felt mice - all handmade by local artists.

This is entirely free to enter so just pop along to the link *here* if you would like a chance to go in the draw.

Thanks So Much for staying with me through this lengthy catch up post.
I wish you all a great weekend ahead & hope it is filled with special moments,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

18 comments:

  1. What a lovely Christmas blog. Everything you do is such detail and perfection. Father Christmas is my favourite but I love the mice and the candles. How sweet the little boys are. Have a fun time being busy in your shop. Xxx

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  2. You have been busy. Love all your Christmas projects. Lovely photos of your Mum & great grandsons. Followed you on Instagram. Hugs, xx

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  3. Goodness! What a lot to see and read Julie! :).
    This post has been 'up and down' like a barmaids
    apron..(can l say that)...!:).
    And at least two lemon tea reads..HeHe!
    Wonderful!

    Wonderful photos of Mum and the Grandlittles..
    Lovely to see, as a BIG believer in families,
    and, as a Sicilian it means so much to us..!
    'Blood is Blood'.

    Santa and the little felt mice stockings look
    lovely to...they'll look nice on a tree..!
    And, the bits at the bottom there look lovely
    to..love the map of New Zealand..! Ah! it's
    all so lovely...HeHe! Another lemon tea is
    called for...!!! :).
    Oh! The candles are nice...but l must be honest,
    l don't do candles, don't have them in my home,
    dangerous and all that, but there o.k. for decoration,
    and to look at..!

    I've left the best till last..Pippi!x
    Santa's little helper..taking things lying
    down..again...Bless!x Oh! And one for Blackie!x

    Well...won't be long now...l'm putting my crib up
    tomorrow..have'nt had tree since my daughter went
    off to Uni, goodness 22yrs ago, but the crib goes
    up every year, still the original crib, from when
    l was a child..that was..uuuuM! To long to remember!

    Best get on...just starting to get light..got some
    pheasants to see to later, and get ready for the
    weekend..! Bless! Onwards and Upwards..! :0).

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  4. I wondered how things were with you Juliem and hoped that all was ok...it sure sounds like you have been very busy with family events and travel plus all the bits and pieces you have been making. How hard case is Miss Pippi pressing the fabric for you!! Your post is looking very Christmassy - I adore the Santa! Lovely photos of your Mum with her great-grandies!

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  5. Pippi's furry pressing was not wanted?? Your grandsons are growing up way too fast! So pleased you are getting lots of orders coming through. Mt Taranaki is a beautiful sight, but as we both know it can still be chilly down there even in summer. I remember several Christmas' having to light the log burner as it was cold!

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  6. Another bounty of beautiful handmade delights from you, dear Julie...just tell me, when do you sleep??
    (people always ask me that so now I'm asking you!) LOL!

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  7. Hi Julie, wow you have been busy with lots of orders. lovely photos with your mum and grandkids.

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  8. Wow! So much accomplished and so much to comment on! The pictures of your Mom with her great grandsons will be keepsakes. The wool softies for babies are so nice, I love, love the lavender bags! So much work it looks like but those Santas are so great. And I love the candles wrapped in music. Maybe it is because I love things made out of or decorated with music paper! Once again thanks for sharing! Nancy

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  9. What beautiful photos of your mum with the wee great grandsons. Both of them are very gorgeous!! Yeah, where did November go??

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  10. Love all the gorgeous projects that have kept you busy Julie. Beautiful photos of your Mum xx

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  11. So many pretty creations Julie!

    I love those wool blanket kitties, they are so adorable...another Father Christmas done so beautifully...the little mice in stockings are so cute...and those lavender bags are really pretty, what a great job you did with them...I have some candles here that I am going to decorate up now that you have planted the idea in my head...I have a bunch of candles with a piece of string wrapped around sitting in an old enamel cup. They are about to be transformed!

    This time of year seems to fly by at a really fast rate of knots. I am not ready for Christmas, but I say that every year lol...this year we are only buying gifts for the three grand children so it will be less stressful than other years. I am actually looking forward to our whole family getting together once again and the quiet time between Christmas and New Year. I have almost finished my craft room and it should be ready before the New Year. I am really looking forward to spending time creating once again.

    Such lovely photos of your mum and grandies. Memories are forever.

    Much love,
    Tania xx

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  12. Sweet photos of your Mom with the Great-Grandsons.
    The cat's sleeping position is too funny!
    Julie, your creations continue to leave me in awe. Love the blanket softie animals, the cute little stockings with a mouse inside, the gorgeous lavender sachets, that fun Santa, and the lovely wrapped candles. You have a gift for making under-loved items into treasures.

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  13. Lovely post Julie, you have great photos of your Mum and the grand boys. Love the photo of Mount Taranaki, sure is late to have the snow on the top. How does Miss Pippi manage to sleep like that? You have made some beautiful Xmas goodies, love the little mice in stockings and the Santa, that is a great idea for the candles Julie, I would be just looking at them. I hope you had a great weekend.

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  14. Hi Julie, what great pics of your mum with her great grandsons, they will be able to look back on those when they get older. Isn't the weather crazy, we have your weather at the moment, rain, rain and more rain, but not complaining cause it followed a week of hot, hot, hot and hotter:-). Cannot seem to get my head around Instagram, but love all your makes, and the NZ print, wow how cool is that. Have a great week. Chris xoxo.

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  15. always enjoy your posts no matter how far apart,
    cute mice! & love those baby soft cuddles too
    you're so talented & love watching you make over so many treasures!
    thanx for sharing

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  16. Love the candles all wrapped up! So clever! Such great photo's of your Mum and the grandchildren. Can't believe how grown up and handsome Alec. I can see why you love Santa so much - he really is gorgeous. Glad that Miss Pippi is still helping out and in charge of quality control. She's so good at it. Heh heh

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  17. The photos of your Mum and the children is so precious! Love your makes too. I recently joined Instagram too and I find that I am tending to post there as it is much quicker, but I will still keep my blog going, but maybe only post once a month. Oh and Pippi is so cute ironing your blue material.

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