Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Busy & Full Days

Greetings dear friends & readers
The days & months go by so quickly & seem to be busy & fuller than ever
I try to keep some sort of a balance & squeeze in some creative time whenever I can


Another friends birthday came around so I wanted to send a home made gift
This is a photo of my kitchen bench & just shows how many activities go on here .... cats get fed, paint brushes washed & candles made ... as well as meals cooked too !!!

As she is a very dear friend I thought a home made candle might be rather nice as I had an idea of 
how I wanted to decorate it.
This is a new fragrance - Black Raspberry & Vanilla - rather gorgeous I must say.


Once the soy had hardened, I decorated the simple black container with some paper doilies & then found these letters in my craft stash 
 As she just happens to be a quilter extrordinaire I thought these were perfect - I tied them on with thin black 
leather thonging

I knew she loves tea drinking, english paper piecing & touches of red 💗 so chose to make up the cute little mug rug from Amy Sinibaldi's book Sweetly Stitched Handmades

In hindsight I wish I had used a thicker wadding in it   ...  but I found some lovely teas to tuck in the 3 pockets
This gift has been posted off & received with delight I am happy to say.

I used the last of the seasons feijoas to make  my favourite Feijoa & Coconut Cake recipe
I like to sprinkle the icing sugar over a paper doiley, but I can see I was rather too heavy handed this time round 😉



I have wanted to make up the Playful Kitten Pattern for quite some time now  .... this is a
free pattern download on the Tilda website

I spent all week on & off working on this kitten & finally put the finishing touches to "her" on Saturday morning.


You can imagine my dismay when The Mr promptly announced "it looks just like one of those small yappy dogs" 

You can see the contrast gusset fabric in the left hand photo
I managed to keep her well out of sight of the two furry ones that reside here - in case they thought there was 
any competition 😉



I spent over an hour lightly starching & ironing some vintage linens that I had carefully soaked & washed.
I spread the aprons out carefully on the spare bed & was none too delighted to see Miss Pippi thought they were there especially for her to take up residence on


Yesterday - Monday was our little craft group meeting for June.
We have a new lady in our small group (Sally) & the meeting was held at Sally's home
The girls decided last month that I would teach them to make a pincushion in a teacup or a small container.
Upon investigation in my Cottage I found 3 teacup pincushions left over from my closure, so I took them along & decided to just instruct & not create

You can see the girls efforts above - some used wooden containers, some used decorated tins & silver ware - quite a variety - Maureen used the appliqued clown face onto a small pottery bowl & planned to decorate around the bowl with red pom pom trim


And at nights, when my eyes are tired, I find knitting up the cotton scrubby pan cloths is about all I can cope with.
This is a free pattern download from Here


Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead dear friends
(though I began this post on Sunday - it is now Tuesday!!)
Thanks so much for your visits here today,
With much Love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

22 comments:

  1. What a lovely surprise your friend must have got when she opened her parcel. It looked gorgeous and as for the cute kitten! No,wonder your eyes get tired at night. Your puddy tat looked most content. 😸

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  2. And what a wonderful present it was! The candle has a gorgeous scent and I love the black container with your personal touches. the cup mug is very sweet, me & hubby shared the tea bags. But I'm missing that cake??? Perhaps a mouse was in the parcel and ate it? The Tilda cat looks great, perhaps "The Mr" might like it for his man bag!! I bet the ladies appreciated your instruction on the pincushions. Naught Pippi............:-(

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  3. Oh, I see Leeanne was the recipient--lucky gal! I believe she was the one that introduced me to your blog, and I have been very glad of it!
    I'll admit I chuckled about Miss Pippi and the freshly washed linens--sorry that it was at your expense. :)

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  4. Oh! Wow! Must go straight to the 'playful kitten'
    that is absolutely lovely..the shape and especially
    the colours..imagine having a real cat that colour,
    the mind boggles! :).
    Wondered what the dynamic duo thought of it...! :).

    And ALL the pincushions are lovely to..love the clown,
    with the dicky~bow..I've still got my two, l made last
    year..no pins..just the cushion..!

    Just gone seven over here..first lemon tea of the day,
    and l think a piece of that Coconut cake would go down
    nicely before breakfast..!
    And..the weathers gonna be nice after a few days of heavy
    rain..lots of floods up north, people evacuated from their
    homes, hoping to get back there by Friday, so not good at
    all..we seem lucky down south here..!

    Best get on..2nd lemon tea is called for..off to town a bit
    later..and tidying up the front garden later on....!
    AND...Miss Pippi..looks lovely..as always..lots of X's all
    round..No! Update on the banana box saga..HeHe! Bless! :o).
    ☕🍰☕🍰☕ ☕🍰☕🍰☕ ☕🍰☕🍰☕ ☕🍰☕🍰☕ ☕🍰☕🍰☕

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  5. You always create such lovely things, your home must be a beautiful place to live. Yo have a lucky friend too, the gifts are delightful. I do think handmade gifts are such special things to give and receive. x

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  6. Well the dredded lurgy has hit, so I'm on the couch with a blanket, and the dog, so was nice reading your blog, lovely gifts you made for your friend, hope the weather is treating you well over there. Have a great week. Chris xoxoxo

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  7. love the kitty cat!
    ohhh naughty Miss Pippi! probably thought they didn't smell right! she is so adorable though
    the pressie was lovely for your friend too, we all love receiving handmades :))
    lovely post
    thanx for sharing

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    1. Thanks so much Selina .... yes Miss Pippi is there "into everything" whether I want her to be or not!! Seems she plays by her own rules.
      Have a great weekend Selina xx

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  8. Your gifts to your friend are gorgeous, Julie. Black Raspberry and Vanilla sounds like a most beautiful fragrance and as for the decoration on the candle....it is perfect. The mug rug is sweet; such a wonderful present to someone who loves EPP. Probably a good thing to keep your adorable Tilda cat away from your furry friends and as for your "Mr" what a funny fellow he is. I just love his sense of humour; so, so very droll. That Miss Pippi of yours has a discerning eye for linen pretties, doesn't she. As always there has been a lot of pretties fashioned throughout your week; all are gorgeous...as are the pin cushions each of the craft ladies fashioned. How fun to gather together and bounce ideas off each other; to create and enjoy a cup of tea and a delicious cake whilst you chat.

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  9. Such fun, I love to see what you are creating.

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    1. Thanks so much for your lovely comment Kim xx

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  10. I suspected who the gift might be for - lucky Leeanne! I love the sound of the scent :-) Cute little Tilda kittie too (I must get back to my bunnies!!) Did you find it too hard to Not Create at craft group - great results by the ladies.

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  11. That scent for the candle sounds so nice. Love seeing your creations. Always something pretty & inspiring to look at. Ahh kitties, always where they aren't supposed to be. Love the pin cushions. Hugs,xx

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  12. Hmmm trying to smell that beautiful candle! I LOVE the tea wallet. It's gorgeous I have a small one and they are great to carry when you are a fussy tea drinker like I am lol! Tilda kitten is very cute I must say. The ladies did wonderfully well under your guidance xx

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  13. Wow Leeanne must be so pleased with her gifts, the mug rug with the tea bag sections would be prefect. I bet the candle smells divine!! I am sure the ladies enjoyed their pincushion making. Oh dear Miss Pippi, cats just know to sit where they are not wanted don't they!! Never too much icing sugar for this sweet tooth, love the playful cushion, trust a Mr to burst the happy bubble!! Xx

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  14. What a wonderful gift you have given to your friend.

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    1. Thanks so much for your lovely comment Krishna xx

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  15. What lovely gifts. The candle sounds Devine.

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  16. what a lovely surprise for your friend, you have so much to do all the time and yet you had time to make something really lovely for her, she must feel special I am sure.

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  17. Those little scrubby pan cloths are pretty cute!! I've never seen a pattern like that for them. I love how Ms Pippi helps you when you blog. lol. I'm into hexies and I love how when you have a centre piece that pops, the eyes just can't help but go back and take another look. Beautiful x

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  18. nice article my friend..
    please visit my blog too

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  19. Lovely goodies, your friends get such super gifts. I love the playful kitten I will have to go and have a look at that. x

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