Christmas Wishes Everyone

Greetings dear friends & readers,

This will be my last post for 2019 & I would like to take this opportunity to wish you ALL a most wonderful 

festive season.

I would also like to thank each & every one of you that comes this way - to my little part of cyberspace, reads my ramblings & takes the time to leave me a comment - now & then - just to say Hello & to let me know you have visited 😊

I can't tell you how much it means to me & how much pleasure this little blog of mine brings to me 💛

Last night The Mr had an AGM to attend so I stood in my kitchen while the rain lashed the windows, & finished up some more Christmas Baking as well as packaging some ready for gifting

This year I made my usual Gingernut Bites & Chocolate Fudge Cake, but also made some Mars Bar Slices 

& Chocolate Crackles - some of which I added cute little festive picks to for my grandsons.

My lovely friend & longtime customer Desiree, has a beautiful baby daughter who is about to celebrate her first Christmas

Desiree called to see me in early November with the 3 fat quarters above, asking me to please make a stocking for Gretchen's first Christmas in this colourway

Her only request was Patchwork & perhaps some vintage lace somewhere in it.

I have sewn alot for Desiree & know her taste fairly well so I felt confident adding in the other fabrics to the three 

she had given me.

After I had patchworked the front, I machine appliqued on the letters for Gretchen's name

I found this beautiful vintage cotton lace in my scraps so I added a border of it to the top, then this cute cotton bird tape, which I felt matched the sweet little birds in the fabrics.

The silver charms were sewn on last as I felt they added a nice finishing touch.

 

I also added one of the fabric tags I had made from my Grandson's Advent Calendar Panels

(& a vintage button)

Both front & back were patchworked & a sweet crochet doiley was stitched to both sides.

The "handmade with love" woven ribbon was stitched on the back toe part

I LoVe these colours together & thought it turned out beautiful 💗

A friend messaged me with a late Order after seeing the candles in my last post made using vintage glassware.

I had 3 containers left so made them up into candles for her over the weekend.

Also over the weekend, my lovely neighbor Jenny popped in with the sweet Angel kit above - a gift for some 

pet feeding duties I had done for her.

I was determined to find time to make her up last Sunday - she turned out beautifully & I have hung her on my tree.

It's such a treat to have a kitset & not have to go searching for anything - just enjoy sitting & putting it together.
For anyone interested, the kitset was purchased from * Here *

Yesterday while the weather was wild, these two fought & hissed & spat at each other & left big clumps of fur on the floor - mainly ginger !!

So I was rather surprised to see them tucked up together on the bed last night - when I went to get in !!

Friends again - for now 😉

Wishing you all a safe & joyous Christmas dear friends,

I look forward to sharing more with you in the New Year,

From our Home to Yours - with much love & friendship,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0x

Christmas Bits & Bobs

Greetings dear friends & readers 
I hope the week is treating you kindly - the days seem to be going by so very fast!

Last Tuesday when Sid was here we decorated the tree ... Sid grew tired of this task about 1/4 the way through 
so I finished it when he had his afternoon nap

I have been wrapping my gifts as they are either made or bought & putting them under the tree - but once again 
I have to leave a space for the Christmas Fairy who is under the tree yet again this year!

Sid & I made a few decorations together - some for his tree & some for Granny's

Last weekend The Mr was away riding Moto X for two days.  I got alot done. 😊

Not that he necessarily stops me from doing things, but I find not having to make meals & endless cups of tea - I seem to achieve alot more.

I got all my smaller orders completed, including the lavender bags (10) & mothball sachets (20) above

I made a vintage china teacup birdfeeder - an Order for my friend Elaine.

Yes I often do "try them out" in my garden first 😉

I made a batch of soy candles in vintage glassware - some of these are for gifts & some are Orders.

The house smelt delicious - a mixture of Mulled Wine & Calico fragrance oils

My lovely, clever friend Shirley sent me a photo of some beautiful dainty stockings she had made. Shirley had come across a piece of handmade felt that she had made awhile ago & decided to make 6 little stockings with crocheted snowflakes on & silk ribbon bows.

Shirley asked me to fashion her "a coathanger of sorts" to hang them on.

I had a lace covered cream satin coathanger already made so I added a wooden snowflake to it - sprayed first with some cream spray paint.

I made some holly shaped leaves from felt for each end along with gold bells & embellishments to compliment the bells Shirley had stitched to her stockings.

When I delivered the coathanger to Shirley I thought it looked So Stunning I could quite easily have bought it 
right back home with me!!

I decided to do a quick paint/upcycle on this old wooden stool to use in my bedroom.

I have to do these projects when The Mr is not here because he does not like me painting the native wood.

The colour is Old Linen (chalkpaint) & I covered it with some leftover curtain fabric.

Though my eyes are tired at night, I still like to sit & knit either dishcloths or cotton scrubby cloths,

Blackie tucks up right beside me these evenings - he is feeling rather tired himself from all the Christmas prep 
he has still to do 😉 !!

Thanks as always for your lovely visits here today dear friends,
I hope the lead up to Christmas is going well for you all,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Advent Calendars & Train Trips .........................................

December Greetings dear friends & readers

About 5 years ago I bought some sets of novelty pegs in a half price sale.
I had originally intended using the pegs to make Advent Calendars to sell at Christmas time in my Craft Cottage.
This idea never came to fruition.

Last month, when a box fell off a shelf in my sewing room - out tumbled the pegs ..... perhaps I could make Advent Calendars for my Grandsons ??

These wooden "trees" were purchased last year from The Warehouse - once again at half marked price so 
instead of being $20 each, I got the 2 for $20
There were only 15 round hooks in each tree - so I carefully unscrewed these

I hot glued the novelty pegs onto my trees, making sure to cover the holes & also to evenly space out my 24 pegs.

While down at Mum's last month I came across a Photocopy Shop closing down with all her plain wooden letters for 50c each.
I purchased my grandson's names & once home, I painted them with a testpot of chalk paint I found in my cupboard ... Imperial Red - the perfect Christmas red  💗

When dry I hot glued my letters to the star on the top of the tree.

My local Patchwork Shop StitchinStuff was selling these lovely printed panels with little stockings on so I purchased 
a different one for each of my Grandsons

Now believe me dear friends - sewing all those teeny tiny stockings was not terribly much fun at all 😉 !!
As the girl in the Patchwork Shop said to me "the first 3 are great fun & then after that it's just plain fiddly"
And I had 48 to sew !!

Each one was backed with a red/white spot fabric I found in my stash 

The Panel I used for Alec's advent stockings reminded me very much of French General fabrics 💕

During the process of making all 48 stockings, as well as working on my Orders ...... I somehow lost 
Numbers 16 & 23 !!  I could NoT BeLieVe it !! 
It took me 3 days to find them in amongst the mess that my sewing room is in creative space that I work in 😉
So I decided to make a small pouch that the stockings could be kept in when they are un-pegged each day

I used the same red spot fabric & the edges of the stocking panels had these lovely fabric tags on them, so I stitched one on each pouch.

My next task was taking one stocking & heading off to my local Variety Store to find treats small enough to fit into the stockings.

I decided to wrap each days surprise in red tissue as I had visions of Alec peeking in all the stockings to see 
what was in them.
48 tiny packages later & I was finished !! Phew !!

Last Sunday, the 1st December I packed up a picnic lunch &  took my grandson's & their families to the
 Hamilton Miniature Train Park

The day was warm & windy & we just had the bestest time together

We rode the trains & we picnicked & the little ones rode bikes, blew bubbles & told stories to each other

The Park has many big established trees that are just wonderful to picnic under.
I also gifted my Grandsons their Advent Calendars & watched with pleasure as they each opened Day 1.

Well dear friends I am currently working on my very last Order 😊
Thanks So Much for your visits here today - I hope the coming week is good & kind to you all,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones
x0x0x0x

Christine's Christmas Order - (Part 2)

Greetings dear friends & readers

(Warning - bit of a photo heavy post!!)

Last Thursday I loaded up my car with all of Christine's Christmas Orders & drove to the other side of the city to deliver them, & to see her Christmas decorating (shall not mention the fact that I got lost twice in the city trying to find her!!) 

Believe me friends - I was Not disappointed!! 😊

Above is the Christmas Tree in the Winter Wonderland Lounge which is where the Angel & Santa 
from my last post were created for

More Winter Wonderland Vignettes

Way back in this post in 2016 Christine commissioned me to make her a black & cream Santa to go in her black/cream decorated lounge.

(Photo of the Santa from my 2016 blog post)

This year - in her new home - the master bedroom has the black & cream theme ..... so Christine asked me to 
make up an Angel that matched the Santa

I was fortunate enough to still be able to buy some of the black floral fabrics for her wings & bloomers

(I have used the Charlotte Angel Pattern again by Rosalie Dekker designs)

I had used the wooden star buttons on Santa's Jacket & I managed to find one left in my stash

Here they both are below - sitting on the bed in the black & cream decorated bedroom

Christine had even decorated her dressing tables in a black & cream Christmas theme - just stunning !

These photos below show her dining area - this was decorated in a copper & gold colour scheme - quite traditional, which I loved.

In this area is the free standing fireplace - Christine had wound bubble wrap around the chimney flue & then added greenery & stunning copper & gold Christmas embellishments - it looked just like a tree 💗

So of course - she needed a copper & gold decorated Santa & Angel for this area.

When Christine placed her Order she had given me some of the copper & gold fabrics which I used in both the 

Santa & Angel but was lucky enough to find others to compliment this colourway.

Also some copper bells for Santa to hold which were found in a Variety Store in Mum's town

I made up a patchwork stocking using a mixture of all the fabrics & stuffed it with greenery, a copper wire heart &

 a vintage Santa ornament

For his other arm I found this coppery coloured bear - leftover stock from my Cottage closure

I removed his bow & made him a bowtie & a pom pom hat . . . . .

He was the perfect size for Santa's other arm & just tucked in nicely

Miss copper/gold Angel turned out beautifully - her hair is the most gorgeous coloured hand dyed mohair

(You can click on the photos to enlarge them if you wish)

I love her sweet little face.

I even found some sparkly copper ribbon at my local Patchwork Store

Once again, the Variety store provided the copper hanging crystal decoration which was just the right size 

to stitch in her hands

The paint for her shoes is Burnt Sienna  -  I found by mixing just a teeny bit of black into this, it gave just the right shade of coppery gold that I was after

Christine was delighted with her entire Order & we had a lovely time finding homes for all her Angels & Santa's

 in her beautifully decorated Home.

Remember in my last post how I said she even decorates her bathroom at Christmas ??

Well dear friends, I took a photo to prove it 😉 !!

If you have managed to stay with me til the end, thank you So Much! 

I hope the week ahead is good & kind to you all,

Thank You, as always, for your visits here today,

With much love & friendship,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0