A Tilda Father Christmas

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I hope your week is going well & you are looking forward to the weekend, as I am.

I purchased the Tilda book above from * Here * several years ago now.  I had always wanted to make the Father Christmas inside it but I felt daunted as I had never done needleturn applique before.  When my friend Claire came to stay in early May she offered to do the needleturn pieces for me & post up for me to stitch onto the clothes.  I agreed ... however when I got my fabrics out to sort which ones I chose to use, I decided it was probably high time I had a go at needleturn applique myself 😉.  

In hindsight I think I should've probably chosen something a bit simpler to begin on, & also not so fiddly.  However - I persevered & over a period of about 2 months I worked away on the leaves & tiny borders of my Santa's clothing.

I must be honest here & say - I am sure if you "needleturn whiz's" saw my methods, you would roll around laughing !! 😄    But I got there in the end.

Instead of quilting the fabric afterwards, as the pattern suggests, I just used Sandcastle fabric, which is already quilted - I really liked this effect too.  The other change I made was I gave my Santa a fur beard instead of the quilted fabric beard shown in the pattern.

The pattern for the tree is also included in the book - I gave my tree a rustic twig stem & then spray painted a rusty star to adorn the top. 

This time round, instead of having Madam Pip "assisting me" I had Blackie plonk himself down on my needle turn applique & give everything a liberal coat of black hairs 😟 as well as getting glue baste-it on his paws.  Honestly friends, it's a wonder I get anything done around here !!!

I am so thrilled with my Father Christmas ... he's far from perfect & there Was rather alot of Glue baste-it used, but he's finished & I'm just happy that I gave it a go.  Before we know it, it will be December again (!!!) & he will look wonderful hanging in my 💗 Pink Christmas area 💕

My friend Jan dropped the black fabric dinosaur panel into me recently - it was going to be tossed out at the Op Shop where Jan volunteers.

  

I unpicked the dinosaur panel & then sewed it onto a small cushion for Sid, made from some dinosaur flannelette in my stash. The picture is made entirely from sequins, hand-sewn on, & when you rub your hand upwards on it - the sequins all change to the blue & spell the word "Roar".  Sid was delighted with it & now takes it to bed each night.

Before                                                                      After

This silver coffee pot above was in the thrift shopping haul from my last Post... a $5 purchase.  While I was already painting with my "Pumice" chalk paint, I gave it 2 coats & then applied some remnants of Re-design transfers to it.

I added one to the lid also, then I very lightly buffed all the detailing with some silver gilding wax. 

Last Sunday The Mr was away all day riding Moto X so I had a cooking day.  I made a Lasagne for the freezer & I made a fudge cake to take to my Craft Group on Monday (which ended up being cancelled)  then I put a Fridge Drawer Stew in the slow cooker, which lasted us 3 nights last week.  

I loved this wee funny below - it came into my Instagram account this week & made me smile.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend dear friends.

Those of you that follow my blog by email notifications - Please Note that Blogger is going to be removing this notification & you will no longer receive email notifications after this month.  I will make further investigations & figure out another way to notify you when I can. 

Thank you all so much for your visits here today,

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

There ............................ & Back Again

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I have been away down to my Mum's for a week & have also been home a week - finding the time to blog again has been difficult as it has been a busy time with school holidays.

Mount Taranaki (formerly Mount Egmont)

Whenever I return "home" again this beautiful mountain always takes my breath away as it rises from the mist.

Mum & I went out to my brother & sister-in-laws for afternoon tea. Mum's cat Bubby went to live with them 3 years ago now & she usually hides whenever Mum turns up, but this time she was more than happy to have a pat & a belly rub.

My brother has a 40 acre farm high on a hill with stunning views but in a real wind channel. His first fence blew down in strong winds but he is now erecting this Gabion Cage fence which will be sturdier.

 The amazing thing about this is that my brother is building this all by himself - each stone has to be placed by hand in the wire cages which he erects first & concretes into a base -  my brother only has one arm as he lost his other arm in a motorcycle accident at age 20. He has 15 cages to build & fill to complete the fence.

I had some good luck thrifting this trip - I stopped at Stratford Hospice on my way down & bought these goodies above - I am about half way through the ($1) Lesley Pearce book now & can hardly put it down. 

On the Saturday morning I met my friend Claire in town & we did some thrifting before having a coffee together.  The plates above right were at a ladies market stall & were $2 each & the tiny one was $1.  

I bought the wooden mirror for $10 - I wanted to use the frame of it & the wee salt shaker was 50c & is Old Foley china.

Last week Alec came to stay for some of the school holidays & then Sid joined him on the Tuesday. They made roads with my knitting needles & we built houses, petrol stations & even a McDonalds.

My lounge looked like a bomb had hit it & Pippi hid for an entire day.

 

My friend Gail had gifted me the image above left for my birthday - I loved it & had it in my head that I wanted to mount it on a vintage tray.  I found the one above while down at Mum's for $10.  I always put them through my dishwasher before painting as it removes any grease or residue. I gave it two coats of Chalk Paint in the colour Pumice.

I used baking paper to press into the bottom of the tray to get "a pattern" so I could cut my image out neatly. Then I modpodged it onto the tray & once dry, I sealed it with mod podge also.  I rubbed clear wax over it all & then rubbed dark wax just over the detailing as I felt it gave it a nice antique-y look.

❤  I just LoVe Mother Goose & her babies  ❤

And Yes - that actually IS a cat on my worktable 😉

This vintage teapot above left was a $4 find at Hospice - I gave this two coats of Pumice while I was painting my tray & then applied a Re-design transfer to it along with a tag.  This one will be planted for a birthday gift.

Yesterday I picked the first of my daffodils before the rains came - these were lying on the ground as we have had strong winds this week - but they soon perked up inside & make me feel as though spring is not too far away.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend dear friends - be kind to yourselves & to each other,

Thank You all for stopping by here today,

With much love & friendship to You All,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

Giveaway Winners & a Birthday ......................................

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Late one night last week I went through all the comments on my Giveaway post & gave each one a number. I had 75 comments altogether (not counting a couple of replies & a spam)  I wrote the numbers 1 to 75 on separate pieces of paper, folded them & put them all in my vintage twin-spout teapot.  Then I got The Mr to draw out 2 numbers.  First he drew out 44, then No 3.

The winner of the 1st Prize is Christine from the blog MacDonalds Patch & the winner of the 2nd Prize is Janet from the blog Roque Quilter

Both winners have been notified & I will be posting their parcels off overseas to them tomorrow.  I So enjoyed this Giveaway & would love to do these more often - I just loved reading everyone's comments about their favourite season.    I did a tally in case you are interested ......  Autumn (fall) was the winner with 36 votes followed by Spring at 23 votes, then Winter at 8 & Summer at 7. Some people didn't name their favourite, some named 2 seasons & two people said every season has its own special rewards to look forward to ... which is absolutely right ❤

As for myself - it was always Spring for me - the season of Hope after a cold winter & watching the garden come to life again.  But I have to confess our Autumns now are just beautiful & mild, so I think I might love them both equally.

Last week I also celebrated another birthday - I turned 61.   We had a simple informal family tea on the Sunday night & my daughter in law made me an Orange Cake with cream cheese icing - it was indeed delicious & moist.

I had a fairly quiet day on my birthday, which is what I wished for ... but I got thoroughly spoilt with some lovely gifts from family & friends.

The Mr had given me some money to buy a birthday gift about a month ago & I chose this vintage looking wrought iron planter.

I took it with me to the Garden Centre last week & bought this terracotta pot to sit in it along with the beautiful pansy - a new variety called "Eyelash Pansies" 💕

This old teapot had been sitting in a box of junk treasures so I gave it a coat of chalkpaint in the colour "Pumice"  ....  & some remnants of Re-design transfers to embellish it. 

 

I was able to remove the pin from the lid & put it on backwards as I have a pot that sits perfectly in this.  I will plant it with some babies tears ... a gift for a friend.

Longtime readers of my blog may remember reading in * this post *  how pleased I was with my 3 baskets of hanging geraniums. I have been able to start more cuttings from my main plant & potted them up this week - two of these baskets are going down to my sister-in-law as she asked me to do some for her.  I have tucked them up under my covered deck area as the heavy frosts we have had this week can burn the foliage.

I got up early this morning & made another Fridge Drawer Stew as I had pumpkin going soft & broccoli that needed using up. These stews are so warming during these winter months & use up all those leftover veggies in the Fridge - The Mr would have this every night if he could.

When I've peeled all my veggies I take the bowl of peelings out to my worm farm ... on my way back to the house I noticed Blackie asleep in the catcher of the ride-on lawn mower because of course - there are No Nice Comfy Places to sleep anywhere else on the entire property 😉

Thanks so very much for your visits here today dear friends & thanks to all of you who took part in my Giveaway.

If I could - I would give a prize to each & every one of you. 😊

I am off down to my Mum's for a few days to help her out so I shall catch up with all your blogs on my return,

With much love & friendship to You All,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0