A Happy Bright Shiny New Year

Greetings dear friends & readers

And heres wishing you all a very Happy Bright Shiny New Year

I do hope your festive season was wonderful & that the coming year brings good things to us all

Mum has returned home after 2 weeks with us ... there was very little creative activity during that time ... but I did manage a couple of completions just prior to her arrival

Although my golly sales have been quiet this past year, it only took the purchase of 3 of them in early December to make my golly ladder look rather empty

I found this naked body in my sewing cupboard so I made her some clothes from parisian-essence dyed calico

She is a sweet little pattern from " Golly J " called Molly. I gave her some little shoes & embellished her bodice with a small crochet flower (which also got dunked in the parisian essence mixture along with all the lace)

The 2nd completion I managed was this stitchery (started about 6 months ago & a gift from my friend Bev) . . . the actual stitchery itself was completed awhile ago but I just never quite got around to making it up into the wallhanging

The pattern is called "Making Spirits Bright" designed by Natalie Bird from The Birdhouse.  I stitched it using Cottage Garden thread Kangaroo Paw.  The fabrics I used for the wallhanging are from the Lynette Anderson range

While Mum was staying we took ourselves off to Hamilton Gardens for a picnic lunch.  It was my daughter in law Sarahs, birthday so my sons & their wives came along too ... it was a wonderful outing which I enjoyed SO very much.  We ate our picnic on a huge marble table overlooking the Italian Renaissance Garden

we all enjoyed a lovely shared picnic lunch, homemade club sandwiches, muffins & fresh fruit

I think of all the different sections in the Italian Garden, this particular area was my absolute favourite ... I just loved the combination of blue delphiniums & the lacey red yarrow . . .

. . . & must admit that I have now become quite fixated on planting some red yarrow :-)

If you walk through the large Italian Building behind the fountain you come out onto a balcony that overlooks the Waikato River

we posed for a couple of quick family snaps   :-)

Three Generations

My beautiful daughters-in-law Nicole & Sarah, my Mum, & yours truely

We briefly walked around a couple of the other gardens ... the Chinese garden & the formal English garden but Mum was too weary to do a great deal of walking ... there are many more award winning gardens to see here, it is well worth a visit & completely free to enter

Apologies for all the garden photos but my camera honestly does not do it justice, it is simply beautiful.


Before I close I wanted to share a couple of pics ... one is a handmade christmas gift, a surprise in the post from a dear friend who lives far away  . . .

His name is Cedric & I just adore him   :-)  
   And even though the christmas dec's are packed away, this fellow will be staying out to be enjoyed for a bit longer  

New (replica) vintage scales, a christmas gift from The Mr ...
 all chipped & dinged in the appropriate places to look "antique"


Finally this pic taken on christmas eve, just prior to heading off to bed

dear little Jinxy, sound asleep under the twinkling lights. I said to The Mr that I hoped she was dreaming of how lucky she is to live with us here & what a wonderful life she has . . .  but he reassured me she was far more likely dreaming of Santa, what he would bring her, & hopefully he would take Blackie with him  !!!!!

Have a wonderful week dear friends, thanks SO much for your welcome visits

with much love & friendship to you all
Julie x0x0x

Like a busy little elf . . .

Christmas Greetings dear friends & readers - and a Happy Friday to you all 
(or Happy Thursday in some countries)

Source : Pinterest

I have been a busy little elf these past few days but just today have finally wrapped the last of my families gifts 

At 85 years old my Mum no longer wants or needs any more "stuff" so I find her incredibly difficult to buy for ... 

I try to make handmade gifts for her that are special

Over 5 years Quite some time ago now I bought this kit while on holiday in Australia

It is a Lynette Anderson design - Mum was with me & she loved it so I planned to stitch it for her

I finally finished it this week (good things take time you know) so I used Jennys' wonderful tutorial to frame it myself

Whenever I read Jenny's tutorials on her blog elephantz I often tuck them away in the corners of my mind to refer back to "one day"

Jenny's tutorials (& her blog itself) are just wonderful & so easy to follow ... I have never had the confidence to actually frame a stitchery myself & would often pay large amounts of money for the framer to do it for me

I just used a simple wooden frame bought on special at The Warehouse ... 
I was really pleased with how it turned out

Once I had gift wrapped the parcel I sat that evening & stitched one of the "wish tags" designed by Tracey North from I LUV COUNTRY
(just thin cardboard sandwiched between 2 layers of felt)

which just seemed to set Mums parcel off beautifully I thought
-  Merry Christmas to my dear Mum  -

My friends & I don't really exchange gifts as such at Christmas time, we all have quite large families to give to  ... 
but instead I like to do little baking gifts for my local friends

Every year I make my gingernut bites & package up ... you can read the recipe at the bottom of this old post

Also this year I made some apricot fudge fingers ... really simple to make ... I have popped the recipe at the end of this post today

I find the decorative paper cups available from the $2 shop are a perfect size to present my baking in

Also I have been dehydrating some apple slices ... I got this vague idea in my head to make a dried apple wreath

You have to soak them well in citric acid before drying them to prevent them from turning brown

Now that I am halfway through this process, I must confess I am not sure about the apple wreath ... ???
I shall keep you posted on that one !!!

Every year I like to buy a new decoration, not necessarily for the tree ... just to dot about somewhere & enjoy
This year I came across this felted reindeer & just loved her so much
(yes she is a HER, she is wearing a dress!!!)

Her little satchel was empty but I popped some berries & greenery in it to make her more christmassy

\She looks most at home sitting on my egg container along with last years christmas purchase

Sometimes the busy-ness of the season can be quite overwhelming & you find yourself thinking "I can't wait til it's all over"
Yesterday I read a blog that said at this time of year "queues are long, wallets are empty & tempers are frayed"!!!
How true I thought . . .

Even Little Miss Jinxy was feeling it this past week, bless her !!!

My Mum arrives by bus this weekend so I may not have time to pop back again before Christmas
I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you that stop by to read my ramblings
I very much appreciate that you take the time in your busy days to do this
May I wish you all a bright & happy festive season & hope that it brings good things to all of you & to your families 

Don't forget to be a bit kinder to yourself  & take some time to just rest a little along the way

I am unable to spread the presents right around the tree as I need to allow a space for Missy to rest her weary self!!!

with much love & friendship & blessings to you all
Julie & little Miss Jinxy & Blackie
x0x0x0

Apricot Fudge Fingers:

125gm (4 ozs) butter
90 gm (3 ozs) brown sugar
1/2 tin sweetened condensed milk
1 pkt crushed wine biscuits
1 cup chopped up dried apricots

Melt butter, brown sugar & condensed milk in pot.
Add apricots & crushed biscuits, stir well,  Press into a greased tin & sprinkle top with coconut.  
Set in fridge & cut into fingers.

Much Skipping & Rejoicing . . .

Hello & Happy Weekend to you dear friends & readers

There has been much skipping & rejoicing going on at my threadbear life this week . . .

& the reason for this IS . . . I have finished my orders for the year!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!
I completed the last 2 hottie covers that were ordered for christmas gifts by my lovely friend Shirley

Shirley's grandaughter is into hearts, pinks & blues, & "pretty things" ... so the cover on the left was perfect for her.
Shirley's young grandson is very much into trains & engines ... so once again faithful "Mr Google" helped me find a good basic train shape that I could applique on

I lined this one with some lovely blue flannelette fabric I had that was so soft, warm & cosy.

And finally, a repeat customer had ordered some more of the felt mice in stockings  ... 
I had previously made 8 for the Cottage but they had all been snapped up fairly quickly this christmas

These are fun to sit & do in the evenings & don't require too much concentration or effort.

My friend Carolyn's daughter Rose, is getting married next month in the far north 
Though I have been invited to the wedding - but am unable to attend - I offered to make a horseshoe for Rose

I have become partial to these plain white boxes you can buy from Warehouse Stationery ... they are the perfect size to hold the horseshoe in, & look lovely with a little decoration on . . .

The horseshoe (along with 12 cups of my dried lavender to toss) will be my gift to Rose

Since my orders were complete, I decided to do a little christmas decorating in the house
OF COURSE ... I was under supervision to ensure I got it right . . .

Little Jinxy is growing up fast ... she has bought so much joy into our lives ...hard to believe she was a wild, feral kitten

Treasured gifts from friends from past christmas's

Last week, walking past the Sallies Op Shop in town, this basket outside was "waving & calling to me"
(you know how things have a habit of doing that don't you???!!!)

It was in a large box with my favourite words on it . . . "bargain bin" ... so it came home with me  (of course!!!)
After a scrub & a good dry in the sunshine, I lined the base with heavy cardboard, wadding & some vintage Sanderson fabric

It came up beautifully & I thought might make a great work basket to keep by your chair with your handwork in

Whilst attempting to tidy my sewing room somewhat, I came across this stitchery I had done earlier in the year ... 
so quickly made it up into a Santa bag

I told myself that this is really the only time of year I am going to sell a Santa bag!!!

The discolouration on the calico is from me dying it with parisian essence ... I really like this mottled aged effect

This is an old Country Friends pattern by Wendy Brigg ... I usually make one each christmas, either as a gift or as stock for the Cottage.

I have been having a real "love affair" with poppies this spring ... I toss seeds endlessly into my garden & in one particular area this year, I have had such a variety & assortment come up.
I took these photos to share with you ... all in one garden in close proximity to each other

A beautiful array of colours ... a shame they are over so quickly.

Well dear friends, with my last group due tomorrow, there is tidying to be done outside
I wish you all a wonderful week ahead & that you find some skipping & rejoicing of your own to do, even for the tiniest little reason,
thanks so much for your visits today
with much love & friendship,
Julie x0x0