A " L O V E " Swap For Valentines Day 💗

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Some of you may remember the TILDA swap my lovely friend Claire & I did early last year.  You can read about it in * this post * & also in * this post *

We both got so much pleasure from the swap that Claire suggested we do another one this year ... a LOVE Swap aimed for Valentine's Day.  The objective is that you make things that begin with the letters L O V E. Our swaps are always very flexible with no rules as such, which is what I enjoy (no pressure) 😉

" L is for Lovely Little Lavender hearts " 

I began working on this last year & for some reason, I cannot find any of my photos ... but I took a silver thrifted tray & painted it with Pumice Chalk Paint.  Then I delved into my treasured vintage Tilda fabrics & made 6 hearts which I filled with my homegrown lavender.

The "Good Friends" stitchery panel was purchased from * Here * & is a Natalie Bird Design.  After sewing into a tiny pillow I stuffed it tightly with crushed walnut shells.  The ceramic Home Sweet Home plaque was purchased from a local Gift Store.

" L is (also) for Lovely Large Lace Heart with Pocket "

This  comes from an idea I saw on Pinterest.  I stitched a large heart & stuffed it tightly, then I added a doiley pocket & embellished my heart with vintage laces, braids, mother-of-pearl buttons & a broken earing from my oddments of old jewellery. 

I filled my pocket with a soap, some dried lavender sprigs, rolled up music paper & a tea-dyed tag.

" O is for Overalls "

This is made using a free pattern * here * scroll half way down the page on the Tilda Website.  However the overalls are actually for the Tilda Cow but I decided to didn't want to make Claire a Cow  -   I much preferred the Cat which is also free * here * 

 I sewed the Overalls using fabrics from the Old Rose Tilda range.

I stitched a tiny wooden Theodora Cleave Cat Button button to the bodice of my Overalls  .  .  .  .  

I also used matching Tilda buttons on the overalls straps

.  .  .  .  & then stitched this sweet ceramic heart to its hands  paws🐾 

" V is for Vintage Vase with Candle & (also) for Verse "

I had this wonderful heavy Vintage Crystal Vase in my collection so I made up a soy candle in it,  in the fragrance French Pear.  

This Verse is a free stitchery download from the beautiful blog Nana Company * here * ... this is the 2nd time I have stitched this up & framed using a thrifted embroidery hoop.

" E is for English Paper Piecing "

The Tools drawstring bag was part of my Tilda Lover's Club Mystery Box from Fee Fee & Me ... it came as a kitset in the box.  I purchased some "sewing tools" to pop inside the bag.

The hexagon placemat is a pattern from * Here * which I purchased last year as a digital download.  I made it up using some of my treasured Tilda Windy Days fabrics. 

I sewed some of the pretty bias edging on the back of the placemat & then added in a box of tea & a vintage china cup/saucer from my own collection as I thought the colours all went so well together.  Claire informs me she will Not Ever be putting cups of tea on the mat 😉

To package everything I wrapped all my items in pink tissue paper & then dove into my stash of brown paper bags  ... I decided to tizzy them up a bit as I found a piece of scrapbooking cardstock with lovely Valentines images on it.  

💗 L O V E 💗

Whenever I want nicely shaped applique letters I always go to this free site.  I cut mine out from cardstock then tied onto the bags with a length of stiff white tulle that I already had.  I really enjoy packaging & presenting things invitingly. 

On my recent trip to Mums I was able to catch up with my lovely friend & give her my swap gifts.  Although she had not finished mine at the time of my visit I still wanted her to open hers that day so I could enjoy sharing everything with her.    It was such a pleasant couple of hours drinking tea, eating slice & enjoying each others company.  Here are all her gifts opened & sitting on her window seat above .  .  .  .  

.  .  .  .  and here is my lovely friend sitting with all her new treasures.

I am due to go back to Mums early April so I look forward to catching up with Claire again & opening all my swap gifts from her.  I will be sure to share them all with you.

Thank You all So much if you've stayed all the way to the end.

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

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Sometimes Blog Posts Just Won't Come ..............................

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I have had these photos loaded for a few days now but have not been able to find blogging words to write down ... today is my 3rd attempt.

I had to drop everything & drive down to my Mums again (3rd time this year) after she popped a Ligament in her knee.  I would like to say she is doing much better now but I can only say I think this is going to be a long slow process.  I also had Mum assessed for Resthome Care & she now has help coming in for five mornings a week - much to her disgust & annoyance. 😉

 For years I called Mt Taranaki a "she" but have been told it is a "he".  He was not wearing his usual white coat but was equally as spectacular looking & never fails to take my breath away when I come round a bend.  Quite by accident I found this cute little cafe in Inglewood called Lure Cafe.  I am so pleased I stopped my journey for a coffee & a caramel slice as it was just delightful. 

I was so busy photographing all the eclectic things inside I forgot to get an outside pic so this one is borrowed off their Facebook Page

Jellie the Pig in a paddock outside & a friendly Goat also.

Delightful spaces to sit both inside & out.

A gorgeous array of eclectic vintage treasures to be found in different rooms inside the Cafe.

Along with my coffee & slice I made a purchase ... here is what I bought below ..........

He (She ??) caught my eye & I could Not resist bringing him home with me.  The girl behind the Counter told me it was her own work which made it even more special to me.  I love to create but I also love to support fellow crafters by buying their work.

And Yes dear friends, before you ask ... I did find some treasures at the op-shop 😊 I love the Hospice Shop in Stratford - its clean & well laid out & very reasonable prices.  

This unusual metal urn was from the Hospice Shop in Hawera - $5 ... I plan to do something with it but just not quite sure what as yet.

This book/letter rack was a $2.50 purchase back in * this post * at Christmas time - once again from the Stratford Hospice Shop.  

My friend Sally had gifted me these 2 beautiful books, one for my Birthday, one for Christmas.  I decided to revamp the book rack to display my books in so I gave it two coats of Chalk paint, Pale Duck Egg.  I had to sand the folk art flowers off the front first as their outline kept appearing through my paint.

Some offcuts of Re-design transfers in keeping with the bee/butterfly theme, just completed the rack & the books look perfect sitting in it on display. 

I wondered why the tiny succulent cuttings I had planted in this old watering ram in my garden were not doing especially well. 

I think they have been somewhat flattened by a certain four-legged creature who weighs a tonne !!

Sid is currently obsessed with all things Pokemon related.  Last week I looked up the names he told me on good-old-google & we found images & printed them off ... he spent happy hours cutting them all out & I learnt new names I had never even heard of !!! 😉

Thank You So Very Much for stopping by today dear friends,

I shall be back in a couple of days with a follow-up post,

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,

With much love & friendship to you All,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

Hearts 💗, Coffee Table Vignettes ...... & Disobedient Cats 🐱

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Some of you may remember the Tilda Swap I did with my friend Claire in * this post * early last year.  We both enjoyed it so much & we chatted about doing another Swap together.  Claire decided we should do a LOVE Swap for Valentine's Day this year.  I took my swap gifts down on my recent trip to Mum's but I can't post about what I made yet as they are still un-opened.  

Whilst browsing Pinterest for ideas this stunning but simple picture kept popping up on my feed.  I LoVed it so much 💗

Source : Pinterest

Just prior to my trip to Mums I decided to do a new vignette on my lounge coffee table. I like to change this out with the seasons but had done nothing on it since clearing away my Christmas decor.  I decided to try & recreate the heart/basket picture.

 

I knew I had this old chicken wire basket in my sleepout so I dug it out & gave it a wash.  These quilted pillow shams were an Op-shop purchase that I had initially planned to cut up but were in such perfect condition I didn't have the heart to.  I folded & stacked them in my wire basket.

Using some oddments of fabrics & vintage laces I sewed & stuffed two hearts & added some mother-of-pearl button embellishments.  I really loved the effect of these sitting in the wire basket.

My friend Joyce had gifted me this heavy cotton lace tablecloth for Christmas - Joyce works in the Church Op-shop so no doubt came across it in there. I loved it & once again, it was immaculate.  I arranged a vignette on my table just using up bits from around my Home & some thrifted finds ... candles, old books, vintage china - all my faves.

Another thing I like to collect is Vintage Bibles, Prayer & Hymn Books  ... seen above on my book rack.  I mostly come across these in second hand bookstores & even have one written in Croatian.

I felt so happy when my coffee table vignette was finished & the wire basket just set it off nicely - & I felt pleased that I had used treasures from around my Home.    I sit beside this coffee table each night on the couch, & do my knitting or my stitchery work & watch TV. 

You know dear readers - I had thought that by covering the vintage lace tablecloth with Lots of display items there would Not be room for any furry four-legged creatures to park their ample proportions on !!! 

It would appear I was Wrong !!!!  Here is Madam Pip the other night watching the lovely Sherry Iris's Stitchy Podcast on YouTube  ......   & as if that wasn't enough, The Mr sent me this photo below while I was down at Mum's to tell me "everything is under control here"  !!! 😖

Seriously dear friends ... goodness knows how I managed to raise two sons into quite decent adults when I can't even get two cats to do as I want them to  !!! 😟

I used the dried Rose Petals in my Potpourri's

We are getting good light rain as I type this & I am so thankful.  This morning I picked all the roses that were about to drop their petals as this is a good time for drying them.  I spread them on cane trays in my Sleepout to dry.

I also picked a bunch of mixed dahlias to enjoy inside.

The Mr has gone to Auckland today on farm business so I made a banana cake this morning as I had banana's going brown.  I only ever ice half the cake as The Mr doesn't like icing & always picks it off.

And I cooked myself my Most Favorite Lunch Ever - poached eggs fresh from the neighbors chooks, on toast with cherry tomatoes & basil straight from my garden.  

I saw this funny on Instagram & thought it was perfect ... I am off to clean up the Craftermath that is currently in my Sewing Room !!!

Thanks so very much for your visits here today dear friends,

With Much love & friendship to You All,

Julie & the naughty furry Ones x0x0x

Away (Again) ............... & Back Again

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I see I have some new followers to my blog ...... A Very Warm Welcome to you All !!

 I have had to do another trip down to my Mum's this past week so I have missed catching up on your posts. But before I went away to Mum's Alec asked if he could come & stay again before the school year resumes.

I took both my grandsons, Alec & Sid to The Space Centre which is just up the road from me & although I have driven past it a thousand times, I'd never been inside.  The boys loved it - especially Alec who is a bit older & very in to astronautical things.

Alec wanted to craft again so out came all the sparkly bits & bobs from my craft drawers.  He wanted to make 

A Christmas Tree this time so I cut a shape out from felt & he was happy just to work out his placement & glue things on ... no sewing required 😉

(I also have lots of apple cucumbers which I forgot to include in the photograph)

I have an abundance of courgettes, cucumbers & green peppers in my veggie garden at present so I picked alot to take to Mums & give to other friends also. 

As I planned to call on my dear friend Carolyn en-route, I baked a Chocolate Fudge slice & a batch of Gingernut Bites - gave half to her & took the other half to Mum's.

Remember the old aluminium pots I revamped in my last Post ... well here is the smaller one which I wanted to gift to my friend Carolyn.  She loves Yellow so I painted it the same Pumice Chalk Paint as the larger one & then added a Sunflower 🌻 Iron Orchid Transfer to it.

I purchased a lovely sunny looking Calla lily that sat perfectly in the pot. I've left it up to Carolyn whether she plants it or uses the pot for something else.

My brother had organised for Mums kitchen, dining & lounge ceilings to be plastered & painted while I was down there.  "You can take Mum out while the tradesmen are here" he told me. 

 I thought this would be simple enough but what I hadn't  envisioned was that I would be the one to empty the rooms, take Mum out, & then put everything back again once finished, whilst also cleaning Every Single Thing.   I felt like I had run a marathon when I finally got home again.

On the 2nd day we had 4 hours to fill in so I took Mum up to the Garden of Remembrance at the Crematorium where my Dad's ashes are buried.  We took silk flowers & managed to find the plaque we had put there several years ago along with other silk flowers from previous visits.  Mum always feels better when she has visited Dad she says.

On the way back I stopped in 2 Op-Shops in Stratford.  I found the treasures above at the Salvation Army Op-Shop.  The silk framed pictures were dirty & covered in fly spots but I was able to gentle wash them & dry in the sunshine.  At $2 for the pair I could not leave them behind ... Yes one is very faded but I still love it & have hung them on my bedroom wall.

At the Hospice I found the two trays above right - $6 & $4 respectively.  I hope to paint/revamp them both.  

My daughter in law's Mum Julie, is turning 60 & I wanted to make her something to gift.  I stitched another of the Books & Roses bookmarks that Jenny of elefantz designs is so generously sharing with us this year.

As I don't really know Julie's colors I made this one to match the book that I had purchased for her in the Boxing Day sales. 

Stitchery worked in Cottage Garden Threads "Running Postman"

I used a scrap of Tilda floral from the Old Rose Collection & then I added a soft blue velvet ribbon to the top as I had no tassels left in my stash.

Jenny has released a new bookmark pattern while I was away ...  go * Here * to access it - it is beautiful & is 

next-on-my-list-to-stitch 😉😊

Thank You all so very much for your visits here today,

I hope the week ahead is filled with many happy moments dear friends,

Remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x