Happy New Year Everyone

💙 Happy Bright Shiny New Year Everyone 💙

A bright shiny new decade - Two Thousand & Twenty - 2020

I like the sound of it - a nice big rounded out & sturdy number.

Mum has been delivered home again & the decorations have been packed away for another year 

This candle called Christmas Time has the most beautiful fragrance & I am still enjoying burning it each night

We had a busy but wonderful Christmas Day spent with the ones I love & care about 
The day was full on from start to finish & I did not manage to get out of my work dress all day long 
(no one noticed I might add!!)

My grandsons are growing up so fast with the eldest one Alec, due to start school this coming year & 
Sid will be turning 3 !!

I loved this photo taken of Mum sitting on her walker on my deck area - a shame about the Red Bull drinks chiller
 in the background! 😉

I hope no-one is offended by showing this but this is the card I bought The Mr this year.
I could not resist it & must confess I laughed outrageously when I read it in my local Book Store & somewhat drew attention to myself 😆

The inside reads "Wishing you a roasty toasty Christmas"

The main reason is because this is exactly how Blackie sits & gets the very same (sour) expression on his face !

I was very spoilt this year in the book department & have already made a start on the Elton John biography 
which I am loving 💗

These sweet little flock deer were purchased to gift to a friend but unfortunately, they did not manage to leave 
my house.
I just fell in love with them & could not part with them, hence another gift was found for my friend 😉

My only other treat to myself  this Christmas was this mug - I really loved the shape of it & thought the title 
was rather apt 😸

My daughter in laws birthday is always just a few days after Christmas - I had purchased a voucher for her but also wanted to hand make something to go along with it 
These cotton washcloths & scrubby cloths just fitted the bill perfectly as they are simple to do at nights when my eyes are tired, as well as using up scraps of my knitting cotton.

I have really struggled to grow sweet peas this year but have persevered with copious quantities of worm tea & constant watering.
I picked my first vase full this morning & the fragrance in my kitchen is so wonderful & makes me happy I kept trying.

After my return from Mums these two have hardly left my side - this is them right beside me on the couch each night.


I have been having a self imposed break from Instagram & all things social media - I did not like how I seemed to be constantly checking my phone screen.
I think it's good for us to take a break when we feel like this & perhaps re-assess our attitudes to these things.
My blog is something I still really enjoy & the interacting with like-minded folk in the great world of cyberspace.
 I love my little niche in this diverse creative community out here.
So sorry folks - you are stuck with me for the meantime 😉

Wishing you a wonderful Weekend dear friends,
Take care of yourselves & of each other,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

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