Tree Fall

Getting there..

I am so desperate to show you the gifts that I've been working on, but the spoil sports in my family who insist on supporting my work by reading my blog, are making it impossible to post about any of them.
There are a couple of new things that I'm pretty excited about and that will definitely be in the shop after the holiday season as well as some very old favourites, including some sock puppies that are almost painfully cute.
I have also been working on expanding Holly's wardrobe even further and finished a new dress for her last night. It's getting a little addictive and I'm beginning to lose sight of just who I'm doing this for.. there is a slight possibility that I'm over compensating for the fact that my daughter won't let me chose her clothes.
Today I finished Bella's new, bigger, much improved stocking. Like Amanda, I made Bella a temporary stocking for her first Christmas, fully intending to replace it straight away and have only now gotten around to it. But at least it's now done, and with a whole week to spare.
Unfortunately, the light is grey, grey, grey at the moment and I can't get pics of any of these things. Hopefully tomorrow though. Fingers crossed.

28 weeks

Christmas shopping at 7 months pregnant isn't nearly as much fun as you would think it would be...

Today

Started with eating the jam meant for her toast, with a spoon. Until there was no. more. left....

A quick painting with her new water colours...

Preparing the leek and potato soup and roast chicken for when Nana and Grandpa arrive for lunch...

And hanging the last of the decorations...

(yes they are both climbing on the step ladder!)

The rest of the day was taken up with eating lunch, opening a few early presents and wanting to nap (me), needing to nap (Bella) and having a nap (Grandpa).
The main thing we did this weekend though, was realise that Christmas day itself may prove to be a little overwhelming for our teenager almost 3 year old and that we need to start preparing ourselves for the overly tired, too much excitement induced tantrums now. Ho hum...

Check!

Last night I did something that I'm so pleased with that I'm just going to have to blow my own trumpet, toot my own horn and bang my own drum. Just a little. If you don't mind.
Because not only have I achieved something that I set out to do, but I also conquered a fear at the same time.
You see, last night I took a real, live dress pattern and made a piece of clothing out of it.
Yup, I made an article of clothing, from a pattern. And not just any old piece of clothing. But a fully lined, (fake) fur trimmed, 100 % woolen, winter coat. From a real, bought pattern, for the first time ever.
Which is something that I've been downright scared of trying. Because patterns to me are like math, they just do not make sense. Until now. Because I did it. I conquered the fear and slowly but surely worked my way through the instructions, and made a coat.

I used a super soft, pink plaid wool for the main piece and lined it with a matching pink cotton, so that the coat isn't too heavy.

For the collar I used a piece of pink, fake pony fur, which has a nice swirlyness (it's a word) to it. And used the same for the cuffs.

It's brighter than I would usually like, but you know, since it's not actually for me, I guess that doesn't matter. Holly seems to be really happy with it though.

Ok, it may not be clothing for an actual  human being, but believe me, it's a really good start.
I used the pattern from this book  (a full size pattern is included) and followed general sewing instructions from this book  when the other book confused me (seriously, I'm lousy at following patterns).
Instead of cutting up the original pattern, I started by tracing it on to new pattern paper, just in case it all went horribly wrong and then carefully, carefully followed the (albeit very straight forward)  written instructions.

The great thing about this pattern was that it didn't cut any corners just because it's for a dolls coat. So everything, including the collar and the cuffs are fully lined and the seams are all finished properly. Which gave me some great experience at making real clothes, but in a much less scary context.

Of course, I would never chose those fabrics for myself but since it's for Bella's doll I really didn't have a choice. It needed to be pink. And fluffy. And bright.
Next up is a pair of pyjama's and possibly a new dress. All of which will be wrapped up and put under the tree for Bella/ Holly to open on the big day.
And the great thing is that after making the coat last night, I went back through my  Ottobre  magazines, and found them a lot less intimidating. Don't get me wrong, we're hardly looking at a career in  dressmaking here, but like I said,  it's a good start.
And hey, Holly can finally stop freezing her ass off when we all go out now.

Oops, I forgot to say that I still have to sew the buttons on - I haven't found just the right ones yet.

Part Deux

I made a few more of these last night, using variations on red, white and green this time, and discovered that once you get going, they're much quicker and easier than I was giving them credit for.
And although I didn't get around to the huge rag wreath that I was planning, I did manage to finish off the second winter house.
Tonight I am planning on writing Christmas cards and settling on a plan for my day in the studio tomorrow.
Although, you know, that rag wreath is calling my name again...

I really haven't bought many decorations this year but I couldn't resist this simple felt garland when I spotted it in Ikea. And of course it goes perfectly with the tree that I bought from there last year.

Christmas Crafting

First piece of Christmas crafting down.
I've had this idea buzzing around for a few weeks, and then of course saw a similar one in this months issue of this magazine  and I'm sure many other places too - so much for originality!
But it was the perfect thing to do, sitting in front of the tv last night.

I just threaded some blue, red and white wool felt on to a long piece of florists wire along with various red buttons. Then twisted the ends together and added a piece of ribbon, to hide the fact that it's stuck on with blue tack!
I want to make a large version, but I'm such a tight wad when it comes to using up my precious wool felt and even these small ones use far more than you would think. Of course the great thing is that you can use all those tiny bits that you just won't throw away and finally feel completely justified in keeping them. Bonus.
I also found that the easiest way to thread the felt was to poke a small hole through it first with a needle - but if you use craft felt instead of wool felt, I don't think you'd need to.
After making this one I thought I'd have a go at something that might be a little quicker and made a small rag wreath too.

This one was made  by simply tying strips of fabric to the florists wire and adding a few squares of wool felt every few pieces to give it a bit of depth and pad it out.
I'm not quite as happy with the rag wreath, but I do love the fact that  it again uses the scraps that you can't throw away. It's also a really quick project. Both of which means that I'm definitely going to make a much bigger version. Possibly even tonight. Because I don't have work to do.

Of course I've still got these little houses to finish (I bought them as paper mache blanks) and a wintery scene to create, so maybe I'll do that instead. Oh the pressure.

Buffet!

Did you hear that? That huge "Whooop" of delight? That was me, erasing the final order from my chalkboard this afternoon. Yup, all orders are done and shipped. Done, done, done and dusted.
I won't be adding anything new to the shop until the New Year now. I'm not going to actually close it, but there won't be anything else in there for at least four weeks.
However, come the new year, I'm really hoping to have lots of new stock as well as a restocking of some old favourites. My big plan (hah!) is to fill the shop before M-P2 arrives, so that I can then take a little bit of time off for maternity leave. Well... it's a plan..

So, it's time finally, to get on with the gift making, decoration making, card writing, cookie cooking and general merry making.
Yay!

And another Yay! For my new Buffet.

This was a big splurge for me, but I'm counting it as my main Christmas present, so I don't need to feel quite so guilty!
It really has made the kitchen though. It looks absolutely lovely, and was worth every single penny. Seriously, we are in love with it. Even Bella, who really enjoys going to in to it to get her plates and tea sets out.

Bella and I had a lot of fun deciding this morning which of the decorations and plates etc were going to be out on show (Bella's input was all of her mini plates scattered across the shelves willy nilly). There's still a bit more to add and some stockings to be hung and the houses to be finished, but we think it's looking pretty good.
And I'm loving just how much this thing holds. Fantastic.

Christmas Idees

Marie Claire Idees. Christmas issue. What more could you ask for?
I could try telling you how beautiful this issue is. Or I could just try showing you..

The best cardboard play house ever!

This doggy is definitely getting made.

And I didn't even get as far as photographing the good stuff!
I'm telling you here and now, there's some good stuff in this issue.
Unfortunately I'm also telling you that I don't know how to get hold of a copy. My very kind mother has bought me a subscription and her very, very kind friend who lives in Switzerland posts it to me.
I know, I'm a lucky ducky!

It's Christmas Time...

It's here. Finally!

Well, in the front room at least.
I've still got the kitchen to decorate, but we're getting there.
Bella was very happy to come downstairs this morning to find that Christmas had finally arrived and that there were a multitude of new, small, breakable, "toys" for her to play with.
Actually, that's unfair - she's really good at not touching stuff if we tell her not to. But there's only so much temptation that even she can handle and a few of the tree decorations mysteriously disappeared.

We've had a quiet weekend. We had an important and much looked forward to, family event that we were supposed to go to today, but it meant driving for 2 hours each way and Jim just wasn't up to that, so unfortunately we had to cancel.
We did manage a trip to the library though, and I was able to fit in a few hours of work, but all in all a very quiet time was had by all.

Gratitude

Thank you for all the words of support for Jim at the moment. I have to say that the Bells Palsy has kind of knocked us a little. But that in general we really are aware that whilst this year has had it's fair share of challenging moments, we've also been very lucky. There are millions of people out there really suffering and it's never a bad thing for us to remember that. But again, thank you!
I think the main theme around here is tiredness. Even Bella is extra tired at the moment and has been letting us know in no uncertain terms that Jim and I have to learn how to deal with stress and tiredness in a more positive way. But hopefully the Christmas season will sweep us along and we will once again forget the worries of the last week. And goodness knows, we need to get ourselves in to shape as quickly as possible, because whether we're ready or not, there's going to be a lot more excitement and tiredness and joy around here pretty soon!
Anyway, I am dangerously close to finishing all my wholesale orders and am really, absolutely planning to start in on the fun sewing next week. All those piles are still there. Waiting. Thank goodness.

The bowls were a bargain buy yesterday. They cost £1.50 each and look beautiful on the new Buffet.