Puggle jumper is finished.

Phew....I finally finished the little Pug jumper I was making for my friends Pug puppy. The jumper is knitted and I added crocheted teeny tiny flowers round the neckline from Lucy at Attic24 . I've just kind of made this up as I went along based on a really simple pattern I found on Ravelry.

Can you see how it fits? This is the side view so her head comes out at the end where the flowers are, the short bit is the front, you can see the gaps where her legs go, and the longer bit goes down her back.

The picture below is the back.......

This picture is the front...... 

And here it is, all ready to be delivered to the gorgeous Tilly Puggles.



I'll try and post a picture of her wearing it if possible, although it's really hot here and I wouldn't want her to boil over in a jumper on the hottest days we've had this year!!!

Been soooo ill.... :-(

I've been suffering since last Sunday with a viral throat infection-oh my, have I felt sorry for myself! I've not been in work, I couldn't eat anything, I've been aching, hot and cold, totally miserable and full of self pity. My lovely Geordie has been looking after me, cooking me soft food and bringing me presents. I've been sitting in bed, watching TV and crocheting away on my Vintage Stripe Blanket

As you can see I've still got a fair way to go, but it is about 4 foot wide so I'm quite proud of how much I've done in a week. I think this blanket is going to be kept on the back of the sofa to add colour and for snuggling.

Anyway yesterday I started to feel a bit of the 'old' me coming back. The sun was shining, my throat was feeling better and I had an urge.......

........an urge......

........to go shopping.

Woohoo, I'm on the road to recovery. It's a week before payday though so my shopping was restricted to cheap shops and charity shops. Here's what I got.....

Total spend? £4.99. The canisters were £2.99 from B&M Bargains, the 3 tea towels £1.49 and the Royal Worcester Evesham porcelain Olive dish, 50p from the charity shop. I think the lady in the charity shop didn't want to let me have it! She kept saying I had a bargain and was a bit reluctant to hand it over. 

 Then I noticed I had a text from Miss M, my lovely antique lady friend. She had come by a little cupboard she thought I might be interested in. I drove to hers, loaded it into Tulip, and here it is....

I went straight to B&Q and bought sandpaper, and a lovely tin of duck egg blue paint. It isn't a priceless antique, it's a very shaky, very scratched cupboard and it was going on a skip if I didn't take it so I don't feel guilty painting it. Also my house does not suit dark furniture, so it's getting painted.

When I got home, Geordie had just finished putting a clutch in someone's car so he came home to join me for lunch in the garden.....

I then spent the rest of the day sanding and cleaning the aforementioned cupboard and when the sun went down I got another urge......

.....an urge....

......to make an Attic24 Birdie

Sooooo cute! I put a couple of drops of patchouli oil on the stuffing too so it's scented as well as being sweet. I think I might hang it in my car actually and make some more for the house. I might make some in yellow for my nephew and niece for Easter too maybe with some mini eggs........

I think I'm going to be busy. :-) xx

Mothers Day Pressie.

Once again I have copied been inspired by Lucy on Attic 24 to make this brooch. I have loved it since I first saw it and decided to make one for my Mum for Mothers Day. She has a lovely purple coat so I decided to make orange, pink and turquoise flowers to set it off. My Mum was a hippy in the 60's and loves her bright colours....here is the end result:-

Like Lucy's I sewed a brooch pin on the back.....

  

and then of course I had to try it out.....

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and it was so quick and simple. I might have to make one for myself now.

I also finally got around to delivering the mini-scarflette and mittens to my nine year old niece. I had some of the little flowers I'd made when practising the flower brooch and of course we decided they looked really cute sewn on to the mittens and scarf.....

 

I had a lovely day in town today shopping with my friend Ms V. We of course started off in Cath Kidston where we were looking at all the beautiful fabrics and planning bunting for a baby shower she is crafting for. We saw some gorgeous Orla Kiely stuff which I love (but is way out of my price range) and then on to Monsoon where I bought this top with a £25 voucher I had been given. The top was £26 and it felt fab to be having it all wrapped in tissue and put in a lovely bag and just handing over £1. Tee hee!

The day was rounded off with Primark where we saw some gorgeous tea towels for £1.20 each. I bought these two.....

and I think I might make bunting out of these, or a cushion cover, or an apron, I haven't decided yet. I also got these sweet little 'footsies' for wearing in my ballet shoes-£1.50 for 2 pairs-a bargain!

No antiques or vintage finds yet this weekend but there's still tomorrow! :-)

xx



Lovely Geordie!!

My lovely Geordie bought me this...

I have been looking at this book and wanting it for ages! I kept picking it up in the shop and looking through the lovely pages and then putting it back because it was £20. Geordie came in tonight and gave it to me!! Oh it's soooo lovely (and so is he!)

 Look at the lovely hair...

 How to make lovely hats....

 and lovely aprons....

It's just a book of total loveliness.

Thank you Geordie. XX

Antiquing in Hebden Bridge.

On Friday I had a lovely day out with my friend Miss M who has just started a little business in antiques. She has been collecting for years and is great at hunting out fab bargains. We drove to Todmorden first and went to Picture House Antiques where I got this.....

It's from the 1950's from Egersund, Norway and yes it should have a lid but I'm always attracted to things that might get rejected for not being perfect. I fell in love with it and my friend got me some money off (I'm too shy to ask for their best price!!)-it only cost me £4. I was overjoyed and it's going to go on my new kitchen shelf when it gets put up. They had a whole corner in the shop full of casserole dishes, coffee pots, tea sets etc etc. I also saw a snail dish! Never seen one of those before and hopefully I'll never see one again-lol.

We then drove on to Hebden Bridge a place I love and have been coming to for years. We went in some lovely vintage clothes shops and craft shops and were really spoilt for choice. I was on a very tight budget but I'll definitely go back on payday! Anyway Miss M got some lovely things to sell on, a lovely TG Green mixing bowl (that I hankered after,) a 'boudoir' sign and a vintage soap dish. I found this for my Dad's fittingroom....

My Dad is a bespoke tailor who has a lovely fitting room for his customers, which is decorated with lovely vintage things. I've bought him Victorian tailors bills, old copy's of Tailor and Cutter, an Art Deco tie press, all manner of 'tailor' related ephemera which he displays proudly. This was £2, I was going to save it towards his birthday present in July but I usually get too excited when I find something for someone that I'll probably just end up giving it to him next time I see him. 

I also got these for myself.

They are so cute I couldn't resist and only £2.

Then we went for lovely coffee and cake which Miss M treated me too in return for me doing the driving in the lovely Tulip. I still haven't finished the Tulip Car Blanket yet, but I did manage to squeeze this in...

Inspired by Lucy at Attic 24, I made this to take to work tomorrow to cheer me up while I'm chained to my desk for 8 hours.

My last weekend bargain was these.....

I really needed new wellies as it will soon be time for Classic Car shows /Country shows/ Steam rallies etc and all the other shows in fields which get muddy in the lovely British weather. I wanted shorter ones and saw these in Tesco (of all places). They were £12 and I had £11.50 in clubcard vouchers so they cost me 50p-total bargain!!!!

This week I will be chipping away at my Klimt-inspired car blanket. I've got a bag full of pieces now and I can't wait to start fitting them all together. Also I need to start knitting the puppy pug jumper I've been asked to make for 12 week old Tilly Puggles. My first commission-wish me luck.

XX

A wonderful weekend.

This weekend we decided to drive to York on Saturday. I absolutely love York and my goal is to live there one day. I always feel like my batteries are recharged when I go there and I can see things differently. I love all the history and the beautiful buildings.

This is York Minster, a truly staggering building, so peaceful inside, you wouldn't think you were in the middle of a vibrant city.

Some old Roman pillars.

I love these.

I love this building and you can walk right under it.

The famous Shambles (with one or two nice wool shops!!)

I also visited my favourite Antiques centre which has a lovely vintage clothes room downstairs.

I bought a few pieces of Liberty print fabrics from here in the past. I love trying all the hats on and imagining what possible circumstances would warrant me buying them. I also had a quick browse in Ness, a shop I adore but can't afford.

Look at all the beautiful colours-I'd work there for free just to be around all that lovely stuff. I decided to do the charity shops instead and got this lovely top which although isn't vintage, has a very vintage look. I absolutely LOVE the colours.

We drove back via Towton and stopped at the monument which marks the scene of the Battle of Towton 1461. It's very atmospheric and moving to think of the blood that was shed there.

  

We then went to Blackpool on Sunday morning-talk about a contrast from the day before. Forgot to take a photo of Blackpool tower so here's the Big One instead......

and the sea......

followed by a trip to the Castlefield Vintage market where I bought this from Tweed Queen...

then when I got back home I just about had enough time to finish my travel mug cozy. I'm really pleased with this although Geordie is yet to be convinced that it actually does keep my coffee warm! I don't care it looks cute and that's all that matters to me. :-) 

I couldn't resist....

.....one more set of Wrist warmers. These are from the fabulous Lucy at Attic 24. I absolutely love her use of colour on all her projects. I am pleased with mine and I love the green but I discovered tonight a lovely ball of wool in cranberry and I really wished I'd used it for a couple of stripes on these. I just would have liked a couple of more vibrant stripes in it. I can see me pulling these back and re-doing them this weekend...we'll see. The pattern was super-easy (as are all of Lucy's tutorials) but my first chain row was a bit tight on my arm so I turned mine upside down so the tighter end is around my fingers, which I really like.

I wish I'd had these last year when I broke my wrist-lol.