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Ragged

We went to our local Museum today, with the intention of not spending any money, but then I saw this rag rug making kit

Made by this company.

I have lots of balls of fabric scraps

and this looks easy enough for the kids to do, I'm hoping it will keep them quite for 5 minutes which will more than justify the money spent. ( We are 6 weeks into the 8 week holiday, and there is some SERIOUS fighting going on between them, I can tell you)

I think this is going to be fun

I like the back too

In fact I may just keep it for myself and lock them in a cupboard after all.

Chips and chocolate.

This weeks WIP

The shoes need a bit of red stitching, the bunny has a tummy stuffed with dried lavender, so the other side of her will have a sleeping face - hopefully this will encourage baby to nod off too. ?

The flowery fabric is Liberty, I think it's called Kinnear - aint it pretty ?

The boys are away for the weekend, so Molly and I are going to have a lovely girly time, she'll be staying up late and then sleeping in my bed. We'll be having fish and chips and chocolate for tea and painting our toes red.

Entertainment will be provided by Mrs Tippytoes...

Here's wishing you a lovely girly evening too.

Lovely things to look at

These wonderful ceramics.

Lots to look at here , but - no, I do not feel a sense of spiritual renewal every time I do my washing - I'm funny like that. I like this though, and this, and these, and I think we should all make our own version of these . These have also got to be mega-simple to make for yourself, just draw around your foot I guess. Oh, and I lurve this.

I also got the latest Cotton Time magazine today

I got mine from amazonjp.

This issue is a cracker - lots of lovely things to look at in here

Crochet hook holder thingy

Quite a few nice bags ( love the fabrics in this one - brown, red, oatmeal floral, and antique white).

Lots and lots of baby things, if you *get it on* now, you will have a May-time baby - a lovely time of the year to have babies - so what are you waiting for ?

Cutie - patootie little elephant.

How fantastic is this for Gawd sakes ?

and this ?

Like I'm ever going to have the time to make one of these ?

 

Double cute.

Crocodiles - triple cute.

Mice with Wellington boots ? - quadruple cute.

Little mouse, fast asleep on pillow, - off the scale cute.

And who knew that acorns could be cute ?  Japanese people knew - that's who.

Scary Cat

She can't reach us up here, can she ?

I found her savaging Molly's rucksack this morning.

Poor Fred, our big-old, tough-old Tomcat, is petrified of her and has taken to sleeping in the shed. Mrs Tippytoes is a baaad' un.

Here's another Colobockle gem.

ISBN 4 89444 492 5

It has lovely paper projects to cut out and assemble, I obviously didn't want to cut the book up, so I've photocopied the pages onto card, ready to do on a rainy day.

Lovely.

Isn't 'lovely' a lovely word - I think it may be my favourite word ( I was going to tell you Phil's favourite word, but then I thought no ).

Here's wishing you a lovely weekend.

xxx

Can you hear it ?

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES !

 

THERE'S  A MOUSER IN THE HOUSE !

Too late.

Mrs Tippy-toes. Newly arrived, harmless looking kitten - already creating mayhem in Softie- World.

Things I'm doing today

Finding this book interesting,

A recent E- bay gem. ISBN 0 486 23625 0

There aren't enough books on soft toy design to my mind, so look out for this one, it has some very useful info, as well as some cute toys to make.

I've also been drooling over this, particularly these

Aren't they wonderful ! Not that I'm ever going to have the patience to knit them. The only socks I'll be making will be for these little feet..

(more about her next week).

And in between breaking up fights between small children, I've been keeping myself cheery by laughing along with this. God bless him. : )

I swear, they swear, we all swear

Don't we ?

Not much crafting happening here, I'm afraid. The only creativity going on in my head - is thinking up new swear words to mutter to myself during the school holidays.

When Phil takes Billy camping, and there are no women folk around, Billy is allowed to cuss like a good un'. Their latest favourite is " You're like a piece of sh*t around a bird's arse"

This really makes me laugh, I can imagine it being a Clint Eastwood line. When I asked Phil why it had to be a 'birds' arse ?, he said 'I was a girl and I wouldn't understand'.

?

Anyway, onto nicer things.

IF I do get 5 mins to myself, I've been leafing through this recent purchase

ISBN 4 529 04226 X

It's a really sweet little story book,

it comes with a tiny bear applique,

and has lovely collage illustrations.

There's a how-to for making a pair of children's trousers

as well as instructions for making a skirt, an apron, headscarf, drawstring bag, playmat,book bag,napkins and placemat - all for children. There are no actual size patterns, but the instructions are very clear.

The author has a cute blog here, and you can buy her fabric here, when Kitty re-opens (the fabric is very cute).

I hope I haven't offended anyone with the content of this post, if I have - I do apologise, but it could be much worse, just thank your lucky stars you've never met me.

Wonky Wendy

I also know a 'Bendy Wendy', but that's a different story altogether.

This Wendy is my first attempt at a grown up bear, she has a cotter pin jointed head and limbs,and she's much bigger than I usually make - about 12" high. Getting the joints in the right places was 'challenging', she's ended up with one arm slightly higher than the other,and her feet pads don't match, hence her name, but she was fun to do . She's made from a short,dense pile mohair, and I actually used some of my precious Kitty - craft fabric for her ears and paw pads. : 0

A word of warning though, this type of mohair is a bugger to work with if you are trying to stitch it to fabric, it slips about all over the place so I would probably use a different mohair if I make one again.

This is a great book for Teddy bear patterns.

ISBN 4 579 10762 4

There are some very cute bears and rabbits in here

( Absolutely no comment on the names of these two )

It has very clear instructions with step by step photos, and full sized patterns for all the bears - and there are a lot of them - over 40 in fact !

I got mine from kitty , you can also get it here and here.

Happy weekend  everyone !

Things that make me go

Oooooooooooooooh

Holiday progress...

Sometimes, after they've gone to bed, I sit in silence and stare at the wall.

And it's lovely.