my creative space - hello Lottie...............

I have a ta dah moment to share with you - my new little friend "Lottie" I think she is perfect.

it all started here......................

and finished here - ta dah..................

 

 

 Then I decided to do a little photo shoot in the garden......................

 and introduce a little playmate - Bella...............

The pattern I used for Lottie is designed by Alicia and according to the website the kits will be back in stock soon or if you are impatient like me you could buy the pdf now. The pattern I used for Bella was taken from Helen Philipps lovely new book, details here.

I had such fun making them and as you can see I can never stop at just one....................


talk soon x

nature in the home..................

I am joining Lou with something a little different today - I decided to string together some beautiful trees and have my own little indoor forrest..........................................

I love the detail - a little snail climbing up the florrie fern tree and a tiny house in the branches of rosy posy tree

don't they look adorable - the trees were designed and created beautifully by Kate

My next job is deciding where to hang them - I think I will also pop over to see Kirsty for some creative ideas........................

talk soon x

sewing project ........................

As you will know I have been wanting to start a sewing project for ages but keep getting distracted by yarn  but at last I have started.

I bought Helen Philips book a few weeks ago and really wanted to make a house cushion but I have decided to start with something smaller that I can sew by hand........I  have chosen  this lovely garland as my first project.

doesn't it look beautiful..................

I  read the instructions carefully.............

I had fun getting my fabric stash out and sorting out the different prints that I would use.

this is the fabric I have decided on.............

I made my 4" template.......................

Cut out my circles.................

started to stitch.......................

Not quite perfect but I am getting the hang of it - I will update you on my progress................

If you have time pop over to see Kirsty for more ideas on "my creative space".

Talk soon x

My creative space - pretty candle holder

I love Sania Pell's blog and always read her posts, a few weeks ago she shared a simple idea of covering a glass candle holder with a strip of Liberty fabric. So simple but so lovely have a quick look here.

I have had a go - what do you think............


I started off with my strip of pretty floral Liberty print, and double sided tape - plus candle which I forgot to photograph!

I measured the circumference of the glass holder and then added a little for overlap, added double sided tape to both short ends of fabric. Then stuck one end to the glass, wrapped fabric around and peeled off the other strip of double sided tape and secured.

I left the fabric edges slightly frayed which I like and then added some twine around the middle, you could add ribbon or not even bother.

I think it looks cute - do check out Sania's post as the ones she has made look beautiful and the post includes the full instructions

For more ideas and inspiration pop over to see Kirsty on my creative space.

Talk soon x

my creative space - tin cans............

It's time for my link up with Kirsty, my creative space project this week is all about tin cans. I seem to have a recycling bee in my bonnet at the moment and after filling my house with jam jars wrapped in cosy crochet cosies I have moved onto tin cans.

With new can openers you are left with a very safe edge so no risk of nasty cuts and the tins can be used for all sorts of things. I have washed mine, taken off the labels and then covered in masking tape. Then I have decorated them with washi tape in a variety of different colours, and widths - so lovely.
                                                                                                          

Until recently I hadn't experienced the delights of washi tape, Kate introduced me to it and added a few rolls with my birthday present - I'm now hooked and want to add more colours and designs to my small collection

This looks an amazing collection - just been added to my wish list .............

I've just found a pinterest page full of project ideas............so lovely. Don't forget to pop over to Kirsty's page for a bit of inspiration.

Talk soon x

my creative space...............playing with jam jars

I have done some serious knitting over the last week, I made a scarf and then I had a go at making a pouf/ floor cushion with massive chunky needles and yarn. It was hard work and cumbersome, my knitting got really heavy. Once my knitting was completed it was with pure delight that I reached for my favourite 3.5mm hook, my ice cream coloured Amalfi cotton and just had fun. I didn't really have a plan in mind but I quite fancied doing something pretty with jam jars, as lots of lovely decorated jars seem to be everywhere at the moment.

Over the Mother's Day weekend Marks and Spencer were selling small bunches of flowers in jam jars, they were decorated with ribbons and buttons and looked very pretty, I had also seen crochet jam jar covers on quite a few crafty blogs, Ladybird Diaries had posted a lovely one on her blog.

So after a bit of playing around with my yarn I decided that for my link up with Kirsty on "my creative space" I would make some lovely striped jam jar cosies, I think I might embellish them with some of my favourite tiny crochet hearts - what do you think?

I am in a spring cleaning and organising sort of mood, so I think these jars will come in very useful - and they are so lovely to look at.

Hope you get time to pop over to visit Kirsty.

talk soon x

(Thank you for taking the time to follow me and for liking my facebook page - also a big thank you for the lovely comments you send me I love reading them all.)

my creative space - chocolate muffins.

My creative space post this week is all about the chocolate muffin. Alex my grandson, adores  muffins, he recently set me a challenge of making him the perfect chocolate chip muffin.

I looked through lots of recipe books but finally settled on a recipe that my daughter Laura had used and was really pleased with. It was very easy and seemed to work well - although I didn't put quite enough mixture into the muffin cases. The recipe was for 20 big muffins and I decided that smaller muffins would work better for the children. I made 12 medium and 18 small from the mixture which was stretching it a bit, next time I will reduce the number and fill the cases 3/4 full.

The real test was the taste test, Alex, Finn and Daisy arrived home from school and nursery - hungry as usual. The table was set and the challenge began.........................

Three smiley happy faces - I think the muffins received the thumbs up.

Hope you get time to visit Kirsty for some more creative goings on...............

talk soon x

Thank you for taking the time to follow me and liking my sweetpea facebook page  - also a big thank you for the lovely comments you send me I love reading them all xxx

my creative space - heart bunting

My friend Elizabeth was admiring my tiny heart bunting which is strung across one of my wall units and wondered if I would make her some to hang in her bedroom.

I have a little box of crochet hearts that is so full the hearts are spilling out - in quiet moments the thing that pleases me most is hooking another heart! What a quandary - I have hearts a plenty, no project planned for them, I would happily make something for my dear friend but (it's a big but) can I part with my tiny cute baby hearts...........

I have decided that as today is my linky post with Kirsty at 'my creative space' I am going to put my Billie blanket to one side and make some bunting for Elizabeth. I'm going to stop being a mean girl with an unhealthy attachment to cute little hearts - but they are so lovely.

I spread them out across my table to decide on the colours, should they be random or in a more orderly sequence - I think order won.

The next thing is to crochet all the tails into little loops. I will then crochet a long chain and attach the little loop hearts as I go.

It will take longer than I thought to complete as it takes quite a lot of time to crochet the loops and I think I might need to make a few more pink hearts to fit with my sequence.

When it's finished I think it will look adorable -  this is going to be very difficult to give away....................

Talk soon x

Ps please pop over to my  Sweetpea Face Book page  for craft market details and a special offer just for you. It would be great if you could also like my page so I know you have stopped by x

My creative space - play tent

I am so pleased that I can share with you the finished tent - such a ta dah! moment. We started this tent an age ago after Kate spotted one on a blog post - I can't remember which one. So Mr R was given the brief to make one like this, but not sure how - he set to work with the wooden frame and I got my sewing machine out to make the fabric cover.

Unfortunately the completed tent wouldn't fit in the car, so it had to be dismantled and taken to Kate's in pieces.

This weekend it all got put together again and is now looking fab in Jake's bedroom. The next challenge was getting a photo of Jake inside it - possibly the biggest challenge of all.

not a great photo - but he was showing some interest................

it's not a slide Jake.................

If you have time pop over to visit Kirsty for some creative inspiration.

Talk soon x 

ps I want to start to use my face book page more - please if you have a minute would you like my page

many many thanks

Sue x

my creative space - batch baking

My creative space post today is all about batch baking - it's amazing what you can make out of a 12 oz Victoria sponge mix. I started with simple ingredients:-

 6eggs
12oz self raising flour
12oz butter
12 oz  caster sugar
2tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla essence  
and then added a few extras ..............

Sugar and butter were creamed together, eggs added slowly so not to curdle the mixture and then lastly the flour, baking powder, vanilla and a dash of milk to get a nice dropping consistency.

This big creamy bowl of tasty mixture was then transformed into .....................

1. a simple 7 inch sponge sandwich, with raspberry jam in the centre and a dusting of caster sugar on top.
2. a dozen chocolate chip buns
3. another dozen chocolate chip buns decorated with chocolate icing on the top.
4. plain cupcakes x 9 filled with fresh berries and double cream - to be served after supper (yummy)

I then made a sort of fruity, nutty, date cake, should have been just dates and walnuts but I didn't have enough dates so I added sultanas and cherries to the bowl. This was baked in a 7 inch tin and when cool was finished off with a fudge topping (really lovely topping even I was tempted to lick the bowl) I had a little fruity mixture over so made about  8 small muffins, a few were iced but some were left plain. I think they would work great in lunch boxes.

All in all a lovely creative few hours in the kitchen and to top it off I had my special little baking helper with me. Zachy and I bake together most weeks, the only slight problem I have is that he loves eating my raw cake mixture ................ just like his mum.

If you have time please nip over to visit Kirsty to see what kind of creative week everyone has had.

talk soon x

my creative space - chunky knitted blanket

I had bought some beautiful chunky merino wool to knit a blanket with but unfortunately I have done nothing but stop and start this project. It all began with an Amy Butler blanket pattern combining different coloured knitted hexagons with a beautiful crochet edging.  Unfortunately I didn't like my knitted hexagons so I unpicked them, then I started to make squares instead but didn't like the squares. My third attempt is just simple stripes of colour in double moss stitch which I think is the one - in fact I love it already.

I started knitting the blanket with 10mm straight needles, they are quite long but it was tricky with the number of stitches I was working with. I couldn't buy a circular needle locally not even at John Lewis they were all too small. Fortunately I managed to find an online shop that stocks circular needles and my 10mm circular needle arrived today. It has made all the difference and is so much easier to knit with.

Do nip over to Kirsty's page, see you again next week "on my creative space"

talk soon x

My creative space - more about socks

When I finished knitting my sock it felt such an achievement that I thought it was worthy of it's own very special "my creative space" sock post.

Although I am a little anxious as I'm not feeling very excited about starting it's matching friend - it feels very daunting. I couldn't wait to start my first ever sock but if I am honest I didn't find it fun it was tricky and really didn't fill me with the desire to knit another one - is that wrong!

I confessed this to Kate and she gave me a bit of a talking too, she felt the pleasure I would get when the pair was completed was worthy of all the trouble and hard work.

Not sure I wanted this mature philosophical response from my daughter - I think I was hoping for a well done mum for completing a sock, it doesn't matter about the other one or at least now you know you can knit a sock!

I have kept the lonely sock where I can see it and feel sure that very soon I will be overcome with guilt and the overwhelming need to get those wretched 4 needles back out (who am I trying to kid) - have you got any one sock stories to share.

Talk soon but before you go why don't you pop over to Kirsty for her weekly "My Creative Space" post x

my creative space ................ play tent

At last I have got my sewing machine out and I have started to make the cover for a wooden play tent we are making for Jake. This has been an ongoing project for months and sort of got put on hold when we realised that the wooden frame for the tent wouldn't fit into the car, so would make it difficult to transport to London.

We have now decided that we will take the frame apart and transport it in pieces and reassemble in London - not rocket science when we put our minds to coming up with a solution. I cut the fabric to size today and I have hemmed the two long edges, we will staple it to the frame when it's reassembled.

frame, fabric and sewing .....................hope it all goes to plan.

I will photograph the finished result when it has pride of place in Jake's bedroom. I had quite a lot of fabric over which I will take with me and hopefully Kate and I can make a couple of cushions to go inside the tent.

hope you have time to visit Kirsty over at my creative space.

talk soon x

my creative space - beautiful buttons

A new year and the first of  "my creative space" posts. I can't wait to show you a lovely crafty Christmas present that Kate bought me, it's a Cath Kidston button making kit which includes some beautiful fabric.

can't wait to get started ..............

The instructions include a template which I have just traced onto parchment paper, then you cut out your fabric and away you go............

I have used fabric from the kit and also some Liberty scraps that were left over from Kate's wedding favours and place settings.

They are adorable - Holly Becker made some fab bow tie pins with some she made, can you suggest what I use mine for, my head is full of ideas but would love to know what you are thinking.

Take a minute to peek over at Kirsty's blog for some amazing ideas.

talk soon x

my creative space - Christmas baking.........

My creative space post this week is all about Christmas cooking. I have got Noah and Zachy for the day and I had promised Zachy that we could do some baking together when Noah had his morning nap.

I decided to do some Christmas day pre-preparation and make a few things that would freeze well. My husband is a vegetarian so he always has a festive nut roast for his Christmas lunch and it freezes really nicely, the flavour stays good.

nut roast cooling .................. smells lovely

I also love to have some Christmas morning muffins in the freezer I have already made a batch for the freezer but most of them have been eaten. The recipe is one of Nigella's and it's very easy and yummy, they are great on Christmas morning with a glass of bucks fizz.

oh how I would love to be a domestic goddess ..............

ingredients for the muffins all ready .....................

 

 

wish you could smell the spices ...............

Lastly I decided to make a date and walnut cake, it's sort of an adaption of a cake I used to make which had a fudge and walnut topping. But today I wanted a simple less sweet cake that could be sliced like a malt loaf and even buttered,  so I cooked it in a loaf tin and left off the topping.

date and walnut loaf .................

All the baking turned out well and the boys have been little stars, I am just about to bath them and tuck them up for the night. Lets hope they sleep in as Noah has a habit of waking at 5am.

I have managed to keep up with "my advent post a day" - only 5 more sleeps before Christmas.

Talk soon x

Christmas jam jars ............ my creative space

I knitted lots of jam jar cosies for table decorations at Kate's wedding and thought something similar might be nice for Christmas. I decided to crochet the cosies in traditional red and green Christmas colours.

The jars will have little tea lights inside so should provide some subtle lighting for cosy Christmasy evenings.

I was also inspired to crochet little stars after visiting Lucy at Attic24 I think they will look nice around the necks of the jars- what do you think. If I crochet enough of them I am going to make them into a mini garland for the Christmas tree.

Talk soon x

My creative space ............pink birthday cake

Instead of my usual "my creative space" post about crafty projects on the go, I thought I would share with you a birthday cake I made yesterday.

It's not my most stylish birthday cake, but the cake and buns were iced with the help of my grandson Zachy who is only three, I think we did well ( Nicole was pleased too)

Talk soon x

my creative space - more hats .............

It's Thursday and "my creative space" post is here again -  I'm sorry to be so repetitive but since last week I have been knitting hats in all shapes and sizes and love them so much I just had to share them with you. I hope my grandsons will be happy with them.

I promise this will be my last "hat" post - if you have seen my "yarn along" post you may have guessed that I am now hooked!  - just can't put my crochet hook down ( I am about to start my third granny striped cowl )

I hope you join me in visiting Kirsty over at "my creative space" for lots of inspiration.

Talk soon x

My creative space - hats for special little boys.

It's that time of year again when my special little grandson's need new hats. I put my scarf pattern away and started to look for nice snuggley warm hat patterns.

My favourite so far are slouchy hats knitted in stocking stitch, the edge rolls back to give such a trendy look. I have knitted a stripey one in aran, however, even though I used the specified yarn and knitting needles it has turned out quite big, not quite age 1-2 years ( I should have knitted a tension square!)

I then used some slightly finer yarn and went down a needle size and this seems to have worked out better.

As I have five grandsons I am sure I will find two little boys that they will fit, just a few more to knit though.

Hope you head over to see Kirsty on my creative space - it's definitely worth a look this week.

talk soon x

My creative space - I love wrist warmers........

It feels good to catch up with  Kirsty on my creative space. I love popping over to view every ones creations and I am always inspired.

I have finished my snood and seem to have a lot of knitting time on my hands now that the evenings are drawing in. Which is as good an excuse as any to snuggle on the sofa with a cup of coffee, knitting needles and yarn at the ready, a good TV programme on, what more do you need for a great night in.

I seem to have gone a bit mad on knitting wrist/ hand warmers. I think they are so useful and quick and easy to make. I started off with a green pair using some extra fine merino wool from my stash, and followed a lacy pattern which I had found in a sublime knitting pattern book. They were lovely to make but took a while as the pattern had quite a few rows to it - so not something you could easily do whilst watching TV.

Then I had an experiment with some soft chunky wool and did my own thing using garter stitch, the third pair I experimented with a rib stitch - I think the rib ones are my favourite and so easy.

I think a few people will be getting wrist warmers for Christmas as I am itching to start another pair and a girl only needs so many pairs even if they can be colour coordinated to any outfit!


Catch up soon

Sue x