Furrrrrbbyyyyyyy!

My lovely huzzband got me a cuuuuuuute furbyyyyy as a late Christmas pressie hehe aww love my furby :) I know, I'm such a child, but I think it's healthy to be silly and have some fun - gotta nurture the inner child sometimes ;)

We had a lovely Christmas and I felt very spoilt with all the wonderful and thoughtful presents I received from family and friends :) My husband also got me roller boots, which I can't wait to try out properly with my stepdaughter who got rollerblades - we've only skated round the living room so far (on carpet lol) so looking forward to the weather being good enough to get outside :)

I'm looking to the New Year now and trying to choose a word for the year. I've not done this before, but a friend recommended it as she's found it very helpful and focusing this year. I'm pondering "Joy" as I've got too bogged down by all the stressful and sad things that have happened this year, and need to get back to finding the joy in the small things along the way (my sewing especially!!) ..as well as creating more Joy and happiness in all areas of our lives :)

My furby's bringing little moments of joy already haha it's so funny and cute :) I posted this photo on Instagram - I chose one where it's sleeping as his eyes looked funny in the photos lol

Autumn Photo

I've not managed to get much sewing done again the last week or so. My health's been rather patchy and I just haven't had the energy or creative motivation. It's been getting me down a bit, but I'm sure things will improve soon.

I did manage to get out for a lovely dog walk with my Mum on Wednesday though (she walks dogs for a living) and that was a lot of fun :) It was sooo good to get some fresh air, to reconnect with nature, and to watch the loopy dogs charging around - a border collie, a spaniel and a labradoodle make an interesting combination!! I swear the collie thinks the labradoodle is a big sheep hehe ;)

I took this photo of Ospringe Church at the bottom of the big field we walked round and played around with it in 'Camera Awesome' and 'Instagram' on my phone to bring out the pretty Autumnal colours - Autumn is my favourite time if year :)

Secret Sewing

These are my secret sewing projects that I was working on for my step-daughter's Birthday :)

They're from the Cath Kidston book "Sew", although I altered the Stanley Dog a little, using blanket stitch round the edge instead of sewing ricrac in. I put some lavender in with the stuffing too, so that they smell nice :)

She was really pleased with them :)

Patchwork Cushion :)

I've been getting into my sewing again recently, which feels totally fantastic!! I can't put photos of most of my recent projects on here, as they're presents for my step-daughter's Birthday and I don't want to risk her seeing them ;)

I finished my patchwork cushion today though, something I just started sewing for fun, for the therapy of sewing squares together curled up on the settee, but I actually love how it's turned out :)

Foggy Tree!!

Well it's not sewing, but I thought I'd upload this photo I took yesterday anyway. It was very foggy when I went out to my Reiki appointment, which I found a little eerie and yet strangely peaceful :) I couldn't resist taking a few photos on my phone and this is one I altered in Instagram :)

The last two months have been crazy and I just haven't had the time or energy for sewing, which has been extremely frustrating after how well it was all going and how much I was enjoying it. It can't be helped though and I'm sure I'll get back to it when the time's right :)

I did manage one afternoon working on another owlie last week, which felt fantastic and went well - zigzag stitch seems to be my friend now :) So it's good to feel I haven't totally lost it lol and I'm beginning to get a few ideas for small projects together :)

All Change

I haven't been able to do much sewing recently, it's been a pretty chaotic and stressful couple of weeks, lots of change to deal with, but will all be good in the end.

My sewing machine is currently homeless and I feel a little sad about that, but my new sewing table will be arriving in a weeks time and then I'm looking forward to setting up my new sewing area!

Change may sometimes crash into our lives in a totally unplanned and unexpected way, with a whole bunch of stress to boot, but can then turn out to be the best thing that could have happened for us with lots of hidden blessings along the way :)

Home Sweet Home

We're safely home from our holiday now and it looks like we timed it just right for the weather, which was lovely the whole time we were away until late yesterday afternoon! It lashed down the whole drive home, but I kinda like driving in the rain oddly, so I wasn't too bothered :)

We had such a lovely week together and I've been blown away by how good my health has been and how much I've managed to do!! It's all very exciting and so wonderful to share so many "first time in over a decade" moments with Stu & Abs :)

Part of me wishes it didn't have to end, but part of me is happy to be home...I guess everyone feels that way after a holiday though!

I'm looking forward to getting back to my sewing :) but first I'm looking forward to having a nice long sleep in our own (much more comfortable!!!) bed and a very lazy day tomorrow :)

Happy Holidays...

We've had a lovely couple of days since I last wrote here and seem to have crammed loads in :)

Yesterday Abs did Archery with her Dad in the afternoon and then we did the Roller Disco together in the evening - so much fun!!! Abs is wicked on those funny inline skates (I never could get the hang of them!) and I remembered how to skate (on my nice traditional roller boots lol) without falling over :)

Today we did Crazy Golf down on Hastings seafront, which was a lot of fun :) and had our lunch sitting by the sea. Unfortunately it was rather windy (and cold brr!!) and the life guards put the red flag out, so we couldn't go in the sea.

We headed back and went in the swimming pool here instead, which was actually a lot of fun :) and tonight we did Target Shooting which was brilliant!!! I've only shot an air rifle once before and that was when I was 16, so I wasn't expecting to be any good lol but I got three of my five shots on the target whoop whoop :)

We've done so much already this week and are having such a lovely time :)

Fun in the sun :)

I'm writing this sitting in the sun on the beach at Hastings - bliss!!! I've been paddling with Abs (and got wetter than intended oops hehe) and now she's splashing around with her Dad...and their soaked haha, we should have brought swimming costumes...

Earlier on we visited the Blue Reef Aquarium :) We loved seeing all the fishies and stroked a bearded dragon! Very cool :)

Owlie Mugs!!

We didn't like the mugs in our caravan, so bought these *wicked* owlie mugs at Tesco hehe ;) Everyone should have funky owlie mugs :)

I also love, love, love the Tesco at Bexhill - they stock the new 'free from' range of cheese/yoghurts that I've been wanting to try for aaages nom nom nom I'm a happy kitty :)

We had a lovely day today :)

Summer Holiday :)

Down in Hastings for the week - lovely sunny day, lovely drive and the best company :) Our first holiday together, just the three of us, and also our honeymoon finally :) Gonna be a good week!!!

Another Pin Cushion ;)

I've not had as much time for sewing as I'd like this week, as we're off for a week away on Saturday and I've been trying to gradually get things together.

I've been continuing to play around with my patchwork squares though and made myself another pin cushion today. Nothing fancy this time, but quite pretty :) and now I can leave one by my sewing machine :)

Patchwork Squares & The Olympics

I've started sewing patchwork squares together this afternoon - I'm not entirely sure what I'm making, a small cushion probably, but I just felt like sewing something simple while watching the last of the Olympic television!

I've loved the Olympics so much this time, we all have in this house :)  We've found ourselves totally hooked on events/sports that we wouldn't previously have imagined would interest us at all and have watched nothing else since it started :)

Team GB have done so well, competitors and organisers, and I feel very proud to be British :)

Paralympics next!! :)

My Lovely Step-Daughter

I spent some time helping Abigail (my step daughter) make her mini owlies this weekend :)  She really enjoyed making them and did such a brilliant job - they're adorable :)

Then I woke up this morning to find she'd made a lovely card thanking me for the owl I made her and for helping her with her little owlies, and she'd sewn me a cute little heart with 'thank you' stitched onto it!  What a sweetheart, I feel totally blessed to have her in my life :)

 

I Finished my Owlie :)

I finished my owlie this evening and I'm really pleased with him :) ..and so is my step-daughter who he now belongs to :)

Owlie :)

I did some more zigzagging on my owlie this afternoon and he's nearly finished now :) He just needs stuffing and then the bottom sewing up!

I think I'm slowly getting used to using zigzag stitch and don't think my first attempt is actually at all bad :)

I have a feeling my step-daughter may like this one :)

My First Attempt at ZigZag Stitch

I started making another owlie cushion this week and made my first attempt at zigzag stitch on my sewing machine last night...eeek it's haaard lol

I got in a bit of a pickle at first, trying to turn the circle I was sewing round, but finally got the hang of doing a few stitches, then stopping and turning the fabric. It wasn't as nice as I'd have hoped, but not at all bad for my first try :)

I really need a foot that gives better visibility though!!!!

Mini Owlie :)

I spent today hand-sewing this cute little mini owlie for a friend's Birthday present :)  I adapted a pattern from a kit I bought my step-daughter (Buttonbag Craft Kit - Owl House), giving him little wings and using my own pretty fabrics :)

I really must master zigzag stitch on my sewing machine before I make anything else like this - I do love how cross-stitch looks, but it's sooo time-consuming!  I enjoyed sewing this little guy though :)

Pin Cushion :)

I haven't felt too good today, so spent the day curled up on the settee sewing myself this bright and cheery pin cushion :)

It's from a book a bought recently called Quilting In No Time, which is full of small projects...although the timing estimates seem a bit off to me!!  It reckoned I could finish this in an hour, but it's taken me all afternoon/evening lol I know I'm slow, but I'm not *that* slow ;)

My Owlie Cushion!!!

I finally finished sewing my Owlie cushion tonight!  It's taken me about a month and there was a week or so where I got so fed up with it that I thought it might never get finished ;) but I found renewed enthusiasm this week and managed to get him finished this weekend :)

All the panels are hand-stitched on with cross-stitch, I only used the machine to put the front and back panels together...next time I'm going to try doing it all on the machine!

Celestial Cushions :)

I've been getting into sewing recently, both by hand and with my sewing machine, so I thought I'd post a few photos of my first completed project!  I'd forgotten quite how much I love my sewing machine and I'm very excited about future projects to come :)

I had some pretty celestial patterned fabric kicking around, so I thought I'd make a couple of 18" square cushions for my step-daughter :)  I found a fab tutorial on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhZnHhbcN-Q) to give me some guidance and got stuck in!

I'm really pleased with how they turned out and how easy I actually found the whole process in the end, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I'm looking forward to starting my next project :)

Both Cushions Together

They're 18" square, with an overlap on the back for taking the

cushion pad in and out, for when the covers need washing :)

Cushion 1 - Front & Back

 

Cushion 2 - Front & Back

 

I'm also in the middle of sewing an owlie cushion by hand and have been taking photos of my progress, which I will hopefully upload at some point :)