Bad Blogger! Bad, bad blogger!

The company has gone, it is a rainy day and rather than face the pile of unwashed laundry, I decided it is time to get back on the blog. Yes, I know -- I've been a bad, bad blogger. I hope to redeem myself.

So what have I been up to? We've now settled into the new house, have unpacked all boxes, had three sets of guests and a big birthday party for my daughter, and made a quick trip to London. Now at last my days are settling down and I'm getting back into a routine again.

Craft-wise, I've done a lot of little projects (picts to come) and I'm slowly working through a big Cath Kidston cross-stitch project. I've just decided that cross-stitch isn't my favourite, but I'm determined to finish the thing off anyway. I did do one fantastic thing -- I went to the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey. Despite the wet weather, it was a great show. I got to meet people like Poppy Treffrey and Priscilla Jones! I admit that I was rather timid and didn't say too much for fear of appearing like a babbling fanatical stalker. I've admired their work for some time and it was fantastic to see them in person. I'll show you what I bought in my next post. I do regret that I didn't budget more spending money and that I didn't sign up for any of the workshops. I'll be more prepared next year!

I'm off now! Time to slog my way through all the blogs I've missed.

On the move!

I haven't forgotten about you, I'm just up to my neck in cardboard boxes! My daughter came home yesterday and got mad because, "There's no place to play anymore!" Moving day is just a few days away now.

At the moment:

• I'm still keeping tabs on what's happening out here in blog land. I'm currently loving Nana Company -- I wish I was so talented!
• I'm dreaming of retro-Scandinavian style -- just google "Scandinavian tea towels" to see what I'm talking about. Suddenly I can see my new house decorated in mid-century modern. Now if I just had the money to do completely refurnish my house... 
• I'm eating lovely spring veggies! More asparagus and chicken pie or rhubarb crumble anyone? At the moment I'm also perfecting my goat-cheese and vegetable lasagna and my split-pea and sausage soup. Please watch The Great British Food Revival for more mouthwatering recipe inspiration.
• On the nightstand -- Enchanted April (v. seasonal), Baking Made Easy and The Handmade Marketplace.

It is lovely and sunny here at the moment, but I'm trying to hold off any spring fever just yet. I'll wait 'til we're moved in before I start sprinkling tulips and bunnies around the house!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day a little early this year as my other half is away this week. It was a bit subdued this year as my husband has been away a lot, the weather continues to be miserable and now we have to start re-packing for the next move. I even had to buy my own flowers! I normally cook up a fancy dinner for the occasion (honey roasted duck last year), but this year he requested steak and chips and my daughter requested ice cream for dessert. I couldn't be bothered to argue.

As it's been too wet to go outside my daughter and I have had plenty of time to work on our Valentine's Day cards.

I love stitching on paper, so I stitched up card stock and brown paper to create this valentine card holder. There is an opening at the top to slip cards into. I embellished with a paper doily and vintage buttons. Check out Cathe Holden's Just Something I made for a tutorial on mini bunting. I continued the vintage-y feel with the vintage button wreath. Find the tutorial on Hobby Craft.

For my daughter, I stitched up this from Kidston's Stitch. See my last post for a book review. I am currently on my third project from the book. As a finishing touch, I printed a sweet little graphic onto card stock and glued it onto a jewelry bag.



Things are moving on the house purchase now, so if my posts are a bit erratic that's why! Have a very happy Valentine's Day!

A new home, a few old projects, and a couple of book reviews

Keep your fingers crossed for us! Our offer was accepted on a house. Let's just hope the sale goes smoothly and quickly. The house is everything we were looking for in a house. We were hoping to find something a bit more in the countryside, but it seems wishful thinking to expect a rural setting, a short-commute to work, and good schools and shopping could be affordable. Anyway, I'm trying not to get too excited as nothing is certain until you have a key in your hand.

Here are a few pictures from the countryside here:

As my husband is now back to work and my daughter has started school, guess who is job hunting? Now that we're in an English-speaking country I have no excuse for not working. Ugh. It isn't that I don't want to work, I just hate the interview process and I'm worried about finding a job I like in this current era of unemployment. The prospect of self-employment is very appealing, but as what? If you could start over and begin a new career now, what would you do?

As far as the crafting goes, the progress is v. slow. It doesn't help that I can't access some of my stash and I don't have any space here to work in. I have been embroidering. My cottage triptych is on hold, mostly out of frustration. For some reason my transfer pencil marks on my muslin have disappeared mid-way through and now I have to re-transfer the remaining image. Has this happened to anyone else? So out of childish spite, I've started a new project.

I mentioned that over Christmas I picked up a few new books, one of them being Cath Kidston's Stitch. As I haven't tried cross-stitch before, I immediately started working on the cover project (materials are included with the book). I already own Make and Sew. I liked Make. This and The Kitchen Linens Book by EllynAnne Geisel got me stitching in the first place. Although some of the projects and designs are too basic, there was enough to propel me on. I still refer to the book as it contains a few of Kidston's more iconic designs. Word of warning though, the instructions on some projects are vague or just plain wrong.

Enamoured with Make, I bought Sew. Being fairly adept with embroidering, I wanted to expand my sewing skills. Overall Sew was a disappointment. I think there are better sewing books on the market, especially for relative beginners like myself.

Luckily Stitch was a return to what I loved about Make -- easy to follow projects that put a fresh and unique spin on an old craft. Sure, I know there's a limit to how many pillows one can make, but this book has actually made me want to try cross-stitch for a change. A few of the patterns are questionable, but I can't wait to stitch up her cowboy!

When I was backing up my photos from 2010, I realised there were two projects from December that I didn't share with you. (Word of advice -- take time to back up your photos! I learned this lesson the hard way when my last computer crashed.) As we were leaving Germany I gave a few handmade thank you presents to friends and teachers. Both projects were quick and easy. The images for these came from Flickr and The Graphics Fairy.

I couldn't resist these little purple flowers. I'm not sure if they're really violets or not, but I glued a perfume label on to the pot and used the same image to make the butterflies. These were given to my daughter's Kindergarten teachers.

This little pocket was inspired by Lori Lundy's jean pockets featured in the volume 4 issue of "Somerset Holidays & Celebrations". I quickly glued on vintage images, scrap lace, velvet leaves and my favourite vintage button. I tucked a thank you letter and my favourite recipes inside and presented it to a friend who gave my daughter riding lessons. In exchange for her lessons, I taught her children some English and sent her a regular supply of English and American bakery.

 I hope they know how much I appreciated their hard work and friendship!

New home, new adventures

Hello again! Well, we finally made it back to England in one piece and survived Christmas admirably. Our home is hopelessly small and depressing, but it is just temporary until we can find a place to buy. So until then, we're living out of cardboard boxes and having a lot of fun house hunting. I love house hunting -- dreaming of what living in each place would be like and how you would decorate/improve it (with an unlimited imaginary budget of course). I haven't seen the place of my dreams yet, but I'm sure something will turn up!

Haven't done much crafting, but I did spend some Christmas cash and picked up a few new supplies. Think I may try my hand at ATCs. I'm becoming a serial crafter -- I pick up a new book or magazine and think, "I want to try that!" This doesn't mean I'm giving up embroidery -- I've got a cottage scene in the works. I haven't forgotten about my other half-finished projects either, I just can't find them yet in our boxes! They must be with my lost pillowcases.

One less project to finish

Tah dah! Another project finished! Amidst the chaos and cardboard boxes that are taking over my house, I did manage to finish off another project. This one has been hanging around for ages. I admit that I'm only responsible for about 30 percent of this -- my badgered husband did the cutting, sanding and painting. I don't think he minds doing these kinds of things for me as it keeps me from complaining about how much he spends on tools.

These little houses are made out of reclaimed wood (they used to be part of a bed), so they aren't perfectly smooth and square. Each side has a letter or a small graphic and they read, "Home", "Hope", and "Love", though others keep coming up with new and interesting letter combinations. My most of the illustrations came from The Graphics Fairy.

I've enjoyed doing these "grown-up" letter blocks and I'll try my hand at a few more as long as my husband's patience holds out!

Still here, for a little while longer at least

I honestly do have a valid reason for the last month's silence -- my parents were here, my husband was seriously sick, and we're now preparing to move next month. We managed to survive the first two admirably, but the last one may give me an ulcer. I mean really, who in their right mind moves just before Christmas?! After almost four years of living in Germany, we're heading back to England. I love living here -- great house, neighbours, school, etc -- so I'm just a bit reluctant to move. My other half is trying to shake me out of my pessimistic mood and I'm sure he's right that we'll find a place that we love just as much as here (just don't tell him that).

So needless to say, most of my Christmas projects are now cancelled and I'm just working on a few unfinished pieces. I did manage the following:

• Halloween: Got my lanterns and my daughter's trick or treat bag done just in time. Both are Martha Stewart projects. I love, love, love the felt bag -- it was easy and quick and guess what I'm making an Easter tote out of.

• In the Kitchen: Next time a friend says, "I don't have time to do anything with these; would you like them?" Don't believe her. My neighbour handed me a bag of quinces. Not knowing anything about them, I accepted. I'm starting to suspect that she doesn't like me anymore. After a few days of cuts, bruises, burns, and a house stinking of quince and burnt sugar, I produced something akin to quince cheese and quince jam. Never again.

• Christmas projects: Got my Christmas cake and mincemeat done last week. Don't think I'll have time to much more, but maybe after the move I'll have time for gingerbread men or a last-minute Christmas pudding. Am doing a vintage Christmas pattern stitch along, but am v. frustrated with it at the moment. Made an elementary mistake in choosing a red and white Santa to go on a white towel. Santa's face completely disappears! Ugh. May have to rip out his head and start again. On a more positive note, a friend came over the other day and taught me how to make German stars! Guess what I'm decorating the tree and my presents with this year. I couldn't resist making a few of these mittens too. Not sure if they're going on the tree or if I'm going to tie them around presents. If I can get enough done by Dec. 1st, I'll put numbers on them and use them for an Advent calender.

There are a few more projects I hope to squeeze in before the move. I'll try to post them if I do. If not, you may not hear from me until January. Wish us luck!