Sunday Stash #4

I indulged in a little shopping at Fabric Rehab this week, in the need of some fun fabrics for pencil rolls. I love the dots that they have at the mo and thought they went rather well with these 4 funky ones.

I think the Lizzy Dish is my fave, but a certain little girl in this house has already lay claims on the Ice Creams. Which does raise the question - do we make things to be attractive to the mum's who are doing the puchasing, or for the children to be delighted? Tricky one. If I find a fabric that does both, I'll be sure to let you know.

Colour-It-Yourself!

No, I'm not barking orders at you! Just bragging about the fab new posters we have at Blueberry Park, from the talented Lucie of Summersville, Blu-Shed fame.

I am a big big fan of Lucie's work. Her striking repeating patterns work beautifully on the fabrics she screenprints.

You may also recognise her totem design she has had produced into fabulous gift wrap. (We are hoping to have this available for you pretty soon too.)

When I saw the colour-in posters that Lucie had produced, again using her well loved designs, I knew they would be perfect for Blueberry Park. I think they'll provide hours of entertainment for young and old.

Go check out all Lucie's other loveliness. I think you'll be a fan.

Little Miss Grumpy

I've been little Miss Grumpy today. I woke up in a bad mood. Something to do with being up too early. Something to do with being a Monday and having to get the kids to school. You'd think, 7 years later, I'd be used to that. Also it was cold. Really cold. And whaddaya know? The heating wouldn't come on. Now I was truly grumpy.

I called the Gas people and typically they said an engineer would be around sometime between now and 6pm. So I set myself up to being even more grumpy and got on with the day.

Children were deposited at school and up I went to my attic, glad that what little heat was in the house was rising up to my studio. I actually got a lot done today. Something to do with having to keep moving I think.

Typically Mr Engineer Man came just as I was heading out to pick up the little chickadees, but by the time we came back, via trips to the bank and PO, the house was so lovely and toasty. By then I was so ready to sit. And sit. And sit. We all gathered around the kitchen table doing homework (Noah), colouring (Ruby) and hand sewing (moi). Samuel found an even toastier corner and curlied up reading in the playroom.

I was recently invited to join a Hand Stitched Embroidery Swap on Flickr and we've just been given our swap partners. So I thought this was a perfect opportunity to sit and ponder over what I was going to do. I picked out a few fabrics that I want to incorporate and got started. I'm not even sure if any of this is going to make it to the finished article, but I had a lovely afternoon experimanting and playing.

I can't really say much more about it as it's supposed to be a secret. Our partners aren't even supposed to know who has them. So I'd better not say anything else. You never know, she may read my blog. All I can say is with the heating back on and all this hand-stitching, I am no longer Little Miss Grumpy. But that could just be the Happy Hour talking...

Warning...Seriously cute

I've been spending quite a bit of time on the computer this morning printing out all the instruction sheets for the kits. The trouble with that is that I then spend alot of time surfing. But the good thing about that is then I find fantastic new things for you for the shop, like this.

But seriously, look away now if you have a weak constitution. This is seriously cute. I'm almost expiring glimpsing it from the corner of my eye...

You have been warned...

This delicious piece of fabric will turn into these two outrageously cute softies. What's more when you have made the softies, you are still left with the row of mini cuties to adorn other crafting projects.

Did you catch the koala baby on the back of big K? Did you? And what about the little owl peeping out of the tree on the back of Big O?

For those of you that haven't come across Saffron Craig's whimsical delightful designs before, go check her out. She's one talented lady.

Obviously I'm hoping they'll be in the shop VERY soon...

Sunday Stash #3

It's been one fabric stash after another for me of late. I certainly haven't been holding back on that front.

I was in Ikea yesterday and picked up a couple more. They've a fantastic collection at the moment.

I really couldn't resist the linen and at £3.99/m I know I'll be back for more. It's ready hemmed for a 45cm wide table runner. I bought 2.5m for our kitchen table and have plans to embroider some patterns onto it.

This red one had literally just been put on the shelves - part of their new Christmas range. Isn't it fab?

I'm off now to sew some designs...I'll let you know how it turns out.

Cloud 9

Well that's what I'm going to be on when this little lot of beauties wends its way over to me.

Kate, from M is for Make, very kindly alerted me to the fact that this gorgeous fabric was now available from her lovely store.

I had a look at all of them, but we all know which I ordered...yep, the whole shabang! Simply can't wait for delivery day.

Psst...I probably also should have told you that these fabrics are not only utterly delicious, but are also printed on 100% certified organic cotton using eco-responsible solvent-free inks and dyes. Perfection in every which way.

Sunshine on a rainy day

I woke up in a good mood this morning, which rapidly went downhill before I even got downstairs. The reason for the good mood was my Tuesday run with my friend Helen. Our run is sacrosanct. Nothing gets in the way of it. Apart from when I'm away in France a la last week. Otherwise NOTHING gets in the way.

So there I was, merrily getting my joggers on when I felt a strange sensation on my calf. Nano seconds later the pain became excruciating and there flew out a wasp! Well, it fell to the floor as I yanked the blighters off! It must have found a nice cosy home on the washing line and was cocooned there for a few days.

I did manage to go for my run (we had 2 weeks catching up to do) but I was pretty pathetic. It hurt ALOT.

At least when I got home there was a saving grace of receiving a little package of pretty fabrics. Even the worst of starts manage to somehow turn out ok when you receive these. Sunshine on a rainy day indeed. Hope your day did too x