This should have taken only minutes to sew...but somehow it ended up taking forever as the material kept slipping and the thread broke every couple of stitches...I tried new needles, special slippery-eel-material needles, different tensions, sewing the other way up, taking the machine apart, swearing...but actually the culprit ended up being the shiny Gutterman thread that I was using....I'm not going near that again!And finally, I bought for him this 1930s musical box. It is a little battered, but I think that only adds to its charm. Inside I lined it with some brown velvet (there's a theme here) and put inside a poem that I'd copied out, that reminded me of him.
I don't really know why I bought him this last thing...apart from that we both love old boxes...the tune it plays is completely manic, but hauntingly lovely all the same - and we both love that noise that the mechanism makes just at the point when you close the lid and the music stops. I remember opening and closing my own musical box as a child just to hear that noise over and over.
Anyway, Ian has entertained our family all Christmas by providing the music for our drunken sing-alongs...but tonight he's out playing some of his own music, so my sister and me are going along to watch (but will hopefully refrain from singing along!).
Sunday, 30 December 2007
Velvety musicy things
Friday, 28 December 2007
Christmas goodness!
And as if that wasn't enough, Ian also gave me one of Flavia Del Pra's gorgeous tiles that is listed as a coveted item in my sidebar. I may use it as a pot stand once our kitchen is finished...
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Christmas kimonos...
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Memories from our Christmas day...
Over to my parents house for lunch where my sister had the whole family making Cheese Stars the minute we walked through the door...and eating them less than 20 minutes later.
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Endearingly wonky
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Something of a one-trick-pony....
After the positive reception the Mousey-in-a-beds got in my own house, I have made some up for Zebra-girl and Dinosaur-boy to give to some of their friends as Christmas presents (there were more, but those were given out before I could photograph them). It took me a whole week to get around to completing this batch and sewing the flowers and hearts onto the bottoms of their duvet covers, as I have been dipping in and out of projects trying to get all my other Christmas presents finished.
Monday, 17 December 2007
...A pea in my pocket?
Thursday, 13 December 2007
My sister Laura
A couple of months ago I was having a really difficult few weeks myself, waiting for the results from a health scare (that thankfully turned out to be fine), I was feeling rather like the ground was about to pulled from under me...and as if she could sense quite how much a visit from her would give me a boost that I so needed, Laura made a four-hour round trip, just to surprise me by popping her face round the door and staying to spend an hour or two with me. That morning in London she had been making up little presenty parcels for me: lovely buttons, a CD with a handmade cover, full of old music that we had danced to when we were young (Tracy Ullman -click the link and prepare to bowled over by the sheer fabulousness of it! We soon had that on at full volume, with the new addition of Zebra-girl joining us in our dance routines)...and finally the most lovely package of all. A copy of her recently published book, Poems for Life. I think I may have cried when I opened it.
Last year my husband wrote the poem out for me to have in a frame on our bathroom wall above this picture of me and Laura, taken when we were small.
However, my favourite is one that has made us, and many of our friends, laugh out loud on reading it; A Puppy Called Puberty, by Adrian Mitchell.
Last week my sister sent me an email saying that her book was going into it's second print run...I had been sure that it would, but was utterly delighted for her to have it confirmed. Can you tell that I'm just a little proud?
And the winner is....
Unfortunately Zebra-girl isn't particularly fond of wearing her winter hat and couldn't be persuaded to wrap up sensibly at all this morning. The upside of that is that the hat is here for a daytime draw! Dinosaur boy was reticent to do this quickly, and the draw ended up taking over quarter of an hour with all his troublesome antics. First he peered in and thought about it for a while....then he shook the hat...for a long time (as though he were mixing a winning cake)
And just when I thought he might declare that his cake was ready, he put it on his head instead...
After some re-mixing he was finally persuaded to pick out a winner...
And here she is: Ali...of the Domestic Ali variety, I believe.
Do send me an email with your address, Ali, and I will try and get it in the post very soon!
For anyone who wants to buy one of the chalky pens themselves I think you may be able to get them here. They seem to be missing the picture of it from the website, but I'm fairly sure it's the same thing. Unfortunately my local sewing shop where I buy them from don't do mail order.
Thank you to so many of the lurkers and newcomers for coming out of their hiding places - it has been lovely to meet you and to discover some lovely new blogs to read!
Sunday, 9 December 2007
A chalky give away....
Is it a thank you for all your lovely comments and support and for coming back and reading more? A celebration of my 58th post (because who wants to wait for a round number anyway)? A welcome if this is your first visit?...or a sewing-themed carroty attempt to entice lurkers out of their cosy corners? Well, perhaps all of those.
But do leave a comment if you would like the to win the chalk marker and your name will be entered into Zebra-girl's winter hat....and drawn out by Dinosaur-boy because he can't yet read, and so will be the fairest of invigilators. I am also putting up for grabs with it, a fat quarter of Amy Butler's duck-egg blue Belle French Wallpaper, as it is one of my favourite fabrics and if you like it too, it may prove a wonderful addition to any chalky adventures.
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Oh Florence, you absolute fool!
When I make cards using fabric shapes, I tend to iron on some heavy-weight interfacing first to stop any fraying, cut out my shapes and then stick them on with this fabulous uhu fabric glue (it really is so good - not too runny and it never leaves horrible white marks over the fabric once it's dried).
And it is this: I made the mistake of keeping my eyes open when I saw something utterly lovely today. I could have stopped reading, not clicked on any of the links, or even tried to click the 'close window' button with my eyes squeezed tightly shut, as in not doing any of the above I was painfully aware that it would only be prolonging the time it may take me to complete my present list. But no...I just kept drooling, barely able to breath, over these dresses on Shim & Sons' blog...and then more drooling as I clicked the link through to the Wiksten Made blog (which has a tutorial for the most divine Peter Pan collar). And now I'm feeling so utterly inspired....I'm just not sure I'm able to put off plunging myself into a dress-making frenzy any longer...thinking of all the little details I might work into the copy of my own favourite dress....would it really be so bad for my family to celebrate Christmas in January instead?
Monday, 3 December 2007
Notes from the duvet....
And this is where I was so surprised; left to my own devices I think I would have focused on cushions, bags, make-up bags, pencil roll holders and other larger things (maybe because these are the things I find the most satisfying to make)...but actually the little things sold far quicker than the bigger things. Within the first hour I think we must have sold about 50 peg doll angels and about 20 stuffed gingerbread men. They were displayed on this tree that one of the girls had bought at a Country Living fair.
I also must say a thank you for all the lovely and interesting comments and e-mails I've had over the last week or so. I love reading them and appreciate them all and want to apologise for how neglectful I've been in answering them. A combination of making Christmas presents, the craft fair, planning our new kitchen (which is being done in the second week of January...which sort of means I have to finalise everything now, as two weeks are effectively wiped out over things closing for Christmas) and then feeling very ill, has meant that I have had less time on in front of my computer than I would like.
More on the popular chalk pen in my next post...