Just a little hookin'

Good morning ladies.  I hope you're all well.  I think I mentioned that I'd had a blood test to find out if I had food intolerances which were contributing to my migraines and my eczema.  Well, it turns out I do, and they're also making me bloated and feel ill a lot of the time, something I'm so used to, I don't even think about.  I am intolerant to yeast.  Well OK, you might think, so no bread and no beer.  Oh no, it goes MUCH further than that, the list of things that contain yeast is massive and I've still got to talk to the consultant, this is just what I've gleaned from the internet: - bread, cheese, marmite, oxo cubes, soy sauce, bacon, ripe fruit, grapes, plums, wine, beer, most spirits, chocolate, cakes, biscuits - that little list (except the alcohol) is the mainstay of my diet!  Some serious life changes coming up.

Anyway, enough whinging, want to see what I've made?  Back in April I made some baby bear hats, if you want to see, and for a link to the pattern, go here.  My brother's closest friend had his first baby last week - technically his girlfriend had the baby, but you know what I mean.  As he's been around my whole life, I wanted to make something for his little baby son and what better than a panda bear hat?

I'm hoping to get a linen bunny finished this weekend to add to the parcel for baby Sam.  I've also called a stop to the Big Knit crocheting so I can get the parcel in the post.  I managed a total of 39 in the end (I thought it was 40 when I stopped, but then counted them.  Here are the last few:

I had a little tidy up of my beside-sofa stash last night and found loads of WIPs I'd forgotten about:

- a needlepoint bookmark that just needs backing

- my sampler square blanket

- charity 4" crochet squares

- the shopping bag (which I've frogged as I think I'd gone serious wrong)

- my hardanger heart which just needs finishing (how did I forget that, it was only the other week!)

- my teacup and flower embroidery

Add to that my other WIPs

- my Rennie Mackintosh cross stitch

- my giant granny blanket

- my second hardanger attempt

- 4 linen bunnies

- more tissue covers

- Christmas decorations

- my chair cushions

- the pinwheel table topper

- the alphabet chart

I'd better get busy this weekend!  I know it's good to have WIPs so you've got variety and all that, but this many is stressing me out!

Before I go, a link you might be interested in.  I know a lot of you love Mary Englebright and loved her Home Companion.  I never saw it, but I have one of her books and by the sounds of it, I'd like it a lot.  They're thinking of bringing it out again, but they need your vote/comment to see if it's worthwhile.  Go here and say YES!

Christmas countdown - September

It's nearly the end of the month, so it's time to publish my Christmas present finishes ready to link up with Allie's Christmas Countdown.

I've already shown you the 4 pencil rolls I made for the little ones, but I've also made another set of presents.  It's about bloody time I got on top of this Christmas business, it's October on Saturday!  I'm incredibly glad I don't have to worry about Halloween crafting, Halloween has no bearing on my life whatsoever, I'm English and proud!

I showed you a few posts ago the lovely DS fabric's I'd been sent from The Wee Pixie.  Well, I usually put new fabric on the shelf and admire it for a while, but I dived right into that little bundle!  Shopping with my mum on Saturday, I came across these lovely little tissue packs:

Oh yes, Cath Kidston and Emma Bridgewater to blow your nose on!  I wouldn't normally buy something like that, too expensive and a bit pointless, but I thought they'd make a nice gift in a tissue cosy.  I found a pattern on Bitty Bits and Pieces, though only after spending about an hour searching through my books and magazines as I KNOW I saw a pattern recently, but could I find it?

I just have to digress a moment for a quick rant.  I've been using Delicious to store my bookmarks for ages now and I've always loved it.  Now they've changed it, in the past day or so.  It's really annoying. The layout is horrible and hard to navigate, it doesn't autosuggest your tags anymore and I can't always remember what I called something, it goes back to your bookmark list, not the webpage you were on after saving a link and it keeps making me log in even though I'm already logged in!

Anyway, back to the tissue holders.  As I've ranted, I'll just get on with it.  Ta dah!

The bunnies were a tad confused about the outdoor photo shoot this morning.  I tried to take pictures last night, but alas, it's gone all dark again!  This morning was bright, but not in the house as we have that anti-peeking film stuff on the windows so I had to take it outside.  I gave them their breakfast, then started setting up but they didn't eat, they just sat there staring at me.

Yes, they look very odd in this photo, but it was the only way I could show you the linings, by pushing the corners in.

And here they are with the tissues in.  I haven't taken them out of the wrappers as they get all gooey and dirty.  Hopefully not sitting on a shelf in my craft room, but you never know.

So, September, 7 presents made, 5 gazillion to go!  October had better be more productive!

A short essay on why my left hand is now a claw

Afternoon ladies.  Do you want to start with the short essay and then move on to my usual random nonsense?  OK, we'll do that then.  I've been stitching.  Remember this?:

Well now it looks like this:

As you can see, I've worked on this A LOT this week, despite being out most of the evenings last week.  I even stayed up late on Friday night after Mr CA had gone to bed and stitched some more whilst watching Big Love.  I'm at that point where I want to see it finished now, but I don't know if my poor claw can take any more! 

That's it for the short essay - a very short essay, especially for me.  I'll tell you about my day instead.  I woke up at 11:30, I could sleep for England and I hate getting out of bed.  I finished The Help the other day and I'm now reading Girl in Translation, so I read that in bed with some coffee, after running downstairs to feed the poor buns who thought they'd been left to starve.  Usually the first thing I do on a Sunday, after lying in bed for a bit reading of course, is to clean out the bunnies, but it was pissing it down so I thought I'd go and sew for a bit first.

Now, my mum is the biggest ruiner of surprise birthday presents I've ever known.  I think of things to make her and then she asks me to make them for her!  How unfair is that?  The latest was yesterday.  We'd gone out to Newark for a day's charity shop shopping and lunch.  At lunch she pulled out her little purse where she keeps pain meds.  She's had it forever, I remember it being her make up bag when I was little.  Then she said, "Can you make me a new one of these?"  Well guess what I'd already decided to make her for her birthday? 

So today, I did.

A little zipper pouch made from some Michael Miller fabric, and lined with what might also be Michael Miller fabric, I'm not sure as it was a fat quarter without a selvage, but it matches perfectly. 

I didn't do so well with the ends of the zipper, though I'm not sure why as I did it the same way I've done before with the little shoulder pads.  I was really proud of this as I did it without instructions.  OK, so you're all thinking "so what, it's a bloody zipper pouch, not the splitting of the atom", but it's the first time I've made one without instructions and I didn't mess it up at all!  I shameless stole an idea from Sandra and added a beaded charm.

I had loads of trouble with that bloody split ring on there.  How do you open those things?  It gave me no end of trouble and scored a line down my fingernail. 

Mum keeps a post it note pad in the little purse with her pills to write down the times she took them, so I thought a fancy little post it holder would be spot on.  Again, I made this up from scratch and the only problem I had was the damn poppers.  I've even bought a special popper setting pliers type affair and it still gave me trouble!

That's the front and the picture below is of it opened, with a used post it pad inside - I will buy her a new one!

By this time I was hungry, it was about 2pm and I hadn't eaten, so I came downstairs, heated up the fruit crumble dad made me in the week and ate it with some cream.  Oh yes, I'm a real health freak!  I saw the rain had stopped so out I went to clean out the buns.  I started with Tiff and Harry and no sooner had I emptied out all the poo and straw and chewed up bits of toilet roll holder, than the heavens opened.  I couldn't finish filling the hutch as the bag of sawdust would get wet and soggy so I retreated inside, taking the buns with me.  They don't like inside much as they don't like my laminate floors.

They did a lot of hiding under the table, and some cautious hopping around, doing the funny extend-the-head-bob-it-up-and-down thing that other bunny mums will recognise.

Tiff did her hang-dog look to let me know that she wasn't pleased that I was being so mean to her!!  On the upside, I got cuddles and strokes with Harry which is a very rare occurance which only usually happens at the vets as he was mistreated with his previous family and is still very nervous of people.  Sorry for the blurry pictures, they would insist on moving when I was taking pictures!

In other news, I got a wonderful parcel from The Wee Pixie.  Her friend had been to America and bought back a yard of 12 different DS fabrics from Joann's.  The lovely Pixie had generously offered fat quarter bundles to the first 3 people to reply and I was lucky enough to be having a bored moment at work and flicking through Flickr!  Thanks Pixie, love 'em.  Want to see?

Oh sorry, the picture wont load.  Blogger denies it's there even though I can see it.  Ah well, I assure you they are gorgeous and you'll see them in some projects soon. 

On that note, I'm off.  I think I might go and do some sewing as although it's half 6, it feels like lunchtime to me!

An order!! And I've been naughty...

I got a query through my Folksy shop last week.  A lovely customer had seen the peach coasters I have in there and asked if I did blue.  I have some aqua coasters, but she wanted a darker blue.  I took photos of my blue scraps and she chose the 8 prints she wanted.  I went straight upstairs and go sewing!

My sewing machine played up half way through the quilting, suddenly deciding I wasn't happy with the tension I'd chosen and making the stitches incredibly loose.  Choice words were said and the beast was manipulated back into submission.

I wanted to add a little extra, so I whipped up a lavendar heart using some of the same fabrics.

She's left me a message to say she got the coasters and is very happy with them.  I was so nervous waiting for her feedback!  I know it's crazy to be excited about my 3rd sale, some people have more than that in an hour, but I'm so chuffed!

I've also been doing some reverse-selling (that's buying by the way!).  I've been doing daily surveys about my television viewing.  Each time you do one, you get entered in a drawer and all of a sudden I won 3 which translated into Amazon vouchers.  Well, I was on Amazon immediately!  This is what I got:

         

About 3 minutes after I placed my order, I remembered I wanted a Hardanger book.  They are all quite expensive, so when I saw this book on an auction...

I decided to give it a go.  I've never auctioned before, I always go for the Buy It Now option as I'm very impatient and usually when I shop, I know what I want and I want it now!  This time my more relaxed attitude paid off.  I won the auction and only paid a couple of quid.  I'm now bidding on a Bliss FQ set... ooops, what have I started!

With the Amazon order, I also had to get the novel on the left below, The Help.  It's been all over Blogland, people saying it's amazing and you know what?  It is.  I love it.  I haven't finished it yet, but I find it hard to put down.

  

The book on the right was a giveaway win courtesy of the magazine Handmade Living, such a lovely surprise!

I'm writing this post on Thursday, it's 5:20 and I should be putting millions of boring numbers into a boring spreadsheet but I clearly can't be arsed.  Instead, I'm having a quick blog trawl, then I'm off home to read the latest issue of Cross Stitcher which I've been holding off on buying as I didn't know which issue my subscription started with and it only occured to me to check yesterday!

Oh, in other news.  Some cheeky bugger has stolen our compost bin.  It's a council one and we put it out weekly with the wheelie bin - it's for food waste only.  Our wheelie bins are always being stolen.  I emailed the council and asked for a replacement and they told me I had to pay £10 unless I'm on benefits (which I'm not)!  Cheeky sods!  How can they charge me for something someone has stolen?  And if I pay to replace it, who says they wont steal it again.  And no, I'm not keeping my dustbins in the house out of the way of thieves!  Damn council, profiting from my misery.  Sorry environment, from now on, my food scraps will be landfill.

Fancy packaging and a small rant (just a small one)

So, what do you want first?  The rant or the fancy packaging?  Neither?  OK, well here's the birthday card I made for my goddaughter.  She immediately tried to peel off the fairy when she saw it!

Now can I rant?  Please?  Well I'm going to anyway.  You know what bugs me?  Vintage.  Or rather "vintage".  I saw a pin on Pinterest today.  It was a little card suitcase filled with knitting and sewing supplies.  I have one, it was free with a magazine subscription (can't remember which one).  It had been tagged "vintage suitcase repurposed".  It's not bloody vintage!  It's brand spanking new!  Nor is it repurposed, it was made for that very purpose.  Do people just want things to be vintage?  It's the same with "vintage sheets".  I bought a "vintage sheet".  For all I know, the previous owner bought it 2 weeks ago, decided they didn't like it and took it to the charity shop.  How can you possible know that a sheet is "vintage"?  Is it just a new way of saying "second-hand"?  Does this bug anyone else, or is it just me?  Actually, whilst I'm on the subject, I also don't believe that vintage is always better than modern.  Some vintage things are plain ugly.  Some modern things are beautiful.  Vintage doesn't necessarily equal pretty.

Which brings me neatly on to my "vintage" packaging!  I can't bear to throw away jiffy bags that I receive things in.  It seems like such a waste.  In the past I've reused them by sticking a sheet of paper over the address label and stamp, but that looks messy.  It suddenly occurred to me that I could put some more of that massive pile of scrapbooking paper I have to good use.  I simply used a couple of sheets to cover jiffy bags, added a label with a little stamped row of bunnies at the bottom and ta-dah!  Brand new packaging.

A couple of strips of double sided tape to seal it and the recipients should be none the wiser!

This one didn't get posted with the hat on, it's to cover up the address label!  I know the ones I sent to the UK arrived intact, if you are one of the other 2 recipients and yours doesn't arrive intact, please let me know!

I haven't forgotten that I promised a couple of you a gift bag tutorial - using more of that scrapbook paper!  It will happen, but it has to be done at the weekend when there is a little bit of natural light.

A massive thanks for all your lovely comments on my depressing post.  I am making my way through and replying but it's a big job so please don't be angry that I haven't replied just yet - I will.  I am feeling a lot better.  

Oh, before I go, just a quick note on the aforementioned Pinterest, if you want to have a look at my boards, I can be found here.  If you don't want to follow me, I won't come and beat you up, but I might well like to follow you!  If you haven't already given me your Pinterest link, please do, I'm addicted!

Edited to add: Not on pinterest but want to be?  I can send you an invite so you don't have to wait!  Just let me know your email address.

Roll up, Roll up, Come see the sarcasm...

Morning people.  I'm feeling a little better this morning and I've decided I'm going to "fake it til I feel it"!  First of all, a massive thank you for the wonderful comments on my post yesterday.  It's great to know that so many people care and I appreciate each and every one of you.  I will be emailing you back, but maybe not til later as I get a bit emotional and I don't want to cry at work (again!). 

So, let's get to some sewing!  This isn't from the weekend, it's from during my two weeks off from work.  I've been eyeing up pencil rolls across the internet and knew I wanted to make one for my goddaughter.  I discovered a fab pencil roll in Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts (so this is one for my Craft Book Challenge) and thought, "hmmm, what could be more stressful than making a pencil roll which involves tiny piecing?  I know!  Making four!".  So four it was, one for my goddaughter, one for my friend's son and one each for my cousin's two boys.

I found some bargain packs of coloured pencils in The Range, 30 for £1.  The patterns called for 24 pencils, so I culled some of the shades, then dug through my scraps to find appropriate coloured strips.  The strips were supposed to be 11" long, but the majority of my "scraps" are from layer cakes, so I went for 10" scraps.  The pencils in the picture in the book sat in the pockets with quite a bit of room above them and I didn't think that was necessary.

4 sets of 24 1 and a half inch strips all sewn up.  I don't want to tell you how long this took, you'd be ashamed of me!  It was all sewn whilst watching Bargain Hunt, Cash in the Attic and Location, Location, Location!  Classic daytime fodder.  Oh, and a bit of Jeremy Kyle too, my secret day-off-work-guilty-pleasure.  For you non-Brits/non-day-time TV watchers - Bargain Hunt and Cash in the Attic are both programmes about antiques and selling them at auction.  I have no interest in antiques, but it's compelling viewing.  Location, Location, Location is about buying houses, though they are all about 6 years old.  Jeremy Kyle is the Brit version of Jerry Springer, and much, much tamer.

Rebecca's was finished first.  This is a piece of canvas fabric given to me by my lovely mum.

Here's a close up of one end so you can see the patchwork.  I couldn't match the pencils exactly, but I thought they were near enough.

And the other end with the ribbon type peeking out.

All rolled up!

It kind of looks like one of those pictures of a rolled up finished quilt.  Maybe I could pass it off as being a quilt?

This is for one of the boys.  I didn't quilt the same as the book said to quilt.  The instructions said to go up one of the seam lines, all the way to the top, turn 90 degrees, go across the top and down the next seam line.  I did intend to do this, but at the bottom edge there are so many layers - outer fabric + interfacing, pocket fabric + interfacing + lining, patchwork piece - and remember, there's too layers of each of these!  My walking foot just wouldn't walk along it and the machine was making funny noises.  I just quilted up each pocket to the top and left it like that.

I was amazed how little boy-appropriate fabric I have.  I really struggled to find some pieces that would work.  I think this one is OK for a boy?

This looks brown, but is actualy khaki.  And the other spotty one that looks black is actually navy blue.  I'm not sure what was up with my camera!  There are some floral prints on the insides of the boy's rolls, but then there is pink too and they're all under 5 so I don't think they'll care.

Here they all are together.  I took this picture, then promptly slung them into my Christmas Present box!

I didn't have any major mishaps or problems at all.  I didn't sew anything on upside down or back to front.  I did stab myself with a pin, but that's pretty poor as far as disaster stories go.  I'm very sorry if I've disappointed anyone with my competence in this project!  If it's any consolation, it did take me hours and hours and hours, about 3 days in all!

Not my usual chirpy post - with hats

I don't usually write about personal stuff on my blog, and I'm not convinced that I'm going to start now, but I half think it might make me feel better.  I don't have much to show you, but I have got one or two photos which I thought I'd intersperse between my tale of woe! 

This is my progress so far on Mackintosh.  The magazine says it has a total stitching time of 12 hours.  12 hours my arse!  Maybe with a team of super-fast stitchers!  I've still got a long way to go and I've put in more than 12 hours already.

So, that tale of woe.  Well there isn't really one.  Nothing has happened, there's nothing wrong.  I'm just... down.  Blue.  Call it what you will.  I was fine on Friday but when I woke up on Saturday the world wasn't right.  For no reason.

The thing is, and I wasn't going to tell you this.  I struggled with myself about it but in the end I realised that it's not a secret with my "real life" friends, so why should it be a secret with my online friends who I may not have met, but I count some of you as real friends.  Also, there's a lot of stigma attached and a certain amount of shame, yet this is the 21st century, it's time we faced up to it.

So that thing.  7 years ago I was diagnosed with clinical depression.  Not because of some terrible event in my life - I've been very lucky, but because of a chemical imbalance in my brain. For years it was terrible.  I was on meds but they didn't do the trick.  Then last year I changed my meds to see if it would help with the migraines.  It didn't make a blind bit of difference to that, but it did help with the dreaded D word. 

 So most of the time I'm OK.  Happy even.  But sometimes, times like yesterday, I just want to crawl under a rock and die.  For no bloody reason.  I'm not ill, nor are my loved ones.  I have a wonderful family, gorgeous husband, my own house and car (even if it is a clapped out Focus, I love it), 4 lovely bunnies, a good job and tons of friends.  I have my crafting.  So now I feel guilty.  There are so many people out there suffering, really suffering, yet I feel like this.  For no bloody reason.

 Yesterday was a bad day.  I did nothing.  I didn't sew despite having a sewing list as long as my arm, which isn't very long as I'm a short-arse.  So as long as a normal person's arm.  And then I felt guilty about not sewing.  Today is a little better, though I still can't sew and I'm paralysed with a stupid fear I may never sew again. 

But I have been crocheting hats for the Big Knit.  30 so far, which might sound great, but it's only £7.50 for Age Concern UK.  Deadline is 14th October so I'm hoping I can add to this little gathering of tiny pom-pom hats. 

Thanks for reading.  Normal service will be resumed in my next post.