Tree-mendous

I thought you would like to see our Easter Tree.

We have never made one of these before and I thought it would be fun.

Of course, ours is decorated with the inevitable crochet. I made the little eggs and the flowers to go on it. I bought Benjamin some bunny and chick kits from Tesco and he made those.

But, I have to say, the bit that really makes it for me is the fact that I put the twig in water when I cut it and all the leaves have come out on it.

Unfortunately, despite being out in water, the leaves didn't come out on the ones I made for work.

They are decorated totally differently, although I have used some crocheted eggs. I used plastic eggs which the residents decorated and were later filled with choccy, tissue flowers and lots of ribbon.

The photo isn't very good either, it was taken with a flash in the corner of the room so the shadows on the make it look odd.

Oh, and you really don't want to know how much I have just spent on new stamps!!!!!

Don't you just love eBay?

That Slippery Slope - Part 2

I really have to say a big "Thank You" to all those who have encouraged me in my spending!!!!!

I know there are certain people who wouldn't agree with you! LOL

However, I have also been earning it!

Here is a photo of an order fresh off the hook. Yes, the background is kitchen roll as it is still on the blocking board after taking the pins out.

Now I am really curious as to what she is going to do with it all!

I am already on Etsy and Folksy so, before I go further with this and spend even more time on the puter, I would like to hear some people opinions.

Easter Freebies

Just a quickie!

I don't know how many of you out there crochet but I have a few free Easter patterns on my site - Rainbow Valley.

There are these cute little bunnies.

These just as cute little Chicks.

And these really easy to make Eggs. Have Fun!

Do Trolls have Tails?

Is it that long since I blogged???????

So much has happened this last month.

The good news is that Mark has found a new job. It isn't as much money but it is something he will enjoy doing and he can walk to work which will save around £1500 a year! After his first week he is in a much better mood than he has been in a long time and its really great to see him back to his old self.

Of course, that now means that any money I have spare at the end of the month after the food shopping is all mine!!!!!! I have been looking at cameras again.

I quite like the Ixus 970 or 80. Basically the 970 has better macro and zoom capabilities but is about £60 more. Its a hard decision!!!!

And, after Saturday I am going to have to wait even longer for it. I think I may have got myself on a very slippery slope yesterday. Mark went shooting for the first time in ages so I cadged a lift to Huntingdon. I needed some "Happy Easter" peel offs for work. I got them, I also got a couple of other things for the cards we are making.

The Market stall didn't have what I wanted but they were selling some stamps cheap. I resisted. Stamping is something I haven't yet got into. And I don't have any ink. It was going to work out expensive to buy ink and stamps for work.

However, there were a lot of sales around!!!!! Colemans were selling peel offs at 10 for £3, so I just had to get some (especially as I was rather shocked last week to realise that I didn't have a gold "Happy Birthday" for a card I was making). However, I knew my peel off folder was full so I only got one lot. Grafton Projects were having a closing down sale. They are going online instead. They had peel off folders there. They also had a box of 20 assorted small size inks reduced to £4.99.

You have guessed it! I got both of them then went back to the market and got some stamps then went back to Colemans for more stickers!!!! Anyway, now I have 20 inks and 4 stamps and an extra filder of peel-offs! Might have a play later.

And later, after encouragement from Mark, I went to Argos and bought two games for the Wii. Board games (for me) and Brain Training (for him). They were selling them any two for £30.

I think the camera might have to wait for another month unless I sell an extortionate amount of crochet over the next month!

These Fellas might help! I am currently working on a new set of puppets - Fantasy. I have a Dragon and Unicorn and wanted something else to go with it. I decided on a Troll. This was the first draft. I used some pictures I found online. I wasn't entirely happy with him. Hands and feet too big for a start.

Of course, I couldn't make him exactly the same. Apart from the copyright issue, the face would have been too flat to get your hand in. And what point is a puppet you can't get your hand in? So, do trolls have tails?

One of those perfect photo moments

Have you ever spent ages trying to capture the perfect photo of something only to never be quite satisfied with the results?

Then, months later and quite unexpectedly, you see what you were looking for and snap it quick not expecting great results because you haven't had time to adjust the settings on the camera properly.

However, the results are quite stunning and more than you had imagined.

I spent a lot of last summer chasing bees around the garden. I have posted some of the results on here. Although I was quite pleased with many of the photos, they were never quite what I wanted.

Mark and I want some pictures for the bathroom wall. He wants some of those funny poster type ones, I didn't.

Finally we agreed that we were going to use some of my photos. He had seen some that he liked online so, knowing the sort of thing he likes and armed with my new macro lens, I proceeded to try to take some.

Nothing has been quite right.

Then, yesterday, I was out with one of the residents having a look around the local market before we went for a cuppa. There, snuggled inside a daffodil, was a bee. As it happened, I had my camera with me and stopped to snap it. The wind was blowing a little so I set it quickly to a fast shutter speed as I didn't have time to play around with the setting properly. The wind started blowing harder and the bee started crawling about.

I was convinced they wouldn't be much good and was expecting camera shake. But when I got home and looked at them on the screen, this is what I saw!

I have no doubt that it is far from a perfect picture technically but I don't care. It brings a big grin to my face when I look at it because I am so pleased with it.

March Calendar

I know, I was really bad last month and didn't do one.

So I hope this months makes up for it - especially as I waited all day for the sun to come out long enough to make the crocuses open. But it didn't. And it was my birthday! I have decided to be 27. I figured that nobody believes 21 any more so I might as well pick a number I like and stick to it.

I had some snowdrops from Benjamin, which was why I was out in the "garden". I also had some cash so bought some bulbs while I was out shopping. I planted them all yesterday afternoon.

I had some flowers from Mark. He found a bunch with bright purple ones in. He knows its my favourite colour. When I opened them to put them on the vase, all the stems were purple as well, which led to a discussion about dyed flowers and the way it was done.

Of course, then we had to experiment and have put one of the white flowers in a glass of water with blue ink in it. The ink keeps disappearing though so I don't think it is the best thing for the job.

I might just have to splash out on some food colouring.

Its (nearly) Easter

Yes, I know, I have been a bad blogger.

But sometimes real life takes over and knocks you off your feet.

Just as I was trying to get myself back on track after Christmas, I get an email from Lycos that they are closing all their sites on February 15th. Mine would have to be with them, wouldn't it?

This isn't the major problem it would have been this time last year. Of course, all my work is on my puter so I don't need to save anything from them. And, due to other reasons, I set up a domain name last summer along with some graphics in Photobucket for the buttons. All this meant was I would have to find a new host for my site then forward the the domain name to it. Quite simple really.

Or so you would think!

My site used to be with Pipex, our ISP. I moved it all because their server was constantly being hacked and I was constantly getting people telling me my site was full of viruses. Luckily, Pipex seem to have got their act together and, with the time constraints I had, it seemed the simplest option to go back to them. Especially as there are no ads there because we pay for the webspace as part of our package.

Mind you, I didn't think of all the other things, like the loads of links to individual pages scattered around the net. And the blog roll. I made a bit of a mess moving that over so, if yours doesn't work, please go and try again.

Then Mark quits his job!!!!!

It was for medical reasons. Working with all the cement and plaster all the time has made his eczema flare. And this isn't like any eczema I have see before. It is quite ferocious.

And, again, the question of "Can we really afford the internet?" comes up.

There have been good things going on! I sold a Valentine choker at the Florists. And I had an order for a whole load of bits from Nicola at Truly Scrumptious. And I have been selling quite a few patterns recently.

But this is what I have been working on more recently. These are quite old patterns but, as I am making a pile to (hopefully) sell for Easter, I thought I would give it a little overhaul. The way I write them now has evolved a lot since I wrote this one.

The heads, wings and feet are all made in one piece - apart from the eyes which you sew on afterwards - which gives it all a softer look. The Easter Baskets pattern is available for sale on Rainbow Valley. The Eggs are made from all the ends of the balls so I don't waste a single little bit.

And they are a free pattern on Rainbow Valley. I am going to list the baskets on Etsy tomorrow, so I may even sell a few through there. And the Florist wants some for her Easter window. This might call for a shopping trip!

Out with the old.......

........In with the new.

I thought I would something a little different for the calendar this month.

Especially as I was in Cardiff for a couple of days visiting my parents.

So here we have a close up of the gorgeous brick work on the Pierhead Building at Cardiff Bay. This stunning brick and terracotta building facing the Cardiff Docks was opened in 1897 as the headquarters of the Cardiff Railway Company (formerly the Bute Docks Company).

I was very disappointed not to get a lot more photos than I did that day. We walked from Penarth to Cardiff across the barrage.

The problem was that it was funny light and the camera didn't like the auto setting.

The other problem was that it was so cold that my fingers were getting numb and I couldn't feel the buttons to set the camera myself.

I did get a few though. This one is the Pierhead Building with the Wales Millennium Centre in the background. It is one of the most unique and lively performing arts centre in Europe, attracting over 1.5 million visitors since it opened.

The building was designed by the Percy Thomas Partnership architects, construction starting in March 2002. Thirty-three months later - in November 2004 - the theatre and education complex was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The roof looks like copper but it is, in fact, rose coloured stainless steel.

There you go, another load of useless information! Aren't you glad you came for a visit?

Happy New Year

I know it isn't quite the New Year yet but I have made a New Year pressie for you all!

As I had a lot of positive response from the one I did last year, I have made another downloadable calendar. Making the calender was actually the easy part, printing it off was another matter!!!!! My A3 printer has decided to throw a temper tantrum and won't print properly. I ended up with lots of lines through the pictures - when there was any coloured ink coming out at all!

So, I am now in the middle of using my photo printer to reprint all the photos on A4 and am having to stick them on to the A3 sheets with the calendar bit printed on.

Another problem is going to be putting it together. Last year I borrowed a friends Bind-It-All. What a wonderful machine! This year I don't have access to it so am going to have to improvise yet again.

I think ring binder punch and lots of ribbon may be in order here.

I will let you know how I get on.

And, as I am now working, I may even treat myself to a BIA this year.

In the mean time, enjoy the calendar. I have uploaded it as a pdf so you can print it off as A3 or A4 as required.

If you download it or add a link to it on your blog or site, please leave me a comment to let me know.

Its me again!

This time my crocheted Tree Angels are the free project on the Advent Calender - so go and take a look! And if you haven't seen what else is on offer, why not????? There are loads of lovely free projects to choose from.

I am running very late again. Every year I promise myself I am going to get those cards done early. Every year I don't.

And this year is worse than usual. I haven't even made enough so need to get on with them!

But, I am going to cheat a little. I usually make far too many and have a very nice little stash of cards bulding up. Of course, I can't normally use them as I sent them to everybody last year.

However, this year both Mark and I have new jobs. This means I can use up some of the previous years cards.

Less for me to make and some space in the filing cabinet all in one go!

What a result.

I forgot to tell you.........

That I uploaded the December desktop calender last week.

Yes, I know it was a bit late but I hadn't got around to finding a suitable picture.

But then we had this really hard frost and I got this one!

Using the flash made the frost sparkle - just right for Christmas.

Hope you enjoy it!

Window No.8

Its me again! I hope you enjoy this Crocheted Bow. I made it for Scrapbooking. It didn't occur to me to use it for Christmas Parcels!

Window No. 2

Is me! I told you it would be. You can make these Lucky Pennies into Flowers or Stars.

I did originally intend to make a new one every Christmas for Benjamin but......... There is still time to catch up.

Its December!

Here is another quilted photo frame. This one is Sunflowers and Ladybirds. I have used the "Sun" with a big button to make the Sunflower and the "Pansy" leaves with added stalks to make the leaves. The stem is a crocheted cord that is used for Romanian Lace.

Baby Boy

Wow! A post two days running!!!!

But I finished this last night and just couldn't wait to share it. And, as it is a boy frame, I have had no complaints about using my sons photo. I made the "baby boy" writing with a 1.50mm hook, rather than the 2.00mm hook the pattern says. It means it came out just a little smaller buts fits so much better on the frame.

I took photos of some of the others as well and, provided things go to plan, I will blog about them later and set them up to post tomorrow. I want to make sure I use that facility right because I may need it for another project later.

Christmas Frames

I have finished the Christmas Frames.

I have decorated the tree with ribbon, beads and bells so that it tinkles. This is the landscape version - done in gold trimmings. The Angel and the pressies are from my Christmas Earrings pattern. The mistletoe is something I designed just for these and will be adding to my site as a free pattern asap.

This is the portrait version, all decorated with silver trimmings. The star is from my Christmas Earrings pattern. However, you can use the free one on my site just as effectively.