My addiction continues ...

I know I already have plenty of tea cosies but as I love making them I decided that a few more would be made to sell.  Unfortunately by the time this one was finished I had well and truly fallen in love with it so it will have to be added to my personal collection!!  I haven't made a solid coloured cosy for ages so it felt fresh and new for me.  I spent a while looking for a new rose pattern as I was never that thrilled with others I'd tried over recent months.  I found this one here and I love it!!  It makes such a pretty flower with a gradual increase in petal size.  I used a 2.5mm hook and it still made a flower about 6cm across.  So pretty that I had to make an extra one to use as a brooch.  Gorgeous!

Nice and simple, but lovely from every angle!

I've had it sitting on my shelf for the last few days trying to decide if I could bear to pop it into my shop.  The answer is most definitely no!  I'll just have to make some more and be firm in my decision to sell them (yeah good luck with that I hear myself saying!!).  I'm just finishing off some red roses to add to another cosy that is almost identical to this which is for a friend as a housewarming pressie.  Such fun!

Easter treats were made for kindy and school teachers.  Any excuse for my small folk to 'taste test' the choccies!

I love these wee chicks.  I can remember keeping one for years and years when I was smaller because it was so cute.

I had a super exciting morning this week when I got home and spotted a parcel in my letterbox!  I got all squeely when I saw the stamp and couldn't wait to race inside and open it.  I was so lucky recently to win a fabulous giveaway at Karen's gorgeous blog!!  If you haven't discovered her beautiful blog you must whiz over there immediately!  Gorgeous crochet, gorgeous quilting and always full of colour and inspiration.

 Inside was another wrapped package ....

Wow, wow, wow - look at all these stunning treasures Karen sent!!!  A beautiful, beautiful cushion cover, a notebook with a gorgeous cover, a stunning heart to hang on my wall, and a pretty tissue holder!!  I could hardly believe my eyes.  I have admired her lovely quilting work, now I'm the lucky owner of some lovely pieces - yippee.

Thank you so much Karen - it truly made my week!  I am just in the process of painting and redecorating our spare room (my craft room) and this cushion cover is going to go perfectly in there (so is the heart for that matter)!

In recent posts I've mentioned how weird our weather has been, freezing one day and lovely the next.  We were forecast to have rotten weather over this long Easter weekend but now the sun has decided to come out and we're apparently in for some nice weather.  So no excuse not to weed my vege garden and get the winter plants in.  These pics were taken earlier in the week on a chilly but gorgeously still morning.  We were racing to swimming lessons but I had to pull the car over and get a few quick pics.  Too pretty to ignore.  This is just at the bottom our 'our hill'.  I love that wherever you live in Wellington, you're never very far from the water.

Remember a few weeks ago I showed you this picture of our monarch caterpillar and his progress to a cocoon?

Well the poor we fella didn't do so well in a recent storm and he got completely blown of his perch.  I found him amongst the grass and brought him inside to our laundry.  He's been lazing in a bowl on the windowsill for a few weeks now, then this morning I spotted that he had changed from green to see-through so I rushed him into the kitchen so I could keep an eye on him.  Within no time at all he had started to pop out of his little house.

The whole family took him outside, placed him on the table and sat and watched.  By whole family I mean Bella the cat too, but we soon realised that was not a good idea in case she decided to eat him so inside she went!  The poor wee guy was really struggling and we finally figured it was because he wasn't in his natural upright, hanging position.

So my husband played midwife, gently holding the top while Mr 7 had his hand ready to catch him if need be.

 Out he came ...

... straight up for a rest on hubby's hand.   We thought he should probably rest on something more leafy so we found him a new spot in the garden.

And here he is in all his glory - the very first time his wings opened.  I am chuffed to bits that we were here to see it all and that he didn't hatch in the laundry all on his own!

That's me for another week.   Have a wonderful Easter everyone!  It's the school holidays here now for the next two weeks but hopefully I'll see you again soon.

Leah
xxxx

Making me happy this week is ...

It's been a very busy week, but lots of things have put a huge smile on my face amongst all the boring chores.  The first thing that has really made me happy is that after only one week of having my online store up and running, I've sold three items!!  I am beyond excited and can't wait to add a few more things over the next week or so to see how they go.  So far I have sold one tea cosy and two pairs of earrings.  One of which is winging its way to Edinburgh which is fabulous.  The thought of my earrings being worn on the other side of the world is really fantastic!  As my tea cosy addiction grows, I had to make another one to add to the store.  

Bright, cheerful and deliciously stripy.  I love making these, probably because they are quick and you get instant gratification.  I do still have that feeling of 'is it perfect enough to sell' with anything I make.  But I figure if I've done the best that I can do and someone still likes it then that's good enough isn't it?  I'm sure I'm not alone in having these feelings.  Do you feel the same?  

Over the last week these two lovely books arrived in my letterbox.  They were birthday gifts that had come from overseas so took a bit longer to arrive.  I keep flicking through them both and thinking of all the things I want to make.  I'm seeing a few uninterrupted late nights ahead of me so I can get my hook out and have a go at a few patterns.

Miss 4 was invited to a birthday party at the weekend and I had to share some of the pictures with you.  It was amazing - I can't think of any other way to describe it!  This was the craft table all set up beautifully, ready for the children to get creative.  The most fantastically clever Diane was the craft tutor at the party, she had presented everything in the most stunning way, right down to the glue being in a pretty floral cupcake papers!!  I mean, just look at the beautiful bags that contained bits and pieces for the children to take home to make another project - just gorgeous.

Beautiful fabric hearts were folded and hand stitched by all the little ones, then decorated with buttons, sparkly beads and pearls.  When the children went and ate all their pink party food, Diane attached their creations to a headband ready for them to collect at the end of the party.

Here is what my wee girl made!  I think it's absolutely beautiful and she has worn it every day since, getting compliments from everyone she meets.  What a fantastic idea for a party.  It seriously took all my self control to not dive in and join them!!

It's monarch butterfly season and we came home from kindy last week with a small swan plant complete with caterpillars.  They promptly stripped the plant of all its leaves within 24 hours.  We had an emergency dash to the garden centre to ensure they didn't starve and now we have 8 caterpillars of varying sizes happily munching away in the garden.  I'm not too sure how long it will be before they go into a cocoon but we keep checking on them every morning and again in the afternoon.

A bit of caterpillar acrobatics going on!  Boy, they can eat.

My small folk love the bunting I made recently and while we were outside doing a spot of pavement art, we decided the garage could do with a bit of bunting!  I think tonight we'll have to add a chalk welcome mat to the path outside our gate - it looks so sweet.

I just had to add this before I go.  My local village chocolate shop has one a national competition for these chocolates, so it was the perfect excuse to pop in and try them.  Sea Salt Caramels - oh wow.  They are quite possibly the most delicious chocolate I've ever tried.  There were ten of these but somehow three of them disappeared on the short drive home.  Weird how that happens!  I think I may need to pop in again today.  The diet will have to start tomorrow!

Have a fabulous week!  See you again soon.
Leah
xxxx

The house is quiet ....

School went back yesterday after the summer holidays.  So after 8 weeks or so of kids running around and lots of noise, the house seems very quiet today!  Amongst all the chaos of getting ready for school, I've managed a few makes this week.  I made this wee tea cosy on Sunday night and stayed up too late finishing in - but thankfully Monday was a public holiday so being a bit tired was ok!

It was inspired by a visit to my in-laws on Sunday as their garden is amazing just now and full of colour.  So a flowery tea cosy it had to be!

It's a cutie from all angles.  I even found the perfect coloured flower button to use too. 

Darling Bella decided that while it was being blocked on a folded up towel, that it would make a perfect place to snooze.  It looked so funny - as if she was minding the cosy!!  My very own crochet bodyguard.

I came across the most amazing recipe during the week that intrigued me so I had to give it a go.  It was on a very random blog hop that I stumbled across it but I can't remember where the initial link came from!  This recipe is fairly easy to make - it just required time really, not a lot of effort.  But boy oh boy it was worth it.  I couldn't wait to have a good old taste test.

So scones were made, dear friends were invited and pear butter was sampled.  The smell was amazing even before it was tasted.  I love this scone picture - it looks as if it has a wee face and is smiling!!!  Or is it just me going mad?

I also had a go at making some earrings with some new jewellery bits and pieces I bought here.  I am absolutely thrilled with these and talk about easy to make.  The hardest bit it deciding on what image you want to pop in the middle.  I have a pile of little snips from magazines that I have started to keep.  These were from a picture of some china I love.  I lost one of my favourite pairs of earrings outside the hairdressers last week, so I'm pleased to have some new favourites to replace them.

These are another pair - using a less matchy but same style image.  Love them!  I have a few to make for friends now but once they are done I'm thinking about starting a little shop on Felt which is a gorgeous website for handmade goods.  Perhaps tea cosies and jewellery?  I love making things and it would be fabulous to sell some instead of keeping everything for myself!

Yesterday was my treasure shopping morning with Miss 4 and I was lucky to come across this stunning book.  It's a children's book written about historic periods but the story is told through 4 different dolls houses.  It is beautiful!  Each dolls house is a pop-up so you can see inside.  Then it has pages and pages of lift up secret flaps or letters in envelopes to unfold.  I can't wait to sit down and read it with my children - it's truly gorgeous and only $6.  I can't believe what a bargain this was and I'll treasure it forever.

 The front doors open and you can peek in all the windows.

 Secret notes are dotted throughout.  The images are beautiful.

Lots of tactile treats to discover.

Before I go, I just wanted to say a big welcome to my new followers!  It's great to have you here and it absolutely makes my day whenever I get a new comment.  All the lovely birthday wishes I received last week were just amazing - thank you.

Also - I have received some lovely blog awards this week from Rebecca, Barbina and Shelley.  Thank you so much ladies - they absolutely made my day!!

Have a fabulous week.  See you again soon.  I'm hoping to have some really special pics to share with you next week.

Leah
xxxx

A blast from the past!

We are well overdue for a good Spring clean so this weekend we decided to deal with the piles of boxes we have in our attic, before our ceiling collapsed under the pressure! Amongst all the junk were two boxes marked 'toys' - one from my childhood and one from my husband's. It was so lovely to open them up and discover a box full of memories. I can remember getting this Knit Magic from a relative for Christmas when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I adored it and whipped up many tubey scarves with it! I gave one to my teacher Miss Drew and she genuinely seemed to love it. In hindsight I realise she was probably just a really good actress!! I never managed to make the delightful slippers as seen on the box, maybe when Miss 4 is a bit older she can have a go at it! This was probably where my crafty obsession started.

And as for this hat, well it's interesting...

I took a quick pic of this and then hid it away again as my two would probably destroy it in seconds. I still can't quite believe that after 30+ years, this tiny plastic set is still intact. I had to pop my crochet hook in there to show you how dinky everything is. There are little books in the bookshelf that come out, the drawers open and the radiogram cabinet (not a CD player in sight!) opens too. I absolutely loved this when I was little.

And then I came to a fabulous retro bag that my nana had made for me and inside was my beloved Daisy Doll. I never wanted a Barbie, I thought Daisy was the bees knees. She's looking like she's had one wine too many in this pic but don't you love the flared pants and platform shoes. You can tell what era she is from that's for sure!

Mr 7 was beside himself when he spotted this box amongst his Dad's treasures.

He just about burst when he opened it up to find all these old cars.

And then he got to the Lego box - oh wow talk about excited. I'm guessing that after school today I'm going to be helping build a rocket to go with the moonscape base.

I have been making progress with my ripple blanket and also the African flower blanket. But I am also trying to squeeze in a few more tea cosies for presents. While the small folk were having an early dinner yesterday I sat with them and made this little cutie. It's a tiny little teapot so it only took a wee while to make this cosy. I had to giggle, Miss 4 asked me if I was making a poncho for the teapot! She's kind of right really - it does pops right over the teapot's head!

So a Teapot Poncho it is!!

How gorgeous is this little skirt I found at the op shop for Miss 4? It's very full and so very girly.

And it's reversible! She whips it off and flips it over all day depending on her mood.

Well that's enough from me. I'm off to have a cuppa and a ridiculously delicious red velvet cupcake with a crazy amount of icing on it - mmm mmm. It's not a cake you hear much about in NZ but I was keen to try it out after hearing about this flavour on lots of US tv shows. Oh wow - amazing!!!

Have a lovely week everyone. I'm hoping to catch up on visiting your lovely blogs this week after a week of not feeling too flash. See you again soon.

Leah
xxxx