• sewing - swap - swaps

    Another scrappy swap

    I’m trying to collect a range of fabrics so I don’t just have Cath Kidston fabrics. With this is mind I recently signed up for a Scrappy Fabric swap over at Very Berry Handmade. I sent off  a pack of scraps to my partner Nikki (which I hope she liked) and received a little parcel from Teresa at A Time for Stitching. I love getting mail and this packet was no exception as it was stuffed full of lovely fabrics. Teresa also included some vintage buttons which will be great for my stash. My next project is a mug rug…

  • Cath Kidston - Christmas - crafts - gingerbread house - handmade - sewing - swap - swaps

    Christmas swapsies

    As part of my Day Zero challenge I’m aiming to take part in at least one swap a month. So in the run up to Christmas I signed up for a couple of Christmas swaps. First up was the Blogger’s Secret Santa organised by Leanne where I received a copy of Cath Kidston’s Sew! from Helen. It’s full of beautiful projects to make (some of which will probably end up as birthday and Christmas presents). I sent a Moleskine recipe journal to Domestic Goddesque. Then I joined up for the Secret Christmas Ornament Swap organised by Denise and I received…

  • Christmas - daddy - handmade - Recycled crafts - sewing - swaps - tutorial - upcycling

    Vintage blanket cushion

    We decided to go home for a few days! My husbands’ health is improving so much quicker than last time that we’ve decided to return home for a few days before Christmas. We miss being a threesome, miss our cats and doing our own thing although we are incredibly grateful to my mum for letting us stay with her. On Saturday we’ll be getting on the ferry and heading back to London. I am so excited as I’ll be able to attend the Julie Arkell workshop on Sunday too. Vintage blanket cushion Today I finished a cushion for my youngest…

  • baking - Day Zero - sewing - swaps

    Day Zero – Month One (October)

    It’s been 6 weeks since I started my Day Zero list and I’ve made good progress. I’ve found having a list of things I want to achieve helps me focus. Sewing/craft projects So far I have made Edward a beanbag, finished covering our nursing chair, made my sister a draught excluder, made Edward a Clothkits cushion and finished a felt gingerbread house. I’ve taken part in at least one swap a month (via the Secret Post Swap and Swapbot) and made vintage tags for swaps and parcels. Cooking/baking I’ve made a couple of soups from scratch, made meringues, baked a…

  • swaps

    Secret Post Swap

    I had seen lots of mentions of Heather’s Secret Post Swap in the blog world and as I love swapping  I decided to join in the fun. When partners were assigned I had a couple of weeks to cyber stalk my partner and find out what she likes. Cyber stalking felt very wrong but through reading her blog and tweets I managed to find out enough to buy some treats for her and her family. I spent a morning wrapping it up and took Edward for a walk to the post office to send the parcel on its way. I…

  • handmade - swaps - vintage

    Pincushion swap

    Today I received an exciting parcel from Megan at Maximum Rabbit Designs who was my partner in Claire’s Pincushion Swap. Megan likes buttons, felt and all things vintage as much as I do 🙂 The parcel was beautifully contained in a round box, decorated with button stamps and plenty of space for a photograph – no guesses for whose picture I will be putting in there! The pincushion has been made from vintage fabric embroidered with flowers. Megan also included some vintage buttons, threads and some of her ‘button’ cotton reel stamps. I can’t wait to try it out for…

  • handmade - NCT - pregnancy - swaps - week 37

    Spring colours swap

    Here’s the parcel of goodies I’ve prepared for my partner as part of the Spring colours swap on swap-bot.  We had to send 5 items in green, light blue and pink colours so I’ve chosen felt squares, stickers, buttons, beads and some handmade items too. I hope she likes them! We met up with our NCT ante-natal class for a delicious lunch at the Junction Tavern today. It was so nice to see everyone although it felt very strange telling them our baby will be born on Thursday. I still haven’t got my head round the fact I’m going to…

  • pregnancy - swaps - week 36

    Pincushion swap

    Claire is hosting a fun swap to make a pincushion  sent with a couple of small haberdashery style items. Make sure you sign up before the 14th March if you’re interested. I’ve already been planning what to make for my partner. We’ve had a fun weekend trying to get the house tidy in case of any news at our midwife and can appointments tomorrow. We went to John Lewis and finally ordered some fabric to be made (by my mum) into curtains for the nursery and ordered a tumble drier. We also went for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe…

  • NCT - pregnancy - swaps - week 36

    Easter craftyness

    Today was the second day of our NCT ante natal class. It was much better than last week and we discussed pain relief, how to wash a baby, how to change a baby’s nappy and how to put a baby to bed and how many layers to use. I especially liked the part where we split into two groups after lunch. We discussed what to pack in our hospital bags, leaking, cutting, tearing and whether we should purchase sieves and mirrors for childbirth, whilst the men discussed post natal depression. There was a great moment when one of the men…