Birds, beads, bells, buttons, bag and brooch

Thank you everyone for your encouraging and kind thoughts about my knackered knee. A part of me is relieved at the knowledge of the actual injury and a part of me is scared witless!! Never mind, the next step (sic) is my pre-op appointment but until then.......

What a miserable and soggy weekend? Did you have one of those too? I felt sorry for the boys - it was their last-weekend-before-going-back-to-sshhhhhh (school) and it was pretty low key and wet. Eldest's laptop joined in the misery and had to be carted off to the computer shop - he is bereft! 

So...what to do, what to do..... crafting of course (silly me).

Did you in your past ever have those fabric birds on a cord with bells and beads?

Remember the type? Mine must be about 20 years old, a faded reminder of a semi-feral youth living in a static caravan on a farm in Devon. Surrounded by 300 year old woodland and within walking distance of the sea. These birds have travelled with me from home to home, between the UK and Africa and back again. Now the birds, like me, are showing their age, the beads and bells however are still fine. 

Well - I hate throwing things away when I can recycle them and I have a crochet hook and am not afraid to use it! 

I had happy hooky-time and made 6 birds. It was wonderful fettling through my buttons collection (I was lucky lucky lucky to receive some beautiful buttons for chrimblymas pressies) for the bird's eyes and the boys 'helped' as did the kittlings (sigh) to make the cord for the birds to hang from.

They are now hanging up and I smile each time I see them - I wonder if they will still be around for the next twenty years? *probably not - the kittlings have just noticed them and are trying to leap up and catch them...........grrrrrrrr

Remember I posted about receiving some lovely string as a gift? I was given two gifts of beautiful garden twine. I must have had my crafting head on rather than my gardening one coz I instantly though of a bag!

Ooh it was tough stuff to work with, my left thumb felt like it had been through a mangle after a crafting session, but I persisted coz I could see what was coming off the hook and I was so in  L*O*V*E with it!

Again, with the boys and kittlings' help, I made the twisted rope handles. I had to use forceps (a relic from my veterinary nursing days) to stitch the handles on.

All that is left to do is to line the bag, think it needs a pretty flowery fabric.

Then, fairly late last night, I had an urge - a crafting one! So started a button brooch for someone who is off to hospital today and I want give it to her before she goes - so better finish it and stop waffling! 

Hope you all had a lovely weekend 

and wishing you all a Happy Monday!

Out with the old and much less of the new

I have been increasingly frustrated by the amount of 'katunda' ( excess stuff) in my life, you'll know what I mean when I say that I will open a kitchen drawer and over the years I have amassed 4 sets of measuring spoons...and have kept them all - why?
Or I will open a cupboard and find I have several serving dishes that I have not used for years....so why do I keep them? I don't even LIKE them.....
I have piles of books under my bed and in my cupboard - because my bookshelves are full - and I know I will never read them again - so why do I have them in the first place??! Does any of this ring true with you?


Then I read this and was inspired! 


So, armed with enthusiasm and several bin bags and boxes - just look what we achieved - ooh it felt so-oo cathartic! 

I also went through the boys clothes, they both have grown suddenly and we were able to pass on a big bag of clothes to a smaller friend who was delighted - and that felt good :)

I've not really sorted my New Year's Revolutions out yet - but this one is definitely a keeper - it is going to the top of my list!

First post for the new year in which I waffle and do a 'How-to'

After having posted for 30 days consecutive I thought that I would need a break. Strangely after just one day, my head is buzzing with ideas so I am back!

Something I am a firm believer of is recycling, up-cycling, reusing, re-purposing, remodelling, remaking (which ever word you know and use) and this year I want to try and improve my track record and aim to decrease my carbon footprint as much as I can. As I go along I will share with you the highs and lows and invite you to suggest anything tricks and ideas I can try out.
To start the ecologically friendly ball rolling, here is with my first 'How-to' for 2012.

We get, every year as so do you, Christmas cards. We hang them up for a while but as soon as the decorations come down (usually on New Years Day) so do the cards. I have never been comfortable just tossing them away - albeit into the paper recycle box, so I cut them up to make tags for next year's gifts. I love the selecting process of choosing the best angles and really enjoy the simple pleasure of cutting and trimming.



HOW-TO 1 - making free gift tags

• Remove the back of the card, checking the reverse of the picture side doesn't have any advertising or writing. This particular card quite happily provided two tags.

• I use both straight scissors and pinking shears to cut the tags and then punch a hole in a corner ready to have a thread or ribbon added.

• Some cards have writing - I love having tags with script or poems as well as festive images

• This card gave me three separate tags - each so different. A cutesy cottage, a festive greeting and a gold and holly tag. I try to match the tag with the person I gift to and this card has given me such a good choice.

• There! - tags made and awaiting their ribbons and cords (all saved through out the year from received gifts) and all for free - now that can't be bad :)

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

14.09.09

14.09.09

“It will be your heritage blankie” she said in her gentle Orcadian accent as I paid a few pennies for a bag of recycled wool. I had just expressed my surprise at how little she was asking for the yarn but was delighted at its impending addition to my blanket.

A little piece of the Orkney, a small space in time, a wet and wild holiday now weaves memories through my ‘heritage blankie’.

I can still hear her voice now. I am glad.