Little list update...

Back at the start of the month I made a little list of crafty things I'd be doing in February. Needless to say, I got distracted by newer shinier things every day, but I'm pleased to report that so far this month (hey, there's 2 days left!) I've completed 5 of the 6 things on my list! And the sixth one is due to start tomorrow! Yay!

I've had quite a laid-back week at work, which has made for some fabulous free time in the evenings; when I'm stressed at work, it usually follows me home & ruins any attempts at making stuff!

I started the week with Alli's sew-along, which has been great so far...knowing you're sewing your first piece of clothing with nearly 40 other people really takes the pressure off! I'll be sure to post an update next week on how it's going - this week was preparing the pattern, but next week involves CUTTING! Yeah!

On Tuesday I spent the evening tying up loose ends with a bag full of UFOs - somehow I'd managed to finish 3 cowls over the winter, but not sew them up or add pretty embellishments, so they were finished & added to my present drawer. I also added a chain to my crochet bib necklace (inspired by Stefanie's tute, I started this back in October, eek!) and decided on an arrangement for my granny square blanket. It'll be more of a lap-blanket, but pretty nonetheless! I also made a LOT of mess making peppermint creams on Tuesday, but they've been keeping me happy all week with their heart-shaped mint-iness! The big "B" was for Ben, my boyfriend, but horror-of-horrors, he apparently "doesn't like" peppermint creams! So I've had to eat his ones too :D

Do you prefer having a to do list for crafty projects, or do you go with what inspires you at the time?

What a haul!

Okay so I love bargain, but maybe today I went a leeetle over the top??

My purchases today:

A 1970s black silk dress, to be re-fashioned, £1.50.

3 garish yet beautiful silk scarves, 25p each.

A white & peachy/coral striped flat sheet to be used for lining projects, £2.50.

At least 2 yards each of purple twill, blue cord & purple polkadot fabric, £2 each.

2 huge pieces of oilcloth (it has zoo animals on it!!), 50p.

The cutest measuring tape known to man, 50p.

2 balls of some scrummy peach yarn for String-a-long 2010, £3.

6 teensy emerald glasses, for jellies (or maybe candles), £1.

A gorgeus silver Toast jumper, for an upcoming project, £1.75

I finished my bag from sewing class today too..

And again, I had someone checking up on me throughout the photoshoot...

What is it with my animals? I think they've agreed that I can't be trusted to craft alone; there's always one of them at my side!!!

Oh oh oh! I have to apologise - I forgot to mention the best part of my day! It was roughly 20 minutes after waking, and involved this:

The bacon from our most recent pig came back from curing yesterday, and it was bloody marvellous!

What was the best part of your Saturday?

Where did the week go?

Anyone? Any ideas?!

Apologies for the neglect to the blog this week; I did intend to post every day this week, but instead of blogging, I've been...hunting. No, not fox and hound style hunting, but searching high and low for my parent's cat. Despite only re-homing said cat for a family emigrating to Australia on Saturday, the cat was allowed out into the garden on Tuesday. And promptly disappeared out the open (OPEN I tell you!) cat flap on Tuesday evening. I despair. Surely everyone keeps a new cat indoors for say, a fortnight, before letting it roam the streets, or in this case, run away?!

And so due to my parents "due diligence", I have spent this week trawling the streets of a picturesque village in Kent, calling out for said cat in my spare time. I printed the obligatory "Please check your sheds & garages" leaflets to pop through neighbour's doors, scattered his litter at the end of the road (apparently it helps cat pick up the scent of where home is supposed to be), and stayed over my parent's house in my childhood bedroom on Wednesday night, to ensure I was there in the morning to renew the search for Tabby.

On Thursday night, we gave up the search. My Mum took my younger sisters shopping to console them, and I went home for the first time in 3 days, remembering my own cat had been left to depend on my boyfriend's irregular pet-feeding routine for sustenance.

And then this morning, I had a phone call at work. Tabby had just strolled into my parent's kitchen, unaware of the commotion he had caused for 4 days. Apparently he won't come to his name, Tabby, and so due to his incredible mane, we've renamed him Léon. My sister thought it appropriate to send me a picture of Léon enjoying his safe return by posing in front of the webcam:

Again, I despair.

***normal crafting activity will resume tomorrow - tonight, I'm taking up my bedroom curtains...rock and roll***

Oh, Interwebs, how I love you so...

Don't you just love the amount of amazing projects that crop up on the Internet EVERY day?!

I thought I'd share with you a few of my favourites from this week, in no particular order:

1. One Pearl Button's Sew Along (I lurve this pattern... so excited!)

2. Gertie's covered button tute...so cute!

3. Vanessa's Little Squares scarf - what a great stash-buster!

4. Oh nom! Maracon Pops! And on a similar vein, crochet Macarons!

5. Wouldn't just looking at this make Monday mornings so much better??

6. These would look in amazing in a jar mixed with dream stars...

(via craftgossip)

7. I've spent all week perfecting different scarf tying techniques as suggested

by the girls at academichic, but I'm desperate to try this one tomorrow!

8. Becky's tute on Blind Hemming may just have started a sewing machine foot buying spree on my eBay...

Enjoy!

A Xxx

Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day! I didn't have much time to craft this weekend, so I thought I'd give you a lowdown on my Valentine's Day instead. Normal service will resume later in the week with some more FOs to show off!

We had friends stay over on Saturday after a night out, so our Valentine's Day didn't really start until they left at midday on Sunday. In the time-honoured fashion, I was presented with a card, chocolates and flowers:

The flowers were a little wilted (he tried, bless him, but left them in his car from Friday evening without water - that rose at the front was one of the best), so I was taken to John Lewis for concilatory presents of thread, bobbins & Burda magazine; obviously the most romantic presents a girl can get! I think my boy is coming round to the idea of crafty presents!

We spent the rest of the afternoon muching on choccies and watching Mulan on TV. Can you believe I'd never watched that film until Sunday?! I knew Disney upbringing lacked something... now I know it was a tiny dragon with the voice of Eddie Murphy! The man of the house then cooked the dinner (steak for me, mussels for him) and plied me with Rosé wine, both of which were delicious. Later in the evening we went to the cinema to watch Youth in Revolt, which was as good as the reviews have made out. It was nice to see Michael Cera playing a slightly different character from his usual roles, albeit only as an alter ego in this film. I'd recommend seeing it, if only for the alter ego's little "European" tache and bad-ass attitude!

Today I'm taking it easy catching up on some flickr uploads (apologies for the size of these pics, I'm at my parent's for the evening and their laptop just isn't kitted out for blogging!), and perusing Ravelry. I've just got my swap partner for the Cheap as Chips British Swap, I'm soooo excited! The parcel has to be sent out by 5th March, so I'll keep you updated.

How did your weekend pan out? Full of lovin' and fun I hope!

A Xxx

How many bibbitys and bobbitys can one girl make???

Three, in this instance...

I've ticked one crafty project off my to-do list; I made THREE variations of this hat for my skiing holiday last week, and they went down pretty well!

Dave, a family friend (wearing maroon v1 sans bobble or i-cord ties), Nigel, my SO's dad (wearing red v2 sans bobble, but with ties), and your truly (wearing the full blue shebang).

I didn't manage to get any actiony action shots; the only photo of the three of us was taken at a 3300m viewpoint on the last day - we're all at varying levels of ski-dom, so weren't together all week. I did some get some shots of Bertha wearing v3...I think she likes it!

Apart from recovering from my holiday of eating, drinking, and...oh yep, skiing (!), I've mainly been working late to catch up on last week. I have a pretty specialist job in my office, so even the cover doesn't "cover" much, which is annoying yet comforting, as it's not as though I'll be replaced any time soon. It pays off, however, as I get sent on exciting day-trips; today I visited Spring Fair 2010 at the NEC in Birmingham (a huuuuuge retail exhibtion), to check out a) the competition, and b) all the pretty stuff that'll be hitting the shops this year! I managed to bag a couple of goodies at trade price, but some are presents, so no pics I'm afraid, lest certain people are reading!

I'm hoping to get underway with the other projects on my February list this weekend; I started Estella last night, which is going well, and I would get to my sewing machine, but someone has taken up residence on my crafting table...

What are your plans for the weekend? Anyone else got any rogue animals to shoo away from their crafting??

How's the sewing going?

I've just got back from holiday and I'm itching to get to my crafting again, so I thought I'd update you on my sewing... the sewing table isn't going unused, and I think my boyfriend's getting worried as to the quality of table he'll have to rustle up now!!!

So I've now had 3 weeks of sewing lessons and it's going pretty well! So far I've learnt how to put in a zip, with my gorgeous mini cushion cover:

Ive got to grips with lining and pockets on my WIP, a metallic tote bag...

And have even been sent away with some homework - I guess I can be trusted to sew a little on my own!!!

I'm hoping once the tote bag is done, Angela, my sewing teacher, will be happy with me to go onto some clothing. My Dad bought me the gorgeous Twinkle Sews for Christmas and I'm hankering to make myself some wearables!

What were your first sewing projects? I ogle over Burda magazine every month but I guess it's better to improve on homewares & bags before embarking on huge swathes of fabric!