Wednesday 29 June 2011

Upcycling a wicker basket

I've been wondering where our summer has gone, it appears to have taken a break and I am fed up with the rain and the overcast days now. 
I know we should be grateful for it as the land needs it, so the farmers say,
but it seems to come all at once, instead of being sensible,
 and spreading itself out a bit.

Despite the weather being a bit dodgy, I 've still managed to get out and take Buzz for a walk.  He doesn't like the thunder though.  He shakes like a leaf and wants alot of cuddles.  Bless his little paws!

Buzz enjoying his bed when it was sunny!

He's got a new bed which I upcycled from an old wicker dog basket in need of some love. 
I was inspired by some painted wicker baskets I spotted on a visit to a Cath Kidston store.
I removed the blue fabric lining and gave it a good wash and left it to dry.
Then with can in hand, I spray painted it red and whipped up a cushion out of some vintage Sanderson floral fabric which I found in a charity shop recently which goes brilliantly with the red paint. I love the final result and Buzz does too!

before

After!


Woof Woof Mum thank you!

Buzz catching the rays in his new bed

Anyone got any upcycling ideas they love that they want to share?

bee x

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Monday 27 June 2011

Big Crochet Flowers


Last week, you might remember me telling you that I was working on some over sized crochet flowers, to make into corsages and hair accessories, for my little shop, well here are the final ones ......I will be adding them to the shop shortly.


Crochet Roses

 These sparked off my interest in looking for crochet flower patterns and I found this one in Loop's Vintage Crochet book by Susan Cropper, which is full of beautiful patterns to crochet. 

The pattern is called Peony Corsage and is written by Kate Jenkins


I love the final results, it was fairly easy to crochet and stitch together. 
I used aran yarn so it changed the scale to make it larger than suggested. 

Peony Corsage

I think I will be whipping up some more of these as I think you will agree, it is stunning.

I hope you all had a good weekend

Bee x

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Tuesday 21 June 2011

A new project

I hope you have had a good weekend. 
I've been away for a few days resting, and recharging the batteries.
On my travels I came across a brilliant little wool shop, called Ann Louise, in Portsmouth, and with lots and lots of goodies to buy so as you can imagine, I didn't leave empty handed!

here are my new yummy yarns .........


I've been working on a new project, crocheting flowers in various colours, I have been going large,as I want them to stand out from the crowd and I read in a magazine that big corsages are in fashion at the moment.   I am intending to make them into hair accessories and corsages. 

my new crochet project .....



I've really got seduced by crochet again and am enjoying creating these beautiful flowers.

 
A finished orange rose



A finished red rose


bee x

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Friday 17 June 2011

I'm loving ......


this week ..........

I am please to say that I have found my bloggin' mojo again. 

And I am finding many new blogging things I thought I would share with you ......

Have you come across


 yet?

It's a fun site that allows one to create pin boards where you can upload images from your own blog, other peoples blogs, websites etc that you find to be of interest and create your own catalogue of images.   It is full of beautiful photos, full of inspiration and a great way to organise all your lovely found items of visual interest.

You can check mine out at        


Mine is a work in progress at the moment so a few gaps but enjoying the process.

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other things I am lovin' this week are ......

Raspberry & White Chocolate Muffins
with a cup of Kenco's Millicano Coffee
(my other half says I am just like the woman in the advert, with her vintage bike etc)

Farrow & Ball's Rectory Red paint that I am using to revamp an old wooden sewing box.




and
Aloe Black's new single called

'I need a dollar'

click the link above to listen to it on You tube.

Have a great weekend

bee x

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Wednesday 15 June 2011

My Mary Jane Slippers .....


I'm loving my new hand crocheted 'Mary Jane' slippers
They are very comfortable and cosy,
just right to keep my little tootsies from dropping off!

They were quick to crochet and the Good Knits pattern was very easy to follow. 
I made a few adjustments to the number of rows I did to get the length and I also improvised by adding the tab at the front for interest. 



I love the brown grandad leather buttons, that I found in a charity shop recently, which I added for decorative purposes.

I think I will crochet some more soon. 
They would make a great gift for someone too.

bee x

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Monday 13 June 2011

Things to do on a rainy day ..........

What a wet Sunday we had .... the ground was grateful though!

I pottered about the flat yesterday, reading magazines and looking at some library books I had got out which I love doing as it feels like getting a treat without spending anything. I love books.  That's my new thing, I've been borrowing books from the library that are available and then buying the books I can't get.  It costs 50p to reserve a book and you can search the catalogue online.  I've been looking at Amazon first and then searching for the books on the library catalogue, its good fun and I'm doing my bit to save the library too.  It takes me back to when I was a wee girl when my mum used to take 'me and my brother' to the library on a wet afternoon for a break.

I flicked through some old magazines as I like to tear out appealing images and articles for reference purposes.  I had the idea to cut out fun images and use them to decorate some greetings cards and this is what I came up with ......... 



see tutorial for more information, although they are quite straight forward and easy to do. 



I also started crocheting some 'Mary Jane slippers'.  I had cold feet all day, despite having two pairs of socks on and a pair of slippers!!!  It must be bad circulation.  There are lots of patterns available on the Internet for these little pretties, some are free, some are available for a small charge.  I found free instructions on 'Good Knits' blog.  So far I have done half a slipper and have found that I will need to increase the number of rows in the body section to get the correct size.  I will keep you posted on the results and if my tootsies warm up as a result.

work in progress to warm tootsies

I hope you all had a good weekend.

bee x

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Thursday 9 June 2011

Sea Shore Flowers

When I was out on my walk at the weekend,
I was surprised by the lovely array of plants an flowers that were on the beach.
The sea kale with its round pods is one of my favourites, along with the yellow sea poppy.





1. daisy , 2. flower, 3.grasses, 4. sea kale with pods, 5. sea poppy


bee x

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Tuesday 7 June 2011

Weekend Wanderings

A bench along Southsea seafront


On a lovely weekend walk by the sea, I spotted this bench along the Southsea seafront.  It is a touching tribute to a little girl who died.  The bench has been wrapped in hand knitted fabric in red and blue wool of various textures, as if encasing the love lost, in comfort and love, never to be forgotten,  I thought it is a beautiful tribute to this young life.



A knitting Tribute

I wonder how many people sit there or just stare in wonder at this loving work?

bee x

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Friday 3 June 2011

Breaking News

Buzz dog snow watching


It is hard to believe that we had such a bad winter, on a day like today, but cast your minds back to December 2010, the 3rd, to be precise.  This was the day that my life and craft life went a bit pear shaped.  It had snowed the day before, and then over night, and froze again.  Making the paths very slippery.  As I had an appointment at the doctors, I thought, 'come on gal, put your wellies on and walk'! 

Big Mistake

I slipped on an icy patch on a downward slope and landed on my wrist and couldn't get up.  A couple of lovely people helped me up and took me to the doctors.  However, I ended up in A&E with alot of other people with leg and arm injuries! 

It turned out, after about 4 hours of waiting, I had fractured my wrist in several places and smashed it up so badly I needed surgery!  All I wanted to do was to go home to see if Buzz dog was ok, but I was informed that I had to stay! After 5 days in hospital, I was finally allowed to go home with a new accessory, a metal plate and pins holding all the bones together.

After a lot of pain, rest and exercise, I am now pleased to say that it is back to a 'new' normal!  It won't ever be the same again or like my good wrist but it is pretty good, and functional, thankfully!

The wounded


So not much crafting has been done, but I am getting 'back in the saddle' so to speak and hoping to get going again soon.  I've missed it.  I did think my crafting days were over so it is brilliant to feel that I can do it again.

Much to my amusement, I was informed by the A&E nurse who admitted me that the injury I did, is called the 'Granny' injury, as it is usually old ladies who fall over and break their wrist! (I am nearly 40, not quite granny status yet).  Well, I  thought on occasion, I could be perceived as a 'bit of a granny', with my crocheting and knitting I do, so that's cool! 

Anyway, enjoy the lovely sunshine we are having now and I should be back soon.

bee x

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