Time.

Time to sit.  Time to stand and stare.  Time to do the things I’ve been wanting to do for ages.  Time to be quiet.  Time to be me.  But where does it go?  Where does it vamoosch to?  All those minutes.  Those odd moments, which when added together would make plenty of craft time.  Plenty of time to sit and do.  You know what I mean.  Well I have tried to gather them together and sit and do.  Infact yesterday I had the whole afternoon and evening!  Wow!!!  Mr A is not feeling to good so I sat with him while we watched the athletics and vegetated, and while we watched I did a bit of tapestry and clicked the old needles together on a new project.  Friday saw me sort out my stash.  Ball after ball.  And there at the bottom, the verrrrry bottom of the box was a brand new ball.  Chunky and variegated.  So I searched through my favs on Ravelry and set to!

 

Oh what a beauty of a stitch.  K2, K into the back of the next stitch, P1 and repeat.  Simples!!!!  I think I could have used bigger needles, but I’m rather liking the neatness of the finish, so wait for the tah-dah moment.

There, did you notice?  Notice another one of those moments sneeking in?  They get everywhere!

But now for today’s tah-dah time.  A bit of sewing.  A bit of binding.  A bit of knitting.  Ready?

Sewing.  This not so little cross stitch, is courtesy of Mum.  Mum loved to cross stitch and when she died I gathered all of her threads, card mounts, and Aida and put them safely away.  After two and a half years they have surfaced and tah-dah…..

Three Narcissi in a jam jar!  A birthday card to go with the present of a bangle…..

 

And lastly some satisfying hooking!

 

So easy and great stash busting.  200 chain.  One row of double crochet as the foundation row.  Then row after row of trebles.  Leave about 20 to 30 cms of yarn at the start and finish of each row for the tassles.

 

Can you see I have braided each one with some extra yarn.  Makes them quite spikey!  And yes there are some buttons lurking in the back ground.  The scarf swung over the shoulder quite nicely but it was a bit short to come around again and knot.  So four little buttons on one end let me snuggle it down for  a cowl.

 

Round and round and fasten….

 

So yes lots of moments.  Lots of minutes.  And oodles of love spent  in the time!

Buttons, bangles and beads.

I’ve been playing this week with buttons, bangles and beads, and I quite like the way they’ve turned out.  Making felt beads is very therapeutic.  Cutting. Rolling. Binding.  Embellishing.  Yes verrrrryyyyy therapeutic!!!!  And so is threading and knotting.  What could be better than buttons, bangles and beads. Ready ……

 

There just had to be some purple….

 

and a bangle….

 

or two..

or three….

So there you go – buttons,  bangles and beads!

 

 

Tah-dah!

The sun is shining today and so I am going to make the most of it and just give you a quick tah-dah!  Friday was really horrible with hail stones and so the photos of the jewellry I made for my friend’s birthday are a bit dark.  I really enjoyed making the bracelet so some of these will appear in my shop.  (SSSShhhhhh – I know it is taking a long time to get it up and running, but I need someone to hold my hand when I click the buttons!!  Whimp or what!!)  Anyway the bracelet – I made my own felt navy beads and added some chunky glass ones and there you are……

 

I did take some other shots but they are just rubbish!!  You can see the glass beads better in the ear rings I made to match.

 

My friend really likes the bracelet with it’s 6 embellished beads and put it on to go out in. A bit of girl time.  So important don’t you agree?!   Thumbs up!!

Right, now for the next tah-dah.  Another circle scarf.  Pinks and browns.

 

Oh yes with a little bit of white.  I did use white as one of the main colours but it just shouted “not me this time”.  Colours are good at telling you whether they are right or not!

 

First the cross over and then the up and under…

 

It looks great in the sunshine.  Really vibrant.  So that’s it for today.  Will be back soon.  Suuunnnnnnshine!!

Books.

Christmas was a book Christmas this last time.  I don’t know about you but Christmases seem to go in waves as far as presents go.  A practical housey present list.  A wear it well list.  A hobby you can do it list.  And then there is the book list with the DVD list close behind it.  This time it was the book list.  I love it.  Turning over new pages.  Stroking down the crisp paper.  Ooooing and ahhing over the pictures…….  I think that is what I love most  - the pictures.  Inspiration oodles out.  Projects leap into your mind.  Other lists appear – yes I am a list freak I’m afraid.  But goodness, goodness and more goodness just works the magic.  I had nine books this time.  Nine little covers to tempt the fingers to walk, and the eyes to marvel, and the cushions on the sofa to say ‘OI!!’  Well you have to wriggle to get comfy don’t you?  Just look at the stack….

and from above….

Lots to see and do, but first it is the children’s books by Jane Brocket that have caught my attention.  Colour and Texture.

Don’t you just love them?  Having been an infant teacher in the past, I have never been adverse to a little light reading.  You know the big text or should I say font!! Short simple sentences.  Bold, bold, bold!   And these two books just jumped out to me.  The pictures are beautiful, crisp, clear and full of scrummy things exactly like Jane’s blog

Lots of inspiration.  This colour with that colour.  Tones and hues.  Yes, yes, yes I just love it.  My circle scarf has gone down a treat hear, there, and everywhere.  Not only the pattern but the colours.  Slightly off beat.  Slightly quirky.  But colours that work so well together.  I feel another scarf waiting in the wings.  Hovering there in the background.  Gently gathering up the colours to use.  Another bit of inspiration needed.  Another wriggle amongst the cushions.  I see browns.  Pinks. Reds. Whites.  All slowly emerging.  Clashing a little.  Highlighting each other. Hmmmmmm.. I must away to gather them all together.

But I’m not finished with colour yet.  I see it working well into these pages.  So perhaps one colour a week.  Perhaps differing hues.  Yes I know it has been done before, but these will be my inspiring colours.  Ones that awake me, prodding and pushing.  And yes, I will share and we can work together.  Hooks at the ready!  Or will it be fabric for you?!

One Week!

I can scarcely believe that a week has passed me by.  Where does the time go? I see lots of people have been visiting my little blog- land home and I haven’t been here!  Sorry!!  I hope these pictures of what I have been up to with my hook will make you smile.  First, are a couple of necklaces and bracelets.  They were made just before Christmas but I hope you will forgive me for including them here.

They are made with a very smooth cotton which lends itself  very nicely to my hook, embellished with buttons and beads, and suspended on some ribbon.

But I did miss my colours and as I’m stash busting, out came the Stylecraft Special.  The colours are quite vibrant which perhaps doesn’t show in the photographs below.

Lots of little circles.  Round and round and round…..

then over….

and under to nestle snuggly down.

Voila, one scarf for that snow they have just promised on the weather forecast!  It was very therapeutic working these little rounds, and I had great fun trying out the different permutations!!!  Boy that was a big word!

I have made one more thing, but as it is a present the ta-dah moment will not be until next week.  So these will be the first things to appear in my etsy shop.  Help – er – which I need a little bit of assistance in setting up being a bit of a technophobe, and my Son won’t be home for another couple of weeks.  Sorry!!!!  I’m sure it is easy and if I work it out we’ll have the grand ribbon cutting soon.  Happy hooking everyone.  Hope you’ve got your wellies ready!

Well Hellllllooooooo!

Hello everyone!  I’m here!  Starting out on my new venture!  I’ve said farewell to my old blog alisonb2.wordpress.com and I have dipped my toe into my new world!  Where am I going?  What am I doing?  A change in circumstances has allowed me to devote a little more time to my crafts and I want to see if I can develop them.  Try something new.  Push the limits.  Perhaps even sell a few.  Now that would be really good!  But….. I also want to share my faith.  Jesus is soooo special and changes soooo many lives that I want to share Him.  Don’t worry it won’t be a heavy sell!!  Just a gentle look if you want to.  And then……  I want to share my gardening exploits.  I have pottered in and around the garden and given glimpses in the past, but at the start of a New Year I want to get to grips with it.  Change and develop it.  Weed it.  Prune it.  GROW things in it.  Things to eat and things to just go ahhhhhhhh………  So I’ve set the scene, now all I have to do is design the header and put in the pages and viola!  Sounds simple but……