Have you seen it yet?

It is well known in this household (and possibly beyond) that I am a sentimental old fool who is likely to well-up at the slightest provocation.  'I cry in the ads,' I often say when trying to excuse tears at some inopportune moment.  So it was no surprise to find myself dabbing away on Sunday night when I saw this for the first time...

Ahhhh!

I love this re-recording of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's classic (Mr Barlow please note this is how to do it).   Gabrielle Aplin sounds like a singer whose CD I would enjoy...

In Training...

Fear not!

 I haven't embarked on some madcap idea to run five marathons in as many days, or climb the three tallest peaks in the world, or swim the Channel...

I have just spent the weekend in training for 'the festive season'!  

It all began with a workout at 'The Country Living Christmas Fair'...

...for which my sister had given me tickets as part of my birthday present.  Luckily she was able to come with me which was handy as she has impeccable taste in gifts and was able to help me in my decision making.  Needless to say, I won't be sharing my actual purchases on here (you never know who may drop by) but I will share some pics and links to sellers whose goods I particularly loved (and can remember whilst I'm sitting up here in my garret!)

'The Painted House' sell beautiful patterned rollers that you can use to create your own fabric, wrapping paper or wallpaper effect.  I was especially taken with the deer and the bird ones which you can buy on Etsy...

 I am feeling a need to re-decorate a room to be able to use one of these! My sewing room, perhaps?

The stall of 'Halinka's Fairies' was truly swoon-worthy!

Having dabbled in fairy making last Christmas, I really appreciated all the care and work that goes into each of these beauties...

The Song Bird Fairy

The skater pairs also really appealed, though I wouldn't know which to choose...

Russian Skaters - Babushka

OR 

Santa's Skaters

In a similar vein ( and right in line with my current elfin mood) were 'Les Elfes de Stephanie' (who you can find online on 'DaWanda' which seems to be an Etsy/Folksy equivalent)...

Les Elfes de Stephanie

I also loved Amanda Mercer's ceramic creations...

One of Amanda Mercer's Bird Houses

Oh Christmas Tree!

Okay - enough cuteness!  

On Sunday, after a walk in the beautiful sunshine, I decided to carry on the mood of impending festivities.  First some fruit was put in to soak...

700g mixed dried fruit, 100g glace cherries, 100g mixed peel (well, so the recipe says - I didn't quite have that amount of cherries or peel but I wasn't heading for the shops to top up!)

200ml hot, strong, black tea

3 tablespoons whisky

3 tablespoons marmalade

Looking good, and smelling oh-so-good!

Then I roped Miss U-t-B into the training, and we embarked on a prototype-building session. We had been talking about gifts to make for people when the Christmas holidays begin, and had settled on one idea to do together.

Cardboard boxes taken apart, designs considered and measurements settled upon.  Sweets were pondered over and purchased (rather too many in fact),  dough was made, shapes were cut out, boiled sweets were smashed up and baking was done.

Then the assembly began, even as the icing sugar settled on every nearby surface...

Miss U-t-B decided the hat was an essential part of the task.
We also played Christmas music, though it didn't have quite the desired effect!

In the end, as the daylight faded just enough to make it worthwhile lighting the tealight inside, we had this...

We had wanted a curved roof this year, which was a little harder to achieve than we thought (we draped the just cooked roof sections over some crumpled greaseproof, but did end up with some cracks.  Next time we may try a different method we think may work.)

Last year we were purists, just gingerbread, white icing and silver baubles. 

Oh...and daleks of course!

This year we wanted to try the sweet-laden look.

Jelly-tots...

Smarties...

Jelly Beans...

And a single solitary Loveheart bearing the message 'Keep Cool'.

The tealight wouldn't stay lit.  Mr U-t-B says we need a chimney to achieve this!  

Back to the drawing board!

(Back with what I did with the soaked fruit very, very soon!)

Dabbling

Recently, I have mostly been 'dabbling'.

The chill in the air and the colour on the trees made me reach for my knitting needles again. Knitting and snuggling under a quilt with the curtains closed are meant to go together!

One front got finished, then the back taken back to the bottom of the armhole shaping and re-knitted the right size (I'd read the pattern wrong and finished it about 6cm shorter than needed!).  I won't say what this is yet, or who it is for - you know, intended recipient might be reading  and all that (though that would make her rather advanced for her age).

Then the main part of  another item.  This pattern is one that just made me smile so much I had to make it.  Again, it's a pressie, so will have to remain under wraps for the time being.

I also started this one, using a new technique, but as one of the double ended needles is currently in hiding, I haven't got very far!

I have also been contemplating the painting and decorating of this bird house, which I found impossible to resist on the Panduro website.  (Delivery time from Malmo - approx two weeks as it turned out.)

I painted some toadstools...

Washi-tape wrapped some tins and containers to keep all my crafty tools under control...

Add caption

Got inspired by Fading Grace's beautiful hexie quilt and got started on some one-inch hexies of my own, using Liberty scraps and salvaged embroidered bits...

'Eloise' - a fairly recent purchase

Faded 'Claire-Aude' from a skirt I had in the 80s

Purple 'Pepper' from a blouse I made when I lived in Paris after sixth form

Then decided I needed more Tana lawn to really have fun with this, so bought a couple of mini-bundles from Very Berry Fabrics on Folksy.

Then I was transported back to my childhood with visions of my Mum's brown canvas bag in which was kept a supply of paper hexagons, fabric, an ever growing number of tacked hexies and sewn together 'flowers'.  She worked on her enormous quilt for an entire decade and it is a wonder to look at, with snippets  of dresses that she'd made my sister and I, amongst others.

This won't have so many memories attached, but it's still nice to do!

I have also dabbled in a bit of beading.  At The Maltings last Saturday I was next to a very talented 'beader'.  She showed me how to make a daisy chain, which I was then longing to get home to try out.  Here are my efforts so far...

 Thanks to Penny, who sent me this beautiful card with a donation for the needlecase I had made from the Primark jumper...

Even the envelope was a joy!  

Thanks Penny! (Do drop by her blog for the sweetest photos of Finn the kitten playing.)

I finish my block of work tomorrow - yippeee! (even though I have actually loved almost every minute of my teaching) - so hope to be less 'dabbly' and more 'finishy' next week!

Fairy Houses Go Large

At first, the fairy houses were tiny - about three inches tall (fairies don't do metric...)

But then they doubled in size to six inches...

And then grew a little larger to become a ten inch  doorstop (request of Miss U-t-B, who is luckily not too old for a bit of nonsense!)...

Fairies share my love of Liberty fabric.  They insist on  Liberty or vintage fabric (ideally feedsack) for their curtains.

Then one of the fairies requested a home for her elf-friend.  I made the mistake of calling this a 'Gnome Home' but fairy and elf were most upset!  Elves and gnomes are quite different, they argued, though they did agree that elves and gnomes do share a love of flowers and gardens...

After a busy week of shoeboxes packing and wrapping, sewing, CS sorting and half-term shenanigans, I am now mostly to be found buried under a mound of curtain fabric, lining and heading tape.  It's getting a bit chilly to admire the view out of our uncurtained-since-redecorating window, even if the autumn colours are so lovely!

Welcome to new followers and thank you all for reading, and for all the lovely comments!

Elf-ing mad...

In the frozen depths of the Arctic forest, elves have been gathering...

First one, then a second...

Soon a small throng of cheery souls...

...gathered to discuss plans for the busy times ahead. (They have been a-working all year, but with the beginning of the eleventh month (which is actually the START of the elven year - so last night was the equivalent of New Year's Eve for them (you might be able to tell from some of their faces!)) the real dash for the finish line is on...)

Did you know that instead of Facebook, elves proclaim their 'Status' through their hoods? (Yes, I know they look like hats, but elves prefer the term 'hood'.)

A single fold in the hat means 'In a relationship'.  Sometimes they fold to the left, sometimes to the right, and occasionally backwards.  I won't go into the significance of this...)  

Twice folded means 'Married', whilst aloft means 'Available and looking for love'.  

Elves, as I'm sure you are aware, live in cosy toadstools...

Their normally chose to wear hoods to complement the colour of their (somewhat sparse, but please don't mention this, for 'tis a sore subject) but the more fashion-conscious sometimes buck the trend with contrasting scarves.

Bells are essential...

I've been having such fun with these!  Thanks to the pinner who first pinned Kaniko's picture which was my inspiration...

Kaniko on Etsy

I just need some jute twine so they can become hanging decorations in readiness for Saturday at The Maltings.  Back with a how-to very soon!

My busy days are nearly over (phew!) and so I'm looking forward to getting back to some proper blogging, including, most importantly, time to read and comment on those of others...