My Fridays smile....

Having had the awful week we have just had I wasn't sure that I could find you a pic this week to make you smile.

Yesterday we called in to the 'house of poorly' to drop off the turkey that they failed to have on Christmas day last week due to spending the day taking turns to care for a very poorly little girl in hospital.  We were greeted by something that I'm sure will put a smile on every face that sees this pic.

As you can see our little angel is feeling much better and she sent you this big smile to say thank you to each and every one of you that sent us kind thoughts and prayers.  She still has a cough but the Drs say she may have that for another couple of weeks but it is soooooooooo lovely to have our smiley little girl back.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend celebrating the arrival of the New Year.  Please let's all have one with better health and just a few less traumatic trips to hospital.

Hugs to all,

Annie x

WOYWW....

So?  Did the big man in red bring you all you asked for?

We didn't quite manage the Christmas we had planned cos more bad luck stepped in the way. Poor little Lexi was rushed to hospital last Thursday night struggling to breathe.  She was quickly diagnosed with Bronchiolitis.  

She needed oxygen tubes up her nose to help her to maintain her blood oxygen levels and a feeding tube because she was unable to suck and breathe.  Her Mummy or Daddy had to take it in turns to stay with her day and night and the Drs said that there was every chance Sam would catch it.  The back up team stepped in to help care for Sam at home and thankfully our little angel recovered well enough to come home Monday.....and so far Sam has caught a cold but so far so good and he is managing to fight it!

Here they are Monday having only just opened their Christmas presents on Monday....and as Shell says the best present is sitting in the pink chair  :-)  Mummy now has their cold and Daddy is suffering with his kidneys [probably from the lack of drinks whilst at the hospital cos they weren't allowed hot drinks in Lexi's room!].  I think they have had their share of bad luck now and really hope 2012 is a better one for them.

Here is a quick snap of the last minute knitting finished just in time for wrapping for those little darlings in the pic above. If you want a link to the pattern you will find it here...
http://twinsknit.blogspot.com/2009/01/spring-bunny.html
Its a brill site with lots of lovely patterns.

This is one of my wonderful presents....this one was bought for me by Sam and Lexi.....have a feeling they think they should keep Nanny Annie busy  :-)

And of course I can't sit idle so my latest project is a baby blanket using all these gorgeous colours....I like to find a white wool with flecks of colour in it and then use all the fleck colours to tone with it....fab colours eh?

Well folks is just leaves me to wish you all a very happy new year.  Hope you can all enjoy good health and can have many happy creative times between now and next year.

Much love to all.

Annie x

A double smile this week....

As you can see today Lexi and Sam have been playing dressing up all ready for the festive season.  I will let you decide today which one of these pics makes you smile the most.  You can have Mr and Mrs Santa or a pair of cheeky little pixies.   Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that 2012 brings you all you wish for yourselves. 

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW......

Here we are....the last WOYWW before the man in the red coat arrives.  The running around doing all the last minute things will be coming to an end very soon and I hope we can all enjoy the festivities with our feet up at least some of the time.  I shall be shutting up 'Sewing by Annie' tonight and have no plans to open up again until Tues 3rd Jan so am planning at least a little 'me' time  :-)

I am able to show you a few of the things I have been up to over the last few weeks because they were opened during our family celebrations last Sunday [you can see a few pics in the post under this one].

Here you can see the two knitted dollies that I made for Phoebe and Louise.  I really wish I could have captured their faces the moment they opened them.....Lulu just said the biggest WOW  :-) [she's only 20 months old so says it just as she sees it.....what more could a Nanny wish for Christmas? ].

I made these for their Daddy for a bit of fun....he tells them Goldilocks and the three bears as one of their bedtime stories so just knew these would add to their fun.

On the label I had written....A little something for bedtime.  Amy says you're bigger than most so I hope I've got the size right......I can't imagine why you're all giggling.... he does have rather large hands so I knitted them in double knitting instead of the 4 ply!

My 'to do' rail is empty and I can't show you what I'm making at the mo because, as you can imagine, I am still busy making the last of the presents and they wont be opened til Christmas day  :-)  

I would just like to say a huge Happy Christmas to you all and hope 2012 brings you all everything you wish for yourselves.  Stay well and happy and I will hopefully 'see' you all next week.

Hugs,

Annie x

Party fun....

As most of you will know we had our family Christmas party here yesterday.  The house was filled with lots of love and laughter for the afternoon/evening.  Memories were made and I have a few pics I would like to record on my blog and am happy to share with my blogging friends.  I know there are lots of 'adopted blogging aunts' that will want to ooooh and awwwww over these.

A new farm from Nanny and Granddad was opened with a big 'WOW' and even the cow got a big kiss. 

A fab new painting / drawing / black board from Auntie Shell and Uncle Brent was well tested.

Daddy was beautifully drawn by Phoebe....not a bad likeness by a 3 year old  :-)

As always, the wrapping paper was one of the best toys.  :-)

Then came time for pyjamas on and of course a few more snaps.....

Anticlockwise from the top are Sam, Lexi and their cousin Steve.

Photo call coming to an end....Little Lexi is yawning whilst lying between the two boys  :-)

But of course before we finish the two big girls have to join in the fun.....

What more could any Grandma want for Christmas?

5 happy, healthy little Grandchildren all full of love and fun.  I am soooooooooo blessed.....and of course we had all had a wonderful day together with lots of spoiling but 10 mins later they had all gone home to bed and the house was tidy and quiet again.  :-).....bliss :-)

Hope you've all enjoyed a quick peep into our fun family time and for being such great friends I've even left you a bun......

.....do help yourselves to one with your coffee.

Hugs,

Annie x

Wahooo I came second....

The voting for Christmas draw is now finished over at Craft Blog UK and I came second. The winner was a little owl made by stupidcats.  Huge congrats to her.  She makes some really fab felties so pop over to check them out.

Thank you so much to each and every one of you that voted for me.

Hugs,

Annie x

Your Friday's smile.....

Now girls wouldn't you just love it if Santa filled your stockings like this?

These babies are certainly going to grow up with wonderful senses of humour. Can't you just imagine what Mummy will have them dressed as on school dress up days?  She has such a fun outlook on life.....I can't imagine where she gets it from   ;-)

It's our family Christmas get together this Sunday so our house will be filled with fun and laughter and ohhhhhh so much love this year.  Hope you all have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW....

I'm a bit like a duck on water this week...I remain calm on the surface in front of my customers but underneath the surface my feet are paddling like mad  :-)  I'm sure I'm not alone.

Yesterday one of my customers had to make 2 journeys to her car to bring in all she had been begging from her friends.  She has previously already brought Jo and I several piles of bedding for our 'dress the girl around the world' dresses that we have been making and yesterday's pile way outweighed anything she had brought before.  As you can see my ironing board was loaded up with some really pretty sheets, quilt covers and pillowcases.  We have had to put the little dress making on hold to find time for all our Christmas activities but we do promise to get back to it after Christmas so this will all be put to good use.

Also this week this gorgeous little gift came through my door from the ever lovely Jo[zart].  As you can see she has made me [and Jo] lovely pin cushions that attach to our sewing machines...they also have a place for my snippers to sit in....this just might stop me loosing them  :-)  Thanks Jo.

In between my many sewing jobs I am also knitting like mad for the special little people in my life.  This is the second of these I'm knitting....the other has sneaked into the corner of the photo above.  These have to be finished by Sunday because this is our family day to all be together for Christmas so I'd best keep knitting ...and quick!

As you can see I still have a Mr Tumble doll looking for a home.  He is sitting here watching me type but would really love to find a new home for Christmas so if any of you know of a little boy or girl who would love him then please get in touch...he was made as an order but the lady let me down at the last minute so he is still for sale if anyone would like to buy him and I can post him straight away so he would arrive in good time for Christmas. :-)

Well folks that's it from me this week....I have a 'to do' rail to clear and rather a lot of knitting to finish so I must keep moving.  Please leave me a little 'hello' message before you pop over to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.

Also if you would like to give me your vote for my favourite dumfed poppy pic [and I know a lot of you loved it too] that I have entered into a Christmas party draw please follow this link and click on vote under my pic. [many thanks to all who vote for me x] 

Click here to vote and give me your support.

 

Hope you all have a great week and manage to get all your Christmas crafting done in good time.Hugs,
Annie x

 

 

The elves have been....

I had my little elves here Saturday morning to decorate the tree.  I keep my Christmas decorations separate so the little ones can be let loose to decorate Nanny's tree.  I have a tin full of knitties that adorn the tree each year.....the Santas were knit by my mum so even though each one is different [even though knitted from the same pattern!] my tree just wouldn't be the same without them.  As you can see we don't go for the colour co-ordinated sort of tree but ours is one full of memories and love.

Here you can see the elves at work....magical moments.  Their little brother slept through all the excitement  :-)

Their mummy has always been my big elf and she was in charge of the glass baubles so between them the finished result is just perfect  :-)

Our little visitors were joined by their little twinny cousins [Nanny was doing a bit of babysitting so their Mum and Dad could have an afternoon and evening off].  I fed the twins, Amy fed baby Steve and then we all enjoyed lunch together.....3 adults and 5 grandchildren....bliss.  Its what memories are made of.

As you can see here this babysitting of twins is such hard work  :-)  They were just as good as gold.  Granddad was able to put up the rest of the Christmas decorations and finish painting the bathroom while Nanny Annie was able to sit knitting while watching two beautiful sleeping babes.

When it comes to bed time you wouldn't find two more different babies though.  One is up with the larks in a morning and the other is awake with the owls at night.  Here you can see Lexi all ready for bed but as you can see she thinks otherwise [think she just doesn't want to miss anything :-) ].  Her brother is fast asleep in his cot!

It just wouldn't do for us all to be the same would it?  :-)

Your Friday's smile....

It looks like Santa has three new little reindeer this year....and one of them is even giving us the thumbs up.  :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Hope my pic has made you smile today.

Have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

Sari silk update....

So what did I do with the sari silk you saw on my WOYWW post?  I machine embroidered it as a whole piece, cut it up into little triangles added Christmas papers and a bit of glitter glue and hey presto..... a quick batch of Christmas cards.  Every one is different and I must add they do look rather better in real life than in the pic cos the day is dull and rainy here.

Don't forget to pop over to ebay and grab yourselves a bargain or two before the time runs out.

WOYWW.....

So, another week has passed and we are creeping closer to the big day.  My 'to do' rail keeps filling and getting in the way of the seasonal preparations so every spare minute I seem to be playing catch up.

Here you can see the beginnings of my next batch of Christmas cards.  I've used bond a web to attach Sari silk ribbons onto a base fabric and will work on this with machine embroidery etc  before cutting it up and embellishing it further to decorate some cards with.  Watch this space as they say.

This is the latest little knittie I've made with some wool M bought for me to knit for Sam.  It's knit up a bit small so not sure whether it will fit but if not one of her best friends had a little boy on Sunday so it will go to a good home.  :-) ....welcome to the world little Oliver.

Jo[zart]....take note of the fab buttons....we all love them.  Thanks so much x

I treated myself to a 'comic' last weekend for being a good girl and just know the knitters out there will love it if you have littlies like mine to knit for.  It's the Woman's weekly special collectible series and it has some real favourites in it to knit/crochet such as Angelina Ballerina,  Peppa Pig and Raa Raa the noisy lion and in total it has 39 great pattern in it so I felt it was well worth the £9.95 I paid for it.  I am trying to make a few special knitties as Christmas pressies. [wonder if you can guess which ones I'm knitting?....I won't share then til after the big day but will take some pics].

Another stocking in the making.  I'm taking orders now  :-)   Sooooooooo many new babies during this year in my life.

I have two little elves who are desperate to decorate our Christmas tree.....Amy has always loved doing the tree and this year she has two little helpers [Stephen will prob sleep through it...he's such a good baby].  It was far too soon to bring a real tree into the house so this year we have treated ourselves to an artificial one and here is is waiting for the elves to arrive  :-)

So folks, that's it from me today.  My heaving 'to do' rail is calling me to clear it [....again!] so I shall pop over to see what you've been up to in my coffee breaks....if I can fit one in :-)  Please leave me a little hello comment before you pop over to join in the WOYWW fun at Julia's blog and here's hoping you all have a really great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

Question...What do you do with.....?

....A few cuttlebugged flowers?

Answer....you add a bit of ribbon and maybe a button and you make a quick batch of Christmas cards.  :-)

And, me being me, each one is slightly different  :-)  That's what I did yesterday when my 'to do' rail was emptied.

And to put a smile on your face this week.....

Here's a pic of little Lexi helping her mummy make their Christmas cards while her brother takes a nap  :-)

Hope you all have a fun time over the weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

Christmas is coming...

I cleared my 'to do' rail yesterday and then made the 4 new stockings I had on order so thought I'd share a quick snap of them all hanging together..

Don't they look fab?  Three of course are for our new family members but the other one was ordered for another new baby brother due to arrive very soon.  I wonder what Santa will find to put in these this year.  :-)

So? What did you get up to yesterday?

WOYWW....

Wahooo. It's been another productive week for me.  

My customers keep coming and, as always I've had lots of new folk coming to my door for sewing bringing my customer count up to 1131 this week.  So many new 'friends'..... if only I had a good memory for names!  My 'to do' rail has filled and emptied several times since I spoke to you last week but I won't bore you with those pics  :-)

My crafting table has also filled and emptied a few times too so that's what I'm gonna share with you today in my 'show and tell'.

I had a very special visitor who called after having had an accident....I think he fell off his sleigh on one of his practise runs.  As you can see he had bumped his head so had called in at Sewing by Annie's to be fitted with a protective hat [think someone told him I used to be a nurse].

 

I measured him up and set to and knitted him a nice warm hat ready for Christmas eve. 

I then did more snipping, turning, stuffing and stitching up of the second collection of little stuffies for the second ABC bag that Jo[zarty] bought for one of the new babies here.....Yes much coffee was drank too  :-)  As I like to say 'Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can, often found in women but never in a man'...and thankfully it's one I have plenty of.

My next job was to make the two ABC bags with all their pockets to hold all the little stuffies.  So  I filled my table and ironing board with all the ingredients to make them.  There was interfacing, stuffing, 4 zips and wadding and with a lot of deciphering of the instructions [I wouldn't suggest you attempt making one of these without lots of sewing experience] I got to work.  It took me a whole weekend of crafting time but I have to say I am truly thrilled with the results.

Here is the front and back of the one completed bag and.....

.....here you can see that when the 2 zips each side are opened out fully it will hang up to show all the little pockets holding the stuffies.

I'm sure you will agree with me that it was well worth all the hard work and that I have some of the luckiest little Grandies in the world....they are gonna get lots of fun out of these [and so with the grown ups too  :-) ].....and yes I have now completed both bags  :-)

Thanks so much Jo.

 Now folks it's time to leave me a little 'hello comment' and then I will let you pop over to Julia our 'Queen of snoop's blog' to join in the wonderful WOYWW fun.

Thanks for calling in.  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

Your Friday's smile....Is this really what I wore?....

Last Saturday I took M to look for her wedding dress ready for their wedding next July and after trying on very many dresses and lots of ooohing and awwwwing she found THE one.  We could tell it was THE one because it fit to perfection, looked amazing and I had to find a tissue....think I had something in my eye :-)  The dress was bagged up for us and we brought it home.  Since then it has had to be tried on several times already and if B doesn't get to see it before the big day it will be a miracle because M is just the worst at keeping secrets...plus of course she is so excited about it all.  :-)

I'm sure by now you will all have picked up that she has a wicked sense of humour and while she was here on Wednesday I had got my Wedding dress and veil out to show her.  She was amazed that the train on the dress was so long and the veil was even longer.  30 years ago it was all long sleeves and high necks and this caused her much hilarity.....and yes I actually made it too. 

Of course she just had to try it on and get me to take a picture of her wearing it [yes I really was a size 12 back then but obviously not as tall as M cos I wore it with high heels! ]......but her fun didn't end there! She sent her picture to B pretending that this was THE dress and she had sent it to him in error....and waited for his reply.  Bless him he had opened his text message and shut it quickly so as not to see it in detail!  I have to admit M was not the only one giggling but was pleased that she did own up....as she put it.... 'just in case it was enough to put him off turning up on the day'!!!!

I hope this gives you a smile on this rather gloomy Friday morning and you all have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Annie x