Wedding plans and Friday's smile....

It's been another really busy week for me [no change there then!].  Michelle and Brent's Wedding plans are going well.

• I've done a final fitting on Michelle's Wedding dress after it's alterations and she looks stunning in it.  [of course :-)].
•  I've done the alterations on 3 of her 4 bridesmaids dresses and just need final fittings on those.  The 4th will be coming up from Cornwall soon for her fitting.
• Amy and Dave have printed the table plan onto their Corex board and that looks amazing. [Thanks both].
• The sweets have arrived for the Favour boxes....just need to keep them hidden so my darling hubby doesn't eat them before the big day!

All in all we are getting there.  I just need to make my outfit ....yes I do know there is less than a month til the wedding!  And for those wondering when it is just watch the Olympics countdown....we think thats just for us cos the Wedding is 28th July!

Now for my Friday's smile ....or as I was gonna call it  'Start them young I say'

When my family was growing up and we wanted a trip to Ikea we used to have to say nothing til we were nearly there because the idea was met with moans and groans.  We have been known to turn into their gate before they realised where we were heading.  :-)  [ Anything for a quiet life eh? ].

How times have changed.  They now all love to go to Ikea to shop for their own homes and Amy is training the next generation to love it too.

This was a snap of their trip this week.  Admittedly Amy had wisely left baby Steve at home with his Daddy but as you can see the girls certainly seem to be enjoying their visit.  :-)

My other snap is of Phoebe helping mummy with paperwork in their office.  Yes she is only 3yrs old !  She knows her alphabet, her colours and can easily count to 20.  What a bright little button eh?

I hope my snaps have raised a smile for you this morning and you can all have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

What a lovely week I've had so far.....

• Sunday was our gorgeous Grandson Stephen's christening [see post below] so it was spent in the company of family and friends and a truly wonderful time was had by all.

•  Monday was spent having fun with my 'much older sister' Jo...and what fun we had too.  We chatted, giggled, entertained my two hunky firemen who clean my windows [yes I did say firemen] , drank coffee and dumfed....and here are my latest results that will be heading for our blog shop very soon when I've found the time to bead them up.

• Yesterday was spent with my gorgeous munchkins.  Lots of fun was had by all.

And today?  What's on my work desk today?

This is my latest prom dress.  It has 6 layers to the skirt, all needing shortening and I have to take the bodice in to fit....Lots and lots of work but I love the challenge and it is such a pretty colour too.

Some of you will remember the ABC bag I made for the twins.  It included a 'f'' for fish but alas the little fish met it's doom when their chocolate Labrador ate it so I have made a replacement one....not easy to do as the details of the last one was printed on the fabric but I'm sure this one looks fishy enough  :-)

The other thing I wanted to share with you is my fab new business signs that our daughter Amy and her hubby  Dave printed for me.  As I now close on a Tuesday to look after the twins I needed my hours of business changing on my signs.  I'm thrilled to bits with the new signs so thank you both so much.

If anyone wants any business signs / banners making then you can follow their link to find out more.

Big Value Banners.

Last but by no means least these are two of my latest ATCs from the birthday swap.
22. Jane and
23. Cardarian

Thank you so much girls.  I love them.

Hope you've enjoyed my little catch up this week.  Please leave me a comment before you rush off to visit Julia and join in the WOYWW fun and I will do my best to pay you a return visit when I can find a minute.

Hugs,

Annie x

A beautiful day....

Yesterday was our little Grandson Steve's Christening and what a wonderful day it was.  There were two christenings in the service so the church was full of families all in their Sunday best.  The church sang with little voices...there were 8 in our group from age 3 down to the youngest being little Steve at 8 1/2 months plus there were many more in the other christening group.  Lots of new young life.....just wonderful.  We completed the celebrations with a wonderful table full of special family and friends at the Lion Quays hotel near Oswestry.  The company was wonderful and so was the food....Thanks must go to Amy and Dave for such a special day.

Here is our little man in his smart suit with his yummy mummy  :-)

[not such a little man now eh?]

Have a feeling the vicar needed to build up his muscles to hold him over the font.   

What a wonderful time was had by all.

Places of safety...

As most of you will know my latest 3 Grandbabies are on the move....yes all 3 of them!!!

All in different ways....Steve uses a combat style on his tummy, Sam tends to use a roll and drag method and Lexi is now up and doing a proper crawl style [a little slow and concentrated still but she can still move from one end of a room to the other with ease].  Last Saturday we had all 5 of the Grandchildren here and to walk across the room you needed eyes everywhere so as not to step on anyone.  It's challenging to say the least.  :-)

My pictures today are some of the places of safety know where they are places!

"It's fun sitting in the end of Nanny's toy box and I can now reach that toy in the bottom corner that I was after!"

"We love playing together in Nanny's pop up ball pool but little does she know we have learnt to push the sides down when we want to get out!"

"Of course Mummy has it sussed.  We play happily together in our travel cot when Mummy needs to pop to the loo.  It's such fun in here too with all our books and toys"

Short of an extra pair of hands, eyes in the back of your head and a goat tether  for each of them finding an occasional place of safety is essential at times  :-)

Hope you've enjoyed my few snaps today and you can all enjoy a restful weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Hello all.  Happy Wednesday to you.  Slowly but surely I am, thankfully, feeling rather better each day and life here at Sewing by Annie's remains as hectic as ever.  

Monday was spent having fun with that 'much older sister' of mine, Jo.  We spent the day dumfing [check side bar for link if you still don't know what this is], doing machine and hand embroidery, sewing on beads, drinking coffee, eating yet more chocolate and generally having fun and these are the results I have to share with you.....

These are the four little dumfed pictures of my crab apple blossom that I have now finished.  They are big enough to be framed or mounted up in some way and Jo and I plan to open up a new shelf in the blog shop soon to house these to sell so if you are interested then keep a look out.  I'm sure you will find Jo's works of art over on her blog today too.

These are the latest ATCs I've received this week.

20. Julia

21. Helen 

Thanks girls, they are so special.

Now I know some of you like to see a little of what's going on out in our garden so this collage is just for you....just wish it was smelly vision cos the roses are a real old fashioned variety and they smell divine.  I often notice my customers having a sniff at them as they walk past.

On that note I will love you and leave you cos I have lots of catching up to do on my 'to do' rail after having had a fun day with the munchkins yesterday.....and they certainly keep me on my toes now they are both reaching new heights and well on the move.....see prev post for the proof  :-)

Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

What a difference a couple of days makes...

We all had a lovely weekend here with lots of special family times to celebrate Father's Day.

This is a pic of my darling hubby....one very happy Granddad as you can see.  The twins' Daddy was away on his stag weekend so he missed his first Father's day but he actually missed a lot more than that.  While he was away Lexi decided she could crawl...there really is no stopping her now so I shall have to look out tomorrow when they come to play for the day.  Also they are learning to work as a team....

Last night Lexi learnt to pull herself up to her feet to get into their toy box and was more than happy to assist her brother to get there too  :-)

Sam just uses his sister to pull himself up too and Lexi thinks it's so funny.  I have a feeling a whole new world has just opened up to them  :-)

Does anyone have an extra pair of spare hands and a set of eyes I can put in the back of my head?  I have a feeling I shall be needing them tomorrow.  :-)

Friday's smile....

I'm back to try to raise a smile after having had my moan last week.  My cough is still lingering in the background but I'm now feeling much better thanks to all your kind, caring get well comments.  As most of you will have seen on Jo's Wednesday's post my mojo was certainly lacking but a bit of dumfing magic worked a treat.  I do have a pic of my latest injury to show you today though...

Who would have thought one little pin could do so much damage?  Hubby's comment was "I'm just glad it was on the back of your arm cos after last Friday's blog post they just might think you were suicidal if it was across your wrist!"

I think my customers should pay me danger money personally don't you?

The rest of my pics are of my gorgeous grandchildren and how they are meeting life's new challenges.....

Steve is now driving and.....

....mastering the lap top [he'd helped himself to it off the settee!]

Lexi is reaching new heights! .....no stopping the girl now.

And wouldn't we all like to be this flexible?  Think she is going to be a ballet dancer  :-)

I hope my latest snaps have made you smile today and the sun will shine in your world so you can enjoy a lovely weekend.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...ATCs galore :-)

Happy Wednesday to one and all.  It's that day of the week when a lot of like minded folk expose all to each other.  There are around 200 now joining in the fun each week and what a lovely lot they are too.

There hasn't been much going on in my world creatively this last week cos, as most of you will know, I've been pretty poorly with a chest infection.  It really got the better of me for a good few days and all I did was sit in my chair and sleep off and on but thankfully now I'm winning...still coughing but much less and my energy levels are picking up a bit too.  Thanks to all that left me get well soon messages.

I had the munchkins for a fun day yesterday while their yummy mummy worked....what fun we had too  :-)

So? I hear you say...."What is on your desk this week Annie?"

I would just like to say a huge thank you to all those that have sent me ATCs for the 3rd Birthday celebrations for WOYWW.  I've collaged them so you can share the ones I've had so far.  You should be able to click on them to enlarge to get a better view if you want.

1. Spyder
2. Ann Beltcher
3. Di
4. Kate
5. Lunch Lady Jan ....a 'living ATC'....a packet of purple poppy seeds....just my fav flowers.
6. Hettie`
7. Catriona...doesn't have a blog yet but always calls in to leave me lovely comments.
8.  Jo
9.  Lavinia
10. Neet
11. Princess Judy Palmer
12. Lynn Holland
13. Janet Batten from Fairy thoughts
14. Kerry
15. Donna
16. Sandra
17. Big sister Jo
18. Anne
19. Caroline

Well folks that's it from me for this week.  I know there are still a few of you that are still planning to send me an ATC and I will post pics and links to those when they arrive.  Thank you so much to one and all for the gorgeous ATCs, cards etc that you have all sent me.  They all arrived at a time when I needed a bit of lifting up to my spirits and trust me when I say they worked a treat.
Big hugs to you all.
Annie x

Friday's smile....

Last week I was struggling to decide which picture to share with you cos I had so many.  This week I'm just struggling....

Been nowhere, seen no one [apart from my darling hubby who has been just the best nurse maid I could ask for...thanks darling], done nothing.  :-(  Been too poorly!  I'm missing my gorgeous family terribly but I've insisted they didn't come anywhere close because it has been such a nasty bug that I've had.  I've coughed so much that my head has felt fit to burst and when you've had 3 children you can imagine other problems too!  Think I now hold shares in panty liners!  Too much information?  I'm sorry but I'm feeling pretty fed up today and this is my space to have a moan in....I don't do it often  :-)

So?  What can I share with you to make YOU smile this week?

Oops there is nowhere safe now! They're on the move! Have a feeling M and B will be looking again at where they keep their DVDs this weekend!

This one came with the caption..

"Missing you Nanny.  We are big boys and girls now and enjoy egg sandwiches for lunch."

If you could zoom in you would be able to see that Lexi is sticking her thumb up to me  :-)

I've had daily texts and calls from all my family to check up on me and when my son text me yesterday he asked if I was taking cough medicine to help.  I replied to him with this picture and the caption....

"Yes thanks and this is what my face looks like when I've taken it!"

Trust me when I say I'm doing all the right things [rest, hot drinks etc]....short of going to see a Dr!....and I believe my body really is best to fight the bug if it can.  I can report that last night I do honestly feel I coughed a little less and slept just a little more so hopefully I'm now winning.....and the thought of that makes me smile too  :-)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

What a fab week of celebrations we have had.  So many wanted to swap ATCs that I had to make another batch of them.  :-)  I feel so very blessed to have so many blogging friends all over the world.  It really made me chuckle that it cost less to send one out to Slovenia via airmail than it did to send them to my friends in England....the world has gone mad.

This is the latest batch of ATCs I made.  I've dumfed red poppies onto green prefelt and beaded the centres.

I was commissioned to make a child sized Mr Tumble's spotty bag to go out to a little Grandson out in Dubai with one of my Tiny Tumbles.  I also had to make Tiny Tumble a spotty bag of his own too but forgot to snap a picture of it before posting it.....It was a real labour of love because I appliqued the colourful felt spots on the fabric before making the bag up so it took hours.  :-) It's fully lined, and has a velcro fastening and I'm pleased to say the lady that ordered it was very pleased with it.

The other bit of fun I've got to share with you today is what I've spent the last few days knitting a log cabin square in between coughing and sleeping and of course watching all the Jubilee celebrations on the telly.  [Why am I always poorly when I get a few days off from work?].  If you fancy having a go you will find the pattern here.  I'm not sure quite what I shall make it into but I have a feeling I know some little girls that would use it for a dolly's blanket.  :-)

And to finish off my Wednesday's post today is a collage of the beautiful flowers in our garden at the mo.  We seem surrounded by beautiful colour out there.....just wish I felt well enough to really enjoy it.  Thanks for calling by this week.  I've had a lot of wonderful ATCs through the post already but will aim to snap a few to share them maybe next week when hopefully I'm feeling rather better.

Hugs,

Annie x

Friday's pictures...

It's been such a wonderful week of celebrations and sharing thanks to Wednesday's What's on your Workdesk.  There are ATCs flying all over the world to and from blogging friends.  Most have never met but that doesn't make their friendships any less real.  I know so many of you gave me a lot of help and support over the difficult times over the last twelve months for which I thank you for and you have also shared in all the good times too.

My Friday's posts aim to share what is going on in my world that will bring smiles to the faces that read them and this week I have really struggled to choose so you have them all  :-)

Our two big Granddaughters in their new nighties sharing books at bedtime.

Their little brother eating his first ice cream.....not at all phased by the cold is he?  He has the bluest of blue eyes that I'm sure will melt some hearts in years to come.

The delight on the faces of the twins having had their first fingers of pizza  and got really messy with it.  :-)

And last but by no means least the mischief on the faces of this pair now they are able to move from A to B.  Not quite crawling yet but oh so close!!  It came with the caption...

We think we are so clever that mummy wont be able to find us soon.  :-)

I hope these have raised some smiles and that you all have a really wonderful Jubilee weekend with family and friends.

Hugs,

Annie x