This week's smiles...week 49

Here we are at the last Friday before Christmas and I'm sure you are all like me in that you have had lots of smiles lately.  The two nativities that our Granddaughters Phoebe and Lulu were in went off without a hitch and the two girls did their parts very well....proud Grandparents here  :-)

Several of you took time out of your busy lives to join in the fun this last week and for that I thank you very much.  Today I am featuring my 'much older' sister Jo's blog ....she has been knitting for Sam and Lexi and I just know the Peppa pig she showed us last week will be much loved by Lexi and there will be big smiles all around because of it so thank you Jo for all your efforts.  I would also like to give a quick head's up to Lyn's pic of the dog that I felt was auditioning for the part of Mary in the nativity!....if only the towel was Blue eh?  :-)

I have a few quick pics to share with you today that caused us lots of smiles this week....

Here's our little Angel Lulu in her playschool nativity looking a little nervous.  What a gorgeous angel she made.

Lulu is only 3 but writing her Christmas cards has taught her to write her name....clever girl Lulu Nanny is so proud of you.....of course her name really is Louise :-)

This pic made me smile too....I was in the kitchen clearing away the lunch things and I could hear the twins talking [ plotting?... me thinks ] .  When I peeped round the door to see what they were up to [you have to keep an eye on these two little monkeys as you can imagine!] I found them sat together on Nanny's chair reading books to each other  :-)  Precious moments eh?

Thanks for dropping by this week.  Please share your happy moments by linking them below.

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy and exciting New Year.

Hugs,

Annie xxxx

WOYWW...

Here we are at the last Wednesday fun day before the big day so I would like to say a very Happy Christmas to all my wonderful blogging friends out there and lets hope 2014 is a happy, healthy and exciting year for us all.  Thank you to you all for the lovely comments you've left me over the last year too....they really do mean a lot to me and your friendship is worth everything.

Just a quick post to show you that I've not been sat on my bum all week....like any of you would imagine that for one minute!  :-)

Here is one of the two new tops that I've made this week...not a brilliant photo sorry cos I'm taking it in a mirror but I'm sure you can see it's a rather festive patterned red one and the other one is more warm pink in colour.  I also cut out another one in blue but as yet I haven't found a spare hour or two to make it....maybe today?  :-)

There is no stopping me when I get it in my head that I'm going to get something done.  :-)

That's the only photo I've got to share today as I'm certain you really don't need to see more snaps of the chaos surrounding me  :-)

Thanks for dropping by today....I have a feeling we will all be too busy to post next week so I will say see you in two weeks....unless of course you drop by on Friday to see my happy pics.  I'm sure you will all have something that has made you smile this week so why not snap a pic and join in the fun of sharing what's made you smile on Friday and make the world a happier place.

Have a great time over the next couple of weeks and I hope to pop by to see what you're up to later.

Hugs,

Annie xxxx

This week's smiles......week 48

Another tail chasing week for me....how about you?

Thanks to all that joined in last week.  I am featuring Elizabeth's blog over at Altered book lover for her taking time to decorate her thrown room...she made me chuckle.  Thanks for sharing Elizabeth.

I just have a couple of snaps to share with you this week ...

This was my gorgeous Granddaughter playing Mary at her first school nativity yesterday...and what a beautiful Mary she made too.

 

Here you can see just how the little twinnie munchkins play the part of partners in crime for their mummy.  She turned her back for just a second and caught them working as a team trying to raid their advent calendar.  :-)

What little monkeys they are eh?

Just a quick posting from me for this week as this morning we are off to see the second nativity of this year...this time it's Lulu's turn....and she is an angel in hers!

Please take a pic of what's made you smile this week and link it below to share it with us.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

The answer this week is pretty much chaos!  :-)

There are a lot more of my really useful boxes full of all my sewing stash that have been stacked out of the way.

All my wall cupboards in my sewing room have been emptied and taken off the wall so I now no longer have my hanging rails for my customers clothes...out has come a mobile rail that will do til we have moved!

Even my work surfaces have been taken off the walls so it can all be made good and painted behind and my machines are now free standing on make do surfaces.

....As I said chaos reigns!

Still no moving date but these solicitors don't rush things do they?  :-)

I have so many things on this week that I've actually had to write it all down so I don't forget!  3 days with the twins, Monday, Tuesday and today .....so no dropping by to say hello til later in the week .  That is if I can fit my visits in between.......

• a trip to the vets for our dog Rocky to have stitches out of his neck, 
• two of our granddaughters have nativities this week, 
• a hair cut for me
• delivering a bed that we have sold
• hiring a van to take scrap metal away
• ........the list goes on and on!!!!!

I think I can safely say that's busy!!  Oh and in between I'm writing the last of my Christmas cards, wrapping presents, packing yet more boxes and had planned to make me a couple of new tops to wear over Christmas.  New tops might have to wait but I do have two pair of new trousers 2 sizes smaller than the last trousers I bought!!  Wahooooo

Hope you have enjoyed visiting my chaos this week.  I promise I will pop by to say hello when I get a minute.
Hugs,
Annie x

This week's smiles....week 47

Phew!.... these weeks really are flying by aren't they?  Here we are on Friday when I post my week's smiley post to share with you.  Thanks to those who linked up last week and welcome to Super Stamp Girl for joining in the fun last week....please join us again and tell all your friends just how good it is to focus on the happy things in life and share them with others.

My featured blog this week is Elizabeth's over at The Silver Scrappers Craft Space.  We had shared A and E emergencies last week with the little ones in our families and I really hope little Brodie has made a good recovery since his little oops moment!  He looks so cute in his cap.

My pics this week are Christmas based and of course are of my gorgeous grandchildren.

My twinnie munchkins looking really excited in their Christmas jumpers.

My other three little munchkins sitting by their newly decorated Christmas tree....don't you just love Steve's little wicked face?

And here are all 5 of them together taken Wednesday night after coming as my little Christmas elves to decorate our Christmas tree....what fun they all have together....I'm not sure who gets more excited though......them or their mummies  :-)

That's all from me for this week....I'm back to my packing boxes now  :-)  The things you find when you're packing up your home!

Please join in by snapping your happy pics some time this week and linking them below...I look forward to seeing what's made you smile.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are at yet another Wednesday and it's a quick count down now til Christmas will be upon us.

I've got a box with completed cards in...

Think I've finished about 30 now.

I've a silk frame with outlines done for a few more Christmas cards but have a feeling I may have to buy a few this year as a little matter of a house move has sort of thrown a spanner in the works lol.

A picture of our house on the internet....

Wahoo wahoo wahoo.....can you tell I'm a little excited?

So things are slowly being dismantled ...this was a shelf where I stored my boxes of fabrics.

So they are now stacked in a corner of a room!

There are boxes of books, pictures and ornaments being stacked in our conservatory...they will be covered with a festive cloth ready for tonight so my 5 little pixies, that are coming later, can put the Christmas tree on top to decorate for us.  :-)  I love having them all together at times like this so packing will wait....and Christmas might be a little limited this year but we will still have lots of fun.

Jo and I lost a dear Uncle last week and we will be at his funeral today so I will probably have to call by to see what you've all been up to tomorrow....but I will do my best to call in.  Please leave me a little message to say you've called....and feel free to pack a box or two for us while you're here  :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 46

Firstly let me say a huge thank you for all those who joined in the fun this week.  I do love visiting you all to see what has made you smile and it's so good of you all for linking them up here so others can share it too.

My featured blog this week just had to be Sam's joke about the remote control...maybe it's just appreciated by those of us or a certain age who likes to snooze while hubby watches telly in bed but it certainly made me chuckle....thanks Sam.

Well folks, it's been another of those sort of roller coaster weeks here for us.  

Tuesday saw us accepting an offer on our house and having our offer accepted on the bungalow of our dreams....I know we have a long way to go yet but we are keeping everything crossed that we will have a move in the new year.  :-)

Wednesday was a downward slope of the roller coaster....I was rung first thing in the morning by the twins mummy, Shell to say both twins were on their way to A and E!!!  It really isn't a good thing to spread Vick's vapour rub all over your face, all over your clothes and even in your hair and then try eating it!!!  [ you really wouldn't think they would go near it would you?]  I shut the shop and drove straight in to help [sewing can wait at times like this can't it?]....how ever good a mum you are these things happen and to cope with two children just isn't possible when you only have one pair of hands.

They were assessed in A and E....including a 12 lead ECG to check their hearts....Vick really is serious stuff and can cause all sorts of problems.  The poisins guidelines meant they had to be monitored for 6 hours before they could be allowed home.  Thankfully they had no effects and enjoyed their free lunch and play day with all the toys!!!  And now we can all laugh at it all so I am sharing a couple of pics of the two little monkeys....they really do gang up on who every is looking after them and get up to all sorts of mischief.  :-)

You only get one bed for two year old twins and here they are pretending to be asleep!  Needless to say it was a long 8 hour day when neither of them could actually have their nap in just one bed!

Here they are enjoying their fish fingers, chips and mixed veg and the chocolate pudding went down well too.  :-)

Needless to say Mummy and Nanny had to spend all day without even a cup of coffee so we both went home with headaches feeling totally shattered lol.

A good night's sleep was had by all on Wednesday night and I can assure you there was a house full in Shrewsbury that had beautifully clear heads with a house smelling very strongly of Vick!!!

That's all from me for this week so please join in the fun and link up your happy posts below some time before next Friday when I will feature the one that makes me smile the most.

My advent calendar Christmas tree....

I have been busy making an advent calendar Christmas tree for my Grandchildren to decorate when they visit and as it is all made from snippets I am linking it up on Di's Snippet playground. Di is celebrating her 100th week of being in charge of the playground keys so I wanted to help her celebrate by joining in the fun over there  :-)

My little Christmas tree is 17" tall and is made of a  stuffed fabric cone covered in felt pieces to give the tree branch detail and has a stuffed felt star on the top.  It had a wooden stand made by my wonderful hubby and has 24 little buttons stitched around the tree to hang the ornaments on.

 I have then made 24 little ornaments the children can hang daily on the tree...of course there had to be two of everything at least to save any falling out  :-)

These sure used up a lot of my felt snippets Di so just know I can link it up with you.  :-)

WOYWW....

Hello to all.  Firstly let me tell you that I'm feeling sick here today.....no not poorly sick but nervous/excited sort of sick.....We have accepted and offer on our house and all being well will be moving to the bungalow we really want to move to....it's been waiting for us so lets hope it all goes through as we plan.

Now I know you have all come to see what I've been making so here is the first pic...

A little Christmas tree with bells on that the twins like making jingle  :-)














The other thing I've been making is another idea for my Christmas cards.

 I had seen this idea made in paper and decided I could make it in fabric...but of course there was no instructions as to how to make it at all so I sat with a piece of paper and played til I worked it out.  :-)

For those that fancied having a go here are a few pics with simple instructions...

A simple pattern in paper.  Pin it onto two pieces of different fabrics and cut them out.

Sew together with right sides together remembering to leave a gap in the straight edge for turning.

Trim off corners and snip into the curves

Turn right sides out and press and mark with pins at the middle then at a quarter way down as in pic.

Fold top corner so it reaches the middle pin.

Using the pin that was a quarter the way down as the centre then fold as in the drawing making creases as folded.

Unfold and refold using the creases as guide lines so it concertinas on itself as in the pic and hold in place with a pin until pressed with the iron.

Ta da...and as you can see making it in different fabrics gets lovely effects.

I hope you like my little trees.  If you fancy having a go and are struggling please just shout and I will explain further.

I have used lots of little snippets of fabrics to make these so will link them up over at Di's Playground.

Thanks for popping by today....I will be popping by to say hello to all my visitors as soon as I'm able.  

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 45

Hello to all my wonderful blogging friends.  I hope you all called by yesterday to see the Children in Need quilt update....It gave us so much to smile about so please scroll down if you've not seen it yet.  It was just so wonderful to think that so many people could take the time out to add their love to the making of these amazing quilts so a huge Thank you to each and every one of you who helped.

This week I am featuring the caption of the picture Sylvia put on her blog.....I think we could all take a tip from this don't you?  :-) Thanks Sylvia for sharing it.

My snap today is a drawing that Sam did of me this week...

As you can see I was having a bad hair day that day and although I've lost all this weight the 44 Ds are still there!  :-)

Sam really loves drawing and already draws in details that most 6 year olds struggle with but maybe this one is just a step too far eh?  It really made us chuckle so I hope it did you too.

Please snap a pic of something that made you smile this week and link it up some time before next Friday when I will feature my favourite.

Hugs,

Annie x

Children in Need quilt update....

Yesterday afternoon our good friend Jacquie came with her arms full of the quilts she is making using the quilt blocks donated for the Children in Need appeal to update us on their progress and Jo and I were totally blown away by each and every one of them so I felt I should update all our wonderful blogging friends as a thank you for their efforts in helping to make them possible.  Jacquie has been really touched by how many you girls made and it allowed her to make 6 amazing quilts for Children in need.  4 now completed and last two just to be wadded and quilted together.

Quilt number 1 completed....lilac sashing to link the quilt blocks

Quilt number 2 completed....pink sashing to link the quilt blocks

Quilt number 3 completed....red sashing to link the quilt blocks

Quilt number 4 [an earlier pic as it was out on loan yesterday] now completed....orange sashing to link the quilt blocks

Quilt number 5 to be completed....navy sashing to link the quilt blocks

Quilt number 6 to be completed....green sashing to link the quilt blocks 

All different but all simply gorgeous and each quilt will have it's own Pudsey bear label with the names of the makers on it...

The draw for the quilts is on Thursday 5th December so good luck girls.

There are also 3 wall hangings and two gorgeous cushions that have also been made with quilt blocks that will be sold to raise yet more money for Children in Need but I'm sorry to say I don't have photos of those as yet.

WOYWW.....

Firstly I must thank you all for your efforts to join in my little quiz last week.....you will find the answer and the prize winners here in last Friday's post.  Well done to the three who guessed the correct answer.  These are what I posted out to them.... [hope they like them].

Three little hand made key fobs....just a bit of love and a thank you from me  :-)

I've been in a Christmas making mode in my spare time this week so thought I'd do a quick show and tell as to what I've been up to....

The 6 cards I made from the blue fabric you saw 2 weeks ago....I'm rather pleased with these  :-)

I've machine embroidered on the ribbons, added embellishments and appliqued on some baubles.

A hand embroidered Christmas tree to use for another card.

The same idea but this time on dark green fabric...what do you think?  Cream or Green backgrounds best?

5 little gingerbread men to hang on the Christmas trees for my Grandchildren....I make them something different each year to hang on their trees.

And finally just a quick snap of some fun play with my Twinnie munchkins and Aunty Jo this week....they are so fascinated by all the different buttons Nanny Annie's got...and these were just one small box of them lol.

It's been another busy week for me as always but I will do my best to pop by to say hello when I get a minute.  Thanks for calling in.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles ....week 44 and the quiz results

Well, what a week of giggles I've had.  I had so many wonderful answers to my quiz...rather a lot of them focused on parts of the male anatomy!  What are you like?  I did eventually get a few of you with the right answer and as you had to work really hard with those brain cells to get there I am sending out a little something to the first three correct answers.

What I had to make was a soot sheet for our chimney sweep.  The tube part is where he puts his brushes and them he secures the sheet part around the flue he is cleaning....yes, folks they no longer send a little child up to sweep them lol.  As you can imagine modern chimney flues come in all sorts of sizes these days including  wood and multi fuel burners and the large soot sheets our sweep can buy just don't fit.....hence his challenge for me.

So? Who guessed right?  Drum roll.................ta da da da da

1. Di from Pixie's Crafty Workshop
2. Nan G from Froggy designs
3. Jenny from Winnibriggs House

Well done girls.  Yes Di, I guess it's not the most sensible of colours but calico doesn't come in other colours round here and the ones the chimney sweeps buy are made of the same fabric.

Can you each email me with your postal name and address and I will get a little something in the post to you as a thank you for taking part.

Of course it wouldn't be Friday without a happy pic from me.

As you know my little munchkins come to play with Nanny Annie while their mummy works as a teacher on a Monday and Tuesday.  They arrive at silly-o-clock in their pyjamas and like to send their mummy a photo each day to tell her they love her and to wish her a good day at school.  As you can see Bobby Bear insisted on getting in on the act this week and this really made me smile.

That's all from me for today.  Thanks again for my week's giggles and taking time out to take part in my little quiz.  Well done to the winners.

Please take a snap of what's made you smile this week, post it on your blog and link it below to share your smiles....it really does make the world a happier place.

Hugs,

Annie x

Quiz answer....

I am going to keep you waiting just a little longer but thought you might like to know I've chosen a winner or two to my little quiz.  Thank you to all who joined in the fun.


I shall be posting the answer to my little quiz tomorrow so be sure to pop by to see if you've won.

:-) :-) :-) :-) 

WOYWW....A quiz

Hello to all my wonderful Wednesday visitors who join me in linking up to the WOYWW madness each week....I you still don't know what I'm on about then please pop over to Julia's and find out more.

Last Friday's happy post gave me lots of giggles with the suggestions in my little 'have a go for fun quiz' so I thought I would see if any of you can guess what I've been making.  You all know I love a challenge when it comes to sewing.

The clues so far ...

• The customer was male and of working age
• He uses one of these during his working day
• I have to make him two like this....one to use and one to wash as a spare [ yes, he will get it dirty :-) ]
• I am also making him a zipped, bag shaped one too.

This was the fabric he brought for me to make them all with.....strong calico

Using the measurements and instructions he gave me this is the paper pattern I made....those are inch squares on my cutting board.

And, as no one has guessed right so far and I've now finished the sewing here are a couple more pics.....

Lay flat on it's side.

Another view.

So come on folks.  Put your thinking cap on and leave me a guess as to what you think I've made.  I will be finding a little prize for the first person to guess the right answer and if no one can guess I will be sending a little something to the person that makes me laugh the most.  :-)

The only other pic I'm sharing today is one of a little gift my big sister picked up for me from the car boot.  A pair of large knitting needles for just 50p...she just couldn't resist them.  :-)  What a bargain eh?....and we all know now that an American size 6 1/2 is really an English size 3....but I do have to say I didn't know they made them  ;-)

Thanks for popping by today.  Don't forget to have a go at the quiz and/or leave me a little hello so I know you've called and I will do my best to pop by at yours when I get a minute. 
Hugs,
Annie x