This week's smiles...week 205

Hello all.  Here we are at our weekly catch up of smiles.  Whether we have had a week full of smiles or the sort of week when we struggle it's always good to spend a little time focusing on the happy moments of the week and sharing your smiles with others.

Many thanks to all who joined in last week.  I hope everyone feels the benefit of sharing a smile or two and everyone is welcome to join in the fun here by linking up your smiles on Mr Linky at the bottom of the page.

I think life has a way of teaching us how to live and this week my lesson has been ... Tell your family members you love them often and hug them just a little closer.  Never take for granted that you will have them for ever.  RIP Josh just aged 5 years.....you may remember I made bunting for a little Superhero.

I have had a trying time with the tools of my trade letting me down over the last few weeks and as I rely so much on them my first smile is something that has arrived at my door this week....

Let me introduce you to my new overlocker.  My old one is now repaired so will be kept as a good spare but it's had lots of use and I need to be sure of the tools I use so I'm really thrilled with my new toy......I watched the dvd that came with it yesterday and was amazed at all the clever things it can do [I bet my old one did too but I only ever used it for overlocking lol].

😀😀😀😀😀😀

What made me smile too was the extra free parcel of goodies that came with my new machine....

• 12 cones of thread
• a new set of 5 pairs of scissors
• 2 extra packs of spare needles
• a new tape measure
• a new stitch ripper

....and that is all extra to the pack of needles and tools that came with the machine!  What a bargain eh?
😀😀😀😀😀

I'm sharing the gorgeous flowers I was bought this week from a grateful customer.....I love my job.  💗

I couldn't miss a week without a pic of some of the Grandchildren.....Phoebe, Lulu and Stephen are proudly sharing a pic of them with the snowman they had just built.....just enough snow had fallen and they never miss out on the chance to enjoy some fun in the snow.
💗💗💗

Stephen then tried his hand at a snow angel.....I think he needs to learn to lie on his back don't you?
😁

There you go....that's a few of my smiles for this week.  Please leave me a little message so I know you've called by and if you can then please link up your smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

So here we are at another Wednesday catch up of the creative desks around the world....do pop over to The Stamping Ground and our leader, Julia if you want to know more.  It's my fav day of the week because we all get chance to peep into the lives of others and the wonderful talents they share.

Last week I surprised a few by sharing my little painted peg dolls.....Our daughter Amy came for a visit on Sunday with her three little munchkins and the fun they had with the new little characters was worth every minute painting them.....and they recognised them all  😅😅😅

This week I'm back to my sewing.  The overlocker I had repaired week before last was first used last Friday and guess what?.....It didn't work!!!!  So Saturday saw me taking it back for a further repair and thankfully I was able to use it to shorten a bridesmaids dress on Monday...phew!  As my machine has been used most days for many years it is now showing signs of wear so I have now ordered a replacement overlocker that hopefully will arrive this week.  I need to be able to rely on my machines and I was so thankful the bridesmaids dress I was shortening didn't have to be ready for collection last Friday.

Januaries are always my quietest month for customers sewing so this week I have allowed myself a little time to learn new techniques.  My newest sewing machine came with several feet that up til now I had never had time to try out so I have been using a quilting foot and the walking foot this week.  I have been wanting to have a go at free machine quilting for a while so I decided to make a fabric box to hold my special fat quarters in instead of the paper bag they were hidden away in.

I decided how big I wanted it to be and made myself a paper pattern.  I next cut out lining, main fabric and wadding all the same size.

I decided to use the bits I cut out of the 'H' shape to practise on and here's the back of my first piece ....as they say practise makes perfect and I have a way to go yet lol.

Here's the front of the same piece and as you can see because I used green thread it doesn't look so bad.....so I then quilted the main fabric onto the wadding of the actual pieces [getting better as I went].

I made the box up and lined it with toning purple lining and I have to say I'm rather pleased with the result....it's definitely better than a paper bag don't you think?

I can now have my fat quarters out on show so they will probably get a little more stroking now and I may even be tempted to use some of them. 😃😃😃

I hope you have enjoyed your visit today....I've just taken some fruity flapjack out of the oven and my kitchen smells wonderful......It's cool enough now for you to help yourselves to a piece to have with your cuppa whilst you're catching up on your blogging friends.....enjoy x

I will do my best to pop over to yours as soon as I can to check out what you've been up to.  Have a great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 204

Hello all.  Hope you all had a week full of smiles or at the very least have a few smiles you can focus on to get you through the harder times.  Firstly I must say thanks to all who joined in the fun last week.  It's so lovely to see a little of your world and what makes you each smile.

I have a few of my smiles to share with you....

Yes it's snowed here this week.....just a little sprinkling.  Enough to look pretty but not enough to hang around for long. 

Here's the twins all dressed up in their hats, scarves and gloves to play in what little snow had fallen on their drive and if you look on the ground between them you can see the three tiny snowmen they managed to make before going to school.

The other pic I'm sharing is the love of the little cousins for each other.....Lulu really loves little Theo as you can see......it never fails to make me smile.

When he's such a happy baby what's not to love?  I bet you're smiling now too. :-)

 

For those that like to see what I've been 'playing' with in my sewing room here's a pic of the latest little peg dolls I've made....a set of flower fairies.  As you can see I've stocked up on glue since my Wednesday WOYWW post....and now have rather a lot all over my fingers from all the fiddly gluing and snipping. :-)

That's my smiles for this week folks.  Please leave me a little message to let me know you've called by and if you can please then link up your own smiles below and lets see if we can make this world a happier place to be.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

How these weeks fly by lately. There are never two days the same here and this week I'm sharing the same desk as always but with something very different on it today....

Before Christmas I ordered some new wooden peg dolls to decorate for the grandchildren to play with here. On Monday I got them out and painted the faces ready to clothe them but I remembered I had used all my fabric glue so couldn't dress them with fabric so for a change I atacked them with my acrylic paints.

I decided to make three different sets so all could enjoy them.....

Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet.

A set of Disney Princesses.

And a few superheros.  I hope there are some you might recognise amongst them....I know some special little people in my life that will know if they are painted right.

Hope you like my desk with a difference this week.

hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles...week 203

Here we are at another round up of the week's smiles.  Many thanks to those who joined in the fun last week.....I really do appreciate all the effort.

For those that read my blog on Wednesday you will know that it's been one of those week of trials for me....the repairs on my overlocker are now done but what was quoted to me as £89 ended up being £113!!! [another £50 and I could have bought a new machine!!] and several of my other machines seemed to have it in for me too....

• one refused to sew at one point
• kept breaking the thread 
• I broke 2 needles while shortening a pair of jeans and
•  it even chewed up the thread while I was winding a bobbin!!! 

so I did contemplate hybernation at one point. 😁😁😁😁

It's for weeks like this that focussing on the smiles works like a tonic and I have lots to smile about....I'm alive for one 😀😀😀😀😀 So here's a few of my smiles so you can share them too...

Phoebe, Lulu, Sam and Lexi have swimming lessons and they seem to have brought back the rule to wear swimming caps.  We used to have to wear them when I was a child and it really made me chuckle this week when they sent pics to me of them trying them out.  I remember just how tricky it was to get them in place and as you can see it takes a little practise to get it right.

We really enjoyed watching the animal cameras on Spy in the Wild on BBC1 last night and had a good chuckle at Milly's interest too.

For those that saw the fabrics I was playing with on Wednesday I am sharing the, now finished cover I've made for my new diary.  I really enjoyed creating the crazy patchwork and machine embroidered to quilt it before finishing the cover.....and of course I'm now smiling at it every time I use it.

I hope you've enjoyed my catch up of smiles and will leave me a little comment before linking your smiles too.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are at another Wednesday catch up with our creative friends around the world who expose their crafting spaces to us and share the wonderful creations they have been up to in the last week....if you want to know more and maybe join in the fun [go on....you know you want to  😀] then pop over to The Stamping Ground to find out how....we are all very friendly and don't bite....often!

Monday was one of those days for me. 

• Whilst making a Dr's bag for the twins I very stupidly decided I could overlock all the seams inside but as I had added pockets there were lots of layers of fabric and I ended up with a fabric jam in my overlocker and knocked the timing out!!!....so said overlocker is now in being repaired....the bill will be £89!....an expensive lesson learnt [til the next time!].  
• On getting my machine ready to go in for repair I realised my hubby had fitted the flex to it down the back of my work surface for me so I couldn't get it out!....bless him he came home from work and pulled the cupboards out to get it for me.
• As I couldn't get the flex out I thought maybe one of my other machines might have the same fixings but when I came to look the flex off my embellisher was missing!.....said flex has now been found out in the shed! [don't ask me why? lol]
• As I no longer use my industrial sewing machine I put it on Ebay last week and it sold ....but the buyer has failed to pay for it so we have had to open up an unpaid case for it with Ebay!....as I said it was one of those days.......but I'm still smiling. 😀

So, what's on my desk today?.....

 I decided that I needed a lift to the spirits so I've done what makes me smile the most....I've tipped out all my yummiest fabrics [most still at the 'stroking only' stage] and have decided to make a cover for my new diary using crazy patchwork.  You can see I have been sorting a few into colour combinations to give me inspiration. Here is the selection I chose to use and a little crazy patchwork in the making....such scrummy colours don't you think?

Thanks for calling by today.  Please leave me a little message so I know you've called by and I will do my best to pay you a return visit soon.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 202

Another week has flown past and I'm grabbing a few minutes from a very busy day to type this post up so I will say thank you to all who joined in last week and just quickly share a few smiles and add Mr Linky at the bottom on the page.....I've had a really lovely day catching up with my crafty buddy Jacquie today and we were joined by that big sister of mine this afternoon [Tues] so will make no apologies for being brief.....life is to be enjoyed and trust me when I say we have done a lot of smiling to all be together today.

For Christmas we bought the five older grandchildren something creative/crafty each and here are the pics to show you that they all enjoyed their gifts....and seeing them all using their time well never fails to make me smile....

Phoebe had a sewing kit to make little hearts in fabrics and decorate them with bows and buttons and you can see she is proudly showing off the first she completed.

Lulu had some plastic canvasses to do cross stitch on and here she is proudly showing the picture she made with the first one.

Steve and Sam had kits about dinosaurs and both really enjoyed excavating their own dinosaurs from a block of plaster

Lexi had a craft kit with adult colouring books and art materials in it and she has had lots of fun using it all....children's colouring books are just too easy for this one, she loves really complex pages when it comes to colouring.

As you can imagine I get a lot of pleasure seeing my grandchildren being creative and I hope they have made you smile too.  Thanks for calling by.  Please leave me a little message so I know you've called in and if you can then please link up your own smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are at the first WOYWW of 2017 and I must first wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope we can all enjoy many more link-ups during the next year.  Wednesdays are one of my best days of the week....because I love seeing what you all do each week.

So? What's on my desk today?

I started off my creative new year with a new project I'm working on.  My memory bears have proved very popular and I have had enquiries about making some memory cushions so out came my fabrics to make a few up as ideas...and to see how long they would take for costing etc.

First one I made is from a man's shirt with a pocket on the front to hold a remote control.

Next was made with a lady in mind.  I've mastered printing on fabric now so can add a sentiment to the front of each cushion.

The next was made using some babygro fabrics to remember a little girl when she was very tiny.

I've really loved making all three cushions and have already had a lot of interest with orders so fingers crossed they will sell well.

That's all I am sharing for this week.  Please leave me a little message to tell me what you think and I will pop over to yours as soon as I'm able to check out your desks.

Hugs,

Annie x