WOYWW....

Another week has passed and it's been such a lovely week of celebrations [apart from the early morning call on Thursday and the trip to hospital with Shell of course....I will add that she is feeling a little better now thankfully].

On my desk today are more bears....

These are for a lady I've made bears before for [repeat orders are always special to me].  These are for other family members in memory of a much loved Dad and Grandfather....and I believe she wants me to make more yet :-)  Along with this request came this photo...

This customer actually lives out in Australia and, as you can see, some of the last bears I made for her have now found their way back to Australia with her.....I'm conquering the world slowly :-)

It really thrills me to think of the comfort that my bears give so many people all round the world.

As you know, I'm often asked to do jobs at the last minute and this cartoon really made me chuckle so thought I'd share it with you all.

I hope you are all well and enjoying life.  If you leave me a little message I will do my best to pay you a return visit but I will be having a busy day today [I may share pics on Friday if you want to see what I'm doing today] so it will be a little late this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles.....week 343

Oh what a week it's been.  My birthday was on Wednesday and I'm still enjoying a week of celebrations.  

Tuesday morning was an early start for us with our little man coming for breakfast and, as always, it was filled with smiles including this one....

Guess what he had for lunch?.........yes tomato soup and he says it's his favourite.  I've never known a little boy to enjoy his meals so much....filled with every fruit and veg you can imagine :-)

Jo took me to the theatre on Tuesday night to see Cabaret and within 5 mins of sitting down there was a totally naked man walking across the stage....I did wonder what we had come to see but I have to say it was brilliant if rather dark by the end and nights out like together are something Jo and I decided that we need more of ....but naked men aren't compulsory Jo :-)

Wednesday was 'the day' and I was spoilt rotten.  My day ended with a meal out with my gorgeous hubby at Cote Brasserie.....just perfect.

Amy and family bought me flowers and they are so gorgeous I just had to share them with you.

Amy also sent me this photo and it made me chuckle.  Their oldest dog Poppy just loves the sheep in their field and everywhere she goes the sheep follow....I'm not sure whether they think she is one of them.  :-)

Yesterday was eventful day, starting a 6 am when Shell woke us, by phone, not feeling well at all and she was feeling very faint, giddy headed and panicky.  She was alone in the house with the twins as her hubby was working away and thought she was going to pass out.  After ringing the emergency care number it was decided that, with her medical history after she had the twins, she should be seen at the hospital.  I took her in and Grandad stayed on school duties with the twins. Then followed several hours being passed from one medical professional to another and she had every test available.....I was very impressed on her treatment [and mine when I got the shakes having not eaten or taken my diabetic tablets with having such and early start!]  Thankfully by the end of it they decided it was very probably vertigo and she was discharged with meds into the care of her loving Mum and Dad.  She isn't allowed to work or drive until she's feeling better so she spent the day with us and the twins joined us after school....hence the photo of the two little monkeys playing with the play house.

I'm hoping that by this morning Shell is now feeling a lot better.  It's our son Mark's birthday today so we will be partying it tonight.....happy days.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

You will all know that I love a challenge and this week I've been asked to get designing. [Sorry if you've already seen them].

On Sunday night I was asked if I could make a Memory Elephant....of course I could was my reply and Monday morning I got my roll of brown paper out and made a pattern for an Elephant and then of course went on to test it out and hey presto.....

....meet my new Memory Elephant.  At lunchtime I uploaded his picture on my Sewing by Annie Facebook page to introduce him with the other characters I make and was then asked if I made a Memory Monkey so I then had challenge number two.....

.....more brown paper cutting and hey presto by the end of the day I had made.....

....Memory Monkey....and he has been shared on my Facebook page yesterday to much excitement.  I have a feeling he's going to be very popular.  So now along side my Memory Bears I now offer a Memory Dog, a Memory Cat, a Memory Rabbit, a Memory Elephant and a Memory Monkey....and I love them all :-)

The other little share I have today is this one...

Here's the girls sat crossed legged on the floor on Saturday enjoying their knitting.  They can almost knit unaided now and are slowly progressing with their first knitted square that we are going to make into a little bunny....it gives me so much pleasure passing on my skills to the next generation and they really love spending time with me so it's def a win win situation.
Hugs,
Annie x

This week's smiles.....week 342

The weeks are flying by aren't they?  There is definitely a nip in the air today and our garden is looking very Autumnal....

The fuchsias are really gorgeous at the mo but this morning there was a frost so I'm guessing their time is very limited now.  The leaves on the trees are changing colours and dropping and the two crab apple trees are heavy with beautiful rosy red fruit.....but sadly the birds don't eat them and as they drop off the tree Milly likes to nibble them and make herself poorly so I'm guessing that soon we will have to pick them off  [if anyone wants them then please shout].

I've had lots to smile about this week....

• A weekend at Adam Henson's Farm campsite [he's the rather handsome farmer on Countryfile] in our motorhome gave us lots to smile about.  It's a really lovely site with a farm shop, restaurant and live entertainment on a Saturday night and you can go around the farm to see the rare breed animals [if you don't have a dog with you].  The only down side was the weather....it was wet wet wet....but of course there is nothing you can do about that and we go well prepared.  Sadly Adam didn't pop along to say hello.
• My laptop had slowed so much it was really painful to use so our daughter Amy, using team viewer from her house, did a full service on it and wow it's now super speedy so I'm def smiling now as I type this [thanks Amy you're a gem...I'm so impressed and proud of you].

The last photo I'm sharing today is this one...

Yes the Lego is out and, as you can see, my darling hubby is busy making a boat using the instruction book so it really made me smile because...

• He's really enjoying building the boat for little Theo but note Theo is nowhere to be seen in the photo [he's off to the left busy playing with one of the cars his Grandad made for him]
• but mainly because I have evidence that a man can actually read instructions!!  It's not often you'd see this so I'm glad I captured in on film  :-) :-) 

That's all from me for this week.  I hope you're all staying warm and cosy and enjoying life.  Please share your smiles by linking up below and let's all do our bit to make the world a happier place to be.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW...

Another week and I've made more bears along side shortening many pairs of trousers and altering a dress so here's my latest bears...

They were made in memory of a much loved gent and are now bringing comfort to a family up in Nottingham.

Neet asked last week how many bears I'd made now so I've been having a count up and have printed off the latest page of them...

.....these bring my numbers up to 265 and they are now spread from Scotland down to Wiltshire and some have even travelled to overseas countries too....I really love the thought of Annie's love spreading over the world.  Each bear has a lot of love put into them when I make them and I know many of them have brought a lot of comfort to their new owners.  I take a photo of every bear I make and now have a file full  :-)

I hope you have enjoyed your visit this week and will leave me a little message so I know you've called in and as soon as I can I will aim to pay you a visit to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 341

I've had a really busy week this week with sewing but have still had lots to smiles about so here's a few snaps that have made me smile....

These three went to the coast for the day on Saturday and sent me this photo to make me laugh....blue lollies!!

It's Stephen's 8th birthday this weekend but we wont see him as we are off on adventures in our motorhome so he had an early birthday present from us....its a Shrewsbury Town top with a zipped front and, as you can see it was a really hit.....I actually think his mummy may have to sneak it in the wash when he's at school cos he's not taken it off since :-)

On Tuesday we had a baking morning with little Theo and he proudly handed them around when we had a special visitor later.  Before he went home he suddenly said 'Can I have a cuddle Grandad?'.....don't you just love moments like that?

This photo of Lexi really made me smile....she is taking the shells off a bag of conkers.  I have really happy memories of doing the same as a child because we used to have a huge conker tree in the bottom of our garden so we always had the very best of conkers to play with.

I hope something I've shared has made you smile too.  Please leave me a little comment and then link up to your own smiles below....the more the merrier.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Bears bears and yet more bears....and I'm loving it.

I made a really special bear for Catriona this last week and I have to say it is my favourite or at the very least it's one of them.....

It's made from a silk ballgown and isn't it just a gorgeous colour?  It was really lovely to make and I really loved the finished result.....he's now made his way up to Scotland and Catriona says she loves him too.

Yesterday these shirts came in the post from Nottingham...I'm to make two bears from the bottom two t-shirts and a further bear using the lilac shirt and purple tie....watch this space.

I am expecting the arrival of another parcel today with 5 shirts in it to make a further 5 bears and another customer is bringing me babygros to make another bear with. I love making each and every bear because they all mean so much to my customers and each one has his own character.

You will guess what I will be busy doing today so please expect me when you see me this week....I will do my best to visit all I can.  Hope your week is as rewarding as mine and you're all well and happy.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles...week 340

Another week and more smiles to share....

On Saturday we all went to see Lexi on stage at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury at a performance of Madagascar.  Sadly we aren't allowed to take photos there but it was a wonderful performance and we all came out singing....'we like to move it move it'  :-)

Lexi played the part of a visitor at the zoo and a piece of steak....guess you need to have watched the film to know!

Amy, Dave and the children went to London for the weekend and organised a black taxi tour around all the sites...they say is was brilliant and would highly recommend it because it allowed them to see all they wanted to and the taxi driver was able to stop for them to take photos.

The girls love the Harry Potter books so whilst there they went to the Harry Potter experience....a great time was had by all as you can see.

The boys are Arsenal fans so while the girls did Harry Potter they went on a tour around the Emirates football ground....what a treat.

Of course Steve was then treated to a new Arsenal kit as an early birthday present....he looks rather pleased with it too.

On Monday Theo and his mummy went on a nature walk near their home to gather  Autumn leaves and other treasures...and also jumping in muddy puddles and climbing trees....just what children should do eh?

Our men went to watch Shrewsbury town play after the theatre on Saturday and when they came home Mark had treated Theo to one of the away football strips....it's actually a lovely purple in colour but looks rather blue in this pic.  They are off to watch a game together in the near future so I have a feeling Theo will be wearing his new kit then :-)

I hope you have enjoyed my smiles and will leave me a little message before sharing yours and linking them up below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Since last week I have launched an Autumn sale to offer 10% off the first 10 Memory bears before 31st October over on my Sewing by Annie Facebook page.  

Within the first 2 days I had an order for.....

.....a school bear to be made from a child's infant and junior school sweatshirt tops.......

......and an order for 4 Memory bears to me made from a much loved Dad's 2 pair of trousers and a shirt....the shirt was just to be used for the inner ears.

So, as you can see, I've been busy but I already have orders for two more bears one of which is coming today and have more sewing alterations also coming today so I will be a busy bee.

I will do my best to pop over to see what you've all been up to if I'm able to between jobs so please leave me a message so I know you've called by.

Hugs,

Annie x