This week's smiles....week 373

Here we are at my round up of smiles that I write each Friday and I invite all to join in to share their smiles.  There is more than enough sad/bad news about so please help me to bring a few smiles into our friends lives each week.

My sales of masks seem to be easing off now [thankfully] so it's allowing me rather nore time to do what's needing to be done.  I've made lots of Memory bears over the last couple of weeks and the one lady that I made three for came back for another one because she loved them so much....and that always makes me smile. :-) :-)

Saturday morning I had a message from a Bank manager from London asking me if I could provide them with face masks.....lots of them!!  I'm really not sure I will get a firm order but it really made me smile that they even considered little old me for the job.....so if I do get an order I may be looking for out workers :-) :-)

Here's a few more smiles I can share with you all....

Steve has been having his football training lessons over the internet with his instructor so the lap top has been put under the tree so he can train in the shade.

Lexi has been having her dance lessons over the internet and here she is doing the scorpion pose for me.

Our garden just keeps on giving.  The Rhododendrom top middle is another bush that's now out in full bloom...it's a bit pinker than the one on my new blog header.  The bees, butterflies and insects are loving all the flowers we have blooming and we have even seen a damsel fly and a woodpecker in the garden this week but sadly I wasn't quick enough to capture in on film.

Finally here's a snap to make you laugh.  We filled a paddling pool up thinking Milly would enjoy the cool water but she will only go close to it to drink and won't venture in so I thought I would show her just how lovely and cool it was by putting my hot feet in it....she wasn't convinced sadly.

Please leave me a little hello comment so I know you've dropped by and then link up to your own smiles to help make the world a happier place to be.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

What a lovely day we had last Wednesday with our Anniversary celebrations.  I took a couple of hours off to visit as many blogs as I could because I had been a bad blogger the previous couple of weeks and had been unable to leave any comments.....life work sometimes just gets in the way and I'm a great believer that while the work is needing doing I have to get it done.  The demand for face masks has eased a little over the last few days so I have managed to build up my stock of them and actually took Sunday and Monday off from sewing....it was much needed as I had worked every day since 17th April and even this workoholic needs to take a break now and then. So here's my shares for today....

Here's my basket full of completed face masks....I feel a bit like an old peddlar woman at times with my basket full of wares :-)

I have now sold nearly 780 masks and have made and given away many more too....never a dull moment eh?

 Aldi's sent us an email to say their fat quarters were on sale so the two piles on the left just fell into my basket [well, I had used most of my supply so it needed to be replenished].

The other fabric is what I have been buying from Cabin Crafts from on Facebook...Denise always provides a reliably brilliant service and the fabric is really lovely to sew with so she comes highly recommended from me [she has already sent me 4 huge parcels full of fabrics and there just might be another one in the post due to arrive today].

On top of the face masks I have had a steady flow of Memory bears to make...the two bottom right are school bears, the bottom right one was made out of a Grandma's nightie and it really made a very special little bear and the top three were made out of the tops that belonged to a lady who ran a local pub....and these three were loved so much that today I have been asked to make another one.

I always love repeat orders.

So folks, today I will be making a Memory bear but I do plan to visit as many blogs that I can...but even the best plans fail at times so just believe me that I will be doing my best.

Hugs to you all,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 372

Hello all.  I normally write my Friday post during Thursday in the day but it's been so hectic this week that I didn't realise it was time to write it until I was on my way to bed so this is going to be a quick post from me for this week.  There has been lots to smile about but I have very few photos as evidence.

For those that didn't see my new look on Wednesday here is my lockdown hair style...yes it's purple and that's the WOYWW mask I made for the 11th year celebrations this week.

The twins have been snorkling in their pool in their garden and this photo made me smile.

And finally these are the treasures from our garden for this week....and that's got to make you smile.

Sorry it's so rushed this week...the matchsticks wont hold my eyes open much longer.

Please leave me a little comment and then link up to your smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....the 11th year celebrations

Wow....where has all that time gone?  I'm sure, like me, you are so pleased to be part of this wonderful group that Julia started all those 11 years ago.  It's become even more important than ever during this difficult time so we have a lot to celebrate.

Julia suggested we didn't put extra strain on the postal service by making our usual ATCs and that we completed a UFO and do a show and tell today.  Well, as you will all know since 17th April I have been making face masks every day [on average about 30 each day!!]  so that's meant a lot of cutting of all my fat quarters and piles of new fabrics bought in for the job and this was the result....

A huge pile of pieces that has grown steadily over the weeks.  The pieces were too big to throw away and I had in mind to use then for patchwork when all this madness ends so I put my thinking cap on and here's what I came up with.....

I've made myself a rainbow mask with WOYWW accross the front.....hope you like my purple lockdown hair to go with it.  I have missed a couple of hair cuts so I thought I would brighten it up with some semi permanent hair dye [and to make the grandchildren smile of course].

I hope you like the new look.  I would just like to say a huge thank you to our wonderful blog leader who takes the time out of her busy life to link us all up each week and to say here's hoping life returns to the 'new normal' soon so we can meet up to celebrate properly.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 371

Here we are at the end of another week of lockdown...and we are still safe and well thankfully.  I'm being kept very busy with making face masks but I'm never too busy to do a quick round up of the smiles from the last week...

Theo is showing me the beautiful blooms on their peony plant in the first pic.  The original plant came from the garden of his Great Grandad's and both us and Mark have now got blooms on the plants I grew from the cuttings so these are rather special to us.

He enjoyed making a teepee with his mummy and daddy in their back garden.

Gina and Theo are posing wearing their face masks I made for them in the bottom pic :-)

Sam is playing the electric guitar that his Uncle Mark has loaned him....and is already doing well with it....he likes to record tunes he's playing and send us the videos :-)

Phoebe and Lulu are watering the tomato plants we gave them. They look to be growing well for them too.

These are this week's latest blooms from our garden I thought you'd like to see.

Finally I saw this on Facebook and it made me chuckle....this time last year I never imagined I would be making the amounts of face masks I am making ....and my quilt fabrics have certainly been put to good use now.

That's all from me for this week.  Stay safe and happy everyone.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Firstly I must apologise for not leaving any comments at all last week.  I did sit and read many on my Ipad in the evenings but that wont allow me to leave comments.  You will understand why when I show you what I made last week as well as keeping, what feels like, the world safe by making face masks.....and now we have been advised by the government that we should be wearing masks the world has gone crazy!!

I sold 65 on Monday and by 7.30 Tuesday morning I already had 5 customers waiting on line with orders!!

So my makes this week are....

7 Memory bears for my first customer and while I was making those a parcel arrived with......

....the clothing in to make another 5 Memory bears.  To say it's been a busy week is an understatement.

This is my desk today....I'm doing my best to keep up with the demand for face masks [I've literally made 100s now!] and....

 ..... my assistant has had promotion this week.  He's now moved on from just pressing the fabrics to actually cutting some for me :-)

What a great team we make eh?

I will do my best to pop round as many desk as I can later but please excuse me if I don't manage to leave you all comments....I will be saving the world one mask at a time.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 370

Hello all and happy Friday to each and every one of you.  I've been head down sewing hard and fast all week so I have had to take out a little time to share my smiles with you all...it does me good and you're certainly worth it.  :-)

Firstly I'm sharing the smiles the family have shared with us this week....

Theo has enjoyed time playing with his farm and animals on his builders tray.  He's also made a Very Hungry caterpiller and then told us the story on Facetime.  He's also spent some lovely time drawing....quite a little artist in the making I think?

Amy's three have drawn a huge snakes and ladder game out on their yard and have had lots of fun out there and while Steve was playing football one day the two girls had an art lesson in their garden drawing some of the flowers :-)

Lexi took part in her dance group's 9 hours sponsored dance to rais money for NHS....and between her and her little friend they raised over £400 so we are very proud of the girls.

Sam has had his guitar lesson and then sat and played what he had learnt to us...he's reading music and learning very quickly now.

It's so easy when shopping on line to click the wrong box isn't it?

Guess who will be making lots more flapjacks now :-)

And to finish off here's the latest bloomers from our garden to make you smile this week.

I hope you have found something to make you smile and will leave me a little comment then link up to your own smiles below....we can never have too many can we?

Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW...

Actually what isn't on my desks today might be a shorter list :-)

Firstly I would like to show you this...

This was the elastic I had ordered last week.  I had many trying to guess how much I'd ordered to win themselves a couple of my masks.

When it arrived there was actually 480 metres [needless to say a lot of it has already gone] so with a guess at 400 metres the lucky winner was Helen....I will contact you on messenger Helen so you can choose your prize.

I've had a really busy week making masks and am struggling to keep up with the demand for them but in between times I've also done some special sewing...

Meet Bun bun.  He belongs to a special little girl who has Autism and her mummy asked me to make school uniform for him because he goes to school with the little girl every day.  I really enjoyed this challenge.  Bun bun didn't come with a pattern so I had to adjust the patterns I had to make his clothes fit.

I've been told that the little girl was thrilled to bits with him so that makes the challenge well worth the effort.

My next challenge was to make a cushion using fabrics from a wedding dress.  The bridesmaids were pale pink and I was asked to use a little to embellish it.

Rather pretty eh?

My darling hubby has been turning his hand to more baking...this time it was two coconut cakes and a batch of apple cakes....yummy too.

Mid sewing face masks in top gear my sewing machine started groaning and on closer inspection I decided it just might be because of all this grot that I had to clean out of it!!

Yes I am rather ashamed to show you that it had got this full of fluff.

I have shown you my boxes filled with fat quarters  before and it might surprise you to know they are very nearly all gone now on mask making so I had to order more materials....this is the first batch and I have more on it's way  :-)

I love new fabrics.  :-)

Now I've shared all that with you I'm going to show you what is actually on my desk this morning....yes it's a batch of 7 Memory bears.  I cut them out first thing yesterday morning but had lots of orders for face masks so I am planning on shutting myself away in my sewing room today to make these bears.

...if I don't get over to yours til later in the week  hope you will understand...but I will do my best.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles.....week 369

I'm here again with my Friday's smiles.....Well I think it's Friday :-)  All these days seem to be the same at the moment but we've got through another week of this madness and thankfully we are both fit and well.  The weather has changed this week and it's been rather more cold and wet but the garden is really enjoying it.

I will start with a few smiles that have been sent us from the family...

Here's the twins modelling the masks I sent to them....they are growing up far too quickly.

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Theo has been training to be a barber and has cut his daddy's hair this week with the clippers.  Don't you just love the concentrated look on his face?

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Amy's three have been keeping up with their school work each morning.

They have also been planting all sorts of seedlings and their tomato plants are growing really well.

Top right is Steve with the bunch of red roses he bought his mummy for her birthday out of his own pocket money....he's such a loving young man.

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I have been very busy sewing this week and each time I pull out a box of fabrics my little assistant jumps in to help.  She's such a little character.

  

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And finally heres a snap of the latest bloomers in our garden that seem to be enjoying making us smile.

I really hope you have enjoyed my smiles this week and will leave me a little comment and then share yours too by linking them up below.

Hugs,

Annie x