WOYWW....

 Hello all.  It's been a busy week with sewing for me.  I've been altering prom dresses and other holiday dresses and shortening several pair of trousers but I've also fitted in some of this...

A bit of watercolour painting and doodling to make a batch of cards and.....

Ive been sorting my buttons into jars having bought a few new ones last time I went to Ikea.

Yes I do have rather a lot of buttons and I'm struggling to think of projects that will use them....but I will think of something I'm sure....all good ideas welcome.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 It's been another busy week for me with sewing thankfully and our little wounded soldier had his arm x-rayed on Monday and it appears to be healing well.  He's pretty frustrated with not being able to use his arm and having to limit his activities but so far so good.[....I'm writing this on Monday afternoon because Theo will be here for a long day Tuesday so we will have to find as many activities we can to occupy him sitting down].

I've managed to finish the tiny felt bears I was making last week.

For those that didn't see it over on my Facebook page here's the Memory cushion cover I made this week.  It was made from a much loved Dad's favourite jumper....It was loved by so many and very many made really lovely comments about it.... that sort of gives me a warm, fuzzy glow.

I've been sorting out my buttons....I have so many and they are all colour sorted into jars but you can guarantee if I need 4 the same of any colour I will only have 3!!

Does anyone have any good suggestions as to what I can use them for?

The final photo I'm sharing today is of these three little Memory bears made from a much loved Dad's favourite cardigan.  It was a chunky knit, lined cardigan so one was made from the furry lining and the other two from the knitted fabric....very challenging to sew with but I'm really pleased with how they all turned out.

That's all from me for this week.  I will do my best to visit all I can but for some reason, known only to Mr Blogger, I have been unable to leave comments on some of the blogs I've visited.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Now this really is a special blog post for me.  This week I was asked if I could make 4 bears out of a Grandmother's wedding dress....another first for me but what a wonderful thing to be asked eh?

On Monday the Granddaughter arrived with the dress and really threw me a curved ball....I had imagined a long white / ivory dress.  Her Nan was 98 and had only died a few weeks back and when sorting through her things they had come across an old Marks and Spencer's carrier bag [So old that it was actually a St Michael's bag!] and when asked what it was her daughter had said it was Nan's wedding dress.  Here's a pic of what came out of the bag.....

It's a beautifully patterned dusky pink slub silk dress.....My Mum got married in powder blue so I'm not sure why I was surprised as she would have been married at a similar time.  It was war-time and I guess long white dresses just weren't possible.

I feel to blessed to be trusted with such a special dress and will be making 4 bears for her 3 daughters and 1 granddaughter out of it.

....And here's a pic of Nan's Wedding day with her wearing the dress.....I get to share so many special memories don't I?

I've already taken my scissors to it and removed the skirt panels and pressed them ready to cut out the 16 bear panels.

Just look at the gorgeous buttons on the front of the dress....and strangely enough there are 4 of them so they can each have one on the front of their bears.

So you can see what I will be doing today....and loving every minute of it.  I really hope you're enjoying your day too....I will be over to yours ASAP to see what you're up to.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Here we are at the last Wednesday catch up before our Crop10 celebrations.  I have lots going on here but sadly not a lot I can share with you as its in preparation for Saturday and I like to keep surprises.

We were away on another little Motor home adventure last weekend so there was a lot of....

...rest and relaxation in the day time in between enjoying lovely dog walks and enjoying amazing sun sets each evening before pulling the blinds down and snuggling up each evening.

I'm sure in a former life Milly was a traveller because she loves the life in the Motor home and really enjoys watching everything going on around her.

There's nothing on my desk I can share so I will just let you know that replacing 39 white buttons with black ones so he can wear them while playing in the band was quite a challenge.....its not all exciting sewing here :-)

The last thing I'm sharing this week is the two lovely ATCs that have arrived with me this week from friends who wanted to share but can't come to the crop on Saturday.  The left one is from Zsuzsa and the one on the right is from Angela....thanks so much both.  I love them both.

That's all from me for this week....I will try to post a smiley post on Friday but I may be a little busy sewing and baking so we will see.  To those coming to the Crop10....see you there.....wahooooooo.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Hi folks.  It's been one of those weeks when I really can't wait to get my new sewing room set up and organised.  "Why Annie?" I hear you ask....you did didn't you?

Well.....

....this beautiful dress came through my door requiring a little job that was crying out for a few sequins and gems.

"Where were they?"

Well!!! .....they could be just about anywhere as this was my first wedding dress through my door since the house move.  So out came boxes, tins and jars!!

So my room today is looking like this!!!!....click on the pics if you dare for a closer look :-)

Chaos reigns! .....but, as I know you will want to know, I did eventually find what I was looking for and yes you guessed it....they were in the last place I looked!!

Oh how I long to get this lot organised and all sorted in places I can put my hand on everything.

I hope you've enjoyed your visit today.  If you would like to leave me a little hello comment to let me know you've called in then I will call by at yours as soon as I'm able.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

All I want to say is IKEA today  :-)  I am on a roll with the sorting and tidying and planning for my new sewing room.....I'm ever the optimist even though the plans for our building work 'got lost' at our local planning office and we have had to submit them again!!!

So I will get going with my show and tell for today...

Sunday we took a trip to Ikea to pick up a few more jars for my ribbons / lace & trims......Ok ok I know I said a few!!

Can a girl ever have too many storage jars?

Result....all my ribbons now have new homes and I have 3 jars full of lace and trimmings.

Oh and the little jars????

I have rather a lot of buttons that needed sorting...these are just some of the small ones!!

Another result....well all but the black, navy and brown ones!!!

And I need more jars for those!!  :-)

Some of you will have seen that I managed to get some gorgeous fabric off a site I've joined on Facebook [well worth a look if you are into fabrics....just follow the link in the post below].  In that post I mentioned that our local shop rarely had the sort of fabric I like to use to make my tops out of.  Well,  I called in there on Friday as we were passing and they not only had a shelf full of just the fabric I've been looking for but it was in the sale reduced from £8.95/metre down to only £4/metre!!!  I grabbed enough to run up 4 new summer tops for just £10 each....far too good a bargain to miss eh?

 The other quick show and tell for today is this one of the two lined drawstring Lego mats I've made for our two daughter's children.  They both had boxes of Lego for Christmas and asked if I would make them these to make picking it all up so much easier.

I will say enough is enough for today now but will add that there are two awwww moments coming up on my Friday's post for this week that I'm sure lots of you will want to see so be sure to pop back so you don't miss out.  :-)

Thanks for calling by today.  Please leave me a little hello message so I know you've called in and I will do my best to call by at yours asap.
Hugs,
Annie x

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

WOYWW....

I noticed the boss has posted early this week while enjoying her holiday in Spain so if it's ok for her I thought I'd join in the fun early too  :-)

As most of you will know I had 3 twinnie munchkins days last week so that just left me Thursday and Friday to play catch up with all my sewing jobs.  Life here is never boring :-)  I now have 1263 customers on my books and I still get one or two new ones each week so I'm kept pretty busy  :-)

It was a party day on Sunday to celebrate our youngest grandson Stephen's second birthday so on Saturday [yes, I know I leave everything to the last minute! ....something about a cobbler's wife going barefoot comes to mind :-) ] I looked in my wardrobe for something to wear.  Now girls when you've lost 2 1/2 stone in weight you can imagine just how much better I am feeling but when you check out last winter's clothing you can also imagine that my clothes just don't fit any more!!  Some I can take in of course but I thought I'd share a pic of one I tried on to give you a giggle today....

I bought this top for last Christmas and yes it was a loose fitting top but not quite that loose!!! In fact both my hubby and I can now get in it [he's lost over a stone too].

So? What does a girl do when her clothes no longer fit?

Answer.....Of course she spends all Saturday afternoon making herself a new top that does fit.  :-)

Do you recognise the material Jo [zart]?  It was the piece I bought in Abakhan on the day we came to see you.....and I love the results.  :-)

And the family we saw on Sunday at the party were family that we hadn't seen since I started to lose weight so I had lots of really lovely positive comments while I was wearing it.  :-)

Makes you feel great doesn't it?

I have also made my first two 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" patchwork squares to raise money for the Children in Need appeal.....if any of you can make patchwork squares and are willing to help us raise some money than please check out the details on this earlier post.

I am very happy to collect the squares here and will pass them on to my friend Jacquie to be made up into children's quilts to be auctioned to raise further funds so please contact me for details if you need them....wipso@toucansurf.com

The last pic I'm sharing today is one of my little munchkins examining some of Nanny Annie's buttons.  I think the love of buttons is in their genes cos they spent ages carefully looking at each one....I have such happy memories of doing just the same with my Mum's buttons as a child.

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) 

Thank you for calling by today.  I hope you have enjoyed your visit....I think I visited everyone who visited me last week but I couldn't leave comments on them all for some reason so sorry for that.  I will do my best to do better this week but alas these computers and blogger sometimes have a mind of their own.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Happy Wednesday to all my wonderful blogging friends who call in every week and leave me such lovely comments.  I really do appreciate all the encouragement, love and support you leave.

My table is full of yumminess this week....

On one side you can see some of the yummy fabrics and threads I've sorted out ready to go with me on a day of crafting and fun with friends.  We have a day being taught by Maryke from Batiks n Beads.  She makes the most wonderful felt books with embroidery stitches, buttons, beads and other embellishments....I can't wait.  :-)

The other side of my table is covered with yummy fabrics I've bought to use for the little LillyBo quilts that I'm making.  I am really loving filling my spare time creating quilts, bags and little friends to go in the pockets of the bags.

My first two have already arrived with Jo[zart] and will be going to little children needing a bit of extra love very soon.  :-)

My ironing board is draped with LillyBo quilt number three...this one is all pink and girly and I'm really enjoying patching together all the pretty colours.  :-)

I need to pull out my table to pin the quilt layers now so I can stitch them together.  I have already made the front and backs of the bag ready to put it in so need to finish that too.  :-)

Now all I need to do is to decide what little friend will go in the pocket of the bag....that I've yet to make  :-)

[Yes Jo I do plan to make the pocket and stitch it in before putting the bag together....easier that way.  :-) ].

Well folks that's it from me for today.  Before I can play I have a coat to shorten the sleeves on for a customer so will pop over to say hello to you in between my jobs.

Don't forget to link up your smiley posts each week on my Friday post so we can make the world a happier place to live.

The good and the bad of my Saturday morning....

My life seems to be a balance of the highs and lows of life....I guess we are all the same.

Today I woke early and treated my darling hubby and me to our breakfast in bed....not something we ever do to be honest so this was a real treat.

We are always up with the lark and aren't folk to lie in bed so were soon up and ready to start our day.....and guess what I did?  :-(  :-(  :-(

I fell down the b****** stairs ! ! !....don't worry I haven't broken anything but I was made well aware of the saying 'the bigger you are the harder you fall !'  It shook me up and I've twisted my replacement knee and the ankle on the same leg but I will live....I bet I find bruises later that I didn't know I'd got  :-)

So, that's the bad news out of the way.

Here is the good news.  My postman has just been with another amazing parcel from Twiggy at The World of Twiggypeasticks

Just look at it all...there is the most gorgeous fabric to make several dresses and lots of smaller pieces to trip up others plus trimmings, buttons and even a cow and sheep we can applique onto others.  I am really so blown away at the kindness of others and both Twiglet [that much older sister of mine  :-) ] and I are truly grateful at the support of each and every one of you who has been kind enough to support this wonderful cause.....we will keep sewing and making as many dresses as we can in the spare time we have....Promise  :-)

Thanks Twiggy for this wonderful selection of materials.

Also I just want to show you the three little dresses I made yesterday.....numbers 33, 34 and 35.

These two little dresses were made with the gorgeous material Anne sent us.  We have made smaller dresses with this so we get the full benefit from the gorgeous teddy panels.

This is also a dress made from Anne's pretty material.  I've trimmed it up with a little of the fabric Wanda sent me and added a little appliqued dog on the front.

Can you tell just how much fun I'm having putting these little dresses together.  Thanks to all who are supporting this wonderful cause.  We will soon be ready to send Louise at Sew Scrumptious. another parcel of dresses [the last ones we sent her should be put on her blog soon  :-) ].

Lucy Locket lost her.....

Well?  As we all know she lost her pocket.  

I spent this morning finishing off the 10 little dresses for Africa.

Here they are hanging on my 'to do' rail.  Don't they just look lovely?

I felt there was one thing missing from them though so I sorted out some matching fabric and have, so far, made 5 pockets for the pink dresses.  I'm sure all little girls like a pocket to put something special in.

I was disturbed mid morning by big sis who joined me for coffee [thanks for the company Jo].  As you will have seen on her blog she has been knitting for our expected grandbabies.  She had knit a little pink cardy and a little blue cardy but was really struggling to find buttons for them. 

 I tipped out my box of blue buttons on my ironing board [look at how many I've got and those are just the blue ones!] but even then we really struggled to find 4 little matching blue ones for the cardy.  Would you believe it?

For those that missed my request in yesterday's post....If anyone has spare pillow cases that you would be willing to donate to the cause I would be happy to run them up into extra little dresses for Africa so please would you hunt them out and email me at wipso@toucansurf.com for details of where to post them to. They can be patterned or plain and as long as they still have life left in the fabric they will be good. Thank you ever so much if you can help out.

WOYWW....

Here we are again folks.  Another week has whizzed by and our day of snoop is upon us again.  Be sure to pop over to Julia's blog to join in the fun when you leave here.  As I updated my blog yesterday with all my news today will be a short blog. [Phew I hear you all say :-) ].

This is my desk this morning.  As you can see it's all tidy and organised now since it got it's lick of paint on Monday.  On the front are the 4 brooches for my followers to choose one of if they are lucky enough to win the draw next Monday.  In the middle of the desk is my Tax return still waiting to be filled in and sent off.....groan groan.....it really doesn't take me long but it's one of those jobs that is easy to put off til tomorrow.  Feel free to have a good snoop round  :-)

I've had my buttons and beads out searching for the perfect ones to go in the middle of my brooches.  

This is the button box.  It's pretty full of utility buttons for replacing clothing buttons but hiding in there are some really lovely ones too and I love looking through and sorting them.

This are my bead containers.  I have beads of just about every colour but must make a note to self that I need some bigger feature beads cos most of mine are too small for my brooches.

Thats all for today but don't forget to put your name in the draw if you are one of my 100 followers. and don't forget to let me know which one you would like to win if you're the lucky one.  If you're not a follower yet then I'm happy for you to become one to join in the fun....the more the merrier.

WOYWW.....

Well? I would really have to say nothing at all.


This is my 'to do' rail [make the best of it because I know it won't be empty for long] .....







..... and this is my done rail. [ I managed to clear it ready for my holidays].




Yesterday I shortened 2 pair of curtains but apart from this I have no other sewing since I got back from my holidays....yes, I'm afraid I have to say I was actuallyAWOL last week and had set up my post to launch automatically. I really didn't want to miss out on the fun but was only able to visit a few blogs last week so many apologies for that....the network in out French Gite was really playing up so my time for blogging was really limited.

I am of course not wasting my free time. I have washed and ironed and caught up with all the chores we all have when back from hols and I have been 'playing' in the time I've had left.



This is the latest crocheted blanket I am working on. Twiglet and I sat catching up on all our news on our Fun Day Monday and I sat crocheting using some wool she had picked up at a Sunday Market...a real bargain :-)







These are a couple of coasters I have crocheted using some beautiful random crochet cotton I found in France.









I also found these two gorgeous little buttons [they are each only a couple or cm across and are actually white] in France and Twiglet and I will be using these in our latest challenge....not sure what we will be doing with them yet but I'm sure you will the first to see the results :-)



Now folks please pop over to Julia, our Queen of snoop's blog, and join in the WOYWW fun. I promise I will do my best to visit more blogs this week.