This week's smiles....week 362

Hello all.  I hope you have all had a wonderful week filled with smiles.  I like to spend a little time each week focussing on the happy moments in my week and sharing them with those that like to drop by for a smile....and hopefully will share your own smiles by linking them up below.

These are a few pics that have had me smiling this week....

It's been World book day here last week and our grandchildren have enjoyed dressing up for it :-)

Here's Amy's three...they all love to share their photos with me.

It especially made me smile because Phoebe is wearing the outfit I made for her mummy when she was the genie in aladdin when she was at school...it's been used many times since :-)

Lexi dressed as Thing 2 from Dr Zeus and her best friend at school was Thing 1 :-)

Sam was Harry Potter of course.

I do love that their schools join in the fun of special days.

Shell sent me this photo of their puppy Jet stopping their cat Monty from going out through the cat flap....I think she wanted to play :-)

I snapped this pic of two ducks on the roof of the house behind us on Wednesday...I think even the ducks have had enough of all the floods now!

I saw this on Facebook this week and it really made me laugh....please don't read if you're easily offended.

I hope you have enjoyed my smiles this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 312

Another week has passed and I've yet more smiles to share with you.

As the twins celebrated World Book Day on Friday last week instead of the Thursday I didn't have their pics to share with you when I wrote my blog so here's their outfits....Lexi is Veruca Salt and Sam is Charlie Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  A fun time was had by all as you can see.

Sam didn't find learning to swim easy but is now going from strength to strength and has now gained the next swim certificate.....well done young man, so proud of you.

When I was a little girl one of my party pieces was to touch the back of my head with both feet at the same time and Lexi is determined to be able to do the same as her Nanny....she's getting there and is now just an inch off.

I struggle to believe I was ever so flexible now because there are days when I can't even put my socks on!!....old age!!

Amy sent me this pic of Molly puppy with the slogan...

"She's no lady!!"

My comment was that she's obviously very relaxed and at home there now and at least she does have her legs crossed!  :-)  What a cutie she is now.

I found this on Facebook and thought I'd share it with all you Grandmothers out there....this certainly applies to me, how about you?

That's all my shares for today.  Please leave me a little comment and, if you can, then link to your own smiles below.

Hope you all have a great week filled with smiles.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 311

I have just been looking back at some of my Smiley posts and was amazed that I first started writing them way back on 18th Jan 2013!! What a lot of happy posts eh?  Many more joined in back then and it was really lovely to see what was making everyone smile.  If you'd like to see what was making me smile back then here's a link.... My First Friday Smiles post.  It wont surprise you that my Grandchildren featured in that one because they never fail to make me smile....and this week is no exception.

Lots of you have come to see Theo in his Stick Man outfit....I'm sorry to say that it's just not going to happen....but I'm still laughing about it.  I only have the one photo of it and at this point it's not quite finished....

 ....the top has had slits cut in the bottoms of the sleeves and around the bottom of the top.  The headband has had black centres drawn in the eyes.

It fit and looked really lovely.... to us that is! Theo was fine until he saw himself wearing it in the mirror and he went into meltdown saying..."I'm not Stick Man I'm just Theo".  He insisted it was taken off and refused to wear it.

Gina was so sorry that I'd spent time making his outfit and ended up buying him some Peter rabbit pyjamas to wear instead.  She put the outfit in a bag to take to Nursery with him, just in case, and was greeted by two other mums at the Nursery door with outfits in bags too.  It must be something to do with the age of the beasts but it has certainly caused lots of giggles.  

Here's Amy's three dressed up.  Lulu and Steve were two little puppies from 101 Dalmatians and Phoebe is Hermione from the Harry Potter books.

You will all be used to Poppy Dog sitting in on their photos but it really make us smile to see little Molly has joined in too....she really has made herself at home now.

The twins school is celebrating World Book Day today so I don't have any pics of them as yet.

My other smiles this week are of these two.  They are getting used to each other now as you can see.  Poppy is such a placid tempered dog that when Molly wants to play and nips at her legs she just walks away and wont tell her off but when it comes to nap time they are happy to snuggle up together.

The bottom pic came with the slogan....a cuddle or strangle?  :-) :-)

That's all my smiles for this week so please leave me a comment and then share your smiles with us too by linking below.

WOYWW....

It's a quick post from me today because I will be busy using this little lot.....

Tomorrow is WORLD book day and Theo wants to go to Nursery dressed as Stick Man.  His mummy [who would normally sort out his dressing up outfits] is very busy at school with Ofsted so I have offered to help out by making his outfit.  It can only be a tunic top and head gear because he is potty training so will need quick access to his trousers so I plan to get making today so it can be collected later ready for morning.....I imagine I will post a pic of little Stick Man on my Friday post.

For those that don't know who Stick Man is here is a pic....

He's a little stick that comes alive and goes on adventures while looking for his way to get home.....it's a book written by Julia Donaldson who wrote the Gruffalo and is a firm favourite of Theo's

That's all from me for this week....short and sweet just the way Julia likes it [and not my norm :-)].  If you'd like to leave me a little message so I know you've called by I will do my best to pop over to yours when I can.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW.....

Hello. Happy Wednesday to you all.  The big day is fast approaching and, as yet,  I've still not had time to finish making my Christmas cards or painting the peg dolls to give the Grandchildren for their Christmas trees yet.  My sewing days have been filled to the brim and, as frustrating as that is, it has to come first but it's not been all work no play....

Phoebe [my eldest Granddaughter] has to briefly play the part of Mary in her school play but she has to be able to get her outfit on and off quickly so it couldn't be a full outfit so Nanny put her thinking cap on and Monday night Phoebe came for an hour while her brother was at his kick boxing club and she helped me design and make her outfit.  She was that thrilled to be able to help me and was really pleased with the results....she can get it on and off in a couple of minutes so it certainly does the job.

At one point, while we were creating together, she looked up at me and said 'your'e so clever with your sewing Nanny'....she just melted my heart.  She really is growing up into a lovely young lady.

Here's the latest two bears I've made and today I have 4 more coming this morning and another two this afternoon plus I have a toy rabbit coming to be fitted for a pair of trousers and a shirt that I've been asked to make.....I get all sorts of challenges  :-)

Last week Angela asked if I ever take photos of my bears to keep so I thought I'd show you that I have taken photos of every bear I've ever made, put them together in collages, printed them off and laminated them all....ALL 175 OF THEM!!

I really love making my bears and the responses I get when they are collected make my job all so worth while.

That's all from me for today.  Please leave me a little message and I will do my best to pay you a return visit when I can.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles.....week 100

Wahooooo it's week 100 and it's the start of a whole New Year......not the best of starts though cos I've only just realised it's Friday so am running late with my blog post today :-)  I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't know what day of the week it is.  :-)

Firstly I want to say a huge Thank you to each and every one of you who has taken time out of your busy lives to share your happy times.  The world really is a better place because of it.  Smiling is contagious so let's spread as many as we can in 2015.  I would also like to wish you all a very Happy New Year full of good health and everything that makes you happy.

My word for 2015 is PROMISE.....

• The promise that at some point the plans will be passed for the alterations for our little bungalow
• The promise that we will get a new kitchen/dining room and can then empty boxes of stored kitchen stash
• The promise that I will be able to set up my new sewing room with my 5 machines, empty and organise all my bags full of fabrics and look forward to many creative times in my new space with all my crafty friends.
• The promise of many special family together times......these mean more to me than anything.
• I promise to make big efforts to stay well, watch what I eat and exercise as much as my arthritis allows

My happy snaps today are these....

Our 5 little Grandchildren all in their Christmas dressing up outfits...we have 2 Elsas, an Anna, a Darth Vader and a Buzz Lightyear....Oh what fun and giggles they all had playing together.

My little apprentice in deep concentration learning to sew...."like Nanny" and.....

....very proudly showing off the finished cushion she had made.  What a beautiful job she made of it too.  :-)

 My last smile I'm sharing with you today is this pic my youngest daughter put on Facebook this week....sort of says it all doesn't it?

I bet you've all got memories of tins like that.  :-)

Now it just leaves me to say please feel free to drop in at any time during the week to add your smiles and link them below and I will post mine each Friday featuring the best from the week before....there was only 4 of you last week so how could I possibly choose just one?  I love you all :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

This weeks smiles....week 30

Many thanks to all who joined in the fun this week.  There really is a lot of happiness out there and how lovely it is to share it.  Many call by each week just to share our smiles now folks so please keep linking them up to cheer the lives of those needing that little extra boost in their lives.

I am featuring Di's blog this week from over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.  She painted such a fab picture in my mind of her dressed ready for some intense cleaning....it really caused some giggles.  I am hoping to meet Di this next week in real life and I would like to put a request in that she doesn't come in her cleaning gear  :-)  Thanks for joining in the fun Di.....see you soon wahooooo

I am sharing my two little munchkins this week to show off what a clever Great Aunty Jo they have.  They are such tiny little poppets and are so into dressing up at the mo.  Shell has tried to buy them a few dressing up clothes but they are all for children aged 3-5 so are much too big for them.  Jo set to and made them a few [she put them on her blog on Wednesday] and you can see just how much they love them here....

Lexi just loves her princess skirt but in her haste to put it on she failed to cover her top half...I've blocked out the important bits cos I'm sure in years to come she might rather it that way  :-)

Here is Nurse Lexi and Dr Sam....they have a fab set of Dr toys and are happy to check you over any time but be warned...they are a bit vicious with their instruments as yet!!  :-)

And if you're not already smiling then this one is sure to raise a smile.  Sam insisted on putting Lexi's fairy dress on...what a cute little angelic face eh?  :-)

















Thanks for calling by for your 'make me happy' visit.  If you have something in your life that is making you smile please snap a pic and link it up any time before next Friday when I will be uploading my next pic and I will feature the one that made me smile the most.

This week's smiles....week 11

Brrrrrrr it's been a cold one over here at Sewing by Annie's.  Not many of my customers have ventured out in the snow so it has allowed me two wonderful days with the twinny munchkins and an evening on Tuesday when we had all 5 of the grandchildren here together.  They give us so much to smile about.

Week 10's smiles were just brilliant....everything from cat's loosing their heads in bags or eating broccoli to dressed up scissors doing an impersonation of Jo and I  :-)

My featured blog for this week just had to be Jo's with the pic of her little Granddaughter on.....they obviously do things differently over in Germany!!!  :-) :-) :-)  What a poppet.

Thanks to all who joined in the fun and linked up to share their smiles with others.

My smiley pics this week are.....

The Chicken pox den Amy's three built under the stairs in their hall.  Thankfully Phoebe, although covered in spots, coped very well with her chicken pox and is now revovering well.  I guess it's only time til the other two get it though.

Do you think Louise should go into fashion designing?  Here she is playing dressing up.  :-)

There seems to be many boxes around in our house at the mo and I think Lexi was just making sure she didn't get left behind when we move.  :-)

I hope you have enjoyed my smiles for this week and will find a few of your own to share with us.  Please try.

Just take a snap or two during the week and link them up below so that others can share your smile.

Thanks and big hugs,

Annie xxx

What it is to be a Mum.....

My daughter came home from school yesterday with the news that it's 'that' time of year again. It's Book Week and on Friday they all have to go dressed as their favourite book character! Last year it was 'Sponge bob square pants' the year before it was 'Cat in the hat'. This year it just HAD to be 'The Gruffalo'! :-) Well, as you will possibly know by now, I love a challenge so we set to. A brown fur fabric tabard had purple sharp spikes stitched on the back. A hair band was covered with brown felt and had ears and horns stitched to it. A pair of slippers had brown paws stitched on the front with sharp white claws glued on each toe. A pair of black shorts for modesty and a pair of brown tights had to have wrinkly grey knees stitched to the fronts of each leg. Then it was on to the face paints....orange eyes and a purple wart on her nose were drawn on and fangs and teeth will finish the look. Her hair will be back combed for the 'wild look'. Wow she looked perfect.....AND SHE IS THE TEACHER!!