This week's smiles....week 245

Oh what a week it's been here at Sewing by Annie's.....and yes thankfully one filled with smiles.

Firstly let me thank those who took the time out of their busy lives to share their smiles last week....you really are such special friends.

Now on to a quick round up of my week's smiles in pics....

I've managed to finish the sewing for a big order for a shop in Doncaster....it just needs bagging up now.

• a 3 metre [approx] length of bunting
• 20 doggy bandanas
• 10 doggy ties and 
• 10 doggy bow ties.

On top of that little lot I've also had orders for 6 Memory Bears ....and yes that really makes me smile because each one comes with it's special reasons for making them.

A very special friend send me some really happy post as a belated birthday present....how well she knows me even thought we have only met once in real life.  Thanks Ellie xxx

As you know my grandchildren never fail to make me smile.  Theo has been having some fun with some salt dough and his mummy shared a few pics with me.

This is Phoebe, our eldest grandchild, blowing out the candles on her birthday cake....she's 9 now and is such a beautiful girl inside and out....I know I'm biased but I'm such a proud Nanny Annie.

 And here she is with her sister Lulu and brother Steve pulling faces for their mummy....don't you just love them?

There you go.  I've shown you my smiles now leave me a little message so I know you've called by and then link up to your own smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Another week has passed and lots has been going on on my desk this week so here's a quick catch up...

The pretty fabrics you saw on my desk last week were stroked and pondered over and eventually I cut them out into 36 x 6" squares having removed the spotty one as suggested by Catriona last week....she was right that it didn't go with the others.  Here I am mid joining the pieces together.....Coffee cup handy of course.

Here it is wadded, backed, quilted and edges bound...I like to do a row of a pretty machine embroidery to hold the binding in place to finish it off.....I'm sure this will put a smile on the face of the birthday girl I've made it for.

I then moved on to making some bunting to go in a new shop near Doncaster....pretty fabric isn't it?

This is actually my desk this morning....I'm making two bears for a Foster mum so that the bears can be given to the two little ones she has at the mo when they move on to their new adoptive parents....isn't it a lovely idea and I'm sure the bears will hold very happy memories for them.....I do get asked to make some really special bears don't I?

There you go.  Just a quick round up but I hope you've enjoyed your visit.  Please leave me a little message and I will do my best to pop over to yours when I get a spare minute.....I don't always get many of those so if I don't call by then please forgive me....I do my best.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles.....week 244

Here we are at our weekly catch up of smiles for the week.  I'm sure it does me good to focus on the happy times each week so why not have a go and join in the fun?  Everyone is welcome.  Just write a post on your blog sharing a smile or two from your week and link them below so we can all benefit from a few extra smiles.

Many thanks to those who joined in last week.

As promised my smiles this week include some pics from Mark's 30th birthday celebrations....you may spot a few faces you know on there.....just click to enlarge if you need a closer look.

Everyone made a big effort at getting into character as you can see and a great time was had by all.

Of course it's also been Halloween this week so I am sharing a couple of pics of my little trick or treaters...

As you can see Poppy the dog likes to be in on the pics too....she thinks she's one of the children I'm sure.

You may be able to see Sam has a spider on his left cheek and he insisted he hugged me and I had to kiss that side of his face cos he knows I am scared of spiders....little monkey!

That's my smiles for this week.  Please leave me a little message so I know you've called by and if you can then link up to something that's made you smile this week.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW.....

Here we are at another Wednesday catch up with our friends and their creative spaces around the world.....I love seeing what you've all been up to.

It's been another manic week here at Sewing by Annie's since last Wednesday...

• We were out Thursday night enjoying some quality time together with my life long friends to celebrate her 60th Birthday...she has moved recently to Chirk which is just 40 mins away from us so we hope to catch up on a more regular basis from now on.
• Friday night was our son Mark's 30th birthday party....it was an 80s / 90s themed fancy dress party and I hope to share some pics with you on my Friday smiles post so if you need a giggle then please pop back then and why not share your own smiles too and link up with us?
• Saturday morning was supermarket shopping and then in the afternoon we had our daughter Amy and her three here for a couple of hours.
• Sunday morning we enjoyed a walk around Attingham Park with Milly....she loves catching up on all the doggy news with the many dogs that walk there.  In the afternoon we enjoyed the sunshine and had a good tidy up in the garden ready for winter.
• Monday it was back to work for a rest and this is what I've been sewing......

A friend of our daughter Amy gave me a bin bag  filled with old jeans because she felt I might make use of the denim so as a thank you I made a memory bear out of one of the pairs for her 6 year old little boy.....washed denim really is lovely to sew with and it made a really lovely little bear.

One of my customers brought me a pale blue cardigan and a navy cardigan that used to belong to her one Grandma and a beautiful cream embroidered nightie that used to belong to her other Grandma and these are the two Memory bears I've made out of them for her.  Both very different but they hold very special memories of the two much loved ladies.

The other thing on my desk is this selection of fabrics that I have sorted out to make a lap quilt out of for an elderly aunt who will be celebrating her 100th birthday just after Christmas.....I may add/edit them yet before making the quilt but thought these were rather pretty.

That's all I've got to share for today so if you leave me a little message so I know you've called in I will do my best to pay you a return visit to see what's on your desk this week....and don't forget to call back on Friday for your smiles of the week and join in the fun if you can.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 243

Here we are at yet another week's round up of smiles....and trust me when I say I've had lots this week.

First I must thank those who linked up their smiles from last week....our numbers are few but it's always worth seeing what's making our friends smile.

And now my smiles for this week.....

As most of you know I celebrated my 60th birthday this week and this is the banner my daughter and her hubby made to hang up for my party...the photo isn't very clear but there are ten of my favourite black and white photos of me as a child on it so it's very special to me.

Here's a collage of some of the pics taken at my party......I'm one very proud Mum and Nanny.  Just check out that amazing cake my daughter in law made for me....isn't it gorgeous?

This is a photo of a very special friend who was able to join me at my party....we have known each other 56 years having started school together at Minsterley Primary.

She moved schools half way through primary school when her parents moved house but we both passed our 11+ at aged 10 years and started grammar school together in the same class at the Priory Girls School.

She left school at the end of year 5 and I stayed on to do A levels.

Without knowing we both applied to go nursing and were accepted into the same intake, shared a room in the nurses home and did our three years nursing together.

We had our families together and have remained best friends throughout.....and all that without mobile phones to keep in contact with each other!

She celebrates her 60th birthday 5 days after me so we are close in very many ways.....Happy birthday Dawn for Saturday. xxxxx

My other smiles for this week are...

Look at the sad state of Milly's little brown dog toy.....she managed to chew her way through the new cover I'd made and pull his stuffing out.....all over the living room floor!!

Ta da! yes I know I'm mad but she can still smell her fav toy through the new cover and I have one happy little friend so it's worth my efforts.

And here's the proof....I will do my best to keep her little toy going for her.  She loves to shake it like a rat and throw it around the room herself so life just wouldn't be the same without it...and she's worth it.

There you go.  Some of my smiles for this week.  It's the fancy dress party tonight for my son's 30th so you may well see a few more pics next week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

It's been a week of partying and celebrations here for me.... My 60th was on Monday and it's my son Mark's 30th birthday today.  I've been spoilt rotten and we still have a 80s/90s fancy dress party for my son to come yet.

I had party with all my family and many of my close friends last Sunday tea time and I was made to feel very special....many thanks to all who sent me cards and birthday messages.  I'm sharing the gorgeous oil painting my hubby had done for me of a certain little special friend of mine....simply because I love it and know many of you will appreciate the talent of the artist....he's a local artist called Andy McIntyre of McIntyre Studios and I must say he is one very talented man.  He's not only got a perfect likeness but he's managed to get her character into the painting....

I'm also sharing the gorgeous flowers my youngest daughter and her hubby sent me....because they are just too gorgeous to keep them all to myself....they are just all my fav colours.

There's not a lot on my desk this week because as you can imagine I've not had a lot of time for sewing but.....

I did make these new design tooth fairy pillows on Monday as a special request and have already sold two of them and....

...having had a visit from two very special little brownies yesterday I will be sewing their badges on today.

So there you go....I've shown you mine now if you leave me a little comment to say you've called by I will do my best to pop over to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 242

Hello all. As you noticed I was missing last week but you seem to have managed very well without me....Thanks for keeping the smiles going folks.

Well this week I'm just going to share a collage of my snaps from last week on the Island of Rhodes and I have a rather rude funny to add at the end so please don't scroll down if you're easily offended.

As you can see we had lots to smile about....the sun shone, the sea was the bluest of blues and the Greek people were so lovely....certainly a very special way to celebrate my 60th birthday that's up and coming next Monday 23rd.....and I still have a party to come with all my wonderful family and closest friends at the weekend.

Now onto my rather rude bit.....You will be aware of the Greeks and their statues I'm sure.  Well this postcard of Satyrus, a Greek architect in the 4th century caught my eye on one of the tourist shop stands for some reason!....I can't imagine how he did his job looking like that!

I sent the pic to our youngest daughter as a giggle while we were in a restaurant looking at what we fancied for tea and I said we had spotted Stifado on the menu but was pleased to see it was just beef stew!

Her reply came back....Oh yes I can see the dumplings!

I hope this makes you giggle too but I will apologise to anyone offended and say.......you were warned :-)

Please leave me a little comment so I know you've called called in and if you can then please link to your own smiles below.

Have a great week....I know I will :-)

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Well folks I'm back.....I wonder if you missed me? 

This was my view last week......

Coffee time in Rhodes....stunning view eh?  My hubby and I were away enjoying a wonderful week together near Rhodes to celebrate my up and coming big birthday.....what a beautiful island it was too.  It was hotter over there than usual for them and even reached over 30 degrees several of the days.....and my biggest achievement of all was that nearly every day I swam 10 lengths of the swimming pool having not swam for the last 12 years following my knee replacement....wahooooooo.

So I'm back to normal routine this week now.  Of course our little Milly had a week in our favourite kennels while we were away and was really spoilt by the girls at Whitley Crest....thanks for looking after her so well.  She has done a lot of sleeping since she came home and as normal hasn't really left my side but Monday she did this....

If I'm busy sewing and she is in need of a cuddle she often jumps on my knee but this was the first time she then went a step further and decided to lye on my desk by the side of my sewing machine.....what a cutie eh?

My other desk shot for this week shows you the lovely sparkly fabrics I'm playing with this week.....my baby boy is 30 next week [where did that time go?] and he has an 80/90s fancy dress themed party planned for the weekend after so I've been working on my outfit!!....well you just have to go for it don't you?

I wont promise to share a pic with you but I have a feeling my family might!!

So there you go.  I've shown you mine so now show me yours and if you leave me a little comment so I know you've called in I will do my best to pay you a return visit ASAP.  Have a fun week.

Hugs,

Annie x