2 years of blogging....

I took the plunge on 3rd July 2009 to start up a blog....the idea was to write it to record life here at Sewing by Annie's [a bit like a diary] and along the way to put a few smiles on the faces of the folk who just might stumble on my blog.

So what has changed since then?........

• I still aim to record a little of what is going on here but I now have 169 followers and many of those drop in regularly to leave wonderful comments.  Many of then I would now call friends although only a very few of them I have actually met in person.
• Back then I just had 800 or so customers that visited me for sewing alterations etc and now I have over 1090 and my sewing business has gone from strength to strength.....I love it.
• Towards the end of summer 2009 I found a very special blog called Stamping Ground...it was written by, 'The Queen of snoop', Julia and she had started up a group of crafting bloggers who on Wednesday every week were taking pictures of their crafting spaces and 'exposing all' on their blogs.  I took the plunge and joined in the fun and have been completely hooked ever since.  There are some really talented, creative people out there and the world seems a much smaller place to be.
•  Early 2010 I joined a group started by the wonderful Fi over at MarmaladeRose.  Fi encouraged us all to spend 20 minutes of our day crafting of some sort.  It could be sewing, knitting, crocheting etc and, I know I spend my days sewing for work, I started also putting aside at least 20 minutes for creative crafting for fun.  Of course there have been the odd days when I haven't managed it but mostly I still do at least 20 minutes every day and still love it.
• In Jan 2010 Twiglet [my much older sister  :-) ] and I were encouraged to open up our blog shop and since then we have been given a lot of positive encouragement in filling the shelves with wonderful crafty creations [we have even sold some of it too  :-) ].
• I now have 2 wonderful little granddaughters and have another granddaughter and 2 grandsons on the way.....I feel very proud to say we are filling our little bit of the world with lovely young people.

What a lot I have to celebrate.  Please join me in raising a glass to the next 2 years.  Thank you to all who call by here.  Please leave me a comment if only to say hello.

Cheers!

WOYWW...

Well folks it's as if I've never been away....except I have had my batteries recharged and I feel the break really did me good.  I'm sure life is the same for others in that we all have highs and lows but just sometimes I need to shut the door and chill out to cope with the lows and make the very best of the highs when they arrive.

You will see from my last post that the family excitement is growing well  :-)  I am blessed with just the best family in the world and can say that each one of them goes out in the world and makes the world a better place for them being in it so can't wait for the extra little family members to arrive.

Funday Monday was another brilliant day of laughter, chat, cuppas and, as always, a chocolate or two [thanks T].  Twiglet brought down her Cuttlebug with the new Tim's Tattered flower and leaf dies and she provided each of us with a wonderful ceramic button [thanks Jo].  We each chose fabrics to suit the colours of our buttons and cut flowers out using the new toy.  A bit of heating with the embellishing heater and a few stitches here and there and ta da here is the brooch I made.

I have spread out the knitted squares I have made so far for you to see so you know I did manage to do a few while away last week but I'm sorry to say Jo that I didn't manage to knit while in the car very successfully....I dropped my needles once or twice then had to put it away  cos it made me travel sick :-(

Nearly 15 now so that's 7 more since last week  :-)

I've been busy doing a few sewing jobs this morning but have still managed a batch of yummy wholemeal rolls for lunch.....feel free to cut one in half and fill it with what ever you choose.....they smell wonderful.

I usually like to share a little of my garden with you all and this week it's lavender.  We have lots of bushes around the garden and it's really looking and smelling wonderful at the mo.....even the little bee seems to be enjoying it  :-)

And how's about this for honeysuckle?  It's really beautiful and smells divine especially with a drop of rain on it.  :-)

Hope you all have a really fab week and can enjoy a few sunny days.  Please pop over to Julia's blog and join in the WOYWW fun.

My book ends....

I have promised to keep you all up to date with the developments of my expected Grandchildren.  Last night our house was filled with love and laughter.  We had all our family here for a catch up.  We aim to do this regularly and I really love our special times together.  Of course, as you can all imagine, the baby bumps are growing fast and furious now and I think it was a shock to both our daughters to see just how much bigger M is with her twins than A is with just one.  Thankfully they are both keeping really well at the mo even though the heat is a little draining of the energy.  Me, being me, just had to request a photo of the bumps [and thank you girls for allowing your Mum's madness] and thought you would all like to share it  :-) :-) :-)

How's this for a pair of book ends?

M with the twins to the left [little boy at the top and little girl in pole position for delivery :-) ] and A with a single baby boy to the right  :-)  I've seen smaller bumps than M's at 8 months.  From the front M's bump is much wider than A's too....and hey they are both only 25 weeks pregnant so have a way to go yet!! 
M will be taking her twins to a Take That concert tonight.....hope they have a lovely time  :-)

Ooooooooer I'm sooooooooooooo excited  :-)  Really can't wait to meet our new family members and fill our sitting room with even more love and laughter.

A few days away.....

As you will know I have had a few days away with my darling hubby in Aberavon in South Wales to recharge our batteries.

We stayed in the Aberavon Beach Hotel and I have to say if I had seen it from the outside before booking  I might not have booked cos it looked a bit like Colditz....Old and rather shabby..... but inside it was just perfect.  The staff couldn't have been more helpful, the service was faultless and the decor was really lovely.....there was even a spare single bed in our room so we could have taken Twiglet with us  :-)

We were surrounded by lovely beaches and scenery to give us plenty of fresh air and chill out time.

We visited Saint Fagins National History Museum with all it's quaint little houses, shops and stores.  It was a lot of walking but well worth the trip.  Each little house had a lit open fire and really tiny little windows and oh how it made me appreciate modern electric lights...the tiny rooms all seemed so dark and gloomy to have spent their days in.

The Tailor and outfitters was just fab with all it's sewing machines and fabrics etc.  How I would have loved to rummage through the fabrics and all the old clothes.

Inside the store was filled with many items that didn't seem so very long ago that we could see in the shops and even remembered buying many of the items.  We saw many young children chuckling at the outside toilet and the old school etc.

Thursday evening  we went to watch a 20 20 cricket match in Cardiff.....thankfully it stayed dry but it was a really cold evening.  I really enjoy watching cricket so this was a real treat for us both regardless of the temperature.

Here are just a few of the wonderful owls we saw on our travels......especially for you Twiglet.

Hope you have enjoyed my show and tell of our wonderful break away.  I have got a few aches and pains from all the walking but really feel to have blown away the cobwebs.  I now hope to start feeling rather more creative in the days to come.  Thanks for dropping in.

WOYWW....

Happy Wednesday everyone.  Another wonderful link up day with lots of other crafters.  

It's been another really busy week for me so far....I have either taken in or let out 6 pair of trousers this week as well as many many other jobs....It appears there are many men managing to shrink their trousers in the wash! [think it's called middle age spread but I wouldn't dream of saying that to them  :-) ].  This is one of my favourite jobs to do so I have really enjoyed my work so far this week.

Funday Monday was another brilliant day of chatter, giggles and of course chocolate [thanks T].  I sat knitting cos as yet my mojo is still AWOL.  I am hoping to recharge my batteries in Aberavon, South Wales for a few days so by next Wednesday you might see something a little more creative from me.  I really hope they have a good supply of mojos in South Wales so I come back refreshed.

On my desk today are the latest knitting projects I have on the go.

This is the latest little knitted hoody for one of the expected baby boys.  I love this random wool but I have to use two balls at the same time to knit matching sleeves and fronts because the repeat of colours are so big [what you can see here is a finished back and a nearly finished hood].  It's well worth the effort though cos the finished results are really lovely....I have already knit one in pink/blue and one in a turquoise random wool [and of course the white one I knit for one of my customers].

This is the pile of squares I have knit so far for the latest baby blanket.....I plan to take this away with me so by next week there may be lots more made....that is when I'm not swimming or just relaxing in the jacuzzi [did I mention I was going away for a couple of days?]

The last pic is for those who called last week and missed to get one of the yummy strawberries ....this is the third bowl full we have picked already and there are still more to ripen so please help yourselves.

Finally, before you pop over to Julia's to link up, I would like to say thanks for dropping in on me this week...I will do my best to do a return visit but don't forget I am having a few days away [how could you forget?].  I'm sure you will all forgive me cos my few days away are really badly needed....I'm physically, emotionally and mentally tired.  Have a great week.

Just like lizards....

It's a beautiful sunny morning, so far, over here at Sewing by Annie's and I have just snapped this quick picture of our 3 dogs all lined up against the white painted shed soaking up the sun's rays.  They obviously think they are lizards  :-)  The two dark ones often sit here to warm up but this morning Skye has joined them and it amazed me that all 3 sat happily for me to walk up to them to snap the pic....they would normally have run over to greet me.

It's another Funday Monday here today so I'm off to clear the sewing jobs that are waiting for me on my 'to do' rail before the fun starts.  Have a great day and, if you're free, pop over here and join in the fun  :-)

Brilliant quote for life....

Last night Twiglet sent me this quote and I love it so much that I thought I would share it with you....

"There comes a time in life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it, and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard you forget the bad, and focus solely on the good. after all, life is too short to be anything but happy."

I don't know where she got it from or who wrote it but I have added it to my side bar where I can see it and read it often.  Thanks Sis.

It's prom time....

My sewing room seems full of gorgeous dresses so I thought I would share a few with you.....

This one has a beaded bodice and the skirt is so beautifully floaty.  I really love the colours in this one

This one is the most gorgeous blue in colour and has beaded detail in the front of the bodice.

This one is a wonderful bright red with halter neck and beautiful beading on the front.

Last but by no means least is this gorgeous wedding dress that had it's final fitting yesterday....isn't it gorgeous?

I really love the way the prom dresses transform a school girl to a stunning young lady.  They seem to grow up just in the minutes it takes them to put on their posh frocks and I love being able to make them fit to perfection so they leave here with huge grins on their faces.