Friday 28 August 2020

This week's smiles...week 386

 Hello all and welcome to this week's smiles...I hope you've had as much as me to smile about this week and will share yours by linking up below.


A lot of my smiles have focussed on our new little family member, Maisie.   She is Theo's new puppy and, as you can see she is settling in very well and there is already a lovely bond building between her and Theo.  She is a little cockapoo and her coat is really soft and fluffy....she's simply gorgeous.



Shell, Brent, Lexi and Sam are on holiday down in Cornwall this week and they look to be having a lovely time down there.



I've been filling in all the UK postcodes where my Memory bears have gone to and after putting a shout out for help in locating them many have helped me fill in several more areas so I'd like to thank all that have helped.

If you've bought Memory bears from me and gave them to someone in an area not coloured in on my map then please let me know....my aim is to spread a little of Annie's love far and wide [I know there are some in USA and even Australia so maybe it's the UK today and maybe the world one day :-)].

Hugs,

Annie x

Wednesday 26 August 2020

WOYWW....

 I'm slowly but surely getting back to 'the new normal'. I'm doing a few fittings wearing my face shield and it seems to be working well.  I've sold all my adult face masks in grab bags and now only have a couple of bags of children's masks left....it's been like a cleansing and the chaos in my sewing room has lessoned considerably.



Since the weekend I've been seeing spots....two dresses to alter.  One cream with black spots and the other black with white spots :-)




I've made another Memory bear for yet another different school bringing my number of schools up to 29 now.


 

 

I've been restocking....

  • New sewing machine needles...because a girls can't do her job without them.  You should need to replace the needle after 8 hours sewing and trust me when I say I go through a fair few.
  • New cards to get my customer cards up to date...I keep the details of what each customer has done for easy reference.

 

 

The other thing I've been doing, and this is really just for fun, is to locate on the map where my Memory bears have gone to live.

I would really love it, if you have ordered bears from me, if you could let me know the first two letters of the post code where they are living so I can colour in where in the UK they are if I haven't already coloured it in.

I know I have bears in America and Australia too but I'm only locating the UK ones for now.

 

The last thing I'm sharing with you today is our new family member...Maisie.  Come on all together "awwwwwww".  This is Theo's new little puppy.  She's a Cockerpoo and is just gorgeous....I'm sure you will be seeing more of her.

Thanks for calling by.  I will do my best to pay you a return visit if you leave me a little message so I know you've called in.

Hugs,

Annie x

Friday 21 August 2020

This week's smiles...week 385

 It's been another lovely week filled with plenty to smile about here this week.  I'm going to start off with our little Yoda...




"Love you lots, nanny I do" .  Isn't he just gorgeous?...maybe I'm just biased :-)




Phoebe and Lulu have been baking [just look at the concentration on their faces]...flapjacks and rocky road cakes this time.  They love helping in the kitchen and can now cook all sorts...they are a credit to their mum and dad.

 

 


Little Milly is our guard dog [I think she thinks she's an Alsatian].  This week, because it had been so hot, we opened the front door and put a stair gate across the gap to keep her safe.  She really loved the fact she could see so much more.


This is my collage of the smiles that keep coming out in our garden.  Our sweet peas are now blooming and I love them.  I can see them from my sewing room and they make me smile every time I look at them.


I hope you have enjoyed my smiles for this week and will leave me a little comment before sharing yours by linking up below.

Hugs,

Annie x

Wednesday 19 August 2020

WOYWW....

 The world is still in a state of change and the rules to keep us safe keep changing but this week I have had my first bridesmaids fittings.  I've donned a face shield and each customer has to wear a face mask to keep us all safe but it works and I've some posh frocks to share with you today....


 

 

This is what my rail looks like.  I have....

  • Shortened 2 hems on two of the bridesmaids dresses
  • Lifted another of them at the shoulders and stitched it up a little on the front
  • Shortened the hem on an evening dress and
  • Steamed 4 of the bridesmaids dresses.

Sounds easy?  Well the two bridesmaids dresses I had to shorten were colours I didn't have thread to match so my darling hubby had to pop to our local fabric shop to fetch me matching threads.  Then when I came to steam the dresses my old steamer died....it really owes me nothing but you don't expect these things to die just as you need to steam 4 dresses [and the Wedding is on Sunday so I didn't have a lot of time!].  Of course my darling hubby came to the rescue again and ordered me a new one to pick up at our local Argos and then popped to fetch it for me....pleased don't imagine me sitting waiting cos I had plenty to keep me busy!!


 I know many of you like to see my posh frocks so here's a closer look while they are airing after being steamed.  They are for 5 beautiful  teenage bridesmaids. Both the bride and groom have lost their parteners so they are joining two families of 7 children between them and I really couldn't be happier for them all....I feel very blessed to have played my part in making their day perfect.


 

Finally this is my desk today.  I'm putting together the last of the masks that have already been cut out ready.  I'm selling them off in grab bags [feel free to pop over to my Facebook page if you'd like to grab yourselves a bargain] and imagine when they are gone that will be the last I make ....but who knows?

 

 

 

I'm always happy to take orders but, now I am getting a few fittings, it will be nice to clear my desks of mask making and do something else for a change.

Friday 14 August 2020

This week's smiles...week 384

 It's been a week of hot weather and several thunderstorms here this week but we've still had plenty to smile about.



We joined Mark, Gina and Theo and Gina's Mum, Dad and Brother at Barmouth for the day on Sunday.  We enjoyed a socially distanced BBQ lunch cooked by Mark [and I took the salad, coleslaw and fresh fruit salad].  We then enjoyed a couple hours down on a quiet beach just over the road from their campsite.  It was a perfect day and I even went in the sea...something I haven't done for years.

😍😍😍


 

 

 

The twins have been baking, climbing at a local climbing centre in Shrewsbury [ yes that is Lexi sat at the very top in the one pic] and enjoying crafty time painting their own peg people.





Amy's three have also been enjoying crafty time, painting bird houses and bug hotels plus of course in this heat they have been enjoying their pool....bliss.




I'm sure, like me, that you will all be pleased to hear Poppy has been back to the vets to check her leg and she is doing very well on it.  She will be up and walking on it very soon.


Finally I saw this on Facebook and thought I'd make you giggle.  In this heat this really is just how I've been feeling.  I'm really hoping it drops a little cooler so I can cope with working very soon.

I hope you're all managing to stay cool.  Please leave me a little comment before you link to your own smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

Wednesday 12 August 2020

WOYWW...

 It's been a funny old week here at Sewing by Annie's....

  • The 4 memory bears I've been expecting still haven't arrived ....the lady needs more time to sort out the clothes she wants to use for them.
  • The 10 dresses needing shortening that were due to arrive are delayed because the lady needed her money to buy a new tyre for her car.
  • The 4 bridesmaids dresses that are coming to be altered are delayed because the family had been on holiday in Spain when the government announced they needed to quarantine for 14 days when they arrived back in England so they can't come until next Monday now at the earliest....and the Wedding is on 23rd August!!

Guess who's going to be a busy girl when it all turns up and I'm guessing they will all arrive at the same time.....they usually do 😂😂😂 

So today this is what's on my desk today.....

 

 

 I'm sat working on the next Luna Lapin rabbit that's been requested.  It's been a while since I made one and it's really lovely doing a bit of hand sewing.

That's all from me for today.  It's been a quiet week but I've really enjoyed the rest.

Hugs,

Annie x

Friday 7 August 2020

This week's smiles...week 383

Well, thats another week passed and thankfully another week filled with smiles.  We had a weekend away in our motor home so I must apologise to the ones I couldn't leave a comment on...the internet was hit and miss and my ipad wasn't allowing me to leave messages.

Here's my round up of smiles for this week....





Lexi is so flexable as you know.  She is constantly showing us her latest dance moves and dropping into the splits.  She is aiming to touch the back of her head with her feet in this photo because when I was a child I used to be able to touch the back of my head with the flat of my feet....it's been a while!  As you can see she's very nearly there.  😍😍😍




While Lexi was at her dance workshop Sam had a 1:1 with his mum and he had a go at sewing a sock toy on her sewing machine...he loves to be creative.  😍😍😍




Phoebe is getting all she needs ready to start at her secondary school and very proudly showed me her new PINK calculater....she's very much a PINK girl'   😍😍😍

When checking on her list of what was needed her sister asked her if she needed the compass to find her way around the school. 😂😂😂





Amy's oldest dog Poppy has been being treated for a problem with her leg for a while now and had xrays taken which showed she had a problem with the cartilage in her one knee joint so this week she has had knee surgery done by a specialist from London.

Recovery has to be very controlled and will take months to heal properly but we are keeping everything crossed that it's successful for her...she's such a lovely dog.




Our garden continues to keep giving and this week we were able to pick the first peas and french beans and pull carrots for our tea.
😍😍😍




And finally here's the round up of our latest garden blooms....they just keep on giving and making us smile.
😍😍😍😍😍

That's all from me for this week so please leave me a little comment so I know you've called by and then link up to your own smiles below.
Hugs,
Annie x

Wednesday 5 August 2020

WOYWW

Here we are at another Wednesday catch up with our creative friends from all around the world...it's my favourite day of the week.  If you still don't know what it's all about then pop over to The Stamping Ground where Julia will tell you all about it and you will be made very welcome to join in the fun.

I have a slightly different show and tell this week as we had a weekend of......







.....rest and relaxation in our Motor home.  Milly loves the life in there as you can see.  We found a lovely site in the middle of the country...adult only [ and no that doesn't mean anything dodgy].  It was spotless and it's lovely to feel safe in our little bubble.

We were surrounded by birds [buzzards, wookpeckers drumming on the trees and a family of robins etc etc] and there was a Golf Club walking distance away that we could sit outside and enjoy a meal and drink in the sunshine...bliss.







I have made one more School Memory bear but the 4 that were supposed to come this Monday now aren't coming until next week now.










I've made a lined PE bag for a little boy starting Nursery School.



I am still selling face masks but the demand is less now so I just keep my basket topped up as and when needed.

That's all from me for this week.  I hope you've all had a creative week.  I plan to visit all I can when I can between jobs.
Hugs,
Annie x