This week's smiles....week 390

 Last week was soooooo busy here at Sewing by Annie's but, in contrast to that, I haven't had one customer this week so far.  If only I'd known I could have spaced my sewing out but I always like keep on top of it in case I get the same amount of customers each week.

I have used my time well and made myself a super fully lined denim bag.  It has a zipped pocket on the outside and another zipped one and two open pockets on the inside so was quite challenging to make....I didn't have a pattern :-)  I added a photo on my Wednesday post, below, if you'd like to see it.

On Sunday there was a Race for Life with 6000 motor bikes that raised lots of money for the local Air Ambulance.  We watched the race from a bridge over the A5....our son-in-law, Brent, took Sam on the back of his old Triumph Bonneville bike and I managed to snap a photo as they went below us...

Our new shed was erected on Tuesday...it was supposed to be done last week but when it arrived they noticed they had made the two ends round the wrong way so they had to remake them for us.

It looks really fab and by hubby is now enjoying fitting it out with shelving to organise it's contents onto.

Just after the new shed was completed we had a visit from a huge heron on the roof of the house behind us....I think he was checking if the new shed would be a good place to build his nest :-)

Our Morning Glory has new blooms every day,,,,sometimes 2/3, sometimes 5/6.  It makes me smile each morning to see how many will open up.  They are such a lovely blue.

Of course it wouldn't be Friday without a few funnies....I hope you find something here to make you smile.  Please leave me a little message and, if you can, then link up to your own smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 I noticed when I put the two bears on last week that I had forgot to show you the first 4 I made for this customer....

These were made for a Dad/Grandad who died far too young and were made from his favourite clothes.....each item holding special memories.

The clothing for these 4 arrived Tuesday afternoon from South Wales....aren't they bright and cheery?

They are made in memory of my customer's son to give to his siblings and she is coming up from South Wales to collect them at the end of the week when she visits family members.

I think I was very missed while I was away on my holidays because since I started back on Tuesday morning I have.....

• Made 2 memory bears with personalised labels
• Removed belt straps from a dress.
• Shortened a pair of trousers
• Shortened 2 skirts
• Rehemmed 3 pair of trousers
• Replaced a concealed zip in a skirt
• Shortened 2 Nurses dresses
• Made the 4 memory bears [above]
• Repaired the underarm seams on a waterproof jacket
• Shortened 2 pair of nurse's trousers
• Shortened a pair of jeans
• Repaired a seam on an evening dress and
• Shortened a pair of jeans

This was all done last week and that also included a day sewing with the twins on Wednesday.....the customers kept coming but the jobs were put in a queue to do Thursday and Friday :-)

This week has started very differently as I have had no sewing to do for my customers as yet [I know I have some coming] so I have made the best of my break and....

I planned and cut out all these pieces.....I bought a new bag while I was away on holiday and fancied making another one from denim.

Hey presto....one new denim zipped bag with a zipped pocket on the front  and it's fully lined with two open pockets and another zipped pocket inside too......I'm really pleased with it and it has been made totally with fabrics/ zips/ webbing etc that I had in stock.....and that pleased me all the more.

That's all from me for this week.  I hope you have enjoyed your visit and will leave me a little message so I know you've called in and I will do my best to pay you a return visit as soon as I'm able.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 389

 Hello all.  You managed very well without me over the last couple of weeks.  I've tried to read your posts but did't manage to leave comments...sorry.

We had a wonderful week away in a lovely bungalow Norfolk [just rather too far to tow the caravan all that way].  The sun shone every day and if anything it was too hot.  We enjoyed exploring the area, had a trip on paddle boat on the Broads and enjoyed many walks with Milly.  We ate out every day, made easy because so many places over there are dog friendly and Milly enjoyed being fussed by everyone we met.  Here's a few photos...

We had Sam and Lexi for the day on Wednesday and they asked to do a bit of sewing.....did I need asking twice?

They set to and chose the fabric they wanted to make a little frog out of and pinned on their patterns.  They cut them out and followed instruction well, using three of my sewing machines to make their frogs....a really special time was had by all and they were so proud of themselves with their finished frogs.

They lead such busy lives now so it was so lovely to be able to have quality time with them both and make special memories.

Wednesday evening our son, Mark, messaged to see if we would like a visitor....and of course we said yes please.

It made us all giggle when he turned up wearing the exact same tshirt as his dad and when he put his glasses on to use his laptop I just had to take a photo :-)

Of course it wouldn't be Friday without a few funnies, and this week I seem to have found lots so hope you have a good giggle at some of these.

I hope you have all had a good week.  I am looking forward to visiting you all this week [and leaving comments!!].

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Hello all.  I have been missing in action because last week we were on holiday in a lovely bungalow near the coast in Norfolk...the sun shone all week and if anything it was a little too hot...just what the Dr ordered.  We had a great week and Milly loved it too [she was well and truly loved and fussed everywhere we went].

Since I've been back I've had a steady flow of customers...they have missed me :-)  I now have a queue of jobs to do but yesterday I managed to make these two Memory bears...

They were for the same customer I made the last 4 for ....when her family saw them I had requests for two more for other family members :-)

Just the best customers.

That's all I have to share with you today but I had a parcel arrive from South Wales last night .....another 4 Memory bears wanted :-)

If you leave me a little message to say you've called by I will do my best to find time to call round at yours to see what you've been busy with.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 388

 This week I have had to set my smiles to load automatically as we are travelling home today from our week's holiday.  I hope to be able to share some photos next week but for today I am just sharing some funnies and hopefully loading Mr Linky for you to share your smiles with the rest of us.

I hope you've had a good week and have had lots to smile about.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 387

 Here we are at another Friday when we look for the things in the previous week that have made us smile and, as always, I've managed to find some to share with you.

Shell, Brent and the twins are on holiday out in Cyprus and are having a wonderful time....just look how grown up Sam and Lexi look now.  It only seems 5 minutes since they were tiny babies.

They have a house sitter while they are away to look after their dogs but we had to settle them down on Saturday night and while I was there I put the new Merlin app I have on my phone to listen out for the birds in their garden.

As you can see it said there was a Tawny Owl around.....what it didn't say was it was actually the squeak of the dogs ball.  I couldn't stop giggling.

I love my birds and now want to introduce you to Hoppy the Robin.  As you can see it looks like he's been in the wars and can only use his one leg.  He's so friendly and every morning he comes and asks for his breakfast.  He will nearly feed from my hand....he really makes me smile.

Of course I also have to share a few funnies with you [I hope none offend].

I hope you have all had a good week and you will leave me a little message before linking to your smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

 Here we are at another Wednesday where we catch up with our creative friends around the world to see what they have on their desks each week by linking up over at Sarah's Craft Shed....please click on the link if you want to join in the fun.

I've had another busy week here at Sewing by Annie's and have more bear I can share with you...

I made these two in memory of a special lady and when my customer saw them she ....

...Asked me to make her another one.   I always love satisfied customers asking for more bears to be made.

The only other thing that's on my desk today is the file I keep a photo of every bear I have ever made in....It had been a while since I updated it and when I did it was a lovely surprise to learn I have now made 828 bears.   That's rather a lot of bears I've made and they have gone to new homes all over the world...that really makes me smile.

That's all from me for this week.  If you leave me a little message to let me know you've called in 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 386

 Another busy week here at Sewing by Annie's and lots more smiles to share with you all.

Lexi has had the results of her last dance exams and has done really well....I'm so very proud of her and her achievements.

Sam and his Dad, Brent got tickets to go and see the filming of Gladiators for the next series and they had an amazing time in the best seats in the Sheffield arena.

This week we have had our old shed taken down and a new concrete pad laid for our new shed.....coming at the end of the month. [Exciting times].

The twins bought me a packet of Morning Glory seeds as part of my Mother's Day gift and we have watched them growing and thought we were only going to get one flower each day on the plants [the bottom two pics] but yesterday morning 4 came out all together.....what a gorgeous blue ....these really made me smile.

I seem to have found lots of funnies this week so I hope something here makes you smile.  Please leave me a little comment and, if you can, then please share your smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Hello all.  I was missing in action last week.  I had come back from a few days away on Tuesday but had no desk/contents to show you because it had been a weekend of making memories with our family....with no crafting being done.

This week I've been playing catch up with a long queue of customers...it's lovely to see how much I'm missed when I'm not here :-)  

I started off my week making this lovely bear from a much loved Grandma's favourite jumper and fleece waistcoat....it's really cuddly and when my customer saw it she ordered another one....

...this one had the panels on the opposite sides and with a cream ribbon to be a little different.

My next job was to make 4 lovely bears with a Grandad's favourite clothes.....each one had to have a panel of two of the items of clothing and then to have other panels added to them from the bag full of clothes she brought and they all had to have different coloured ribbons.  

On top of all those bears I have also...

• Shortened a pair of trousers for my hubby
• Shortened 2 pair of jeans
• Shortened 3 hems on a bridesmaid dress and took it up on the shoulders.
• Replaced a concealed zip on a little dress and
• Took another dress up un the straps.

I have a queue of jobs waiting to be done today...

• I have to take a zip out of a double sleeping bag and sew part of it up at the bottom [I really do get asked to do all sorts of jobs]
• I have 2 pair of trousers to shorten
• I have to move a button on a pair of shorts and 
• I have a pair of shorts to shorten

Plus I have another 3 memory bears coming at some point....not many dull moments for me is there?

I hope you're all enjoying the Olympics...I'm watching all I can when I get a spare minute....aren't they wonderful?

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles.....week 385

 I was missing in action on WOYWW this week because we had been away and I had no desk to share but we are back now and I have lots of pics of what I have been smiling about this week...

We had 3 nights on the same campsite as Mark, Gina and the boys near Barmouth and we had a lovely day on the beach on Sunday.

It was hot hot hot so a paddle in the sea was needed.  We had two dogs with us and they really enjoyed running on the beach and jumping in the sea but sadly our little Milly drank some sea water [she had lots of fresh water available!] and was very sick during the night on Sunday and had to have an anti sickness injection at an emergency vets on Monday morning!! Thankfully she is now fully recovered.

We all enjoyed a ride on the Talyllyn Railway....it was a welcome break from the heat.  We went from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn.....lots of very happy memories made.

We enjoyed some really beautiful skies while we were away so I have made a collage of a few to share with you.

Of course, I had to find a few funnies to share with you....they wouldn't fit in a collage so I've uploaded them seperately.  I hope you find something to make you smile and will leave me a little comment before sharing your own smiles in the link below.

Hugs,

Annie x

This week's smiles....week 384

 Another catch up of the smiles from the week and I have a few pics to share with you.

The twins seem to be going from one achievement to another at the mo and they make us to proud...

Sam took his Grade 3 Musical singing exam a few weeks ago and this week he got his results....he got Distinction!!!

So very proud of him.

He had also been for auditions for a part in Nativity the Musical and has been given two of the main parts in both of the teams so will be in all 6 of the shows and is even singing a solo...think I may need my tissues when we go to watch him.

Both Sam and Lexi were accepted for a course at BOA [Creative, Digital and Performing Arts Academy] in Birmingham, they are there this week and really enjoying the experience.  Lexi is dancing and Sam is Acting.  They will be putting on a show tonight for family and friends to watch so I'm sure we will hear all about it.

Of course, before I go I have a few funnies to share with you that I hope will make you smile.

This one made me chuckle.

I hope to have more smiles to share with you next week.  I hope you will link to your smiles below.

Hugs,

Annie x