This week's smiles....week 344

Another lovely week and I've more smiles to share with you all.  

I was treated to lunch out on Saturday as part of my birthday treat from Amy, Dave and family then Amy had booked for me, her and the two girls to enjoy a couple of hours of crafty fun at Splat and Splodge in Shrewsbury...

What a lovely afternoon we had painting our chosen ceramics.  I painted a little Father Christmas to hang on our Christmas tree....can't wait for it to be fired so we can collect them....the girls are growing up so quickly now and are really lovely company to spend time with.

The schools around here have been on half term holidays this week so they have been having Halloween fun....

The twins have been decorating the house, carving their pumpkins and enjoying time with their friends.

Amy's three have been to choose their pumpkin and have been making scary face masks.

On Wednesday Steve went with his Mum and Grandad to Walsall to play in a football tournament with Shrewsbury Football Academy.  There were 13 teams taking part and Steve's team came fourth.  He plays in goals and they said he had made some really good saves.....so proud of him.

Of course rather than standing on the side of the football pitches in the cold the two girls asked if they could come and spend the day with me.

I know I was working but they are now so independent and love playing with Nanny's crafty stash so of course I said yes.

I did have customers and had sewing to do but it was really lovely to have their company here and we had a lovely time crafting and creating together....they managed to finish knitting their squares and then made their little bunnies with them.  They then moved onto making pom poms and creating different characters out of them.....it's so lovely watching them dipping into my craft supplies.

Little Milly often makes us smile and here she is sitting on one of the plants in the garden....I have a feeling she thinks I am growing cushions for her to sit on!!!

Those are my smiles for this week.  Please leave me a little comment so I know you've called by and if you can please link up below and share your smiles with us too.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

You will all know that I love a challenge and this week I've been asked to get designing. [Sorry if you've already seen them].

On Sunday night I was asked if I could make a Memory Elephant....of course I could was my reply and Monday morning I got my roll of brown paper out and made a pattern for an Elephant and then of course went on to test it out and hey presto.....

....meet my new Memory Elephant.  At lunchtime I uploaded his picture on my Sewing by Annie Facebook page to introduce him with the other characters I make and was then asked if I made a Memory Monkey so I then had challenge number two.....

.....more brown paper cutting and hey presto by the end of the day I had made.....

....Memory Monkey....and he has been shared on my Facebook page yesterday to much excitement.  I have a feeling he's going to be very popular.  So now along side my Memory Bears I now offer a Memory Dog, a Memory Cat, a Memory Rabbit, a Memory Elephant and a Memory Monkey....and I love them all :-)

The other little share I have today is this one...

Here's the girls sat crossed legged on the floor on Saturday enjoying their knitting.  They can almost knit unaided now and are slowly progressing with their first knitted square that we are going to make into a little bunny....it gives me so much pleasure passing on my skills to the next generation and they really love spending time with me so it's def a win win situation.
Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are at the weekly catch up with all out creative friends around the world to expose our desks and share what we've been making during the week.  Last week it was trousers, trousers and more trousers for me and this week....

....yes, there's been more trousers to shorten.  I guess it's what I do being a sewing lady eh?

But this week I've also.....

...made three new Memory bears to remember a very special Dad and posted them to their new home  in Nottingham....I'm conquering the world slowly with my bears :-)

I've also been giving knitting lessons to Phoebe and Lulu.....they were brilliant little students too and were very proud of their achievements.....we're making little bunnies so watch this space [It may take a while yet but I'm sure they will want to show you them when they are finished].

That's all from me for this week.  Next week I may well be missing in action again [depending on the wifi] as we are going on an adventure in the Motor Home and travelling north to meet up with some very special friends....watch this space.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

Here we are on the last show and tell before the big day.  My desk is full of Christmas wrapping this week and I can't share that so I thought I'd show you the mince pies and little buns I've been making on the other 'desk' in my life and the row of little stockings I've finished knitting and strung up across our fire place.....a well used fireplace this week because our heating boiler broke down last Friday and although we have insurance that says they should come and fix it within 24 hours it took them until yesterday before we had hot radiators and hot water!!!  

Please help yourselves....I even made the chocolate gingerbread men myself :-)

And that just leaves me to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Christmas.  Thank you for calling in here each week and leaving me such lovely comments.....lets hope 2018 comes with many more wonderful weeks of sharing and caring.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW.....

Hello all.  Here we are again catching up with all our creative friends around the world.  It's my fav day of the week because I really love seeing what you're all up to....basically I'm just a really nosey person hehehe.

I have had a busy week with customers sewing this week. everything from...

• Wedding dress fittings....she looked amazing and it fitted to perfection. :-)
• Shortening 2 lined long dresses for Christmas parties
• Shortening new jeans for a lady who has lost over 2 stone and looked amazing in her new clothes
• Shortening nurses work uniform dresses....took off  9"! I have no idea who they make these dresses for because she was an average height lady.
• Shortening the lining in a lady's fur coat....by near 3"!  How can manufacturers get things so very wrong?

There you go.....a full rail, sewing now all done and just waiting for collection. :-)

The other thing I'm sharing is little Sylvanian bear [just over 3" tall!] modelling one of the little knitted numbers I've been knitting this week....they will be the best dressed Sylvanians in the area.  Jo and I worked out the pattern for the little gilet....it's pretty simple if anyone wants to knit some so give me a shout for the pattern.....I've even knitted some for the 'children' Sylvanians [only 2"tall!]. 

I'm finishing off by sharing my beautiful flowers sent to me by Amy and family to help me through some difficult weeks.....thanks darling I love you lots. xxx

They were far too gorgeous to keep them all to myself so hope they have made you smile too.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

What's on my work desk today?....can't even get to it to show you today sorry cos we have the plumbers in putting in the new radiators.  They have drained the heating system and turned the boiler off so for the past two days I've had no heating.....brrrrrrrr.  Hopefully by the time you are reading this they will have finished and have fired up the heating again.

So my pics today are...

One of me I took yesterday....the twins were concerned that Nanny Annie had no heating so Sam brought me a tin of soup for me to have for my lunch to warm me up on the inside and Lexi loaned me her snuggle blanket to keep me warm on the outside.  They are such funny bunnies ....I love them to bits and made them chuckle with my pic.

And this was the pic to show you what I've been doing to keep out of the plumbers way......I'm just like Dori from the film 'Finding Nemo' only in my case it's 'just keep knitting, just keep knitting'  :-)

The other thing I've been keeping busy with is my new mini Ipad I was treated to for my birthday....we have been becoming quite good friends and, with the help of my IT assistant [my son Mark] have managed to set it up just the way I like it.  Pinterest has taken quite a hammering already :-)

So folks that's about it from me for today.  Short and sweet just the way Julia likes it.  Please leave me a little hello message to let me know you've called by and I will do my best to return the visit ASAP.  Please note I do read the blogs of my google+ visitors but am unable to leave them a comment.  Sorry.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW......

Happy Wednesday to one and all.  It's that day of the week again when we all link up with our friends all round the world to enjoy a good snoop at each other's creative spaces.  If you don't know what I'm talking about [then where have you been for the last few years?] please pop over to our Queen of snoop Julia's blog at the Stamping Ground to check out the details and join in the fun [if you dare :-)].  It's a really lovely group and you will be made very welcome.

So what's on my desk this week?

 

Yes, it looks a little different today.  That's cos I'm showing you where I 'craft' in the evenings and because there is nothing different to show you in my sewing room.  As you can see I've got some knitting on the go.  I'm knitting dolly cardigans to be packed up with other sewn dolly clothes [that have still to be made yet] for some special little people in my life.  It's a simple pattern that I found on Ravelry....because as yet I've not found the box that my dolly knitting patterns were put in for the move!!......Oh how I long to have my new sewing room where I can empty all the rest of my craft boxes and sort all the contents in their new homes.

So that's it from me for today....short and sweet.  If you leave me a little hello comment to let me know you've called then I will do my best to pop over to yours to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW....

 Ive added the wrong link on Julia's blog today so instead of messing up Mr Linky can you please click here to find my Anniversary post

I'm here

Sorry folks xxxxx

Hello to all my Wednesday friends and fellow bloggers.  This week has been full of crafty fun, new sewing challenges and family together times.

Today I have 3 photos to share with you....

This first one is a different challenge for me that a new customer has brought me.  They are 4 different waste banner fabrics [PVC type strong fabrics] and he wants me to make simple reusable shopping bags out of them to trial the fabrics.  Jo helped me cut out a bag from each of the 4 fabrics and I just have to make the bags with it now.....watch this space.  :-)

This is my, now finished, LillyBo quilt number 7 with it's matching bag and I am linking it over at Di's snippets playground as my quilts are all made from the snippets of fabrics I have in my scrap boxes.

If you would like to see all the wonderful finished quilts and maybe check out the details of how to join in the fun of making one then please pop over to the LillyBo quilt blog.

Of course I needed to make a little something to go in the pocket on the bag so I am knitting a little.........

......rabbit to match the ones in the pictures on the fabric of the quilt.  My knitting is a bit slow going at the mo but I will get there.  :-)

I hope you have enjoyed my show and tell for this week and leave me a little hello comment so I can pay you a return visit to see what you've been up to this week.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW...

Happy Wednesday to all my WOYWW friends.  It's just a quick post from me this week cos I have two little special friends here for an extra day with Nanny Annie today.

On my desk today is...

The, nearly finished, latest poppy picture.  I have now machine embroidered it and added black beads to the poppies.  I have put it under the mount here but want to buy a red inner mount to fit it because I feel that would set it off better.....if anyone knows of a good on line site that sells picture mounts could you please let me know.

I've just enlarged part of it for you to see it in more detail.

Here is Lexi modelling a pair of slippers her Great Aunty Jo made for her....they are really warm and cosy but she refuses to keep anything on her feet....we are now looking for little slipper socks to see if those will work.....she is only a size 2 1/2 so it is really hard to find anything small enough.

A quick peep into my knitting basket....I'm knitting a scarf to match a pair of Lexi's mittens.

 I have started  working on an idea I've got for my Christmas cards.....I've ironed Vylene to the back of some gorgeous dyed green fabric I bought at the quilt exhibition on Sunday to stiffen it [my last post shows some pics I took there].  I then machine embroidered it, cut it up into Christmas tree shapes and have then hand embroidered some stars on it with some of the fab random dyed thread I bought at the exhibition too [......actually this is the thread Jo bought for me as part of an early birthday present....thanks Jo I love it].

Well folks that's it from me for today.  If you leave me a comment I will do my best to pay you a return visit in between nappy changing, playing, feeding etc etc

Hugs,
Annie x

WOYWW...

What a fab week of celebrations we have had.  So many wanted to swap ATCs that I had to make another batch of them.  :-)  I feel so very blessed to have so many blogging friends all over the world.  It really made me chuckle that it cost less to send one out to Slovenia via airmail than it did to send them to my friends in England....the world has gone mad.

This is the latest batch of ATCs I made.  I've dumfed red poppies onto green prefelt and beaded the centres.

I was commissioned to make a child sized Mr Tumble's spotty bag to go out to a little Grandson out in Dubai with one of my Tiny Tumbles.  I also had to make Tiny Tumble a spotty bag of his own too but forgot to snap a picture of it before posting it.....It was a real labour of love because I appliqued the colourful felt spots on the fabric before making the bag up so it took hours.  :-) It's fully lined, and has a velcro fastening and I'm pleased to say the lady that ordered it was very pleased with it.

The other bit of fun I've got to share with you today is what I've spent the last few days knitting a log cabin square in between coughing and sleeping and of course watching all the Jubilee celebrations on the telly.  [Why am I always poorly when I get a few days off from work?].  If you fancy having a go you will find the pattern here.  I'm not sure quite what I shall make it into but I have a feeling I know some little girls that would use it for a dolly's blanket.  :-)

And to finish off my Wednesday's post today is a collage of the beautiful flowers in our garden at the mo.  We seem surrounded by beautiful colour out there.....just wish I felt well enough to really enjoy it.  Thanks for calling by this week.  I've had a lot of wonderful ATCs through the post already but will aim to snap a few to share them maybe next week when hopefully I'm feeling rather better.

Hugs,

Annie x

WOYWW

Hello to all my wonderful blogging friends. Since last Wednesday I have sewn and sewn til my hands ache and 

.....my 'done rail' is now full to capacity

.....plus there are 6 motor cross bike trousers in a huge bag below it that have all been finished too [and what a job they were!....stiff and heavy]

....but my 'to do' rail still looks like this and I have much more still in bags waiting to be done.

Plus my ironing board looks like this today...and that can mean only one thing....wahoooooo I have another order for one of my Mr Tumble lookie likey dolls.  The last one you saw sitting here keeping me company went to a really good home just before Christmas.

So, I would have to say business wise it's been a really good week and long may it last cos we have a Wedding to pay for this year as you will have seen in the last post  :-)

Church and Reception venues...... booked

Flowers...organised

Photographer....booked

Cars...booked

Wedding dress.....bought [needs altering]

4 Bridesmaids dresses....bought this week [pretty coral pink and need altering]

Wedding stationery....in the planning stage.....Thinking....Ivory / Coral / Pink / Gerberas / Butterflies.....any suggestions for a simple design are very welcome.

 So?  You see I'm leading a pretty hectic life but that's pretty normal here.  I've still managed a bit of knitting and now have only 4 more squares to make before I can join them together and then crochet the edging on the latest baby blanket.  Do pop over to Julia's blog and check out all the other crafty spaces [I'm sure there are many more far more exciting than mine this week] but do leave me a quick hello comment before you go and I will do my best to pay you a visit in between my sewing jobs today.

PS don't forget to pop to the prev post and make your guess to join in my celebration fun to be in with a chance to win.  No one has got it exactly right as yet....folk just don't realise what a great team we make and how much we can get done in a day [well 5 hours of it anyway] :-) :-) :-)

WOYWW....

I'm a bit like a duck on water this week...I remain calm on the surface in front of my customers but underneath the surface my feet are paddling like mad  :-)  I'm sure I'm not alone.

Yesterday one of my customers had to make 2 journeys to her car to bring in all she had been begging from her friends.  She has previously already brought Jo and I several piles of bedding for our 'dress the girl around the world' dresses that we have been making and yesterday's pile way outweighed anything she had brought before.  As you can see my ironing board was loaded up with some really pretty sheets, quilt covers and pillowcases.  We have had to put the little dress making on hold to find time for all our Christmas activities but we do promise to get back to it after Christmas so this will all be put to good use.

Also this week this gorgeous little gift came through my door from the ever lovely Jo[zart].  As you can see she has made me [and Jo] lovely pin cushions that attach to our sewing machines...they also have a place for my snippers to sit in....this just might stop me loosing them  :-)  Thanks Jo.

In between my many sewing jobs I am also knitting like mad for the special little people in my life.  This is the second of these I'm knitting....the other has sneaked into the corner of the photo above.  These have to be finished by Sunday because this is our family day to all be together for Christmas so I'd best keep knitting ...and quick!

As you can see I still have a Mr Tumble doll looking for a home.  He is sitting here watching me type but would really love to find a new home for Christmas so if any of you know of a little boy or girl who would love him then please get in touch...he was made as an order but the lady let me down at the last minute so he is still for sale if anyone would like to buy him and I can post him straight away so he would arrive in good time for Christmas. :-)

Well folks that's it from me this week....I have a 'to do' rail to clear and rather a lot of knitting to finish so I must keep moving.  Please leave me a little 'hello' message before you pop over to Julia's blog to join in the WOYWW fun.

Also if you would like to give me your vote for my favourite dumfed poppy pic [and I know a lot of you loved it too] that I have entered into a Christmas party draw please follow this link and click on vote under my pic. [many thanks to all who vote for me x] 

Click here to vote and give me your support.

 

Hope you all have a great week and manage to get all your Christmas crafting done in good time.Hugs,
Annie x

 

 

WOYWW.....

So, another week has passed and we are creeping closer to the big day.  My 'to do' rail keeps filling and getting in the way of the seasonal preparations so every spare minute I seem to be playing catch up.

Here you can see the beginnings of my next batch of Christmas cards.  I've used bond a web to attach Sari silk ribbons onto a base fabric and will work on this with machine embroidery etc  before cutting it up and embellishing it further to decorate some cards with.  Watch this space as they say.

This is the latest little knittie I've made with some wool M bought for me to knit for Sam.  It's knit up a bit small so not sure whether it will fit but if not one of her best friends had a little boy on Sunday so it will go to a good home.  :-) ....welcome to the world little Oliver.

Jo[zart]....take note of the fab buttons....we all love them.  Thanks so much x

I treated myself to a 'comic' last weekend for being a good girl and just know the knitters out there will love it if you have littlies like mine to knit for.  It's the Woman's weekly special collectible series and it has some real favourites in it to knit/crochet such as Angelina Ballerina,  Peppa Pig and Raa Raa the noisy lion and in total it has 39 great pattern in it so I felt it was well worth the £9.95 I paid for it.  I am trying to make a few special knitties as Christmas pressies. [wonder if you can guess which ones I'm knitting?....I won't share then til after the big day but will take some pics].

Another stocking in the making.  I'm taking orders now  :-)   Sooooooooo many new babies during this year in my life.

I have two little elves who are desperate to decorate our Christmas tree.....Amy has always loved doing the tree and this year she has two little helpers [Stephen will prob sleep through it...he's such a good baby].  It was far too soon to bring a real tree into the house so this year we have treated ourselves to an artificial one and here is is waiting for the elves to arrive  :-)

So folks, that's it from me today.  My heaving 'to do' rail is calling me to clear it [....again!] so I shall pop over to see what you've been up to in my coffee breaks....if I can fit one in :-)  Please leave me a little hello comment before you pop over to join in the WOYWW fun at Julia's blog and here's hoping you all have a really great week.

Hugs,

Annie x

I feel it was worth the effort....

I know a lot of you were fascinated by me using two balls of wool to knit the fronts and sleeves so the pattern in the wool matched when knitting my latest little hoody.  I finished it last night and though you would like to see how it worked out.

I'm so pleased with it and really love the little toggles I've managed to find for it.  What do you think?  Wasn't it worth the effort to get the matching two halves?.

WOYWW.....

Another busy week for me and the sun has been shining too.  This means there has been time spent outside at the weekend.

Monday was another fun day and the table had 4 of us round this week.  My Tuesday afternoon coffee friend has been off work following having her tonsils out [ouch] so she brought her knitting round and joined in the fun and laughter [and chocolates of course...thanks T].  Twiglet sat on her sewing machine creating another amazing work of art in her Montgomery featured range of buildings [I'm sure she will be doing a show and tell of it soon].  T sat the other side of the table on her machine making a beautiful appliqued owl cushion [I hope to show you that when she has finished it] and our friend E and I sat knitting [E is knitting a beautiful fluffy scarf and I'm knitting the next little hoodie for one of the grandbabies].  What an industrial lot we looked.

During our funday Monday I had a lot of customers with a lot of items of clothing so it was a catch up Tuesday...that is in between a hair cut, a house viewing at our neighbours house [ yes folks, we are now able to sell out elderly neighbours house for her :-) ] and of course Tuesday afternoon's coffee time with E.  :-) so this is what is on my 'to do' rail today.

I have now finished the beautiful baby blanket.

This is just a close up of the border....I love it cos it has really brought the right colours out in the blanket.






Of course it wouldn't be a Wednesday show and tell without just a few snaps of our garden for you.

A newly trimmed front hedge.  This took all of Sunday afternoon to trim and we still have the other side to do for our neighbour!

A much treasured old milk churn of my fathers that sits by my sewing room door and looks lovely with the begonias in the top.

I couldn't resist a quick snap of this beautiful clematis....I really love this colour and shall prob use this picture as inspiration for one of my fabric pictures.

Look at this amazing flower head on this dahlia.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  Thanks M [this was one you gave us].

Now folks I would like to thank you for dropping in.  Please leave me a comment if only to say hello and then pop over to Julia's to join in the WOYWW fun and to find out more if you have no idea what I am talking about.